{Blogtember} My Favorite Etsy Shops

It's day seven of Blogtember, and today's prompt is: Share links to your favorite online shops, preferably with a few photos of your favorite items in each shop. I am a bit of an online shopping addict - I don't yet own a car, so shopping online makes things a whole lot easier. Lately, I've been really into Etsy, so I decided that I would use this post to showcase a few of my favorite Etsy shops, in no particular order:

Rocky Top Soap Shop // I love these homemade soaps! My favorite item is 'The Grit' exfoliating bar, made with coffee grounds & black poppy seeds - it feels amazing!

Sonu Designs // Her jewelry is beautiful! I keep getting complements anytime I wear my bird's nest necklace, and have already gifted items purchased from this store.

Bethy Designs // Beth makes some of the cutest bookmarks I have ever seen - my goal is to own them all, but so far I only have her Merlin set.

Frostbeard Studio // Bookish candles, like Dumbledore's Office (cedar wood, vanilla, fireplace, & lemon) & Sherlock's Study (sweet pipe tobacco, cherry wood & fresh rain)

I'm always on the look-out for new shops, so if you have any favorite Etsy stores, please list them in the comments and I'll check them out!

Kiss of Steel by Bec McMaster (London Steampunk #1)

Amazon | Goodreads

Most people avoid the dreaded Whitechapel district. For Honoria Todd, it's the last safe haven. But at what price?

Blade is known as the master of the rookeries—no one dares cross him. It's been said he faced down the Echelon's army single-handedly, that ever since being infected by the blood-craving he's been quicker, stronger, and almost immortal.

When Honoria shows up at his door, his tenuous control comes close to snapping. She's so...innocent. He doesn't see her backbone of steel—or that she could be the very salvation he's been seeking.

Honoria Todd is a young woman who is just trying to care of her younger brother and sister after their father's death. After she loses her job, however, she is left having to ask the blue-blood, Blade, for help. But there are strange things occurring in Whitechapel, and soon it is discovered that a full-fledged vampire is on the lose, blood-thirsty, murderous and hiding in the darkest corners of the district - and it seems to be drawn to Honoria. As if that weren't the least their problems, it seems that the Duke of Vickers, who infected Blade with the blood-craving virus in the first place, is after both Blade AND Honoria. Does Blade have what it takes to keep Honoria safe? And just what ties does she have to Vickers and the vampire in the first place?

I picked up a copy of this for my kindle because it happened to fit the requirements for a reading challenge I've been participating in & sounded intriguing, but I must say, I did not anticipate that I would love this as much as I did! The writing was absolutely brilliant - I was expecting this to take a while to get through, but I found myself breezing through it. The plot was gripping, the romance was actually steamy and not cheesy, and the characters were very likable.

Honoria may have been a bit daft in that she was too proud to admit when things were no longer in her control, but her heart was always in the right place, and she worked hard to hold her family together on her own. I enjoyed seeing how her relationship with Blade developed - she grew up with prejudices towards those infected with the blood-craving, but soon found herself having to rely on Blade despite her misgivings towards him. It was interesting to see how her trust in him began to strengthen, and I loved their quarreling and bantering throughout the novel. They were great together, and Blade was definitely hot!

In my minds eye, Blade looked a lot like Hook from Once Upon A Time...

The vampire lore in the novel was also a lot of fun to read about, and was different than anything I've come across so far in other vampire novels. Apparently, when one is infected with the blood-crave virus by ingesting the blood of another infected, they gain heightened senses, healing abilities, strength, and a hankering for blood, but they aren't considered vampires, they're considered blue-bloods. Vampires are what blue-bloods later turn into, once the "fade" starts to kick in and they begin mentally and physically deteriorating, until the human part of them has completely vanished and all that's left is a monster. This eventually happens to all blue-bloods, and sounds terrifying.

At any rate, what I'm really excited for is reading more about Honoria's sister, Lena, and the verwulfen, Will (one of Blade's best friends). I just found out that book two is going to focus on them, and I can't wait to get started on reading their story! Will was abandoned as a child when his mother discovered he was a werewolf, so he harbors animosity and a strong distrust towards the fairer sex - I'm curious to see how Lena ends up cracking through that shell. If you're a fan of paranormal romances I highly recommend that you check out this series - it's already become a favorite of mine! 5 out of 5 stars.

{Follow Friday} Bookshelf Tour

Follow Friday, or Feature & Follow, is a meme hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. The premise is for bloggers to get to know more about other bloggers, and to keep in touch with each other while also discovering new blogs. This week's prompt:

Bookshelf Tour: Give us a tour of your bookshelf!

I'm posting this late because I happened to be fixing my bookshelf today - a couple of the shelves were in dire need of nails, so I had to fix it up and do a little reorganizing. I don't often buy physical copies of books like I used to because I don't really have much space for them right now. I'd like to buy some better bookshelves in the future, but for now, I've just got the one bookshelf and some books that are in a box in my closet. Here's the shelf that's in my room right now:

I also took a few close-ups of the shelves, in case you're interested in seeing what books I have. The top of my bookshelf doesn't really have anything book-related - just a lamp, jewelry box, perfumes and candles, so I'll leave that out. Here are my shelves from top to bottom:

And yes, I had to out some stuff underneath the last shelf to help support it, just in case the nails crap-out on me again. Nothing fancy, but it'll do for now. For the most part I've been getting the majority of my books for my Kindle, in an effort to hold-off on buying physical books until I have shelves that can actually support them. When I eventually get them, I'll do another bookshelf tour.

What's on your bookshelf? Feel free to link up to your posts in the comments - even if it's an old one. I love seeing what others have on their bookshelves!

{Blogtember} If I Could Do Anything I Wanted For 3 Months...

Today is the second day of Blogtember, and the prompt is as follows: If you could take three months off from your current life and do anything in the world, what would you do? (bonus points for fun photos from Pinterest, but don't forget to cite the source!) 

*Click The Images To View Their Source*

I'd like to travel all over the world in my lifetime, but at the moment, if I could go wherever I wanted for three months, I'd go to India.

I would love to walk the streets of India, and go shopping at some street markets.

My favorite type of food is Indian food. I'm a vegan, so there are a lot of choices available, since a large portion of Indians are vegetarian. I love the spices and flavors that are found in Indian cuisine, and I especially enjoy eating curry - yum!

I'd also love to participate in Holi, the festival of color:

And, of course, I'd have to check out their attractions. I can't go to India without visiting places such as the Taj Mahal, now can I?

I know that three months wouldn't be enough time to see everything I'd like to see in India, but it would definitely be a good first-time visit. And of course, since this is a book blog, I'm throwing in a few books that I'd probably take on the trip:

  

So, if you could do whatever you'd like to for three whole months, what would you do?

The End Games by T. Michael Martin

Amazon | Goodreads

It happened on Halloween. The world ended. And a dangerous Game brought it back to life.

Seventeen-year-old Michael and his five-year-old brother, Patrick, have been battling monsters in The Game for weeks.

In the rural mountains of West Virginia, armed with only their rifle and their love for each other, the brothers follow Instructions from the mysterious Game Master. They spend their days searching for survivors, their nights fighting endless hordes of “Bellows”—creatures that roam the dark, roaring for flesh. And at this Game, Michael and Patrick are very good.

But The Game is changing. The Bellows are evolving. The Game Master is leading Michael and Patrick to other survivors—survivors who don’t play by the rules. And the brothers will never be the same.

I had mixed feelings about this book. I started out pretty excited, because the idea of some sort of dystopian society in which people are forced to fight off zombies was pretty intriguing, but I soon discovered that the author chose to go in a completely different direction with the plot than I had been expecting. Not that it was a bad thing - I like when plot-lines unfold in unexpected ways, but this whole book reminded me of a story I'd seen before on film:

Basically, the novel was about a teenage boy who was doing anything he could to protect his special-needs little brother from the realities of a zombie apocalypse, in a style similar to how Roberto Benigni's character, Guido, protects his son from the horrors of the holocaust in the movie Life Is Beautiful. It was interesting to see how Martin applied this "game" scenario to his novel, but I do feel that it got a bit dry towards the middle of the story. I found myself losing interest almost halfway through, and at some point I actually had to force myself to continue reading, which surprised me.

Luckily, the novel got really suspenseful towards the end - there were some major mutations occurring with the zombie virus, which successfully freaked me out. Michael also started to develop more as a character, and started to realize that he was capable of making some big mistakes. I don't want to give out any major spoilers here, but I do want to say that I felt the ending was just too unrealistic for my liking. I've read a lot of zombie novels, and while I always root for the main characters, I don't always enjoy it when they seem to have every ounce of crazy-luck on their side.

Because of the "dry areas" in the story combined with some really hard-to-believe moments, I give this book 3.5 out of 5 stars. The brothers had a cute relationship, and the mutated zombies were creepy-fun to read about, but the story didn't have enough of a punch to have really stood out for me. I'm still glad to have read it, though, so don't be afraid to give it a try.

{Blogtember} Where I Come From

It's the first day of Blogtember, and today's prompt is all about where I come from: Describe where or what you come from. The people, the places, and/or the factors that make up who you are. I think that a big part of who I am has to do with the city I was raised in - El Paso, Texas. I grew up right on the border, with a Mexican mother (from Torreón) and a father from New Jersey (whose grandfather had emigrated from Ireland). El Paso is a very large, friendly, and laid-back city with a lot of culture and a strong sense of Hispanic pride. I'm always proud to say that I'm from El Paso, because it makes me feel as though I'm part of a special club. "Oh, you're from El Paso? I've been there once - I ate at Chico's Tacos."

My Mom & Dad

My family is pretty large - I grew up as number six out of seven kids, four boys and three girls (not counting two older half-sisters who live in a different city). That's a lot under one roof, especially when you only have one bathroom. Still, I always had someone around to talk to or fight with (and yes, with so many of us, we fight a lot), and my parents never had to worry that any of us would grow up spoiled, since hand-me-downs and sharing were the norm for us.

My father passed away the summer before my senior year of high school, so the photo on the right is the only photo I have on my computer of my parents together. Digital cameras were still new to me then.

Oldest To Youngest: Martin, Tommy, Bobby, Brian, Elizabeth, Me, Angelica

As soon as I graduated high school, I chose to go to college in San Antonio, as I wanted to experience life away from home for the first time. I had never really left El Paso at all before, so I really enjoyed exploring more of Texas. I even spent a semester abroad in London, England, and did some traveling to other European cities during the weekends. I think that being a part of such a large family and not getting to travel as a child really played a big factor in my wanting to go abroad - I yearned to do something independent for once, and experience new cultures (as well as learn more about the Irish part of my family tree since I was close enough to visit the country easily). I still hope to travel more in the future.

The home I grew up in - if you can see it behind all the trees...

But for now, I have graduated college and am back in El Paso. I don't know what the future holds for me, but no matter where I travel, I will always be glad to have my family and my city to return to.

This is my first Blogtember post.

If you're interested in participating in Blogtember, please click on the button below:

{Blogtember}

Jessica @ Sweet Green Tangerine wrote about a blogging event taking place this September that focuses on you as a person. The event, Blogtember, is being hosted by Jenni @ Story of My Life, if you'd like to check it out. While I enjoy blogging about books, I'd like to start blogging about a few more meaningful things as well, and I thought that by joining in this event, I'd be able to connect with my followers more by showing them more of the gal behind the blog. Don't worry, I'll still be book blogging throughout the month as well, but you may also see a few more personal posts this month which will correlate with the Blogtember topics. I may not participate in every post, but I'd like to try as many as I can. Here's what's on the posting schedule for this month:

Tuesday, Sept. 3: Describe where or what you come from. The people, the places, and/or the factors that make up who you are.

Wednesday, September 4: If you could take three months off from your current life and do anything in the world, what would you do? (bonus points for fun photos from Pinterest, but don't forget to cite the source!)

Thursday, September 5: Pass on some useful advice or information you learned and always remembered. 

Friday, September 6: A story about a time you were very afraid.

Monday, September 9: Take this short personality test and respond to your results. (at the end, find the detailed profile of your personality account - click "click to view" under "You" and "self awareness and personal growth." You can even google your type and find more info on it!)

Tuesday, September 10: Describe a distinct moment when your life took a turn.

Wednesday, September 11: Share links to your favorite online shops, preferably with a few photos of your favorite items in each shop.

Thursday, September 12: Discuss ways that blogging or social media has changed you.

Friday, September 13: A self portrait

Monday, September 16: Write a public love letter to someone in your life. (It doesn't necessarily need to be romantic.)

Tuesday, September 17: A memory you would love to relive.

Wednesday, September 18: Only photos

Thursday, September 19: Creative writing day: write a (very short) fictional story that starts with this sentence: "To say I was dreading the dinner party would be the understatement of the century."

The story does not necessarily need to have a conclusion - you can leave your readers wishing for more!

Friday, September 20: React to this term: comfort. 

Monday, September 23: A "life lately" post. What you're up to, how you're feeling, how you're doing on your goals, etc. Bonus points for great photos!

Tuesday, September 24: Review a book, place, or product.

Wednesday, September 25: Write about a time you screwed up - a mistake you made. 

Thursday, September 26: Go to a coffee shop. Order a favorite drink. Write about what makes you happy and what makes you sad. Or write about anything you'd like! Bonus points for including a photo from the coffee shop. (I recommend downloading Ommwriter and bringing headphones along!) *if you can't make it to a coffee shop, at least leave your usual space and write someplace new.

Friday, September 27: An anonymous letter to your Facebook friends. Be as snarky as you'd like. (but don't include people's real names.) 

Monday, September 30: Share a photo of something old. Maybe something that has personal history for you, that was passed down to you, and that has special meaning to you. Tell us about it and why it's special.

I can't wait to get started on some of these posts! If you're interested in joining in, please let me know in the comments so that I can know to check out your posts - I'd love to learn more about my fellow book bloggers! It's a fairly laid-back event, as well - you don't have to post on every topic, and you can be as creative as you'd like with your posts. Check out all the info and rules HERE, if you're curious.