smilingrid

12/03/2024

Is there anything better than having sunlight in either side of the work day? Seasonal joy, I’ve missed you! ☀️

I first purchased at Shakespeare and Co. as a self-gifted birthday present my first year in France. So, while not as egregious as some of the other books I’ve been reading from my shelves lately, I couldn’t tell you why I waited to start it. And what a start it is!! I can completely see why this became “the must-read TikTok sensation.” This edition even includes character art! Libby’s first chapter does make me feel like I’m being smashed over the head with a sign that reads “enemies to lovers incoming” but maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised and whatever her relationship ends up being with Nico will be nuanced and realistic and/or completely horrible and end in tragedy (but like, in an interesting way) 🤷🏼‍♀️

Have you read this book? I’m on a bit of a fantasy kick at the moment, which will complicate my “not buying new books until after all the home stuff is sorted” plan because I don’t think a single one of them is a standalone 😂 SOS

10/03/2024

Paris has a loooot more of these little pixel monsters scattered throughout the city, but I’m definitely going to miss the ones he added to Fontainebleau’s street corners once I move! This little bookstore alien is a personal fave, but I pass his bigger light blue and green friends on my way to work everyday and have a soft spot for the Napoleon in his fancy dress at the market.

If you’ve visited Paris, do you have a favorite street art/artist? During my first solo-trip to the City of Lights before moving to a France, I did an Airbnb experience tour of Parisian street art and came away with such an appreciation for these pops of color ❤️

09/03/2024

Here comes part two of my life in France!

I finally have a signing/keys-in-hand date (and yes, a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders upon receiving that message) it’s a bit later than I was told it would be at the start of this whole thing, but we’ll make it work 🍾

My parents arrive the day after, so follow us over on if you want to see what we get up to 🥰

08/03/2024

I think if I hadn’t read Girl Serpent Thorn (*years* ago know and still highly recommended!) before picking this one up, Malice would have hit a lot harder for me. Instead, I spent much of the book comparing the two and finding the latter much richer and genuinely surprising at every turn.

Which isn’t to say that Malice isn’t a fun romp, because it is! Personally, I feel like it pulls from Wicked and a few Disney versions of fairytales, which is a vibe. I do wish that I had sat down to read it in one setting, as I think that would truly make it shine. When I wasn’t actively engaged, noodling about it for a bit made it very obvious who would betray Alyce at which story beats. Some of her decisions felt motivated more by moving the plot along than by who she is as a character.

Sleeping Beauty retellings have the opportunity to make Aurora more than a victim of circumstance. Take A Spindle Shattered by Alix E Harrow for example - our sleeping beauties (yes, plural!) are the characters who shape the story. This retelling also features a wlw romance and raises Malice a chronically ill main character.

So, there’s the option to make Aurora interesting. It’s right there. But Malice focuses so heavily on Alyce and her experiences and her falling in love with the first person to be nice to her that Aurora becomes this idealised princess on a pedestal. And maybe that’s because Alyce is so starved for affection she won’t see any flaws. Or maybe it’s because this is a first love story and our girls don’t actually spend that much time together. Who knows, maybe she’s just genuinely *like that* and also maybe she’ll be more fleshed out in book two (though, she’s starting book two completely unconscious, so…)

Whatever the case, I’m not feeling super motivated to pick up Misrule 🤷🏼‍♀️ I do, however, have the strong urge to re-read Girl Serpent Thorn!

07/03/2024

Great fantasy read with the worst cover: the duology!

I brought Radiance and Eidolon back to the US this holiday season to pass along to one of my favorite people - someone who normally reaches for romance over fantasy and *loved* Fourth Wing. Honestly this duology seems like it could be a perfect fit (from a librarian who has yet to read the newest dragon craze 🙈)

The stakes in book two are toweringly higher than book one. An inhuman horde is spilling across the land, kept at bay only by the generationally weakened magic of the Kai and bodies of moving water. The lofty political arrangements between the parties we met in book one are strained to the breaking point and the arrangements for those forced into close quarters in our main couple’s castle are not much better - he might just be king and suddenly all of the nobles who escaped the massacre of the kingdom’s capital see his human wife as the weakest of deterrents to the throne 👀

Again, there are some incredibly interesting themes explored in these pages that I *wish* were given more time on the page. The religious/magical leader of the Kai people comes up with a way to fight the horde back - wraith kings, the souls of leaders from the different factions in this world, can be separated from their bodies in order to lead their dead against the thing that killed them. Fascinating, but muddled by the author’s less-polished battle writing. How do you even write a battle happening on a different plane? And make it feel grounded, urgent, possible? Couldn’t tell you, but sadly neither can Grace Draven in my opinion 🙈

A new community is introduced through one of the wraith kings - they’re partly nomadic, live in the mountains, and are *matriarchal* in a world that seems very Middle Ages adjacent. The women in this society control property/home ownership and the men have to prove themselves worthy through extreme means in order to gain a say. Fascinating. Give me a whole book about it.

I also wish we could see more of the long-term effects of some of the drastic decisions made in what is essentially a war zone. Because some of these? Are going to cause serious problems down the line.

All in all, 👍🏼

26/03/2020

I'm so excited to be an ambassador for The Book Drop and to support them during this unprecedented time. If you'd like to support an awesome indie bookstore, head over to www.thebookdrop.com to check out their subscriptions. You can use the code Randomlibrarians for 10% off your pick

I am SO EXCITED to be an ambassador for the Book Drop! They are sending me three bookish packages (1x month in March, April, and May) for insta pics and bonu...

24/12/2019

I have found that some (even the most active!) library users aren't aware of all the awesome e-resources available to them! In order to help fix this, I'm starting a video series highlighting some of my favorite apps, starting with Libby from OverDrive for Libraries!

What are your favorite types of materials to borrow from the library? Do you have a favorite app for me to feature? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this video!

Here is my first part in a series highlighting free library apps and the amazing resources they contain! Today's app: Libby! Libby is an awesome app created ...

21/12/2019

Sometimes you just gotta support your local library! ... I mean you should /always/ do so but only sometimes does it mean that you get a stack of books to keep forever 🥰

.... I need to be stopped. Put me on a book-buying ban. Oh me oh my imma run out of spaaaace 😂 Okay, but. My book buying this month has all gone towards grea...

21/11/2019

So, I went into this book with so many hopes. The writing and story are engaging and I was pleasantly surprised that we have multiple characters who are part of the LGBTQ+ community. I think the author's intentions were good... but her implementation needs an entire, almost hour-long video to unpack.

Trigger warnings for use of dead names and incorrect pronouns, heartbreaking backstories, and trans women who are only distinguishable from one another by which famous person they impersonate. Also, there are multiple murders in this book and ALL of them are people within the LGBTQ+ community. Please don't watch this video if diiscussion of any of these things could harm you!

HUGE trigger warnings for use of dead names and incorrect pronouns, heartbreaking backstories, and transwomen who are only distinguishable from one another b...

19/11/2019

I filmed a follow-up video to my review of Zombies, Run to talk about the Halloween virtual 5k/10k race that I ran. I've been talking about it nonstop in real life, so I figured I'd bring it up here! I'm a huge fan of the storylines, the merch I bought, and this awesome community 🥰🥰🥰

Previous Zombies, Run! video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44NXX...
the Six to Start website: https://zombiesrungame.com/
Apple store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/zombies...
google play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/de...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_0AJrqRsQU

I'm coming back at you with another video about my favorite running app! This Halloween/ fall season, I decided to take part in one of the Zombies, run! / Si...

18/11/2019

I saw these Sudio TOLV true wireless earbuds all over bookstagram. Because those posts are definitely sponsored, I figured I would bite the bullet and give an unbiased review when they had a "single's day" sale on 11/11. Are they worth the money?

You can find Sudio here: https://www.sudio.com/us/tolv-green

Has Instagram or YouTube influenced your purchasing habits? Thank you so much for watching! Please consider hitting the subscribe button and/or finding me on instagram

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkPYZJyyR4Q

Has bookstagram or booktube ever made you buy a thing? Cause here I am with my very ~*influenced~* purchase! Is it worth the money? I saw these true wireless...

30/10/2019

Joining has been an awesome decision in all aspects... except for my poor wallet! Book Haul below of the awesome titles I've been stress-buying recently 😂

We're talking stress buys today! I've found that being stressed in the library where I work makes me less likely to go to another library as stress-relief? I...