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Bookish Melody

@mdemanateereads

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Bibliophile in Chicago sharing peeks into my reading life. She/her
Booktube: Bookish Melody
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What October 13th new books are going on your TBR?

#bookstagram #newbooktuesday #newbooks #tbr #anticipatedreads by @mdemanateereads

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4 days ago

In the Scarlet Ball Nghi Vo reimagines the world of the Gilded Age elite with a dash of the speculative and fantastical. If you liked the Chosen and the Beatiful, I think you’ll enjoy her take on Wharton.

#bookstagram #bookreview #fantasybook #historicalfiction #nghivo taken in BOOKSTA by @mdemanateereads

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4 days ago

I gave in to the hype and started the Emma M Lion journals back during surgery recovery.

#bookstagram #emmamlion #historicalfiction #serializedfiction #novella taken in BOOKSTA by @mdemanateereads

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7 days ago

As a Silvia Moreno-Garcia fan, dare I say this may be my favorite since Mexican Gothic (even without supernatural elements)? Thematically and tonally it’s like the overlap of a venn diagram of Mexican Gothic and Velvet Was the Night. Take some of the thematic elements of Mexican Gothic and the noir tone and flawed characters of Velvet Was the Night.

It’s got romance scams. And some real romance. But also crumbling family manors as symbolic stand ins for societal change. And a remote town where many residents feel trapped. And the personalities of a small town. I loved the way the history played in here—and the oppressiveness of the setting. I loved how all of the characters were at least a little bit awful, at the same time that I could understand all their motivations. And, while some of the turns could read convenient with a less generous interpretation, that’s part of the style and were ultimately very satisfying.

Also this was the kind of historical fiction that had my brain connecting the dots to today.

There was at least one moment where the irony of events was spelled out plainly rather than letting me get to relish making those connections as a reader, but overall I just had a great time.

#bookstagram #bookreview #silviamorenogarcia #historicalfiction #bookrec taken in BOOKSTA by @mdemanateereads

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13 days ago

Continuing my full Game Changers series reread project (that maybe only one person technically asked for but you know what that is? An excuse) with, of course, Heated Rivalry and surprise, surprise talked more than anticipated while still having to skim some stuff.

Discussion includes prologue appreciation, a Kool-Aid Man reference, and headcannons that Shane layered his polos and popped the collar in high school (textually supported by plum polo in the club) and that Selfie by the Chainsmokers played as a bumper song during their NHL awards bit.

Side note: this reread, as someone 6-7 months older than the characters, I sometimes wondered what I was up to at points of the timeline. Then I looked it up for one and the answer was recovering from Bell’s Palsy and I decided that that was enough of that I’ve struggled with 35 enough 😅

Next up Tough Guy 🩷

#heatedrivarly #rachelreid #gamechangersseries #reread #shaneandilya taken in BOOKSTA by @mdemanateereads

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24 days ago

Caught a couple of White Sox games this season so feels like a great time to share a favorite baseball romance again as the season winds down— especially as the Prospects by KT Hoffman has a lot of baseball and a deep love of the game.

What are your favorite baseball romances?

#bookstagram #bookrec #sportsromance #romancereader #romancebooks taken in BOOKSTA by @mdemanateereads

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a month ago

Received my first @jqeditions shipment and maybe immediately regretted only pledging for 2026 (if anyone knows how I can upgrade to 2027 too let me know 🙃). These were obviously crafted with so much love and I’m interested to see how JQ Editions continues to bujld aesthetic worlds for its titles. While I am a special edition novice, these truly are stunning (and were shipped so protected!).

The Last Lady B by Eloisa James I’ve been holding off on reading knowing I had this edition ordered and I’m excited to see Eloisa James with gothic tones. (And what will the Shakespeare reference be? Hamlet’s father’s ghost?)

An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole cemented I would be ordering these special editions when the project was announced. I love all Cole’s romances (and remain convinced a new Alyssa Cole romance could fix me), but as a historical romance reader first and foremost, the Loyal League series will always have a special place in heart. If anything, I am only sad I can’t get the whole series as special editions. An Extraordinary Union is the one I’ve reread the most, but I am due for rereads of the rest as well.

And I have a full unboxing up on YouTube that shows off even more details.

#bookstagram #jqeditions #historicalromance #specialeditionbooks #romancereader by @mdemanateereads

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a month ago

September is great for short stories (and not *just* for the alliteration). Here are some collections I’ve read and loved that I physically own, as well as some on my physical TBR.

I’ll admit to being partial to weird and speculative stories. What’s your favorite flavor of short story?

#bookstagram #shortstories #tbr #shortstorycollections #bookrecs taken in BOOKSTA by @mdemanateereads

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a month ago

September 15 new books; what’s going on your TBR?

#bookstagram #newbooktuesday #newbooks #newreleases #tbr taken in BOOKSTA by @mdemanateereads

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a month ago

Totally forgot to post after an excellent discussion of Wicked and the Wallflowr by Sarah MacLean at historical romance book club. Third time’s a charm and three is a fairy tale number so it was perfectly fitting this was my third read (first as an ARC, then revisiting for rec with Bridgerton Season 3, now book club). Wicked marks such an interesting moment in MacLean’s canon and I enjoyed getting to pay attention to new things this go around—like being more intentionally aware of the fairy tale references (Rumpelstiltskin is not one of my favorite fairy tales).

Also, the Japanese edition of Wicked and the Wallflower was one of the books I picked up in my 2024 Tokyo trip, and I was also lucky enough to get it signed by Sarah at her book tour last year.

I also, as usual, very much enjoyed all the observations and discussion the group brought to the table—especially as this was much different tonally than some of our recent reads. Which, was also kind of the point. @pammie823_reads and I intentionally put this back to back with the new Vasti, Scandal of the Summer, to dig into how similar themes are explored by different voices/points-of-view. And I am officially declaring #hotsmugglersummer a success.

And we hope to see you October 8th at @partnersincrimebookshop for our next book club where we’ll be digging in to Rebel by Beverly Jenkins!

#bookstagram #historicalromance #bookclub #romancereader by @mdemanateereads

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a month ago

Between sequels, adaptations, book clubs, reading projects and retellings that have been sitting on my TBR a little too long, my reread TBR is a little heftier than usual. This weekend I’m diving in to an (unsurprising) Heated Rivalry reread for my ongoing Game Changers reread series on YouTube. And if I feared I had said all I had to say already, the amount of discussion I’ve already recorded for the first 100 pages would beg to differ 😬

From there I definitely need to reread the Love Hypothesis for the movie and Rebel for book club yet this month. Victorian Psycho I need to revisit before the movie (and will probably talk about both page to screen adaptations). I need to reread Cemetery Boys and The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi to dive in to the segues—both of which I had preordered. And I need to revisit the Scarlet Pimpernel because I want to finally knock Genevieve Cogman’s vampire reimagining, Scarlet, off my TBR.

Nevermind all the new books. I better get to. What rereads do you have on your TBR?

#bookstagram #tbr #reread #readinglife #bookstack taken in BOOKSTA by @mdemanateereads

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a month ago

After a decade, Hawkins returns as dark, violent, and funny as expected. And it only took about 21% in to get a proper wtf reaction out of me. This go-around we’re exploring themes of man versus nature (and the ideas of senseless killing, whether it be roadkill or the planet) from the perspective of nature. As Blacktail goes on a journey to find the forest god, this becomes episodic and allegorical. I liked the ways the perspective made me slow down and reconsider what was being presented. And how this also impacted the ideas of magic in the book. What is magic. What is ghost. And when is a magic stick a gun. As the legend of Blacktail grows, and the narrative considers him more and more from the outside to mirror this, there were times it felt like maybe we wandered a little far afield thematically. Still, I came for Hawkins’ twisted imagination and did not leave disappointed. And I don’t consider myself someone particularly drawn to stories from the points of view of animals.

However, if you struggle with violence in your narratives, this is not going to be for you.

Thank you to Crown for the digital copy.

#bookstagram #bookreview #blacktail #scotthawkins #2026books taken in BOOKSTA by @mdemanateereads

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a month ago