September 2022 Reads

 

Typographic Book Covers

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

Typographic Book Covers

Book covers with a design that is all or mostly all words. This prompt was submitted by Mareli @ Elza Reads

1. My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares- I was a big fan of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series when I was in middle school and early high school. I remember when this book first came out vividly and having to get it right away. It was one of my favorite books then, though I was so sad that we never got a sequel for it. 

2. Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six Word Memoirs edited by Larry Smith and Rachel Fershleiser- I became obsessed with six-word memoirs and wanted to write the best one in my sophomore year of high school. This is one of the many books that I found on the subject a couple of years later. I love how they formatted the typography on the cover of this book. 

3. A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare- I'm a big fan of the Folger Shakespeare Library versions of Shakespeare's plays, and I get them any time I find a new one for a decent price. They are definitely my favorite edition of Shakespeare's plays.  This is one of my favorites in the collection. 

4. Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley- I read Words in Deep Blue a couple of years ago, and this beautiful cover matches the contents of the novel perfectly. The story is about a letter library and the importance of writing in our lives. It shows how important words can be in preserving people even after they are gone. I completely recommend reading it. It's one of my favorite young adult contemporary novels ever. 

5. The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green- The Anthropocene Reviewed was one of my top ten favorite books of last year. Here is my review for his book:

Part memoir, part insights into the seemingly random, part review; John Green's first nonfiction book hit me a lot harder than I could have ever expected. I have been following John for a very long time, along with his brother Hank. Whether that be from his Youtube videos or his novels. He has been one of my favorite authors for years, and I was excited when he said that he was coming out with a book like this. I have always loved John's insight into the world around him. His antidotes in his videos have so much of himself in them, along with so much information.

“... I called my brother, Hank, and told him I was feeling frightened. Hank is the levelheaded one, the sane one, the calm one. He always has been. We have never let the fact of my being older get in the way of Hank being the wise older brother.”: I just adore this quote so much. Hank and John are some of my absolute favorite people to follow online.

Each of these essays felt so real to him as a person, and I loved learning more and more about him. Also, about so many cool things. John is such a smart person with a mind that I envy, especially how he can write. This is just one of the many examples.

My favorite essay was probably "Auld Lang Syne" if I had to pick one, but there were so many other great ones like "Harvey". Both of these essays had me in tears, with the grief he shared and the mental health struggles. I loved how he put so much of himself and his life in each of these essays. I cannot tell you how much I related to these essays especially.

I completely recommend picking this up, especially the audiobook that he narrates. It was such an amazing experience overall.

I rate The Anthropocene Reviewed five stars. I rate John Green's writing five stars. I rate the experience six stars because obviously, I want to break the system.

"We all know what it's like to feel alone. We will all call out someday to someone who cannot answer us."

6. The Magic Strings of Frankie Preston by Mitch Albom- Mitch Albom's books are all absolutely beautiful stories inside and out. I cannot help falling into them while reading. 

7. Everything I Never Told You by Celeste NG- I believe that this was the first book that I reviewed on my original blog that I do not use anymore, back in 2017. There are so many memories that I have from reading this novel. It is one that I would love to come back to and reread sometime soon. 

8. Turtles All the Way Down by John Green- My favorite of John Green's young adult contemporary books by far. I remember reading this book in one sitting the day that it came out because I could not put it down. John's typographic covers have always been some of my favorites, especially this one. 

9. An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green- The Green brothers both have a good number of typographic covers between them both. I love that the main part of this cover is the title and then that the Carls are in the foreground. This and its sequel are two of my favorite science fiction books of all time. Hank does such a great job blending in pop culture commentary along with his story. I loved the puzzles in this book and Hank's clever ideas with them. 

10. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab- The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue was one of the best books that I read last year. Addie's story is one that I will not forget anytime soon, and I adore this beautiful simplistic cover that they made for it. 

Reviews Week 38

 Reviews Week 38

September 19th-25th

Book 125: Prince of Song & Sea

By Linsey Miller

Read on September 18th-19th

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The Little Mermaid is my favorite Disney movie, and I was excited to see the story from Eric's perspective. I'm so happy to say that I absolutely adored Linsey's take on the story. She added so much to the story and to Eric's backstory but, for the most part, did not change the story beats from the original. I enjoyed seeing the events from the movie, especially the scenes when Ariel was doing something that Eric didn't notice, like at their first dinner together with Ariel getting Sebastian out of Grimsby's food. 

One of the aspects I loved the most was the addition of Eric's curse and how that plays into his story as a whole. I love what Linsey did with his curse and how that went into his character. Also, I love the dynamic between him, Grimsby, Carlotta, and his friends introduced in the book.

My other favorite part of this book is the relationship between Ariel and Eric. I'm glad we got to have more of them spending time together and their relationship. It was wonderful seeing even more of Ariel's character, who will always be a favorite of mine. I could not help but sing the music that went along with the scenes.

I highly recommend this book to fans of the original story. It was such a great book! I already preordered my own copy of the book. 

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC of the book. All opinions are my own.*

Book 126: The Eye of the World

By Robert Jordan

Read on September 20th-25th

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I went into this book with too high of expectations, which definitely went into my overall enjoyment of it. The setting was interesting, and it kept me wanting more from the world.  

One thing that detracted from the book was the fact that it sometimes felt predictable. I knew from the beginning where the story was going to go. Sometimes this is fine in books, but in this one, it just took me out of the book. 

Also, I could not stand Rand as a character or his companions from Two Rivers. I enjoyed Moiraine's character, but I couldn't help but want more information about her. Truthfully, I wish that this book was about her. I wanted to learn even more about the magic system and her people.

This book is about 800 pages and does not lack descriptions, though it meanders a lot. The entire time I could not help but compare it to The Lord of the Rings, especially with the similarities throughout it. Tolkien is known for his extensive descriptions but never bored me. The Eye of the World dragged for me, and I could feel the length the entire time. 

Overall, this book was not the book for me, and I wanted so much more from it.

Book 127: Long Winter

By Rachel Ember

Read on September 25th

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I really enjoyed Robbie and Lance's story in this novel. I'm always a sucker for this type of romance, the forced proximity, cowboys, and winter setting. This book was very sweet. I look forward to coming back to these characters in the second book of this series, Signs of Spring. 

My Favorites of Summer 2022

☀️ My Favorites of Summer 2022 🏖️

Below, I have listed some of my favorite music, movies, movie trailers, YouTube videos, and TV that I have watched or listened to this summer. This has been a great season for some amazing entertainment.

🎞️ Movies:

1.) Captain America: Civil War (watched June 28th) ~ Avengers vs. Avengers. I have been waiting to see this movie ever since I first started watching these MCU movies last year. This movie was one of the best in the series so far. I especially loved the introduction of Black Panther and cannot wait to watch his movie soon. 

The part of this movie that I liked best was the fact that I understood where each side was coming from and that they both were right in their own way. At least, in my opinion. I could see where Cap was coming from and also Tony. It was awesome seeing them fighting against each other and the power that came from those fights. Loved the introduction of Peter Parker/Spiderman. 

2.) Thor: Ragnarok (watched July 1st) ~ One of my favorites of all of the MCU movies that I have watched. The humor in this movie was so great, along with the storyline. I loved the play at the beginning of the movie, along with Loki pretending to be Odin. There is no way that any of the Asgardians fell for that whole act, but I love how they just went along with it. 

Thor and Loki's dynamic as brothers are always my favorite parts of these Thor movies, and this one had some of the absolute best. The ''get help'' scene is comedic gold. Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston are some of my favorite MCU actors, they have created such great characters, and I love their relationship. They really feel like brothers. I will be watching the Loki show soon, I need more of Loki.

Also, Jeff Goldblum plays one of the most ridiculous characters in all of the MCU with the Grandmaster. His birthday song made me laugh hysterically because of how unexpected it was. I also love the song that plays when Thor gets to the rainbow bridge near the end of the movie. Thor's journey in this movie was beautiful, and this scene helps embody the outcome of that journey. What an epic scene, one of the absolute best from any of the movies. Really shows how damn powerful Thor really is. 

3.) Avengers: Infinity War (watched July 4th) ~ I have heard nothing but good things about this movie over the years since it has come out, and it honestly was everything I
ever thought it would be. It was great seeing the team-ups in this movie and how they tried to go up against Thanos. 

Thanos was such an entertaining villain, and I'm glad that we got so much of him throughout this movie. The battle in Wakanda was epic and also on Titan. Thor and the Guardians of the Galaxy have such a great dynamic, and I love that Thor spent so much time with Rocket. They are so great together. 

4.) Avengers: Endgame (watched July 5th) ~ Time travel in a Marvel movie, heck yes! I love Time travel, and I always will. There are so many great scenes in this movie that I will not spoil here. I loved the scenes that they used throughout this that were from the past, it was so much fun seeing the present-day Avengers interacting with their past selves. 

My favorites are the ones that deal with Howard Stark with Tony, Thor with Frigga, and Peter Quill. I love Tony's storyline in this movie, especially with Morgan and Pepper. Those were such beautiful scenes that hit hard. 

5.) Thor: Love & Thunder (watched July 8th) ~ I enjoyed this movie quite a bit. Especially the Jane Foster stuff in this movie. This has my favorite scenes with Jane and Thor. I really have enjoyed their relationship, and I like what they had of that in this movie. The one thing I missed from this movie was the Thor and Loki interactions. They were always my favorite scenes from the Thor movies, which lowers this for me. Also, I wish we would have had more of Gorr being the God Butcher. 

I enjoyed the humor in this movie. Love that we had Thor's goat boat. The music was great in this, just like it always is in the Marvel movies. This was my third favorite Thor movie, though. Thor: Ragnarok and the original Thor movie are still my favorites of the Thor series, but I did like this movie. It was much better than Thor: Dark World. I had such a good time watching this movie, and I cannot wait to watch it again. When it comes out, I'm going to buy it and have a Thor movie marathon. 

6.) Footloose (watched August 6th) ~ I almost always only put movies on here that I am seeing for the first time during the season, but I wanted to put Footloose because I had such a fun time rewatching this. Footloose is one of the best movies from the 1980s that I have ever seen, and it just gets better and better every time I watch it. 

Love the music and the characters. It's funny because I didn't realize how much I adore this movie until seeing it this most recent time. I have always loved it, but this time around, I realized how much that was. Kevin Bacon is great in this movie, and even after almost forty years, he is still as charming as ever. 

7.) Spider-Man: No Way Home (watched September 2nd)

~ I originally watched Spider-Man: No Way Home back on December 16th, 2021, and absolutely loved this movie. It was my first MCU movie and was the moment I knew that I had to watch the rest. Now, not even nine months later, I have seen almost all of the MCU movies. It was great seeing this movie again. The extra scenes that they added to this showing were pretty good. Some I loved, like the extra scene with Tobey and Andrew and also the added line between MJ and Peter. I wish they would have kept that line in the original. 

📺 TV Shows:

1.) The Sandman Season 1 on Netflix (watched August 5th-8th) ~ I have been looking forward to this television series ever since I read The Sandman comics. Neil Gaiman has been one of my favorite authors for years now, and I love that he has been getting such great adaptations of his works. This was an absolutely wonderful adaptation of his comics. 

My favorite episode was definitely Number Six: "The Sound of Her Wings." They did such an amazing job adapting both of the issues that they used within the episode. Both of these issues are some of my absolute favorites from the entire series of comics, and I was really looking forward to seeing them. I think that the idea of putting them together in this episode was such an interesting idea, and I'm so glad that they did. Kirby did such a phenomenal job as Death. 

Tom Sturridge was the perfect casting for Morpheus, he did such an incredible job. I love how he is playing Morpheus and the humanity that he is giving to the character. He is doing such an amazing job, and I cannot wait to see more of him as the character. They better make Season 2. I also love how much Tom loves Sandman, which is so obvious when he talks in interviews.

Most of the actors were perfect for their roles. Some other favorites for me were Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Death, Jenna Coleman as Johanna Constantine, Stephen Fry as Gilbert, Mark Hamill as Mervyn Pumpkinhead, and Gwendoline Christie as Lucifer Morningstar. I have to say, though, that they all just did an incredible job embodying such awesome characters. 

I started a rewatch of the show on August 15th, and I love catching the little details that I didn't notice the first time around. This show is so brilliant and is one of my top favorite adaptations of all time. I know that I will be rewatching it over and over again. 

Edit for August 19th: They added a special episode two weeks after the series premiered! It's based on the first two issues of The Sandman Volume 3: Dream Country- "Calliope" and "Dream of a Thousand Cats." Definitely, a favorite of mine from the series and a great surprise. I really love how they decided to do "Dream of a Thousand Cats" with animation, especially since I was wondering how they were going to do it. This was just an awesome surprise that made my day when I saw it. 

🎵 Music:

These are the songs that I listened to quite a lot during the summer months. I really fell in love with a lot of these.

1.) "Drive" by Ben Rector ~ I have always loved Ben Rector's music, and this song is one of my absolute favorites of his now. 

2.) "Coming Home" by Sheppard ~ This is such a fun song. 

3.) "If You Love Her" by Forest Blakk ~ I really love this beautiful song. 

4.) "What If I Love You" by Gatlin  

5.) "Burning Bridges" by Sigrid 

6.) "Fred Astaire" by Jukebox the Ghost ~ Makes me want to dance every time I hear it. Jukebox the Ghost has become a favorite band of mine this year, and I found them because of Spotify. I love their recommendations; I have found so many great songs because of them. Many are on this list. 

7.) ''Odds Are'' by Barenaked Ladies ~ Another amazing song recommendation by Spotify. I have loved Barenaked Ladies for so many years, and this is just great!

8.) "God, I Hate Shakespeare" from the musical Something Rotten~ For my book What I Know, I decided to make Spotify playlists for each of my main characters. One of my characters is named Martin, and he is an English/drama teacher. So, for his playlist, I decided to use a lot of music from musicals. This song was recommended to me on Spotify as I was making the playlist, and I fell in love with it instantly. It's just so much fun, even for a Shakespeare lover like myself. I had to put it on his playlist because I knew that his character would love a song like this just as much as I do. 

9.) "Good Kid" from The Lightning Thief (The Percy Jackson Musical) ~ Again, another song for Martin's playlist and another character named Timmy, who absolutely loves Percy Jackson. I have known this song for years and love it. It really embodies Percy's character and his story, at least at the beginning of his series. I hope that I will get to see this musical someday. 

10.) "I'm Your Man" by Wham ~ I have loved Wham for my whole life, especially "Last Christmas" and "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go." I heard this song for the first time during the summer, and I absolutely adore it. This has become my favorite of Wham's songs besides "Last Christmas." 

11.) "Skeletons" by Brothers Osborne ~ Heard this song for the first time during The Sandman show on Netflix. What a brilliant choice for the show and that episode in general. It was absolutely perfect.

12.) "I Told You So" by Keith Urban ~ I have really enjoyed this over the last couple of months. 

13.) "Could Have Been You" by Hunter Hayes ~ One of the last songs I found during the summer. Hunter will always be a favorite. 

🖥️ YouTube:

1.) BooksandLala:

I have been watching Kayla for so many years, and I absolutely love her videos. She has had such great content this season. 

   ~ Every Short Story I've Given 5⭐

    ~ TikTok Chooses my Books | Reading Vlog

    ~ Vlog | Reading the Best of Summerween Books

    ~ Reading the First Chapter of 12 Thriller & Horror Books | #SUMMERWEEN DAY 1

    ~ Spooky Stories + A 5⭐ read | #SUMMERWEEN DAY 2 & 3 VLOG

    ~ Reading Horror Novellas & Baking Treats | #SUMMERWEEN DAY 4 & 5 VLOG

    ~ Reading Most Anticipated Horror & Mystery Books | #SUMMERWEEN DAY 6 & 7 VLOG

    ~ 5 Mystery Books in 5 Different Locations | reading vlog

    ~ stopping the vlog every time I hate a book

    ~ only reading books w/ rabbits on the cover- I have been waiting for this video for a long time. It was great!

    ~ Completing My Year-Long Reading Challenge | Reading Vlog- I love Kayla's vlogs. They are always so much fun. I love how I was not even trying to complete the challenge myself this year, and I have done each of the prompts already. Lol

2.) John Campea:

I have really gotten into watching John and his crew's videos a lot this season. Love watching their opinions on movies, tv shows, etc. 

~ Sandman Takes #1 Spot On Netflix

~ First Impressions Of Netflix’s Sandman

~ Star Wars: Andor - Why It’s Launching With 3 Episodes

~ Feige Jokes It's Now The Wong Cinematic Universe - He May Be Right

    ~ (51) Sandman Surprise Bonus Episode Drops On Netflix - YouTube- Rob and I have the same thoughts on this lol. Best surprise all summer. 

3.) The Library of Allenxandria:

 ~ Book Jeopardy Season 2 Episode 1 || Michael v. Hillary v. Angela ~ Book Jeopardy is back!! Yay! 

 ~ Wyrd Sisters Review! | Of Course It's a Bloody Dagger! | Discworld Witches #2 ~ Discworld Videos will always be my favorites. I love the Discworld so darn much and I love listening to Allen talk about the Discworld. After I finish the series this year, I plan on rereading the subseries. The first will be the Witch books.

~ Mid-Year Freakout Tag 2022!

    ~ My 10 Favorite Villain Archetypes (And 2 I Hate)

    ~ Why Haven't I Read These Books Yet Tag!

    ~ Ancient Greece 1.1 | The Iliad and the Trojan War ~ I have been waiting for Alan's history videos for a year. This is so exciting!!

4.) Neil Gaiman Breaks Down Netflix's 'The Sandman' Official Trailer | Vanity Fair ~ One of my absolute favorite videos I have seen on YouTube this year or ever, really. I would love to see Neil do commentary on the whole show. Also, on Good Omens too, that would be amazing. 

5.) Supercarlin Brothers

   ~ Ranking Every Power from Encanto | Disney Film Theory ~ I love their theories so much, and this video is a lot of fun. 

    ~ What If Harry Was In Slytherin? - Philosopher's Stone | Harry Potter Film Theory ~ Such interesting ideas!

    ~ What If Harry Was In Slytherin? - Chamber of Secrets | Harry Potter Film Theory ~ I love What If scenarios, and this series is such a neat idea. 

    ~ What If Harry Was In Slytherin? - Prisoner of Azkaban | Harry Potter Film Theory ~ Draco's storyline in this is one of my favorite parts. 

    

    ~ What If Harry Was In Slytherin - Goblet of Fire | Harry Potter Film Theory ~ This series that they have created is brilliant. 

    ~ Recasting The Harry Potter Movies! | Harry Potter Film Theory~ Hilarious!

    ~ What If Harry Was In Slytherin - Order of the Phoenix | Harry Potter Film Theory ~ The best of the series so far. 

    ~ J vs Ben: HARDEST Philosopher’s Stone Harry Potter TRIVIA Quiz 

    ~ What If Harry Was In Slytherin - The Half-Blood Prince | Harry Potter Film Theory ~ This series is my absolute favorite. I hope J. and Ben keep creating stuff like this. 

    ~ The Trace Makes NO SENSE | Harry Potter Film Theory

    ~ What if Harry Was In Slytherin - The Deathly Hallows Part 1 | Harry Potter Film Theory ~ Part 1, so there's going to be another one!!!! These are so darn great. I highly recommend them. Cannot wait for the final part. 

    ~ J vs Ben: HARDEST Sorting Hat Harry Potter TRIVIA Quiz

    ~ What If Harry Was In Slytherin? - The Deathly Hallows - Part 2~ The Finale!! I hope that they do more of these What If shows. This was brilliant. 

    ~ Why Does Dumbledore Trust Hagrid So Much?| Harry Potter Film Theory

6. Daniel Howell

  ~ Welcome to DYSTOPIA DAILY with Daniel Howell! - Dan is back making YouTube videos!! He'll always be such a joy to watch. 

    ~ Dan and Phil Finally Tell the Truth- I love when Dan and Phil do videos together, and I always will. 

🖥️ Trailers

1. The Sandman | Official Trailer | Netflix ~ I have not been this excited for a show in a long time or adaptation!!! Everything in this trailer looks perfect, especially Tom Sturridge as Morpheus. 

2. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story - Official Trailer ~ This looks absolutely hilarious. Daniel Radcliffe looks like he is going to be perfect as Weird Al. 

3. Hocus Pocus 2 Trailer ~ I have wanted this movie for years, and I cannot wait to

watch it on September 30th. This trailer looked absolutely wonderful. 

4. Disenchanted~ Oh my Goodness, I am beyond excited for this movie. I have wanted a sequel to Enchanted ever since I first watched it. Needless to say, I have been eagerly awaiting this trailer ever since I heard they were making this movie, and it looks great! I love the idea of Gisele wishing for a fairy tale story and it going horribly wrong. One of my favorite parts of the original is how they play with the fairy tale tropes, and this looks like it will too. November can't come soon enough.  

5. The Little Mermaid Teaser Trailer ~ This was short but such a great little teaser. The Little Mermaid, like I have said so many times on here before, is my favorite Disney movie of all time. I cannot wait to see this version, and Halle Berry looks great as Ariel. 

Books On My Fall 2022 To-Read List

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

Books On My Fall 2022 To-Read List

Here are ten books that I would like to read by December 21st. 

1. Hocus Pocus: The Illustrated Novelization by A. W. Jantha

2. I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett

3. The Library of the Unwritten by A. J. Hackwith

4. Here, There Be Dragons by James A. Owen 

5. The Castle of Tangled Magic by Sophie Anderson

6. The Serpent's Secret by Sayantani DasGupta

7. The Squire's Tale by Gerald Morris

8. Sabriel by Garth Nix

9. Snuff by Terry Pratchett

10. A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross

Reviews Week 37

 Reviews Week 37

September 12th-18th

Book 122: Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: Fairies

By Tyler Jenkins

Read on September 12th

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A beautiful collection and one of my favorites from Jim Henson's The Storyteller series. The more I read this series, the more I want to rewatch The Storyteller tv show. 

Book 123: Grocery Shopping with My Mother

By Kevin Powell

Read on September 13th-14th

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I like this collection. My favorite poems from the collection were "Grocery Shopping with My Mother," "September 11," and "Son2Mother." They were so powerful and stood out so much from the other poems. This entire collection showed so much emotion. I did not enjoy every poem as much as the three that I mentioned. 

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC of the book. All opinions are my own. *

Book 124: Making Money

By Terry Pritchett

Read on September 17th-18th

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Another fun adventure with Moist von Lipwig, and I loved seeing Vetinari’s plans with him. This time around, Moist is helping a dog run a bank and helps show the absurdity of money in itself. I enjoyed this book quite a lot, as I almost always do with the Discworld books. Terry always did such an incredible job bringing real-world issues into the Discworld and then bringing humor to them. I will say, though, that I enjoyed Going Postal quite a bit more than this one. 

Books with Geographical Terms in the Title

 

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

Books with Geographical Terms in the Title

The Prompt: Pick out books that have Geographical terms in the title. (for example: mountain, island, latitude/longitude, ash, bay, beach, border, canyon, cape, city, cliff, coast, country, desert, epicenter, hamlet, highway, jungle, ocean, park, sea, shore, tide, valley, etc. For a great list, click here!) 

(Submitted by Lisa of Hopewell)

1. Paper Towns by John Green- This book is one of my favorite John Green novels. 

2. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens- I never really liked this book too much. 

3. The Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin- I enjoyed this book a lot when I read it but not the second book in the Earthsea series. Sometime soon, I would like to continue with the series and see how the rest of it is. 

4. The Emerald City of Oz by L. Frank Baum- One of my favorites of the Oz series, right below Ozma of Oz and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. I love Baum's world that he created. The scope of Baum's Oz world is so much more than many even know. He has created such a vast world that draws you in with every word. I loved seeing more parts of Oz and the worlds surrounding it, and also the Nome King will always be a favorite villain for me. 

5. The Sandman Vol. 3: Dream Country by Neil Gaiman- I have loved The Sandman comic series by Neil Gaiman ever since I first read it in 2020 and was very excited about the Netflix series. Oh my goodness, they did such an incredible job with adapting the comics. I especially love how they did the first two issues from this volume: "Calliope" and "A Dream of a Thousand Cats." My review for the first season of the show will be in My Favorites of Summer 2022, which I will have on my blog on September 22nd (the first day of Fall).  This volume will always be one of my favorites from the series as a whole. "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is one of my absolute favorite issues. 

6. The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern- The Starless Sea was one of my favorite novels of 2020. I love the interwoven story that we get throughout this novel and how the pieces fit together. It's a book about the love of the written word and how connected and mesmerized by a story, we can become. How much it can take over your life. I loved the harbor and the characters. It was a stunning experience that drew me in and would not let me go.

7. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder- I read this book when I was a child, and I don't really remember much of the plot of the actual book. The tv series was and still is my mother's absolute favorite tv show. I was named after Laura's sister Carrie, so this book has an important part in my life. Well, at least the show always has. 

8. The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan- The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series is one of my absolute favorite series. It's definitely one that I would love to read again sometime soon, maybe next year.  

9. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman- This novel is my favorite of Neil's. I first read The Ocean at the End of the Lane back in 2016 and fell in love with the story. Neil's prose is some of my favorites and will always be.  This novel is so captivating and haunting. Also, the illustrations in this book are quite amazing. They go perfectly with the book. Neil is one of my favorite authors, and this is one of the reasons. Man, do I adore this book.

10. The Night Country by Melissa Albert- I adored Melissa Albert's The Hazel Wood when I first read it a couple of years ago. This sequel to that really excited me and it was a very good continuation. I did not enjoy it as much as the first, but it was pretty darn good. Especially, with the fairy tales that Melissa introduced. I also love the fairy tale collection that she made, Tales from the Hinterland. I love the eerie feeling of the fairytales, and I will always be a sucker for portal fantasies.