Sunday Post #509: Spooky Books

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

Review: Sakamoto Days (Vol. 11) by Yuto Suzuki

Title: Sakamoto Days: Vol. 11

Series: Sakamoto Days #11

Previous books in this series: Sakamoto Days #1 | Sakamoto Days #2 | Sakamoto Days #3 | Sakamoto Days #4 | Sakamoto Days #5 | Sakamoto Days #6 | Sakamoto Days #7 | Sakamoto Days #8 | Sakamoto Days #9 | Sakamoto Days #10

Author: Yuto Suzuki

Genre: YA, manga, adventure

Publication date: April 2024

Published by: VIZ Media

Source: Borrowed from library

Add it on Goodreads

Buy it: Amazon | B&N

Synopsis: Taro Sakamoto was once a legendary hit man considered the greatest of all time. Bad guys feared him! Assassins revered him! But then one day he quit, got married, and had a baby. He’s now living the quiet life as the owner of a neighborhood store, but how long can Sakamoto enjoy his days of retirement before his past catches up to him?!

When X’s forces attack the JCC, all hell breaks loose! While Satoda Sensei faces off with Kanaguri to protect the students, Sakamoto and Shin rush to secure Amane’s grandfather. But the whole situation gets even more hairy when Club Jam hypnotizes the entire school!

My rating: ★★★★⯪

Things are going all sorts of sideways at the JCC 😬 Which actually made for some really good fights, which I love! I love the action in this series! It’s always so fun!

Review: Menacing Manor (Sinister Summer #4) by Kiersten White

Title: Menacing Manor

Series: Sinister Summer #4

Previous books in this series: Wretched Waterpark (#1) | Vampiric Vacation (#2) | Camp Creepy (#3)

Author: Kiersten White

Genre: Middle Grade, mystery, humor

Publication date: May 2023

Published by: Delacorte Press

Source: Borrowed from library

Add it on Goodreads

Buy it: Amazon | B&N | Book Outlet | Thrift Books

Synopsis: After escaping from Edgaren’t and Dr. Jay, the Sinister-Winterbottoms and their friends arrive at Stein Manor Science Camp. They all work together to distract the friendly teenage camp director so they can explore and look for clues about where their parents might be.

Meanwhile, Theo and Alexander settle on a daring plan. They know exactly where Edgaren’t is going to be: coming for them, and the books. This time, they’ll be ready. This time, they’ll get answers. And this time, they won’t trust the adult in charge, which is easy enough when it’s enormous, lurking, unfriendly Mr. Frank. But as they get closer to opening the books and their parents’ histories, an unexpected foe is watching everything they do. . . .

Fake volcanoes! Real sea caves! Strangely modified frogs! Startling betrayal! And a lightning-struck manor! all combine for the electrifying penultimate Sinister Summer adventure.

My rating: ★★★★☆

This summer is going to be strange and scary no matter what until we figure everything out.

This book was so fun! This whole series has been a blast so far! I particularly liked this one because of all the Frankenstein references. All the references to classic horror novels have been so fun and have honestly made me want to read the original books.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #475: Spooky Season?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

Sunday Post #508: It's Been a Minute...

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

Monthly Wrap-Up: August 2026

I had a really good reading month. It doesn't feel like it because I only read 4 books (1630 pages, which is about 600 pages more than the previous month), but I did!

• 2 were full-length novels, and 2 were manga
• All 4 were part of a series
• I finished 1 series
• 1 book I purchased, 2 were from the library, and 1 from Netgalley
• 3 were finished copies, and 1 ARC
• 3 were physical books, and 1 ebook
• 1 was 4.5⭐, and 3 were 4⭐
• All 4 were traditionally published
• All 4 were by previously read authors
• 2 were YA, and 2 were adult
• All 6 were fiction
• 2 were action, 1 was fantasy sci-fi, and 1 was sci-fi horror

End of Summer Readathon: Day 5

I finished reading The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook yesterday and I really enjoyed it! I finished it on the way to Seattle, where I got car sick the moment the road got curvy 😆 But I finished it!

Sunday - 11am
We didn't stay in Seattle for very long. We just dropped off my parents at the airport, then we went out to dinner at this ramen place my brother likes, and it was SO good!! My tongue still hurts from where I burned it with the first sip of broth, but it was worth it 😆

We got home at nearly midnight, so I went straight to sleep and didn't update yesterday's post. But today is a new day, and I think I'll be starting Elantris!

I'll be back later once I've done something productive with my day 😆 (I might go to my local bookstore to see if they have the 4th Dungeon Crawler Carl book 👀)

Sunday - 5pm
I have made it to chapter 6 of Elantris and I'm really enjoying it! It's such an interesting world!

 

I've also been working on my embroidery again, since I didn't get a chance yesterday, being car sick and all 😂 And I didn't go to the bookstore like I wanted. Maybe tomorrow.

Sunday - 10pm
I didn't read any more of my book, but I did finish this embroidery project! 😆

And honestly, I think I'm going to end the readathon here. It's been fun, but I also don't want to push it since I've been in a perpetual reading slump for months now😅

Let me know what you've been reading this Summer!

End of Summer Readathon: Day 4

The goal today is to finish The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook. I have just over 100 pages left, so it's totally doable. (Also, I just emailed a therapist and I don't know why it took me so long 😭 We'll see what happens.)

Saturday - 10am
Last night I fell asleep while I was playing Tomodachi Life, so this morning I played a little but more. And then THIS happened:

😆 Anyway, I'm gonna go get ready for the day, then I'm going to read. I'll be back with an update later on!

Saturday - 4pm
Okay, I have finished a crochet project and read 70 pages! Look at how cute that little ghost is! 😭 He glows in the dark too!

 

Some last minute plans this evening... I'm going to Seattle 😆 Not for anything fun, unfortunately. We're taking our parents to the airport. It's about 3 hours from here, so I'm going to take my cross-stitching with me and my book because I'm almost done with it! We'll see how it goes, though, because I get car sick sometimes 😅 I don't know when I'll be back tonight, so I may or may not do another update. Idk. We'll see. Lol. (Also, the therapist replied back, which I wasn't expecting because it's Saturday, but I guess we're really doing this thing!)

Let me know what you've been reading this Summer!

End of Summer Readathon: Day 3

What is the goal today? Idk. Lol. I have some errands to run, but aside from that, no clue. Definitely read another 100 pages of the Dungeon Crawler Carl book, and maybe do a craft. I might play some Resident Evil as well, which isn't cozy, but I can't get enough of Leon 😆 Plus, killing zombies is very satisfying 😌

Friday - 9am
I need to get out of bed and get ready for the day 😅 So far I've only checked the shops in Tomodachi Life. Lol. Here's a gem from when I played last night:

Leon Kennedy from Resident Evil got Jill Valentine (also from Resident Evil) to become friends with Barbie over talking about bringing down the patriarchy... I love this for them 🤣 Anyway, I'll be back later once I've done something productive with my day.

Friday - 2:30pm
I got more embroidery stuff in the mail today! Yay!

 

That's mostly what I've been doing today, though I did force myself to take a break because last time I finished a hoop in two days, I gave myself a migraine 😅 I also read a couple pages of my book, we had a visit, and now I'm going back to my embroidery before I have to go out and run some errands.

Friday - 5pm
I did a Costco run, read some more, things got WAY interesting and I read more than I was originally going to in this stretch, but it's just SO good! Lol.

 

My Costco ice cream melted just from the walk to the car! It's so hot outside! I hate it 😭

Anyway, I'm gonna go do a bit more embroidery and then I'm going to get back to my book.

Friday - 8:30pm
Last update of the night! I got a lot done on my embroidery project, without givig myself a migraine 😆 And I read another 100 pages of my book today! I think I'll finish this book tomorrow. There's only 112-ish pages left. Things are gearing up for the end and I'm excited!

 

I'm gonna go play Tomodachi Life now 😆

Let me know what you've been reading this Summer!

End of Summer Readathon: Day 2

Okay, the goal today is to get out of the house. That's it. Lol. And read, of course. Lol.

Thursday - 9am
I woke up like an hour ago and I've just been in bed checking my shops in Tomodachi Life 😆

Edward Cullen and his Dungeon Crawler Carl reference 😂

But I finally got up and I'm getting ready to leave the house! Shocking, I know. I just like being home, okay? 😆 Today I'm going to a neighboring town and checking out their library, bookstore, and a coffee place that's near the bookstore. If I stay long enough, I might have lunch in town at a drive-thru place I haven't been to in quite some time.

Thursday - 2:30pm
Okay, I'm back and I have read about 85 pages so far today. My goal is to read a total of 100 pages today, so I'm almost there.

 

So I went to this little town that's about 30 minutes away from where I live, and I just love it there; it's so cute! I don't go there nearly enough. But I went to this coffee place and got a snickerdoodle cookie and a chai latte with oat milk (that's my go-to order because I'm not a big coffee person... I'm pretty sure I have undiagnosed ADHD, and that stuff puts me right to sleep 😂). I read for a while, until they opened the bookstore downstairs at 11am. It ended up being a secondhand bookstore, so there wasn't a big selection of books. I wasn't there for very long.

 

Then I went to the new library building in town and it's so nice! It's a small town, so this is a small library, but the interior with the lodge vibes 😍 I sat here and read for a while too, until I got hungry. Lol. Then I went to the local burger place I mentioned, where I actually had to wait 30-ish minutes for the food, which was fine because that meant more reading time. Lol. And it was worth it because it was SO good! I had not been there in YEARS, but those might be some of the best burgers I've had. Lol.
And now I'm home... and idk what to do. Lol. Hmm. I think I'm going to make a giant pitcher of tea (I have a bunch of loose-leaf tea that I need to go through. Lol.), and then I might attempt that crochet project I mentioned yesterday. After that, I might read some more and then play a video game? Idk. We'll see. Lol. But I'll be back with an update!

Thursday - 9:30pm
I don't know what happened to the time 🫣 I sat to crochet for a bit, and before I knew it, I finished the whole thing!

 

This happens to me a lot, this hyperfixation. Lol. But look at how cute he is! A little lopsided, but I love him! Lol. I have one more crochet project, which I may do tomorrow.

 

Oh! The iced tea is in the fridge! I decided to go with this mango fruit punch from David's Tea. I also freaking love this pitcher! It is specifically for infusing tea! It's so handy when you want to make a batch of iced tea. Which I do in the Summer. Lol.
Reading-wise, I am on page 302, so I read just over 100 pages today again! At this point, I'm over the halfway point. I'm really enjoying this book! But that's it for me tonight because I guess I do have time blindness after all? 😅 Anyway, I'm gonna go play Tomadachi Life, and I'll be back tomorrow with more reading... and other things! (Don't know what yet. Lol.)

Let me know what you've been reading this Summer!

End of Summer Readathon: Day 1

I am back! Or, at least, I'm hoping to be back. Lol. I haven't been up to much aside from work 😪 but I have the next week off before school starts back up for my patient, and I would like to do some fun things (and hopefully, finally, get out of this reading/blogging slump)! Also, I don't know how long this readathon is going to be, so I'm just gonna go day by day and see what happens. Lol.

Monthly Wrap-Up: July 2026

And another month of a reading slump passes by 😪 I'm trying, but I just can't seem to shake it off. However, in July I read 6 books, which is 2 more than the previous month, and 1096 pages, which is about 100 pages more than the previous month. That being said, most of these books I read in one day during a readathon, sooo 🤷‍♀️😂

• 5 were full-length novels, and 1 was a manga
• 4 were part of a series, and 2 were standalones
• 4 were books I purchased, and 2 were from the library
• All 6 were finished copies
• 5 were physical books, and 1 ebook
• 5 were 4⭐, and 1 was 3⭐
• All 6 were traditionally published
• 1 was by a new-to-me author, and 5 were by previously read authors
• All 6 were YA
• All 6 were fiction
• 1 was action, and 5 were horror

Top 10 Most Anticipated Books of the Last Half of 2026

Putting this list together, I realized that I don't have that many 2026 books on my TBR. I'm gonna have to go and do some research to see what's coming out 😅

Top 10 Favorite Books of 2026 (So Far)

I was very excited to put this list together because I feel like have read some really good books this year. Last year was rough because I had very few 5-star reads, but it turns out that I only have THREE this year. I have a bunch of 4.5-star reads, so that's great, but more 5 stars would also be great. Lol.

2026 Mid-Year Check In: Reading Stats

Uh, I thought this post went up last week... it didn't because I didn't actually finish writing it 😂 And so the blogging slump continues 😭 But we're pushing through. I at least want to do the mid-year posts, but aside from that... the blog may be quiet for a bit.

2026 Mid-Year Check In: Reading Challenges

I was doing really great on my reading challenges... and then I got into a reading slump 😩 I think I'm still doing okay despite that, but I'm kinda afraid to look 😅

Dewey's Reverse Readathon: July 2026

I have been in a horrible reading slump ever since I was sick a couple months ago, and I still haven't been able to shake it 😖 One thing I feel like tends to help is a readathon, so this came around at the perfect time. I hope 😅 I could make the slump worse, but we're not going to talk about that. Lol.

2026 Mid-Year Book Freakout Tag

Okay, I'm finally here with the Mid-Year Freakout Tag 😅 I know I'm late, but I've just been in a horrible reading/blogging slump 😩 I usually look forward to doing these kinds of posts, but right now... yikes 😬
Anyway, a couple years ago I smooshed together the questions from the original tag created by Ely and Chami with the revamped version from Jesse the Reader, and I've been using that combo since.

Monthly Wrap-Up: June 2026

Another horrible reading month 😪 And you know what? I'm not even surprised. Lol. I just can't seem to shake off this damn reading slump 😭 There's a readathon coming up next week that I'm thinking of participating in, so hopefully that will help. But in June, I ended up reading 4 books... again. Lol. That was a total of 922 pages, which is 50ish pages less than the previous month 🤷‍♀️😂

• 3 were full-length novels, and 1 manga
• 1 was part of a series, and 3 were standalones
• 2 were books I purchased, and 2 were from the library
• All 4 were finished copies
• All 4 were physical books
• 1 was 5 ⭐, 1 was 4.5 ⭐, and 2 were 4 ⭐
• All 4 were traditionally published
• 1 was by a new-to-me author, and 3 were by previously read authors
• 3 were adult books, and 1 was YA
• 1 was fiction, and 3 were nonfiction
• 1 was action, and 3 were history

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #474: On the Struggle Bus

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

Review: Sakamoto Days (Vol. 10) by Yuto Suzuki

Title: Sakamoto Days: Vol. 10

Series: Sakamoto Days #10

Previous books in this series: Sakamoto Days #1 | Sakamoto Days #2 | Sakamoto Days #3 | Sakamoto Days #4 | Sakamoto Days #5 | Sakamoto Days #6 | Sakamoto Days #7 | Sakamoto Days #8 | Sakamoto Days #9

Author: Yuto Suzuki

Genre: YA, manga, adventure

Publication date: December 2023

Published by: VIZ Media

Source: Borrowed from library

Add it on Goodreads

Buy it: Amazon | B&N

Synopsis: Taro Sakamoto was once a legendary hit man considered the greatest of all time. Bad guys feared him! Assassins revered him! But then one day he quit, got married, and had a baby. He’s now living the quiet life as the owner of a neighborhood store, but how long can Sakamoto enjoy his days of retirement before his past catches up to him?!

As Sakamoto and his friends hunt for the database at the JCC, Shin winds up in a serious duel with a teacher who might have information on what they want. Meanwhile, Sakamoto deals with Amane, a boy with a connection to X. Thanks to X’s schemes, the JCC faces an unprecedented crisis!

My rating: ★★★★⯪

This was such a fun volume! There were so many fun moments and just bickering between the characters, which is actually one of my favorite things about this series. Lol.