Betsy Snow White Bibliophile

Tag: Book Nerd

  • Betsy’s Book Report: Untethering Dark by Desiree M. Niccoli

    Betsy’s Book Report: Untethering Dark by Desiree M. Niccoli

    Set in the Black Forest (der Schwarzwald) in Germany we are introduced to Astrid a Hexe, a witch with aspirations to become a hag like her adopted mother, Mutter Perchta. Every Night for years Astrid has left out an offering to Altes Geweih, Old Antlers, an ancient forest protector who lives with her in the forest.

    Then one night a group of hikers come to Astrid’s home causing chaos, releasing her goats, and destroying her nightly offering to Altes Geweih. Realizing he has come and accepting her fate she brings a plate of cookies, and comes face to face with the monster in the woods. Expecting to be eaten, instead he allows her to live and accepts her offer of cookies.

    Soon she is flirting with him, and he is flirting back? He reveals his true name to her, Gudariks. And, Astrid begins to feel true attraction and affection for her unlikely new friend. The two of them have a burgeoning relationship that develops alongside the two also working together to attempt to rid the forest of a group of poachers who seem to be plaguing the forest.

    The characters in the book may be monsters, but they are beautifully developed and nuanced. The relationships also feel so real, including those between Astrid and her human friends. The inclusion of lore, history, and traditions of the area just adds to the richness of the story. I can believe that in this world there are mysteries in the dark woods that we cannot comprehend, set to protect the natural world from human corruption. In fact, I want to believe.

    I gave the book five stars and would recommend highly to monster romance lovers, and to those curious about the genre. I will warn you, though, that you may come out the other side with a longing for German Christmas Cookies.

    Untethering Dark by Desiree M. Niccoli is the first Monster Romance to be released by Harlequin books, a publisher every romance reader probably knows, and I was lucky enough to get approved to receive an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy). The book will be available February 4, 2025 as an ebook only at https://shop2.harlequin.com/shop/books/9780369762214_untethering-dark.html

  • 2024 Reading Recap

    2024 Reading Recap

    I read 575 books in 2024 according to goodreads, though I suspect a couple of ARCs and audiobooks may have been missed, and some of these books just blew me away with how well written they were, how immersive they were, how entertaining they were, how smutty they were, and occasionally how truly unhinged they were (looking at you Nicole Parker and Unfortunate Reads). Below is a collage of books I truly loved reading in 2024.

    Each of these books left an indelible mark on my mind and I would recommend them to anyone, well some of them I would recommend to anyone with a super open mind, but still…get into these.

    What were your favorite books of 2024?

  • Back and Bookish

    Hi! It has been a minute (or you know over a year) but I am back and, as mentioned in the title and blog rebrand, bookish.

    In the past two years (2023 and 2024) I read 947 books, novellas, ebooks, ARCs/ALCs and audiobooks. I have joined several street teams. I have attended several bookish events, boughts lots of book boxes, special editions, signed books, and so much more.

    What I am saying is that I am in my bookish era and I am taking this blog with me. I will post about events, review books, talk about authors, post unboxings, and anything else I can think of. Very bookish. Can you tell it is bookish?

    Also I am setting a goal to finish my own book in the first quarter of 2025, so I will post sneak peaks, and walk through the editing and publishing process.

    So…stick around.

    Welcome to 2025.

    Let’s read some books.

  • About Me…Meme edition

    About Me…Meme edition

    Tara Wine-Queen on Facebook reached a milestone number of followers and decided to introduce herself to her new and old followers using memes. I loved this idea so much that I have been seeking out memes to replicate for myself, lol. Here is what I came up with:

    I am sure there is more, but I feel like this is a good representation of who I am.

    So, I read 27 books in January. And I have read 4 already for February. I am considering starting a book club where we just get together and talk about what we are reading a couple of times a month. I love the idea of a book club but being forced to read specific books makes it feel more like homework than reading for fun, so…create a literary society where we just talk about the books we are currently reading. Any genre. Plotting commences.

    Here is what I have read so far in 2023:

  • Bibliophilia and the Book Wyrm

    Bibliophilia and the Book Wyrm

    I saw this tweet the other day from SketchesbyBoze on twitter that said:

    Immediately I decided that this is my current situation…I am in my year of reading frivolously. 📚  I have been in school for so long that I have rarely read just for myself in the last 10 years. Now, since my masters degree is complete I am free to read just for the pure joy of reading. As on January first I have already read or listened to 10 books. I feel more like myself than I have in a very long time.

    I am also in a place with my writing where I feel like some writing will help me feel inspired. So I am reading, a lot. I reset my book goal for the year to 72 books, or six a month, with the possibility to change again if my current speed keeps up. I am reading like I am running out of time, or perhaps making up for lost time.

    I have loved everything I have read so far. And I have found several authors who I am eager to work through their other works. Other than A.K. Mulford and T.J. Klune whom I already acknowledged I also enjoyed The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue which was absolutely lovely and bittersweet and the first two books of the Paper Magician series by Charlie N Holmberg. I am getting lost in these wonderful worlds and highly recommend the books and authors.

    More books to come, lol.

  • 2023…

    2023…

    Here we are. It is January. The start to a new year is upon us. I have some simple goals for the year: read more 📚, write more ✒️, skate more 🛼, travel more🗺, play more 🎉, laugh more 😂, love more ❤,  witch more 🕯, and be more myself than ever before.

    My 2023 word of the year is:

    To me this means to believe in myself, believe in others, believe in the unbelievable, and just generally believe. I want to try to reconnect with the feeling of truly believing I had as a child. The witch in me is ready for this as well.

    I have already read two books this year to get my reading goals off to a good start. I am participating in the Girlxoxo 2023 Monthly Keyword Challenge. The idea is that you pick a book with one of these words in the title, or a related word to the keywords. The keywords for January are: crown, girl, whisper, black, heart, guide, all, and ever. They also have a group on Goodreads to keep up with others in the group.

    My first two books of the year were The Rogue Crown by A.K. Mulford and Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune. I highly enjoyed both books and I feel like I am off to a very strong start this year. I set a super conservative goal of reading 24 books for 2023, but I am planning to revisit that after this month.

    What are you reading? Do you have any goals? I am also doing this crazy bingo that I found on pinterest. I will keep you updated on how that goes.

  • October 21-22: Witch Walk 2022

    On Saturday, at noon, several witches met at the gazebo in Goodale Park in Columbus, Ohio. We took a few pictures and then set forth to take a walk through the Short North.

    We proceeded to promenade until we reached The Eagle where we grab brunch and cocktails.

    My delicious Sandwich.

    After brunch we walked up to Prologue where I picked up two books:Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor and High Times in the Low Parlinent by Kelly Robson. I also got a cute bookmark and a whole bunch of stickers.

    Then my sister and I headed to Dark Market. They had amazing vendors, and Sacred Shimmy performed. Here is a video of Sacred Shimmy performing.

    I bought a bunch of different things. Several crystals, a spell frog, caramel apple body scrub made by my friend Heather, peacock quills, Mothman Earrings, and a big red hair flower with an anatomical heart. I could have bought so much more.

    Here is the extended cut of Halloween Countdown for 21 – 22:

  • October 19 and 20 – Creepy Reads

    October 19 and 20 – Creepy Reads

    Do you ever read a book and it isn’t necessarily scary but it just leaves you with a skin crawling feeling of creepy? These are not always horror books, but are the books that just keep you on edge and leave you uncomfortable even after the book is done. Here are some of the books that have done this for me:

    Mexican Gothic was one of my favorite reads for 2019/2020, but it absolutely left me with some major icky creepies. This is the story of Noemi who is sent to retrieve her cousin after she receives a missive from the cousin claiming that her husband is trying to poison her. She heads to High Place to find her cousin is quite ill, the house is covered in mushrooms, and everything about this home is creepy. I cannot recommend this book higher, but be prepared for the effects to linger.

    Geek Love is the story of a traveling carnival who goes to extreme lengths to create children who can fill their freak show. The book is so good, but just leaves you with this feeling of bleagh.

    Palahniuk was barely scraping the surface of wild in Fight Club and that is never more obvious than in Haunted. The plot is a “writers group” gets locked into a old Theatre and becomes a social experiment. I have whole scenes from this book that I will never forget. Not for the faint of heart, but a truly creepy read.

    The story of an adult man who “falls in love” with a 12 year old girl, gets rid of her mother, and makes himself the girl’s guardian so they can “be together”. Everything about this book is cringy, creepy and leaves you feeling icky.

    The one that started it all. I read this book at an age that was far too young, probably 10. Certainly I was not prepared for child abuse, starvation, incest, rape, and one incredibly graphic scene after being force fed castor oil. Yeah…not horror but horrific.

    This is my list of the creepiest books I have ever read. Have you read any of these? Do you agree with my assessment? Do you have books you would add?

    Here is the video for Halloween Countdown day 19:

    And from the 20th:

  • October 10 – I got a Book Box in the Mail!

    I follow several authors on TikTok one of which is Katelyn Brawn aka @atomicapplepie. She announced that there would be a book box for her book Pumpkin Pie so I jumped at the chance to support someone I follow and bought the box with the hardback book cover. I decided to record a video of the opening and then I will describe the contents.

    Video of Book Box unboxing

    Aside from a hardback copy of Pumpkin Pie I received: a bracelet made by the author, a tube of bath soak, a honey soap, a pumpkin spice honey lip balm, honey stix, a beautiful fairy book mark and author themed tea in Henry David Thoreau which was apple based and sounds delicious. Oh, and a recipe card for the pumpkin pie made in the book.

    Overall it is a super cute box, I can’t wait to make some tea and read my new book.

    I realized that I forgot to post my Halloween Countdown for yesterday so I clipped them together and here is day 9 and 10:

    Days 9 and 10 of Halloween Countdown.
  • October 4 – My October TBR

    October 4 – My October TBR

    I am trying to read more this month, because I love books and I am ready to get my reading habit back after years of school.

    Currently Reading:                                            

    The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik

            

    To Be Read:                                                       

    The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean.                       

    The Kiss Curse by Erin Sterling.                      

    The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik.          

    Revenge Body by Rachel Wiley  

    The Night Library of Sternendach by Jessica Levai  

    When Life Gives You Vampires by Gloria Duke Narrated by Meg Sylvan     

    Bookish Bingo is looking like this now:

    And my Halloween Countdown item for today is…