What is up, everyone! I hope you’re having an awesome day! Today I’m coming to you with a birthday post/book haul! Let’s get started!

So, I turned 30 last week. The big 3-0. Honestly, it’s not much different from being 20, aside from the fact that it came with roses, a new bookshelf and new books for me to explore, which I am so excited for! And steak. All the steak. Manoans was kind enough to kick me out of the house after he got home from work, so he could set everything up. Which resulted in two glorious hours of perusing shelves at the local B&N.

What came out of that was a mini shopping spree that I wanted to share with you all.

You just can’t let me out of the house without supervision. I inevitably come home with books.

Let’s dive in!


First is the one I actually picked up first while browsing. American Gods by Neil Gaiman follows Shadow Moon, who’s been in jail for three years and was let out early because his wife and best friend died in a tragic accident. On his way home, he meets Mr. Wednesday, an enigmatic and strange sort of fellow, who offers him a job as a bodyguard and errand boy. Little does he know, Shadow is about to get caught up in the middle of an epic war.

Now, I really only picked this one up simply because I absolutely loved the TV show. I’ve never read anything by Neil Gaiman, either, so this stood out as a nearly obvious choice to me.


Next is Weave the Liminal by Laura Tempest Zarkoff. I feel very lucky that I found this one at Barnes and Noble, mostly because their new age section is relatively small, and I can never seem to find what I’m looking for. Which happened here, but I couldn’t resist this find. Weave the Liminal is all about taking witchcraft and weaving it into every day life, and has a focus on traditional witchcraft, rather than the mostly ceremonial and ritual magic you see most of the time, due to a heavy influence of Wicca.

Not that I have anything against Wicca, because I don’t. I actually was Wiccan at one point in my life. But I’ve definitely grown since then and decided that Wicca and most ceremonial/ritual magic is just not for me. So I thought I’d try a different approach to my Craft and see how it works out.


Pay no attention to the woman behind the camera! No, really, please pay no mind to my reflection in the book cover. I thought I was clear, and didn’t notice until it was too late. It wouldn’t come out in editing, either.

Alina is a soldier, whose world is torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a great patch of darkness with monsters lurking in it. While on a mission in the Fold, Alina and her regiment are attacked, and she discovers she has a power that’s been dormant her whole life. Now, she’s taken to live and train with the Grisha, the magical elite, and their leader, Darkling.

I passed by this one a few times, and I feel like I am super late to this party. This one sounds like something right up my alley, so I really have no excuses for being so late to this party. I’m hoping to read this…normally, I would say before the series comes out, but that’s in, like, two days… But I’ll be reading the books before I start the TV series, for sure!


Moving on to The Iron King by Julie Kagawa, this is another one that I feel I’m super late to the party for.

Meghan hasn’t fit in at home or at school since her father disappeared. Then, a stranger starts following her around, and her best friend begins to act strangely. After discovering she is the daughter of a faery king, she’ll learn about herself and how far she’s willing to go to save someone she loves. She’ll face down an evil that not even the bravest, strongest fae would dare stand against, and she’ll fall in love with someone who would rather see her dead.

This book has all the things I love; I love faeries, I love magic, and I love what sounds like a hate-to-love trope.


I am going to be honest here. I wouldn’t have even given this book a second glance were it not for BookTube. Sure, the title and cover are eye-catching, but it never really piqued my interest. But then I heard about it on BookTube, from a couple of my favorite channels, and decided it was worth a try!

Tamsin is the most powerful witch in her generation. After she commits the worst possible sin in the magical world, she’s exiled and cursed with the inability to love. The only way she can feel ANY love, is to steal it from another. When a magical plague wreaks havoc on the queendom, Tamsin meets Wren, a rare Source living in secret so she can take care of her father, and the two make a bargain. Wren will give Tamsin the love she has for her father…if Tamsin can track down and catch the witch responsible for the plague that is affecting the queendom and Wren’s father.

I’m hoping this one is as good as it sounds!


And then there is Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. Here’s another one that I just feel super late to the party for. I absolutely adore JessetheReader’s channel on Youtube, and Jesse loves–and I mean LOVES–this series. I couldn’t find one of the books I was desperately looking for, and couldn’t decide on any other ones, so this one magically jumped into my little hand-cart.

This book follows Jacob who, after a family tragedy, travels to an island off the coast of Wales. There, he finds and begins exploring the ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As he explores, he discovers that the children may have been dangerous…and that they may still be alive.


Last, but certainly not least, is To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo. Another BookTube-inspired pick, and the one I was looking for when Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children hopped into my cart. I couldn’t find this one in-store, and I was extremely disappointed. So, did I take the loss and just hope to see it next time? Or did I impulse-buy it online and have it shipped to me in two days? The reason why I don’t have a phenomenal photo of it is because I was waiting for it to arrive, not knowing how long it would take me to compose this post. And then my roses started dying, so I thought better to not take that picture.

Anyways, To Kill a Kingdom is the story of Princess Lira, a deadly siren princess who has seventeen royal hearts in her collection, and Prince Elian, a siren hunter. When Lira is forced to kill one of her own, her mother punishes her by turning her into a human–the one creature sirens loathe. Forced to live as a human, and robbed of her siren song, she must find a way to kill Prince Elian and bring his heart to her mother before the Winter Solstice, or remain human forever.

I’m not one for books on mermaids, pirates, or the like, but I love Greek mythology, and the sirens have long been an obsession of mine. So, I am overjoyed to have a book in my collection with sirens as the main focus!

Let me know if you’ve ready any of the books above, and, if you did, what did you think? What books or bookish merchandise has recently jumped into your cart? Let’s have a discussion in the comments!

The only question now, is how to decide which one to read first?