Series I Need to Finish/ Series Crackdown TBR

Series Crackdown is a readathon between 9^th-18^thFebruary where readers can attempt to finish their unread or unfinished book series’ on their shelves. So, here is a list of all the completed series I have on my shelves that I either have not read or that I have not finished yet:

The Caster Chronicles by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

I think that it is best to go into the first book in this series not knowing much so here is a brief synopsis: this series follows the perspective of a male teenager who wishes to escape his small town. He meets a girl that changes everything. She is cursed.

I have read the first two books in this series (there are four altogether) and I remember really enjoying them and reading them very quickly. However, it was a long time ago so I am interested to see if I still feel the same. I did have some issues with the female protagonist in the second book but the other characters were likeable and the storyline was still intriguing. The stakes seemed to increase in the sequel. Once I finish this series, I can start reading the spin off series.

Guest Series: Mental Health & Creativity. A Writer Comes to Terms with Grief by Rosanna Leo

Hello everyone, I decided to start a guest series for people to talk about how their mental health affects their creative work and life and how they deal with it. Mental health is a topic that is close to my heart, and so is creativity. By doing this, I hope that some people will find comfort in the words of others as I have done so before and still do. I am so grateful to everyone who has offered to write for this series so far.

Our first guest writer is Rosanna Leo, a multi-published author of contemporary and paranormal romance. Winner of the Reader’s Choice 2015 in Paranormal Romance at The Romance Reviews, Rosanna draws on her love of mythology for her books on Greek gods, selkies and shape shifters.

From Toronto, Canada, Rosanna occupies a house in the suburbs with her long-suffering husband, their two hungry sons and a tabby cat named Sweetie. When not writing, she can be found haunting dusty library stacks or planning her next star-crossed love affair.

A library employee by day, she is honored to be a member of the league of naughty librarians who also happen to write romance. Please find her social media links at the end of the post.

The Dating Debate by Chris Cannon Review

How Books Have Become Such a Large Part of my Life

When I was a child I loved doing book reviews for school, it was so fun talking about a book and designing the pages of my workbook. However, one day when I was slightly older, I was reading a Sabrina the Teenage Witch book (one of my favourite television programmes) and my teacher said that it was rubbish and that I should not be reading it. Instead, I was given The Railway Children which as a child, I did not enjoy. This put me off reading for a long time (and is why I am an advocate for letting children read what they want to read because they are still reading). I ended up not enjoying reading books for class and missing years of reading so many books. I remember picking up Twilight, I think because everyone was reading it. Then my friends introduced me to manga which I really enjoyed and then I progressed on to reading more young adult and adult fiction. During this time, I was writing. I had written a poem in class and got the bug for it. I think I loved poetry because I was writing about what I saw in the world around me and putting it into a rhythm that sounded beautiful.  Finally, I had found my talent, something that I enjoyed and that I could do. I started writing short stories and larger ones. I remember writing what I thought at the time was a whole novel, in fifteen days, and then realising that there was a massive plot hole right at the beginning of the story. I kept reading and writing. I enjoyed reading because I have always loved stories and it still seems so magical to me that a whole world can be contained within a book. I love writing because when I write it feels like I’m pulling something from deep within me; I am doing something that feels like me. It is hard work which uses a lot of mental energy but I love it. It feels wonderful to write and although it is not always easy, I would not change it. In fact, a world without writing seems so sad to me.