It's Magic Time! Harry Potter Book Tag

I know you must be surprised to see me doing a tag inspired by the boy wizard, but although I am not a fan of his, I am a BIG fan of Tânia, who tagged me. 
(FYI: This tag was created by Book Roast, the NEWTs host)

One Old, One New: The Royal Edition

One Old, One New features two books - one old, one new, which are connected in some way. Today, I am sharing two royal romances.

Can't Wait Wednesday!

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

I am combining CWW with Books From the Backlog hosted by Carole at Carole's Random Life in Books. This will allow me to feature some newly "rediscovered" books, which I plan on reading, alongside a new release.

This week I can't wait for:

Top Ten Tuesday: Not for Review

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's topic is...

Not for Review!

This week I am talking about non-review books, or rather, books I read, and loved, but were not provided by a publisher. Rather, these are books I either bought or borrowed. I read every book on this list at some point this year and each earned between 4.5 - 5 stars from me. All were big winners for me.

Review: On the Come Up - Angie Thomas

On the Come Up
Angie Thomas
Genre/Age: Contemporary, Young Adult
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads 

Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least make it out of her neighborhood one day. As the daughter of an underground rap legend who died before he hit big, Bri’s got big shoes to fill. But now that her mom has unexpectedly lost her job, food banks and shutoff notices are as much a part of Bri’s life as beats and rhymes. With bills piling up and homelessness staring her family down, Bri no longer just wants to make it—she has to make it.

On the Come Up is Angie Thomas’s homage to hip-hop, the art that sparked her passion for storytelling and continues to inspire her to this day. It is the story of fighting for your dreams, even as the odds are stacked against you; of the struggle to become who you are and not who everyone expects you to be; and of the desperate realities of poor and working-class black families.