Music Monday - Badflower "London"

Almost a stripped down song for Badflower, but I’m digging it.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Life Right Now #2

On my bedside table: I have the next three volumes of Alice and Borderland, a book about shipwrecks, and War and Peace (yes, War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy).

On my tv this week: J and I are in the middle of The Recruit S2, Severance S2, Shoresy S4, The Franchise S1, and Rivals S1. I’m watching Pantheon S1 and am absolutely hooked (J already watched it).

Listening to: I’ve been binging some Stray Kids, Bring Me the Horizon, The Warning, and Dead Poet Society this week

On the menu for this week:

• Monday - Pulled Pork Sandwiches

• Tuesday - Baked Potato Soup

• Wednesday - Kimchi Stew with Tuna

• Thursday - Rueben Pigs in a Blanket

• Friday - Pizza Night

• Saturday - Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese

• Sunday - Leftovers

On my to do list: Mostly I just need to stay on top of the logistical tasks and homeschool planning

Happening this week:

• Monday - Home Day

• Tuesday - Zoo Day; Dentist Appt (my permanent crown)

• Wednesday - Luminarium visit (before our membership expires)

• Thursday - Academic Co-op

• Friday - Nature hike at OPPD Arboretum; playdate at a friend’s house

• Saturday - Parent Info Meeting

• Sunday - Co-op Book Club

What I am creating: Mostly I’m just making plans. I want to get to my Memory Planner for January, but that might wait until next weekend.

My simple pleasures: A good book, time to organize and decorate my planner, no urgent messages

Looking around the house: Things are decent. I should vacuum the playroom today, but that’s the most pressing need.

From the camera: Coffee and a book before my meeting this morning

Their Vicious Darling by Nikki St. Crowe

Title: Their Vicious Darling (Vicious Lost Boys #3)

Author: Nikki St. Crowe

Publisher: Blackwell House LLC 2022

Genre: Romance

Pages: 248

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Finishing the Series

Where I Got It: Library

Spice Rating: 8

The Dark One has finally accepted me…just in time for everything to change. Because Vane’s brother, The Crocodile, has just arrived on Neverland soil and he’s not alone. He’s brought with him members of the royal Darkland family and they want Vane’s Death Shadow back at any cost.

Of course, Peter Pan, Vane, Kas and Bash, they’re all familiar with war. But war isn’t easy when love is on the line.

I know those vicious Lost Boys would do anything to protect me. But what if I’m not the one that needs saving?

As power shifts on the island and shadows are claimed, all five of us have to let go of who we were, if we have any chance of becoming who we are destined to be.

Ooohhhh Winnie’s got a shadow! This book has definitely been my favorite so far. We get more development in the overall big plot and the relationships between the characters. Never thought that I would say that Vane may just be my favorite. (I really thought I would gravitate toward Kas.) I loved seeing Winnie really stand up for herself and be confident in her abilities. I loved seeing Roc come into play and add another dynamic to the conflict. And we get to spend time with Hook and Smee. I cannot wait to see how this all ends.

Vicious Lost Boys:

• #1 The Never King

• #2 The Dark One

• #3 Their Vicious Darling

• #4 The Fae Princes

Next up on the TBR pile:

January 2025 Wrap-up

January TBR Pile (19/22):

1. Bookworms BC: Above the Bay of Angels by Rhys Bowen ✓

2. Bookworms BC: The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

3. Friend BC: Small Angels by Lauren Owen ✓

4. Nerdy Bookish Friends BC: A Song for a New Day by Sarah Pinsker ✓

5. Kid Book Club: The Last Mapmaker by Christina Soontorvant

6. Kid Read Aloud: The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis ✓

7. Kid Read Aloud: The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder ✓

8. Kid Read Aloud: The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien

9. Romance: Blame the Mistletoe by Dani Collins ✓

10. Romance: Hunting Adeline by HD Carlton ✓

11. Romance: Kiss the Girl by Zoraida Cordova ✓

12. Romance: The Never King by Nikki St. Crow ✓

13. Romance: The Roommate by Rosie Danan ✓

14. Romance: The Dark One by Nikki St. Crowe ✓

15. Fantasy: Apprentice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer ✓

16. Fantasy: A Ship of Bones and Teeth by Karina Halle ✓

17. Fantasy: The Last Bookstore on Earth by Lily Braun-Arnold ✓

18. Horror: The Gathering by CJ Tudor ✓

19. Scifi: Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow ✓

20. Scifi: Partials by Dan Wells ✓

21. Comic: Alice in Borderland Vol. 2 ✓

22. Comic: Alice in Borderland Vol. 3 ✓

1,000,000 Page Goal:

Monthly Total: 6442 pages
Pages Remaining: 184,896 pages

Current Read - The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas

Books I Gave Up On (0)

Books Bought/Received (7)

Half Price Books after Christmas sale!

• Horseman by Christina Henry

• The Albion Initiative by George Mann

• Frogkisser by Garth Nix

• The Swifts by Beth Lincoln

Book of the Month had some good selections for January. I had to get three.

• A Sea of Unspoken Things by Adrienne Young

• The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis

• Babylonia by Costanza Casati

UnRead Shelf Progress

• Starting Number: 308

• Books Read: 3

• Books Acquired: 7

• Books Unshelved: 22

• Finishing Number: 290

February TBR Pile:

1. Bookworms BC: The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

2. Friend BC: Shark Heart by Emily Habeck

3. Nerdy Bookish Friends BC: The Black God’s Drums by P. Djeli Clark

4. Kid Book Club: Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai

5. Kid Read Aloud: The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien

6. Kid Read Aloud: The Last Mapmaker by Christina Soontornvat

7. Romance: Their Vicious Darling by Nikki St. Crowe

8. Romance; The Fae Princes by Nikki St. Crowe

9. Romance: Temple of Swoon by Jo Segura

10. Horror: The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas

Movies Watched

• Enemy of the State - rewatch with the kids

• Venom 3

• Wicked

• The Idea of You - So much better than the book (and I hardly ever say that)

• Wallace and Gromit Vengeance Most Fowl

• A Family Affair - Very meh

• The Killer’s Game - So so bad…

• Greedy People

TV Shows Watched

• The Gentlemen S1 - finished

• Bad Monkey S1 - finished

• Wednesday S1 - finished

• SAS Rogue Heroes S2 - finished

• Below Deck Sailing Yacht

• Love Life S2 - finished

• Star Struck S3 - Somehow I left two episodes unwatched in this series…

• Monarch - finished

• The Franchise S1

• Severance S2

• Pantheon S1

• The Bachelor

Comments - A great start to my year. I read a ton of books, including three from my own physical unread shelf. I finished many television shows and J and I started some new ones (or at least new seasons). Hoping to keep all the momentum rolling through the rest of winter.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Last Bookstore on Earth by Lily Braun-Arnold

Title: The Last Bookstore on Earth

Author: Lily Braun-Arnold

Publisher: Delacorte Press 2025

Genre: YA Scifi

Pages: 320

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Cover Lover - Floral Elements

Where I Got It: Library

The world is about to end. Again.

Ever since the first Storm wreaked havoc on civilization as we know it, seventeen-year-old Liz Flannery has been holed up in an abandoned bookstore in suburban New Jersey where she used to work, trading books for supplies with the few remaining survivors. It’s the one place left that feels safe to her.

Until she learns that another earth-shattering Storm is coming . . . and everything changes.

Enter Maeve, a prickly and potentially dangerous out-of-towner who breaks into the bookstore looking for shelter one night. Though the two girls are immediately at odds, Maeve has what Liz needs—the skills to repair the dilapidated store before the next climate disaster strikes—and Liz reluctantly agrees to let her stay.

As the girls grow closer and undeniable feelings spring up between them, they realize that they face greater threats than the impending Storm. And when Maeve’s secrets and Liz’s inner demons come back to haunt them both, they find themselves fighting for their lives as their world crumbles around them.

My last book for January really landed with a thud for me. I was intrigued by this post-apocalyptic story set primarily in a bookstore. I was hoping for a great propulsive story full of great connectable characters. Instead, we get some really boring characters and absolutely no real plot development. I was willing to stick with the book to see where the characters went, but surprise it was nowhere. I was so incredibly bored with the book. As an added annoyance, I could not get over the accident that happens to Liz. There’s absolutely no way that the injury that happened would have seemingly healed on its own very quickly. Ridiculous. There’s also a lot about the storm that bothered me. It really felt like the author had a tiny kernel of an idea and then just smashed it together with an attempt at a character study book. It did not work for me at all.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Dark One by Nikki St. Crowe

Title: The Dark One (Vicious Lost Boys #2)

Author: Nikki St. Crowe

Publisher: Blackwell House 2022

Genre: Romance

Pages: 228

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Finishing the Series; Cover Lover - Skull

Where I Got It: Library

Spice Rating: 8

I spent most of my life feeling dead inside — until I met Peter Pan and the Lost Boys.

It wasn't until Pan and Neverland that I finally felt alive.

But things are not all full of magic and sunlight on the island. There's something darker and more sinister haunting the forest.

And worse, the fae queen and Captain Hook are ready to fight for control of Neverland and they will stop at nothing to get what they want.

War is brewing—can the Never King get his shadow back and assume his rightful throne? And if he does, where will I fit?

Or will all of Neverland be in jeopardy right along with my dark, twisted heart?

I wasn’t absolutely sold with the first book in this series, but thankfully the second one pulled me in more. We get more plot and characterization and less erotica scenes. Thank goodness! The first volume felt a bit more like reading a Penthouse letter than a good dark romance. We pivot to more of a focus on the increasing relationships between Winnie and the men and even between the men. We learn more about the islands and the shadows on the loose. I’m invested in this series now and cannot wait to see where it goes.

Vicious Lost Boys:

• #1 The Never King

• #2 The Dark One

• #3 Their Vicious Darling

• #4 The Fae Princes

Next up on the TBR pile:

A Ship of Bones and Teeth by Karina Halle

Title: A Ship of Bones and Teeth

Author: Karina Halle

Publisher: Karina Halle 2023

Genre: Romance Fantasy

Pages: 508

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Romanceopoly - The Lighthouse: Fairytale Retelling - The Little Mermaid

Where I Got It: Library

Spice Rating: 8

Princess Maren is a woman with a secret.

When she was just 16-years old, she sold her soul to the sea witch Edonia, giving up a life underwater in exchange for the love of Prince Aerik on land. But after a decade of abuse and misery inflicted by the cruel prince, Maren wants nothing more than to leave him and her royal role behind and find Edonia to reverse the spell.

An opportunity for escape presents itself when the prince and princess are traveling overseas and are taken hostage by a band of notorious pirates, led by the fearsome Captain Ramsay "Bones" Battista. Maren has heard the sordid stories about the infamous pirate--not only is his ship supposedly haunted and crewed by the damned, but that no prisoners ever survive. Fortunately for Maren, she learns that the captain also has a score to settle with the sea witch. With any luck, Maren may be able to get her old life back, even if it's being held in the captain's wicked hands.

But Ramsay gets more than he bargained for when he learns who--and what--Maren is, and that her appetite for revenge, freedom, and bloodlust rivals his.

Meanwhile Maren finds herself falling for the pirate's dark nature, even as she discovers that Ramsay has a secret more deadly than her own.

When it comes to the high seas, not all monsters lurk beneath the surface.

I grabbed this one as a dark, adult retelling of The Little Mermaid and it really hit the spot for me this week. I dove in not quite knowing what to expect, but very quickly I got my feet underneath me and the plot hit full steam. Trying to figure out exactly who Maren and Ramsay were was an added bonus to the storyline. We get a contentious relationship between our main characters until larger forces bring them together. I was fully immersed in the world and wanted to see more from all of the other characters. I must say that the steamy scenes are very steamy and very riské; be forewarned. While I really enjoyed this book, I might have actually been a bit sad that this is a standalone.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Currently #1

Reading: Currently in the middle of a Book of the Month, Unread Shelf book The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas. It’s the spooky ghost story that I was really needing this week.

Watching: J and I started watching Rivals S1 and I’m absolutely obsessed with the campy 80s drama. I cannot wait to see what happens next.

Listening: I put on a big music mix, but mostly it’s been podcasts. And in particular, it’s been You’re Wrong About. I am official in summer 2020 in their back catalog.

Making: Today it’s supposed to hit 57 degrees, but it’s been super cold for the last week or so. I’ve focused on making warm meals, dare I say comfort food.

Feeling: After a crap January, I am feeling so much better this week.

Planning: Enrichment Co-op starts in April and I have to hold all the informational parent meetings before then. They litter my calendar for February and March. Now to finish up my documentation.

Loving: My preferred breakfast this week has all been banana bread. I always forget how much I love it!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W19: Finally Back to Activities and Friends!

What We Studied

More of our week was spent in your usual flow with school, co-op, and activities. I think that we ended the week in a really good place, I did implement a more intentional independent work task list to help the boys get on a good track and move quickly. Looking forward to February.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur is primarily using Hearth and Story G5 for his language arts this year. We dove into a new read aloud and it’s been much better than the last one. As an added bonus it appears in Hearth and Story G5 and as a Build Your Library Lit Bite. And it’s our co-op book selection for this month. We also covered more grammar and extra language arts assignments.

• Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

• The Last Mapmaker by Christina Soontornvat

Quentin is primarily using Blossom & Root G1 for his language arts this year. We will pull some elements from Build Your Library Level 2 and random books that we have around the house. We got deeper into The Hobbit and are really enjoying it. Q is definitely liking it more than our last one.

• Poetry: Alphabestiary selected by Jane Yolen

• The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Math

Arthur is using Singapore’s Math in Focus Course 1. Effectively this is Singapore’s 6th grade math text. Arthur started the second book of the course, diving back into algebraic equations. From there, we’re pivoting to coordinate planes. I am really am liking how Singapore spends a lot of time on what the equations are actually telling us vs just jumping into solving.

• Math in Focus Course 1 Book A

Quentin is using Singapore’s Primary Mathematics Common Core edition 2B and 3A. We moved onto 3A starting slow to easy back into our lessons.

• Singapore Primary 3A

• Primarily Logic

Social Studies

Arthur is using Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 this year. Arthur moved onto the section about Australia and New Zealand. We really enjoyed this detour to place that often doesn’t get covered in history texts.

• Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1

• DK History

• DK Timelines of Everything

• DK Timelines of Everyone

• DK A Child Through Time

• Birrarung Wilam: A Story from Aboriginal Australia by Aunty Joy Murphy and Andrew Kelly

• Welcome To Country: A Traditional Aboriginal Ceremony by Aunty Joy Murphy

• Australia and Oceania: True Books: Geography: Continents by Mel Friedman

• You Wouldn’t Want to Be an 18th-Century British Convict!: A Trip to Australia You’d Rather Not Take by Meredith Costain

• Sun Mother Wakes the World by Diane Wolkstein

• Indigenous Australian Cultures by Mary Colson

• Great Barrier Reef by Martha London

• Uluru: Australia's Aboriginal Heart by Caroline Arnold

• Land of the Long White Cloud: Maori Myths, Tales and Legends by Kiri Te Kanawa and Michael Foreman

• New Zealand by Alicia Klepeis

Quentin is using History Quest Middle Times with Build Your Library Level 2 as his main history curriculum. This week we covered a chapter about two Indian Empires.

• History Quest Middle Times

• DK When on Earth?

• DK History

• DK Timelines of Everything

• DK Timelines of Everyone

• DK A Child Through Time

• Kingfisher Atlas of the Medieval World

• DK Explorers

The temps were downright frigid this week…

Science

Arthur is using RSO Biology 1 this year has the main science text. Our academic coop will also be using RSO Biology 1 as a basis for the fall and spring semester courses, so we will be just supplementing at home. We will also be doing some of Blossom & Root’s Book Seeds and various other small units in between. We did read some chapters from our Story of Science to keep up.

• RSO Biology 1

• Story of Science Vol. 3 by Joy Hakim

• Amazing Evolution: The Journey of Life by Anna Claybourne

Quentin is using RSO Earth & Environment and RSO Astronomy 1 as a base. Of course, we have a ton of extra science resources laying around the house. And I will be hosting some one-off science exploration days that align with the units. We moved on to lessons about galaxies, solar systems, and our sun. We are also still watching the PBS Eons videos here and there.

• RSO Earth and Environment

• DK First Earth Encyclopedia

• RSO Asttonomy 1

• DK Eyewitness Astronomy

• DK Space

• DK First Space Encyclopedia

• DK Eyewitness The Planets

• The Stuff Between the Stars: How Vera Rubin Discovered Most of the Universe by Sandra Nickel

• Solar System By the Numbers by Steve Jenkins

• Professor Astro Cat's Frontiers of Space by Dominic Walliman and Ben Newman

• The Book of Big Science Ideas by Freya Hardy

• Sun: One in a Billion by Stacy McAnulty

• 13 Planets: The Latest View of the Solar System by David A. Aguilar

• The Planets by Gail Gibbons

Academic Co-op

Another week of co-op and one our absent families rejoined us. So exciting to have them back with us! Arthur had a good day learning about neurotransmitters (expansion of week 1), food webs, and drawing techniques. For writer’s workshop, the kids did their first conference. It’s a learning process, but I’m really pleased by how they handled it. Q and I figured out a way to still do our read aloud and poetry. I feel like both boys accomplished so much in those four hours.

Art and Music

Art will be very sporadic this year, but we do have some fun excursions planned. And I will incorporate art projects into a lot of other subjects and unit studies.

For music, we are using Music Lab: We Rock! as our spine. Each week we will be learning about a different rock musician and focus on a particular song. I have also created Spotify playlists so we can listen on the go. We moved onto two artists: Pattie Smith and The Replacements. The boys were not huge fans of those artists, but it is always good to expand our musical horizons.

• Music Lab: We Rock!

• DK Music and How it Works

• DK The Arts

Field Trip/Activities

We attended board game club on Friday afternoon . It was a bit of a rough start (Arthur’s besties were not there), both boys settled in and played some games with other kids. I had a lovely time chatting with old, middle, and new homeschool friends. We will definitely be attending next month’s meeting.

High

Wednesday we restarted our Joslyn Art Explorers visits. The kids had a great time exploring color this month. And we visited one of the galleries that we haven’t gotten back into since the museum opened. I think we have now visited all of the galleries at least once. Love our art museum visits.

Low

Q ended up having a bit of an emotional time after board game club and we had to have a big conversation afterwards. It was a bit rough. But we made it through.

Next Week

• Continuing our current reads

• Moving forward with math lessons

• Traveling to Revolutionary France (A) and China (Q) for history

• Exploring the rocky planets for Q’s science

• Listening to Talking Heads

• Playing at an indoor playground to get our wiggles out

• Heading back to the dentist, thankfully this time for the kids’ cleaning appointments and not anything about me

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Roommate by Rosie Danan

Title: The Roommate (Shameless #1)

Author: Rosie Danan

Publisher: Berkley 2020

Genre: Romance

Pages: 325

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Romanceopoly - Starstruck Sweets (Celebrity); Cover Love - Need of a redesign

Where I Got It: Library

Spice Rating: 5

The Wheatons are infamous among the east coast elite for their lack of impulse control, except for their daughter Clara. She’s the consummate socialite: over-achieving, well-mannered, predictable. But every Wheaton has their weakness. When Clara’s childhood crush invites her to move cross-country, the offer is too tempting to resist. Unfortunately, it’s also too good to be true.

After a bait-and-switch, Clara finds herself sharing a lease with a charming stranger. Josh might be a bit too perceptive—not to mention handsome—for comfort, but there’s a good chance he and Clara could have survived sharing a summer sublet if she hadn’t looked him up on the Internet...
 
Once she learns how Josh has made a name for himself, Clara realizes living with him might make her the Wheaton’s most scandalous story yet. His professional prowess inspires her to take tackling the stigma against female desire into her own hands. They may not agree on much, but Josh and Clara both believe women deserve better sex. What they decide to do about it will change both of their lives, and if they’re lucky, they’ll help everyone else get lucky too.

Overall a cute romcom style romance featuring some great conversations about sex work. The set-up/meet cute is very contrived and silly, but once I got over that, I really fell into he story and the characters. Josh is a great male lead who really stays true to himself the entire story. I loved seeing Clara grow and change throughout the book. The steamy scenes were definitely steamy and fun. The third act break-up/conflict felt believable and sufficiently full of drama without being too cliched. I also loved seeing a male lead actually make amends for his actions. The ending was rushed and a bit too cliched for my tastes keeping the book from being a 5 star book. But in the end, I still really enjoyed this one.

Shameless

• #1 The Roommate

• #2 The Intimacy Experiment

Next up on the TBR pile:

A Song for a New Day by Sarah Pinsker

Title: A Song for a New Day

Author: Sarah Pinsker

Publisher: Penguin 2019

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 384

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: COYER; Quarter of a Century - 2019

Where I Got It: Amazon Kindle

In the Before, when the government didn't prohibit large public gatherings, Luce Cannon was on top of the world. One of her songs had just taken off and she was on her way to becoming a star. Now, in the After, terror attacks and deadly viruses have led the government to ban concerts, and Luce's connection to the world--her music, her purpose—is closed off forever. She does what she has to do: she performs in illegal concerts to a small but passionate community, always evading the law.

Rosemary Laws barely remembers the Before times. She spends her days in Hoodspace, helping customers order all of their goods online for drone delivery—no physical contact with humans needed. By lucky chance, she finds a new job and a new calling: discover amazing musicians and bring their concerts to everyone via virtual reality. The only catch is that she'll have to do something she's never done before and go out in public. Find the illegal concerts and bring musicians into the limelight they deserve. But when she sees how the world could actually be, that won’t be enough.

Nerdy Bookish Friends’ first selection of the year and it was a bit of a dud for me. I don’t actually think that this is a bad book at all. I just started reading it, got about halfway through, and realized that it put me in a terrible melancholy mood. I deeply felt the loneliness of both of the main characters as they navigated an isolated world. At times, I was very intrigued by how the world has changed since the pandemic. But… the story meandered and seemed to get stuck in places. More importantly, I was having a lot of trouble really connecting to Rosemary. She was so incredibly naive that I couldn’t even root for her. While I didn’t love the book, I am excited to discuss it with my online book friends.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Alice in Borderland Vol. 2-3

Title: Alice in Borderland Vol. 2

Author: Haro Aso

Publisher: VIZ Media LLC 2021

Genre: Comics

Pages: 344

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Finishing the Series

Where I Got It: Library

Eighteen-year-old Ryohei Arisu is sick of his life. School sucks, his love life is a joke, and his future weighs on him like impending doom. As he struggles to exist in a world that can’t be bothered with him, Ryohei feels like everything would be better if he were anywhere else. When a strange fireworks show transports him and his friends to a parallel world, Ryohei thinks all his wishes have come true. But this new world isn’t an empty paradise, it’s a vicious game. And the only way to survive is to play.

Life in Borderland can be grim, but after completing two games Arisu feels like he might be getting a handle on how his new world works. Chota’s and Shibuki’s visas are expiring soon, however, so the group doesn’t have time to be picky about their next match. And the arena they stumble upon is a lesson in just how treacherous the rules in Borderland can be.

Diving back into this series and it just doesn’t let up. This particular volume really hit me in the feels. I did not see the events coming at all. The game depicted was absolutely brutal. I was completely slack jawed by the end. I am obsessed with this series.

Title: Alice in Borderland Vol. 3

Author: Haro Aso

Publisher: VIZ Media LLC 2022

Genre: Comics

Pages: 344

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Finishing the Series

Where I Got It: Library

Eighteen-year-old Ryohei Arisu is sick of his life. School sucks, his love life is a joke, and his future weighs on him like impending doom. As he struggles to exist in a world that can’t be bothered with him, Ryohei feels like everything would be better if he were anywhere else. When a strange fireworks show transports him and his friends to a parallel world, Ryohei thinks all his wishes have come true. But this new world isn’t an empty paradise, it’s a vicious game. And the only way to survive is to play.

Aguni now has control of the Beach, and one of his first actions as king is to lock Ryohei in a room on one of the empty floors of the hotel to die of an expired visa. But Ryohei gets an unexpected stay of execution when the Beach becomes the arena for a brutal game of Hearts! Can he survive a witch hunt and get his visa extended, or has he just traded one terrible death for another?

And on to the next volume… with a change of venue and new characters. I wasn’t sold on the beach resort plot line, but it grew on me. The volume got even better when a game began at the beach. I cannot wait to see what happens next and how this particular game concludes.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• Academic Co-op is back on track and moving along into the spring semester. I’m very excited about helping the kids with their writing.

• I think that our terrible January might just be turning a corner. We’re healthy and school is going well.

• Yesterday’s visit to Joslyn Art Museum was delightful. We met a new friend and saw some great art. The museum is such a gem for our city.

• We finished a ton of shows this week and started a few new ones. Such great media available right now.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Small Angels by Lauren Owen

Title: Small Angels

Author: Lauren Owen

Publisher: Random House 2022

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 400

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: UnRead Shelf; Cover Lover - Silhouette or Shadow

Where I Got It: Book of the Month

The woods are stirring again. . . . 

Lucia and her sisters grew up on the edge of Mockbeggar Woods. They knew it well—its danger, but also its beauty. As a lonely teenager, Kate was drawn to these sisters, who were unlike anyone she’d ever met. But when they brought her into the woods, something dark was awakened, and Kate has never been able to escape the terrible truth of what happened there. 

Chloe has been planning her dream wedding for months. She has the dress, the flowers, and the perfect venue: Small Angels, a charming old church set alongside dense, green woods in the village that her fiancé, Sam, and his sister, Kate, grew up in. But days before the ceremony, Chloe starts to learn of unsettling stories about Small Angels and Mockbeggar Woods. And worse, she begins to see, smell, and hear things that couldn’t possibly be real. 

Now, Kate is returning home for the first time in years—for Sam and Chloe’s wedding. But the woods are stirring again, and Kate must reconnect with Lucia, her first love, to protect Chloe, the village, and herself. An unforgettable novel about the memories that hold us back and those that show us the way forward, this is storytelling at its most magical. Enter Small Angels, if you dare.

Based on the summary, I really thought that I would love this book. I’m all about gothic fantasies on the darker side. And the first 50 pages were very intriguing and sucked me in. But then the book and story really started to drag. I had the hardest trouble wanting to pick it back up. Chloe was such a hard character to connect to. I was interested into Kate’s backstory, but even that couldn’t keep my attention. I just didn’t care about the characters at all.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Partials by Dan Wells

Title: Partials (Partials Sequence #1)

Author: Dan Wells

Publisher: Balzar + Bray 2013

Genre: YA Scifi

Pages: 528

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; Quarter of a Century - 2013

Where I Got It: Book Outlet April 2020

Humanity is all but extinguished after a war with Partials—engineered organic beings identical to humans—has decimated the population. Reduced to only tens of thousands by a weaponized virus to which only a fraction of humanity is immune, the survivors in North America have huddled together on Long Island. But sixteen-year-old Kira is determined to find a solution. As she tries desperately to save what is left of her race, she discovers that that the survival of both humans and Partials rests in her attempts to answer questions about the war's origin that she never knew to ask.

Playing on our curiosity of and fascination with the complete collapse of civilization, Partials is, at its heart, a story of survival, one that explores the individual narratives and complex relationships of those left behind, both humans and Partials alike—and of the way in which the concept of what is right and wrong in this world is greatly dependent on one's own point of view.

This book has been sitting on my shelves for almost five years now. I was searching for something fairly breezy with lots of action and grabbed onto this one. Thankfully, it delivered on the promise. We get a very fast paced scifi post-apolyptic novel featuring lots of action and surprisingly, lots of science. As this is young adult, the main characters were annoying at times, but that’s to be expected. I also thought that Wells’s writing was fairly simplistic and immature at times. But the only part that I really disliked was the teenage romance angle. Truly it served no purpose whatsoever. By the end of the book, I was invested in the series. I want to find out what happens between the humans and the Partials after the revelations in this volume.

Partials Sequence:

• #1 Partials

• #2 Fragments

• #3 Ruins

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W18: Back to a Normal Week

What We Studied

We got over the sickness and went back to our usual schedule. We had some school days, I had a dentist appointment, and we restarted co-op.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur is primarily using Hearth and Story G5 for his language arts this year. We finished our current read aloud. I’m not sure that I really enjoyed it and may just skip this book in a few years when Quentin enters the 5th grade. We also covered more grammar and extra language arts assignments.

• The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

• Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

Quentin is primarily using Blossom & Root G1 for his language arts this year. We will pull some elements from Build Your Library Level 2 and random books that we have around the house. We finished one classic and started another classic. I must say that I’m always so surprised how bad of a writer I think C.S. Lewis is when compared to J.R.R. Tolkien.

• Poetry: Alphabestiary selected by Jane Yolen

• The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis

• The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Math

Arthur is using Singapore’s Math in Focus Course 1. Effectively this is Singapore’s 6th grade math text. Arthur started the second book of the course, diving back into algebraic equations. I am really am liking how Singapore spends a lot of time on what the equations are actually telling us vs just jumping into solving.

• Math in Focus Course 1 Book A

Quentin is using Singapore’s Primary Mathematics Common Core edition 2B and 3A. We moved onto 3A starting slow to easy back into our lessons.

• Singapore Primary 3A

• Primarily Logic

Social Studies

Arthur is using Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 this year. Even though we covered two sections, these two sections were mostly a review focusing on North America and the American Revolution.

• Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1

• DK History

• DK Timelines of Everything

• DK Timelines of Everyone

• DK A Child Through Time

• A Spy Called James: The True Story of James Lafayette, Revolutionary War Double Agent, by Anne Rockwell

• Anna Strong: A Spy During the American Revolution by Sarah Glenn Marsh Eliza: The Story of Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, by Margaret McNamara

• George vs. George: The American Revolution As Seen from Both Sides by Rosalyn Schanzer

• Who Was Daniel Boone? by Sydelle Kramer

Quentin is using History Quest Middle Times with Build Your Library Level 2 as his main history curriculum. This week we covered a chapter about the Kingdom of Mali. Lots of fun connections to other chapters in this one.

• History Quest Middle Times

• DK When on Earth?

• DK History

• DK Timelines of Everything

• DK Timelines of Everyone

• DK A Child Through Time

• Kingfisher Atlas of the Medieval World

• DK Explorers

Science

Arthur is using RSO Biology 1 this year has the main science text. Our academic coop will also be using RSO Biology 1 as a basis for the fall and spring semester courses, so we will be just supplementing at home. We will also be doing some of Blossom & Root’s Book Seeds and various other small units in between. Co-op restarted and the first week was focused on vocabulary and introducing the ideas of ecology and evolution. We did read some chapters from our Story of Science to keep up.

• RSO Biology 1

• Story of Science Vol. 3 by Joy Hakim

Quentin is using RSO Earth & Environment and RSO Astronomy 1 as a base. Of course, we have a ton of extra science resources laying around the house. And I will be hosting some one-off science exploration days that align with the units. We started into our large space unit using RSO Astronomy as our backbone. We are also still watching the PBS Eons videos here and there.

• RSO Earth and Environment

• DK First Earth Encyclopedia

• Boy, Were We Wrong About the Solar System by Kathleen V. Kudlinski

• RSO Asttonomy 1

• The Big Beyond: The Story of Space Travel by James Carter

• DK Eyewitness Astronomy

• The Big Beyond: The Story of Space Travel by James Carter

• Find the Constellations by H.A. Rey

• Galaxies, Galaies! by Gail Gibbons

• The Book of Big Science Ideas by Freya Hardy

• DK Space

• Once Upon a Starry Night by Jacqueline Mitton

• What Miss Mitchell Saw in the Stars by Hayley Barrett

Academic Co-op

We restarted co-op this week with some big changes. The changes created a lot of stress for me, but the remaining members managed to pull together and successfully have a normal day. This semester we are learning 2D Design and Art History, Biology (focusing on ecology and evolution), and Writing Workshop. Because of some scheduling, I ended up teaching Homeroom and Closing along with my actual class of Writing Workshop. We focused on neurotransmitters and ways to push our brain into releasing those chemicals.

Art and Music

Art will be very sporadic this year, but we do have some fun excursions planned. And I will incorporate art projects into a lot of other subjects and unit studies.

For music, we are using Music Lab: We Rock! as our spine. Each week we will be learning about a different rock musician and focus on a particular song. I have also created Spotify playlists so we can listen on the go. We moved onto the next artist: The Clash! Arthur has decided that he likes them better than The Ramones while Quentin prefers The Ramones.

• Music Lab: We Rock!

• DK Music and How it Works

• DK The Arts

Field Trip/Activities

None this week

High

It was so nice to get back into a normal schedule for us. Hopefully next week we can re-introduce activities to our weekly schedule.

Low

I had a dentist appointment. Those are always a schedule disruption. The lingering pain impacted my ability to read with the kids and teach.

Next Week

• Attempting to read around my dental issues

• Moving forward with math lessons

• Traveling to Australia (A) and Indian (Q) for history

• Exploring the solar system for Q’s science

• Listening to The Replacements and Patti Smith

• Appreciating the art museum

• Going on a nature hike

• Playing some board games with friends

Next up on the TBR pile:

Music Monday - Anberlin "High Stakes"

A new singer and slightly new sound for Anberlin. Another early 2000s band coming back!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Life Right Now #1

On my bedside table: I’ve got a stack of library books to prioritize. Not quite sure which one I want to read first.

On my tv this week: We finished up SAS Rogue Heroes S2. I finished Star Struck S3, Monarch S1, and Love Life S2.

Listening to: Nothing too interesting. I have had Dead Poets Society on repeat lately.

On the menu for this week:

• Monday - Kofta Patty Pitas

• Tuesday - Black Bean Soup

• Wednesday - Texas Cheese Fries

• Thursday - Snack Dinner

• Friday - Caribbean Salmon Quinoa Bowls

• Saturday - Burritos

• Sunday - Prosciutto and Fig Pizzas

On my to do list: The only thing I’m thinking about right now is getting my tooth issue taken care of. I got a temporary crown last week while they make my permanent one, but now my temp one has come off. Hopefully tomorrow the dentist can fit me in to fix the temp in the between time. I’m so very annoyed by this situation and it’s ramped up my anxiety to the highest levels.

Happening this week:

• Monday - Hopefully a dentist appointment

• Tuesday - Home day

• Wednesday - Joslyn Art Museum

• Thursday - Academic Co-op; Co-op Happy Hour

• Friday -Fontenelle Forest Hike; Board Game Club

• Saturday - Home Day

• Sunday - Nerdy Bookish Friends Book Club

What I am creating: Nothing much. I have been working on some trip plans, but something too creative.

My simple pleasures: Iced tea, cheesecake, propulsive reads

Looking around the house: After so much sickness, the house was a bit messy and cluttered. I spent a lot of time yesterday cleaning things up and putting things away. I feel so much better.

From the camera: A entire week with no pictures…

Apprentice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

Title: Apprentice to the Villain (Assistant and the Villain #2)

Author: Hannah Nicole Maehrer

Publisher: Entangled 2024

Genre: Romance (lite)

Pages: 368

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Romanceopoly - Full Moon Adventure; Cover Lover - No People

Where I Got It: Library

Spice Rating: 3

Evie Sage has never been happier to be the assistant to The Villain. Who would have thought that working for an outrageously handsome (shhh, bad for his brand) evil overlord would be so rewarding? Still, the business of being bad is demanding, the forces of good are annoyingly persistent, and said forbidding boss is somewhat…er, out-of-evil-office.

But Rennedawn is in grave trouble, and all signs—Kingsley’s included—point to catastrophe. Something peculiar is happening with the kingdom’s magic, and it’s made The Villain’s manor vulnerable to their enemies...including their nemesis, the king.

Now it’s time for Evie to face her greatest challenge: protecting The Villain’s lair, all of his nefarious works, and maybe (provided no one finds out) the entire kingdom. No pressure, Evie.

It’s time to step out of her comfort zone and learn new skills. Like treason. Dagger work. Conspiring with the enemy. It’s all so…so…delightfully fun.

But what happens when the assistant to The Villain is ready to become his apprentice?

While I absolutely adored the first book in this series, this particular one really suffered from middle of the series syndrome. It felt like the story alternately rushed the plot forward and stagnated the key relationship between Trystan and Evie. Mainly I was super frustrated about the stagnation section. I love Trystan and Evie and of course we are supposed to be rooting for them as a couple. But… I’m not at all convinced that they should be together. Their complete inability to speak to each other was extra annoying. I wasn’t expecting the second book to see them get a HEA, but I would have liked to see real growth in their relationship. The plot and larger storyline was interesting, but I did get a bit annoyed by the amount of coincidences in the book. I’ll be continuing the series, but I’m not quite as desperate to get the next volume when it publishes in August.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Never King by Nikki St. Crowe

Title: The Never King (Vicious Lost Boys #1)

Author: Nikki St. Crowe

Publisher: Blackwell House 2022

Genre: Romance

Pages: 192

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: She Reads Romance - Dark; Fairytale Retellings - Peter Pan

Where I Got It: Library

Spice Rating: 8

For two centuries, all of the Darling women have disappeared on their 18th birthday. Sometimes they’re gone for only a day, some a week or a month. But they always return broken.

Now, on the afternoon of my 18th birthday, my mother is running around the house making sure all the windows are barred and the doors locked.

But it’s pointless.

Because when night falls, he comes for me. And this time, the Never King and the Lost Boys aren’t willing to let me go.

Finally picked up this series after my interest in darker romance. I am a bit disappointed, but not enough to stop reading the series. Really this is very focused on the steamy scenes as opposed to plot or really characterization. We dive immediately into the world and have to very quickly understand what is happening without a lot of explanation. As the book progresses, we get some little bits, but then we focus on the physical aspect again. Winnie is not my favorite, but I am very interested in all the men involved. I really want to get more backstories and world building in the next book.

Vicious Lost Boys:

• #1 The Never King

• #2 The Dark One

• #3 Their Vicious Darling

• #4 The Fae Princes

Next up on the TBR pile: