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The Wicker King

The Perspicacious Bookworm

It always threw August off guard how contradictory Jack could be. The next time he saw him, it was as if the exchange had never happened. Jack was on his default setting: silly, relaxed, and annoyingly insistant. It was all of the things August rolled his eyes at but actually really liked.Then there was the other version of Jack. The version August suspected was reserved especially for him. The selfish, demanding, frightening Jack – with his wide eyes narrowed into snakelike slits. A Jack who used his strength to push and throw him wherever he saw fit. Whose intensity made … Continue reading The Wicker King

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Top 10 Characters Whose Job I Wish I Had

The Perspicacious Bookworm

One of the best parts about reading is the opportunity to witness different lives and get a different experience. There are some fantastic books out there showing characters with interesting lives and interesting jobs. Thanks to That Artsy Reader Girl’s Top 10 Tuesday prompt, here are 10 characters whose job I wish I had. 1. Dani from Take a Hint, Dani Brown I’ve always thought that in another life, I could have been a literary professor at a university. Dani is perhaps not a professor yet, but in Take a Hint, Dani Brown she is pursuing her graduate degree in … Continue reading Top 10 Characters Whose Job I Wish I Had

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The Mountain and the Sea

The Perspicacious Bookworm

But she knew that above all, what had changed was that she wanted to make new art again. And in some strange way she was sure that if she could find that daring spirit that she had in her late teens and twenties during the heady years when she was discovering her talent, she would return to a part of her that she feared had been lost. She was obsessed with moving from the graphic design and commissioned portrait work that was her bread and butter for years, and she talked so much about doing so after her husband Clifford … Continue reading The Mountain and the Sea

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Top 10 Books That Made Me Laugh Out Loud

The Perspicacious Bookworm

I am one of the first to admit that I often default to heavy novels that require a lot of mental and emotional processing after. Because i tend to default to that, I really enjoy it when I happen to read something light-hearted. Thanks to That Artsy Reader Girl’s Top 10 Tuesday prompt, here are 10 books that actually made me laugh out loud. 1. Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert In Get a Life, Chloe Brown, Chloe is a young woman with fibromyalgia who, after an auto accident, decides to live a life that she considers more … Continue reading Top 10 Books That Made Me Laugh Out Loud

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Concrete Rose

The Perspicacious Bookworm

He’s so caught up in the toys dangling from the car seat he don’t know his mama left him like he nothing. Ma shoved the front door open. “I had a funny feeling when I saw all them clothes in that diaper bag. They shipped him off without a word.”I set the car seat on the coffee table. What the hell just happened? For real, man. I suddently got a whole human beingin my care when I never even took care of a dog. “What we do now, Ma?”“We obviously have to keep him until we find out what Aisha … Continue reading Concrete Rose

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Valentine’s Day Read: Get a Life, Chloe Brown

The Perspicacious Bookworm

He turned her into a complete disaster and so by day she avoided his company like the bubonic plague. But at night, sometimes, she watched him paint.He was standing in front of his window shirtless, which she supposed made her a pervert as well as a spy, but this wasn’t a sexual exercise. He was barely even attractive in her eyes. She didn’t see him as an object or anything like that. From a distance in the dark with that sharp tongue of his tucked away, she saw him as poetry. He had this visceral quality, even when he was … Continue reading Valentine’s Day Read: Get a Life, Chloe Brown

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Children of Blood and Bone

The Perspicacious Bookworm

Unlike the stone bricks, this structure is crafted from the blackened metal streaked with yellows and pinks that suggested once showed gold. Vines and moss grow up the sides, obscuring endless rows of ancient runes, carved into the temple’s frieze. Zelie moves towards the doorless entrance, but Nailah lets out a small growl. “Ok, Nailah.” Zelie gives her nose a kiss. “Stay here, alright?” Nailah grunts, and collapses behind a pile of broken stone.With Nailah settled, we walk through the opening and greet a magical aura so thick, even I can feel its weight in the room. Tzain scoots closer … Continue reading Children of Blood and Bone

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Top 10 Romance Novels on my TBR

The Perspicacious Bookworm

While I enjoy romance in my fiction, I still want them to hold a secondary plot, and demonstrate character growth throughout the novel. I had never much enjoyed romance in the past, but in the past few years I’ve found a few that I’ve read and enjoyed. Thanks to That Artsy Reader Girl’s Top 10 Tuesday prompt, here are 10 romance novels that are on my TBR. 1. Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers The main character of Honey Girl is a young woman who has embarked on a girls’ trip to Vegas to celebrate her PhD and finds herself unexpectedly … Continue reading Top 10 Romance Novels on my TBR

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Elatsoe

The Perspicacious Bookworm

The park was evacuated for a week. During that time, all of the ghost mosquitos fell asleep, returning to the underworld below. Rangers found a tangle of grey hair on the Blue Trail. It took awhile, but the leech was finally dead. Ellie had finished Siscreet’s task. It should have been a proud moment, but Ellie also felt profoundly sad. The leech was the last of its kind. The monsters of her ancestors had been replaced by different threats: invasive creatures, foreign curses, cruel magics, and alchemies. Vampires were the new big Bloodsuckers. Trevor, however, was overjoyed. “I’ll talk to … Continue reading Elatsoe