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Jaime | Books 'n' Stuff

@ibeforem

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Jaime
Reader, web developer, wife, mom of a pre-teen and 2 cats
Book reviewer since 2005
Maker of things while listening to audiobooks

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by @ibeforem

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4 months ago

by @ibeforem

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4 months ago

by @ibeforem

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4 months ago

🎉🎉ARC REVIEW!🎉🎉

Behind the Scenes by Isa Lynn
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Elisa and Miles meet in their freshman year of high school. Elisa is new in town because her parents have moved her to a different school after an incident at her old school. They're successful enough to be able to buy a second home, and largely leave her there alone with her nanny. Miles is from a much different family, with two parents that only want to feed their addictions to drugs, alcohol, and violence, which leaves him living primarily with his best friend, across the street from Elisa's house. On the outside, they are frenemies, with Elisa's distrustful nature on full display. But in truth, Miles sees something in her from the start and pushes his way into her life until they are best friends.

This is really a story of how Miles and Elisa fly into and out of each others lives over a couple of decades but ultimately cannot stay away from each other. I enjoyed seeing how their relationship and trust in each other grew, even when they each made some boneheaded decisions. Lynn also tackles a number of difficult topics while telling their story, including sexual assault, neglectful parents, domestic violence, addiction, and stalking, and they are all handled in a thoughtful manner. This is my first book by Isa Lynn, and I would read more!

🎉🎉ON SALE OCT 16TH!🎉🎉

#BookReview #MapleHollows #SkaterBoy #Princess by @ibeforem

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6 days ago

Happy book birthday to these new releases!

🍂Another Name for Red by Amber Blaeser-Wardzala
🍂As You Wake, Break the Shell by Becky Chambers
🍂Entities to Lovers by Mallory Marlowe
🍂Home for the Homicides by Elle Cosimano & Hannah Morrissey
🍂The Museum of Modern Love by Mariko Turk
🍂Once in a Timeline by Iman Hariri-Kia
🍂The Unfortunate Responsibilities of Leopold Berry by Ransom Riggs
🍂What a Nightmare by Rebekah Faubion

A number of these books are already in my pipeline for this month! I have started reading Entities to Lovers and I am loving the banter and Boston setting so far. The Museum of Modern Love will be perfect for a challenge I'm doing this month. And Another Name for Red went immediately onto my MUST READ SOON list and I hope to by the end of the year.

What are you looking forward to reading?

#NewReleases #October13Releases #NewBooks by @ibeforem

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6 days ago

October is Mental Health Awareness Month!

Taking care of your mental health can be a challenge, but it is so important! So is talking about mental health. There is nothing shameful about seeing a therapist or taking medication, and you could save your own life or the life of someone you love.

And don’t forget about the kids! Children can also have mental health struggles, even as young as kindergarten. And if they have a neurodivergency such as ADHD or Autism, the chances of that go up.

I myself am medicated for anxiety, and our son for anxiety and depression and our lives are better for it!

Here are some books that show the importance of taking care of your brain!

Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia
The Happiness Trap by Russ Harris
Heartstopper, Vol. 3 by Alice Oseman
Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker
Paris Daillencourt is About to Crumble by Alexis Hall
Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez

Want in on our bookish engagement chat? Reach out to our admins for more info:
@thiccbooksandthiccthighs
@nikki_loves_to_read
@stephs_bookery
#ThiccBooksChallengeOct26

#MentalHealthAwareness by @ibeforem

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9 days ago

🎉🎉NEW REVIEW!🎉🎉

Arrivals and Departures by Amanda Eyre Ward
⭐⭐⭐

CW: Book contains discussions of suicide and suicidal ideation

Arrivals and Departures follows three generations of the somewhat dysfunctional Perkins family: the mother, Charlotte; adult children Lee, Reagan, and Cord;, and Reagan's children Isabelle and Flora. Reagan has moved her children to Greece in pursuit of her art, but now she has disappeared after telling her children she'd be away at an art retreat for the weekend. Lee, currently living with her mother to recover after being hospitalized for a breakdown, decides to go to Greece to help find her/care for the children, though really it's just a way for her to escape her current circumstances. Cord is headed on a retreat of his own in upstate New York, trying to rebuild his relationship with his husband.

We get points of view from all members of the family, but this story is mainly Lee's story. She is struggling with depression and bipolar disorder and is walking a thin line between life and death. Frankly I don't think anyone in the family is mentally healthy, though Lee seems to be the only one doing much about it. The story itself is somewhat jumbled, though I don't know if that's done purposefully due to Lee's state of mind. Everyone had their own little side plot, though I think Charlotte's was mostly unnecessary and I'm not certain Cord needed to be included at all. I appreciated the story, though I can't say I completely enjoyed it. It could be frustrating, much like life is when you want to help someone and they will not let you. There is some hope by the end, which was nice.

#BookReview by @ibeforem

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10 days ago

@novelidea_collabs presents to you: 𝖘𝖙𝖔𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖘 & 𝖘𝖍𝖆𝖉𝖔𝖜𝖘 👻

It’s officially October, which means it is time to turn down the lights and pretend that creaking sound in the hallway was just the house settling. 🔦🫣

Whether you are unravelling a dark historical mystery, getting lost in a paranormal world, reading a banned book, or just trying to survive a truly terrifying thriller, there is nothing quite like a book that makes you look twice at the shadows in the room.

🗞️🕸️🕯️📰🕷️⏳🕷️📰🕯️🕸️🗞️

There isn't a lot of horror that actually scares me, but if anything is gonna scare me it's going to be a ghost, especially in a creepy old building. Here are some of my 5 star reads that feature ghosts!

🗞️🕸️🕯️📰🕷️⏳🕷️📰🕯️🕸️🗞️

Don’t get left in the dark—see what hauntingly good books my friends are sharing today:
👻 @decantingbooks
👻 @bookish.girl82
👻 @dima_does_life
👻 @savhookedonbooks
👻 @cozyreadsandwarmtea

❓QOTD:❓Have you ever had a haunted experience? by @ibeforem

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11 days ago

👚 𝓦𝓮 𝔀𝓮𝓪𝓻 𝓟𝓘𝓝𝓚 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓑𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓽 𝓒𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮𝓻 👚

🎀 For the survivors.
🎀 For those in treatment.
🎀 For the people we miss
🎀 For everyone whose life has been touched by breast cancer.

This Breast Cancer Awareness Month, pink is more than a color… it’s a way to show up for one another. Wear it, share your story, check in with someone you love, and learn which screenings are right for you.

No one should have to face this alone.

🎗️💗📖🎀🎗️💗📖🎀🎗️💗📖🎀🎗️💗📖🎀

If you're looking for books with pink covers to show your support, here are some upcoming releases!

🎗️💗📖🎀🎗️💗📖🎀🎗️💗📖🎀🎗️💗📖🎀

Take a moment to visit my friends’ posts and see why they wear pink today:
🩷 @weybacktobooks
🩷 @onceuponatam7
🩷 @moore.reads
🩷 @cozyreadsandwarmtea
🩷 @jnj_turning_pages
🩷 @chapterfiftywithanne

🎗️💗📖🎀🎗️💗📖🎀🎗️💗📖🎀🎗️💗📖🎀

⁉️QOTD: Raise your hand if you have been victimized by your or a loved one's cancer. 🙋‍♀️

🎗️💗📖🎀🎗️💗📖🎀🎗️💗📖🎀🎗️💗📖🎀

This collab is presented by #ThiccBookCollabs

To join in on future collabs or for more info, follow @ThiccBooksCommunity or reach out to one of our admins listed below:
@Thiccbooksandthiccthighs
@Nikki_loves_to_read
@Stephs_bookery

Special shoutout to our Member of the Month:
@nikimavsbooks by @ibeforem

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12 days ago

Happy book birthday to these new releases!

🍂Bad Words by Rioghnach Robinson
🍂The Christmas Yes List by Melissa Ferguson
🍂Dive Bar at the End of the Road by Kelley Armstrong
🍂The Haunted Librarian by Auralee Wallace
🍂Hear the Dead by Ann Davila Cardinal
🍂The Lost Guardian by Natalia Hernandez
🍂Love and Other Cures for the Recently Undead by H.J. Ramsay
🍂The Stolen Crown by L.J. Andrews

We have another week of good variety! A holiday romance, some zombie and ghosts, ancient curses, a bar where time is weird, there's something for everyone!

What are you looking forward to reading?

#NewReleases #October6Releases #NewBooks by @ibeforem

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13 days ago

I zoomed through a bunch of audiobooks in September and overall read some really good books!

Brimstone Hollow is the follow-up to Archer Sullivan's The Witch's Orchard and it was every bit as good. Annie Gore travels to an eastern Kentucky town to investigate the death of a snake-handling preacher.

Magical Midlife Madness is one that has been hanging out on my shelf for a few years and I'm glad I finally got around to it. Jess is starting over again at 40 after a divorce, and is hired as a caretaker for a mysterious house that she visited in her youth. Strange happenings ensue.

Hawk & Sparrow ticked a lot of "yes, please" boxes for me. Gilded age setting, a little bit of magic, and an intrepid female journalist with her nose in everyone's business.

I have a wide range of books planned for next month, from romance to horror to history so we'll see what I can get finished!

#SeptemberBooks #MonthlyWrapUp #WhatIRead by @ibeforem

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16 days ago

🎉🎉ARC REVIEW!🎉🎉

What Happens at Nightfall by Lauren Willig
⭐⭐⭐⭐

It's been a long time since I've picked up a book by Willig and this was a welcome return to her work! I'm used to her stories having more of a dual timeline with most of it happening in the past, but this book is set entirely in the present, mostly in the Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY. Jess is recently laid off and is filling most of her time by following around her best friend, this time on a nighttime tour through the cemetery. When Jess accidentally gets separated from the group, she happens upon a boy who seems to be in distress and volunteers to walk him home. Conveniently, his home is within the walls of the cemetery, because his father is the resident arborist, Adam. When Adam then volunteers to walk Jess back to the subway (and check on the family mausoleum that his son opened), they wander into some supernatural happenings, and neither of them can resist the mystery.

I thought this was a fun read with just the right amount of spookiness and tension. I liked the ties to the Gilded Age, and how Willig integrated the beauty of the cemetery into the story. There also was a lot of humor worked in, which was a nice contrast to all the weird happenings. The romance is a smaller part of the story, but still entertaining. I enjoyed this, and look forward to working more of Willig's books into my current reads.

🎉🎉ON SALE OCT 6TH!🎉🎉

#BookReview #HauntedCemetery #DontMakeADealWithADemon by @ibeforem

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17 days ago