Weekly Wrap Up | December 19, 2021

Happy Sunday and welcome to my Weekly Wrap Up post! I link these posts up with The Sunday Post, hosted by Kimberly over at Caffeinated Reviewer; The Sunday Salon, hosted by Deb at ReaderBuzz; It’s Monday! What Are you Reading? hosted by Kathryn of Book Date and a children’s/middle grade version hosted by Jen Vincent, Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee of Unleashing Readers; Mailbox Monday, hosted by Serena of Savvy Verse & Wit and Martha of Reviews by Martha’s Bookshelf; and Stacking the Shelves, hosted by Marlene at Reading Reality. For my Weekly Wrap Ups, I’ll recap what I posted, read, and watched this week, plus I’ll let you know about any current giveaways I have up. I’ll also tell you about recent updates on my TBR and new books I received and/or bought. Okay, time to see what happened this week!

Hi! I’m back again (two weeks in a row?!?) and I’m excited to share some updates!

On the Blog

Here are the links for everything that was published last week on Kait Plus Books:

• Weekly Wrap Up | December 13, 2021
• Blog Tour: Nightrender by Jodi Meadows (Aesthetic Board!)
• Top Ten Tuesday | December 14, 2021
• Can’t Wait Wednesday | December 15, 2021
• Blog Tour: Violets Are Blue by Barbara Dee (Spotlight + Giveaway!)
• First Line(s) Friday | December 17, 2021
• Weekly Wrap Up | December 19, 2021

Off the Blog

• I’ve been feeling a little better this week, which is AMAZING!
• I made an appointment with a gynecological surgeon for February, so hopefully soon I’ll be able to start my journey towards getting a hysterectomy!
  • And then I’ll feel better! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• I’ve spent a lot of time with my family this week and we’ve all been loving it!
• My Secret Santa package was delivered, and my Santee loved all of her gifts! It makes me so happy to make other people happy!
• basically, this has been a wonderful week and I’m really hoping the next few are as good as this one has been!
• Blog hopping and replying to comments are some of the things that I haven’t been able to do lately, but I’m really looking forward to making them a priority these next couple of weeks!

Currently Reading: I’m still reading This Golden State by Marit Weisenberg, and oh my stars I am still LOVING IT! It’s like if Naomi Kritzer and Sarah Dessen wrote a book together. It’s great!

Currently Listening To: I’m currently listening to Gilded by Marissa Meyer! It’s my first book by her and I’m really enjoying so far!

Just Finished Listening To: I finished Among the Beasts & Briars by Ashley Poston the other day and OH MY STARS that is such an amazing story! I’m really into the fairy tale retellings right now and that was perfect!

Books: Still planning on reading either One For All by Lillie Lainoff, Forward March by Skye Quinlan, or All I Want for Christmas by Wendy Loggia. I’m not sure which order I’ll end up reading them in, but these will be my next three books!

Audiobooks: Totally up in the air! If I’m still feeling the fairy tales after Gilded, I might relisten to How Rory Thorne Broke the Multiverse, but I’m not 100% committed!

I have some #bookmail to share, I added a few books to my #tbr this week, and I borrowed a library book! Here’s some of what I stacked my shelves with lately:

#bookmail

Shattered Midnight by Dhonielle Clayton
Series: The Mirror #2
Also in this series: Broken Wish, Shattered Midnight, Fractured Path
Published on January 18, 2022 by Disney-Hyperion
Genres: Romance, YA, Alternate History, Fantasy, Historical Fiction
Pages: 304
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Author Links: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Amazon, Instagram

Zora Broussard has arrived in New Orleans with not much more than a bag of clothes, a beautiful voice, and a pair of enchanted red shoes. Running from a tragic accident caused by her magic, Zora wants nothing more than to blend in, as well as to avoid her overbearing aunt and mean-spirited cousins. Music becomes Zora’s only means of escape, yet she wonders if she should give it all up to remove the powers that make her a target, especially as a Black woman in the South.
But when Zora gets the chance to perform in a prominent jazz club, she meets a sweet white pianist named Phillip with magic of his own, including a strange mirror that foretells their future together. Falling into a forbidden love, Zora and Phillip must keep their relationship a secret. And soon the two discover the complicated connection between their respective families, a connection that could lead to catastrophe for them both. In the era of segregation and speakeasies, Zora must change her destiny and fight for the one she loves . . . or risk losing everything.

Game on: 15 Stories of Wins, Losses, and Everything in Between by Laura Silverman
Published on January 18, 2022 by Viking Books for Young Readers
Genres: Anthology, Contemporary, YA
Pages: 448
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Author Links: Website, Twitter, Goodreads, Instagram

From the slightly fantastical to the utterly real, light and sweet romance to tales tinged with horror and thrills, Game On is an anthology that spans genre and style. But beneath each story is a loving ode to competition and games perfect for anyone who has ever played a sport or a board game, picked up a video game controller, or rolled a twenty-sided die.
A manhunt game is interrupted by a town disappearing beneath the players' eyes. A puzzle-filled scavenger hunt emboldens one college freshman to be brave with the boy she's crushing on. A series of summer nights full of card games leads a boy to fall for a boy who he knows is taken. And a spin the bottle game could end a life-long friendship.
Fifteen stories, and fifteen unforgettable experiences that may inspire readers to start up that Settlers of Catan game again.

Kingston and the Echoes of Magic by Rucker Moses, Theo Gangi
Series: Kingston #2
Published on October 12, 2021 by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Genres: Contemporary, Fantasy, Middle Grade
Pages: 304
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Kingston might have saved Echo City but the victory is bittersweet without his pops by his side. The holidays are approaching and if Kingston could have one wish, it would be to have his father, who is trapped in the Realm, come home. But as new problems arise and blackouts blanket the city, Kingston begins to have a persistent feeling of deja vu, as if he's lived this same day before--and he has. Echo City living up to its name, is caught in a repeating time loop.
Maestro, his father's old rival, has found a way to overwrite reality with an alternate timeline where he rules over all. It will be up to Kingston, Too Tall, and V to find a way to enter the Realm and travel back through time to stop him. But with a magic he still barely understands, Kingston will needs his friends' smarts and their collective courage to figure out the mystery and find Maestro before Brooklyn as they know it is erased for good.

new to the queue

Home Field Advantage by Dahlia Adler
Published on June 7, 2022 by Wednesday Books
Genres: YA, Contemporary, Queer, Romance
Pages: 304
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Author Links: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Instagram, TikTok

Amber McCloud’s dream is to become cheer captain at the end of the year, but it’s an extra-tall order to be joyful and spirited when the quarterback of your team has been killed in a car accident. For both the team and the squad, watching Robbie get replaced by newcomer Jack Walsh is brutal. And when it turns out Jack is actually short for Jaclyn, all hell breaks loose.
The players refuse to be led by a girl, the cheerleaders are mad about the changes to their traditions, and the fact that Robbie’s been not only replaced but outshined by a QB who wears a sports bra has more than a few Atherton Alligators in a rage. Amber tries for some semblance of unity, but it quickly becomes clear that she's only got a future on the squad and with her friends if she helps them take Jack down.
Just one problem: Amber and Jack are falling for each other, and if Amber can't stand up for Jack and figure out how to get everyone to fall in line, her dream may come at the cost of her heart.
Dahlia Adler's Home Field Advantage is a sparkling romance about fighting for what - or who - you truly want.

My Fine Fellow by Jennieke Cohen
Published on January 11, 2022 by HarperTeen
Genres: Romance, YA, Historical Fiction, Retellings
Pages: 352
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It’s 1830s England, and Culinarians—doyens who consult with society’s elite to create gorgeous food and confections—are the crème de la crème of high society.
Helena Higgins, top of her class at the Royal Academy, has a sharp demeanor and an even sharper palate—and knows stardom awaits her if she can produce greatness in her final year.
Penelope Pickering is going to prove the value of non-European cuisine to all of England. Her contemporaries may scorn her Filipina heritage and her dishes, but with her flawless social graces and culinary talents, Penelope is set to prove them wrong.
Elijah Little has nothing to his name but a truly excellent instinct for flavors. London merchants won’t allow a Jewish boy to own a shop, so he hawks his pasties for a shilling a piece to passersby—but he knows with training he can break into the highest echelon of society.
When Penelope and Helena meet Elijah, a golden opportunity arises: to pull off a project never seen before, and turn Elijah from a street vendor to a gentleman chef.
But Elijah’s transformation will have a greater impact on this trio than they originally realize—and mayhem, unseemly faux pas, and a little romance will all be a part of the delicious recipe.

In Defense of Witches: The Legacy of the Witch Hunts and Why Women Are Still on Trial by Mona Chollet, Sophie R. Lewis
Published on March 8, 2022 by St. Martin's Press
Genres: Adult, History, Non-Fiction
Pages: 320
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Centuries after the infamous witch hunts that swept through Europe and America, witches continue to hold a unique fascination for many: as fairy tale villains, practitioners of pagan religion, as well as feminist icons. Witches are both the ultimate victim and the stubborn, elusive rebel. But who were the women who were accused and often killed for witchcraft? What types of women have centuries of terror censored, eliminated, and repressed?
Celebrated feminist writer Mona Chollet explores three types of women who were accused of witchcraft and persecuted: the independent woman, since widows and celibates were particularly targeted; the childless woman, since the time of the hunts marked the end of tolerance for those who claimed to control their fertility; and the elderly woman, who has always been an object of at best, pity, and at worst, horror. Examining modern society, Chollet concludes that these women continue to be harrassed and oppressed. Rather than being a brief moment in history, the persecution of witches is an example of society’s seemingly eternal misogyny, while women today are direct heirs to those who were hunted down and killed for their thoughts and actions.
With fiery prose and arguments that range from the scholarly to the cultural, In Defense of Witches seeks to unite the mythic image of the witch with modern women who seek to live their lives on their own terms.

library haul

The Daughters of Ys by M.T. Anderson, Jo Rioux
Published on August 11, 2020 by First Second
Genres: Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Retellings, YA
Pages: 206
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Ys, city of wealth and wonder, has a history of dark secrets. Queen Malgven used magic to raise the great walls that keep Ys safe from the tumultuous sea. But after the queen's inexplicable death, her daughters drift apart. Rozenn, the heir to the throne, spends her time on the moors communing with wild animals, while Dahut, the youngest, enjoys the splendors of royal life and is eager to take part in palace intrigue.

Another week with no new #bookstagram. But! I’m taking pictures tomorrow so there will be something next week!

I stopped watching Sons of Anarchy because WOW did that get awful quick. Or maybe not super quick, since I stopped watching part way through season 4. My parents are still watching it, though (they want to finish it to see how it ends) and have said I made the right decision to quit. I’m almost done with season one of my Once Upon a Time rewatch, and I’m up to date on Hawkeye! Now that it’s finally Christmas week, I have a feeling Hallmark channel is going to be on pretty much 24/7 in my house. I’m pretty excited about that! What have you been watching lately?

The giveaways widget is always the most current and accurate way to tell what giveaways you can find on my blog, but since you’re here…

• Print Copy of VIOLETS ARE BLUE by Barbara Dee — Ends Jan 2nd, 2022
• Print Copy of DESTROYER OF LIGHT by Jennifer Marie Brissett — Ends Dec 27th, 2021
• Print Copy of WIDER THAN THE SKY by Katherine Rothschild — Ends Jan 3rd, 2022
• Print Copy of YOU’LL BE THE DEATH OF ME by Karen McManus — Ends Dec 20th, 2021
• Print Copy of THE FOWL TWINS GET WHAT THEY DESERVE by Eoin Colfer — Ends Dec 26th, 2021

So that’s everything! What have you been up to this week? Anything important happen? Did you have any posts that didn’t get a lot of attention? I’d love to check them out! Leave your links in the comments below and don’t forget to have a splendiferous week!