The Snow White & Rose Red Fairy Tale Tag

Good day, O’ fairies and fae folk! Today’s blog post theme is…fairy tales! (Lololol when is it not?) I absolutely couldn’t pass up joining in a tag that focuses on not just fairy tales, but one of my favorites! The beautiful and talented Kirsten Fichter, released book #4 of her Once Upon a Twist Tales novella series last month, The Bear of Rosethorn Ring, and as part of the release, she created a super fun TAG! (Am I joining in on the tag a month and a half late? Yes, yes I am. But wizards are never late.) The Bear…

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Five Book Series That Shaped My Growing Up Years

All us bookworms have them—those particular books that changed us, helped us grow, swept us away to a whole new world that shifted our perspective or simply introduced us to a genre that quickly became the One True Favorite. Those special few that became our stories. I definitely have those stories. Some of them may not even be my top favorite books anymore; there are plenty of other novels that I find more engaging and suit my tastes far more these days. But these are the stories that shaped the Christine you know today, and no other tales can replace…

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Book Review // The Bear of Rosethorn Ring by Kirsten Fichter

The fourth book in Kirsten Fichter’s Once Upon a Twist Tales series is almost HERE! And I am thrilled to squeal about review it today. GUYS. This is a Snow White and Rose Red retelling which just— *FLAILS* We need more retellings of this woefully obscure fairy tale. NEED. When Kirsten said the next book in this series was a SW&RR retelling I may have nearly broke my face from too much grinning. I LOVE this novella series and ADORE that fairy tale, so putting them together? YES PLEASE. Oh, it also involves a circus. *cue me flailing eternally* Today…

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Why I Love Howl’s Moving Castle

If you’ve been following me for, well, pretty much any length of time, at some point or another you’ve probably seen me flail about the novel Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. And though I break the sound barrier squealing about it every 0.7 seconds, I haven’t actually ever just sat down and talked about why this story so fully captures my heart and soul. Come every March is a delightful event called March Magics hosted by We Be Reading. It is a celebration of both Diana Wynne Jones’s and Terry Pratchett’s magical works. Every single year I always…

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The Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Fairy Tale Tag

It’s a month full of fairy tale goodness! Over on Fairy Tale Central we are celebrating all things fairy tales, and as part of the celebration there’s a super fun blog tag! Which I shall be joining in on today. All right, let’s be real. All of us at some point or another have dreamed of being a character in a fairy tale. I mean, a world of talking animals and brave princes and princesses and enchanted lands and magic sounds pretty fantastic, am I right? But what would it be like to really step into the role of a…

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How To Find Your True Love In a Fairy Tale

So you’re a fairy tale character, eh? And Valentine’s Day is just around the corner which, of course, means it’s time to get out there and find your One True Love. But how does one of Fairy Tale Land go about doing such a thing? There are, of course, many approaches to finding your True Love. But if you’re feeling stumped, never fear, my fine fairy tale friend! Today I come to you with a list of 7 tried and true methods to finding the love of your life and living happily ever after. Here in Fairy Tale Land these…

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Top Ten Favorite Reads of 2020

Here we are just half a month away from the end of the year (howwww??) which means it’s time for some end of the year recaps! And of course I first gotta talk about BOOKS! 2020 was many unpleasant things, but GUYS. It was one of the best reading years I’ve ever had. I read very few books I didn’t just absolutely adore this year. And just??? How did this happen? Not only did I love the majority of the nearly 50 books I read this year, I found a few new TOP favorites of all time! I don’t know…

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{Book Review} Ships, Secrets, and Survivors by Sarah Rodecker and Helena George

Calling all those swashbuckling, pirate-loving, daring adventurers out there. Have I got a delicious book for you today! Back when my sweet friends Sarah Rodecker and Helena George said they were co-writing a swashbuckling book, I may have squealed. (I mean, who doesn’t love daring seafaring adventures and pirates???) And then when they said THEY WERE PUBLISHING IT the squealing was vamped up x10000. Well, at last I have gotten my greedy hands on their gorgeous tale and now I must flail about it to the world! Synopsis An assassin trainee fleeing his profession. A princess risking her reputation. A…

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The Silmaril Awards 2020 Ceremony: Most Mischievous Imp

Welcome to the Silmaril Awards Ceremony for the Most Mischievous Imp! 47 imps were in for the running, 5 made it to the finals, and today we get to see which single impish being has proven their mischief enough to walk away with the lifetime award! The stadium hums with chatter as I slip up to the stage and look around appraisingly. This is much better than the falling apart warehouse I hosted last year’s awards. It’s never easy to find good accommodations for the Least Competent Henchmen ceremony, but this brightly lit stadium with a colorfully curtained stage is…

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The Silmaril Awards 2020 Voting: Most Mischievous Imp

Welcome to round 2 of the Silmaril Awards! The nominations have been cast, the seconds have been called and counted, and now it’s time for the next vital task: VOTING! Last week everyone rallied around their favorite fantasy characters and nominated and seconded such a vast array of interesting people and creatures alike! I don’t know about you, but I had an absolute blast in all the comments section discussing all things fantasy characters—my favorite topic! (But we won’t talk about how my TBR has positively exploded.) Over the course of 5 days, 47 Mischievous Imps were nominated to win…

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