Fri-Sat:
Sun:
9:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m
2:00 p.m.-5:30 p.m
Wed:
Fri/Sat:
Sun:
Closed
9:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
2:00 p.m.-5:30 p.m
*Russiaville is closed Wednesdays
Hours Today
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Russiaville:
What was your biggest reading “win” in 2023?
I had the opportunity to receive many ARCs throughout the year and to speak with quite a few amazing authors including Ellie Marney, Ann Fraistat, and Maureen Johnson!
How did you read your books?
I mostly read eBook and a few physical copies. I would like to read more physical books in 2024.
Books you DNF’ed (Did Not Finish)?
I DNF’ed The Whispering Dead by Darcy Coates and Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson. The Whispering Dead started off right in the middle of action and had me confused, and Warbreaker was just a bit too heavy on world building.
Who was the author you read the most from?
Probably Rebecca Yarros and Richelle Mead
What was the book that was most fun for you to read?
Re-reading the Vampire Academy series was so nostalgic and brought back a lot of great memories of reading the series for the first time!
What was a book that dragged on?
Midnight is the Darkest Hour by Ashley Winstead. It started out good, but then it was pretty slow.
What were some books you reread?
I did a reread on the Vampire Academy series and A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J Maas. I also started a reread of House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J Maas in December in preparation for House of Flame and Shadow releasing January 30th!
Are there any books you read in 2023 that you would read again?
I would 1000% and will 1000% be rereading Fourth Wing and Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros.
What’s on the TBR (To Be Read) list for 2024?
The TBR is so long. But my most anticipated book is the 3rd book in the Crescent City series, House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J Maas. I am also excited to read A Place for Vanishing by Ann Fraistat!
For more book recommendations please tune in to Off the Books with B&S Podcast on any of your preferred podcasting platforms; new episodes air every other Thursday.
-Samantha
The end of the year is generally a time of reflection so I wanted to do a reading wrap-up! I found some great questions that I think would be good for any reader to add to the end of their reading journal. Links will be added in if you find anything you like for your 2024 TBR!
Happy Holidays everyone!
- What was your biggest reading “win” in 2023?
- Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman as an introduction to the reading world of LitRPG and humor is my biggest win. LitRPG is a fresh new world of reading that I have the ability to really explore (not that I needed more things added to my TBR). As far as the win of “humor,” I realized this year that the more you read the more you get to know yourself. The realization, or win, for me in knowing myself as a reader is that I love humor in my fantasy. Taking reading risks lead me down that road!
- How did you read your books?
- 26 Physical Books
- 1 Audiobook
- 116 Ebooks
- Books you DNF’d (Did Not Finish).
- Who was the author you read the most from?
- Instead of going with number of books from an author, I went with longest time spent with an author. I read a lot of graphic novel series this year but didn’t feel like I spent a lot of time with those authors compared to the time I spent reading Brandon Sanderson novels. Even though I haven’t finished Yumi and the Nightmare Painter and Words of Radiance, I have started them this year and that makes an impact. Brandon Sanderson is definitely the winner of this question with my completion of Warbreaker and Words of Radiance at over 2,000 pages and some deep reading.
- What was the book that was most fun for you to read?
- The Bad Guys series by Aaron Blabey, Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman, and Kaiju No. 8 series by Naoya Matsumoto
- What was a book that dragged on?
- What were some books you reread?
- Are there any books you read in 2023 that you would read again?
- What’s on the TBR (To Be Read) list for 2024?
- Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson, Confessions by Kanae Minato, Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio, Sunbringer by Hannah Haner, A Place For Vanishing by Anne Fraistat, Leviathan Wakes by James Corey, He Who Fights with Monsters by Shirtaloon
For more book recommendations please tune in to Off the Books with B&S Podcast on any of your preferred podcasting platforms; new episodes air every other Thursday.
Bethann
Wellness by Nathan Hill
607 pp
Adult Fiction
5/5*
Formats Available: Physical book, Libby eBook and eAudiobook
When Jack and Elizabeth meet as college students in the gritty '90s Chicago art scene, the two quickly join forces and hold on tight, each eager to claim a place in the thriving underground scene with an appreciative kindred spirit. Fast-forward twenty years to suburban married life, and alongside the challenges of parenting, they encounter the often-baffling pursuits of health and happiness from polyamorous would-be suitors to home-renovation hysteria.
For the first time, Jack and Elizabeth struggle to recognize each other, and the no-longer-youthful dreamers are forced to face their demons, from unfulfilled career ambitions to childhood memories of their own dysfunctional families. In the process, Jack and Elizabeth must undertake separate, personal excavations, or risk losing the best thing in their lives: each other.
Parenthood can easily become very isolating. Jack and Elizabeth see their old college friends pairing off and starting families, and they are left by themselves. After having a child of their own, they find that they long for their college years where they lived as a collective rather than a set of individuals.
Jack and Elizabeth live in a new world where they see perfection everywhere. From the houses on Instagram to the (mostly imagined) worlds of their fellow parents, it’s easy to find the faults in their lives. Jack needs to work out to lose weight and Elizabeth needs to make the perfect plates of food for their son, all while juggling their busy lives together. But they just aren’t sure if this is all there is. They recall the artist’s life they had in college and yearn for something deeper.
Finding the answers to these problems means confronting their troubled and abusive pasts and envisioning a future together where maybe everything isn’t perfect.
For more book recommendations please tune in to Off the Books with B&S Podcast on any of your preferred podcasting platforms; new episodes air every other Thursday.
-Justin
I Want To Eat Your Pancreas by Yoru Sumino
442 pages
YA Manga
4.5/5 *
Formats available: Libby Graphic Novel
Also known as Let Me Eat Your Pancreas, the manga version of the coming-of-age novel that inspired two films! In this deeply moving first-person story, an introverted high school boy finds his classmate’s diary—and learns her biggest secret. Yamauchi Sakura is dying from a pancreatic disease and now he is the only one person outside her family to know the truth. The last thing the boy wants is to be her friend, but Sakura’s cheerful demeanor and their shared secret draw them together in this heartrending tale of friendship and mortality.
When you lay this book down, title facing up, people read it then look at you weird; what I am trying to say is that it’s worth it. Personally, I am not a big fan of slice of life romance; however, when I saw this title I knew I had to take a bite. The author does nothing to disguise the inevitable ending of this book and I was worried that there wouldn’t be enough to keep me attached and invested in the story; sometimes I love being wrong. Sakura and her morose little friend build a unique bond quickly, and you’re sucked into this joyous tragic ride. Be ready to laugh, giggle, and then cry a little. As a reader I think you’ll easily relate to one or the other character. For me the sad little friend shared a lot of experiences and feelings about interacting with people that I felt as a young adult. The struggle to make deep connections and friendships, the battle to have people in my life and not hide in books, and the struggle with finding purpose and meaning. Then suddenly, and even violently, Sakura disrupts his world and their lives are immediately intertwined changing them both in ways they didn’t realize they needed. I enjoyed the devastation and the heart. This is a great addition to your reading list and an amazing refresher. Give this amazing book a go!
For more book recommendations please tune in to Off the Books with B&S Podcast on any of your preferred podcasting platforms; new episodes air every other Thursday.
Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
878 pages
Romantasy
5/5*
Available: Book, Playaway, Libby eBook, Libby eAudiobook
“The first year is when some of us lose our lives. The second year is when the rest of us lose our humanity.” —Xaden Riorson
Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College—Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky.
Now the real training begins, and Violet’s already wondering how she’ll get through. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders’ capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is–unless she betrays the man she loves.
Although Violet’s body might be weaker and frailer than everyone else’s, she still has her wits—and a will of iron. And leadership is forgetting the most important lesson Basgiath has taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules.
But a determination to survive won’t be enough this year.
Because Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College—and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.
Ride or die.
And I died. Rebecca Yarros sure knows how to leave us hanging on a cliffhanger. Iron Flame, the sequel to The Empyrean Series was a literal emotional roller coaster full of battle, love, and of course…DRAGONS! I can confidently say I had no idea what was going to happen for even a second. I didn’t know who was going to lose their lives, or if I could emotionally repair myself after the final page. Our main character, Violet, has come so far from the first book and has grown into quite the badass. Proud mother moment. I tried to stay off social media because I knew people were going to be talking about Iron Flame since it is so wildly popular. However, I did watch people’s reactions to reading the ending. The temptation was too strong.
So, to the ending I trudged…. absolutely dreading what could be waiting for me to read. There isn’t a good enough description to tell you guys about how utterly “shooketh” I was. My heart has left the building and has been eviscerated by you, Rebecca. Until next time you emotionally destroy me in the best of ways.
For more book recommendations please tune in to Off the Books with B&S Podcast on any of your preferred podcasting platforms; new episodes air every other Thursday.
-Samantha
Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
446 pages
Fantasy/LitRPG/Sci-Fi
5/5*
Formats available: Book
“It's the most-watched game show in the galaxy!
In a flash, every human-erected construction on Earth--from Buckingham Palace to the tiniest of sheds to all the trucks and cars--collapses in a heap, sinking into the ground.
The buildings and all the people inside, they've all been atomized and transformed into the dungeon: an 18-level labyrinth filled with traps, monsters, and loot. A dungeon so enormous, it circles the entire globe.
Only a few dare venture inside. But once you're in, you can't get out. And what's worse, each level has a time limit. You have but days to find a staircase to the next level down, or it's game over. In this game, it's not about your strength or your dexterity. It's about your views and your followers. It's about building an audience and killing those goblins with style.
You can't just survive here. You gotta survive big.
You gotta fight with vigor, with excitement. You gotta make them stand up and cheer. And if you do have that "it" factor, you may just find yourself with a following. That's the only way to truly survive in this game, with the help of the loot boxes dropped upon you by the generous benefactors watching from across the galaxy.
They call it Dungeon Crawler World. But for Carl, it's anything but a game.”
Where do I begin with this glorious work of modern literature? I will start with the rabbit hole of how I found Dungeon Crawler Carl. Lately, there has been an upswing of some of my favorite reviewers desiring self-published fantasy works (also known as Indie Fantasy). (Please stop by the second floor of the Main Branch if you would like more of these Indie Fantasy books to read; I have a lot of recommendations for you). This search along with the growth in popularity of Indie Fantasy, met with the desire to try out LitRPG, found me at the doorstep of Matt Dinniman (who is now one of my favorite authors of all-time). The people over at urbanwriters.com sum up LitRPG as,
“LitRPG (Literary Role-Playing Game) is an emerging genre of fiction that combines the experience of digital role playing games with traditional narrative plotlines. It weaves a story around a protagonist that consciously immerses themselves in a virtual world to follow the quests and challenges set by the game realm.
It is not to be confused with choose-your-own-path storylines or novels that expand the lore of existing RPG games.
Instead, imagine you are the spectator to someone playing as their World of Warcraft avatar, witnessing their progression through in-game campaigns while observing their development through visible statistics such as health, agility, strength, or intelligence.”
I don’t want you to read that and get overwhelmed, confused, or immediately tell yourself that you will hate this; this is so much more easy to read and more magical than you think. Reading through the inventory, stats, and instructions wasn't overwhelming at all and I actually found myself looking forward to them because it added so much to the world, characters, and dialogue.
So, I decided to go for broke and pick up this book about a man in his heart undies with his amazing, show-winning Persian cat running around a dungeon under the surface of an obliterated Earth because the only thing to lose was not finishing the book. As of writing this blog, I am currently on book 6 of a, hopefully, 10 book series that I now would give my left pinky toe to forget and re-read. Yeah, it’s definitely that good.
I am a slow reader and was able to read these a week per story. That says a whole heck of a lot (ask my coworkers). Carl and Donut are the main event in this story full of laughs, galactic political sabotage, and life-threatening events. This story is designed to keep you laughing and shocked and what surprised me the most is how invested I would get with these characters. Author Matt did a phenomenal job writing this to make you laugh and cry. Even though Donut and Carl are the main show, the audience is also introduced to an overarching storyline that is full of intrigue, murder, and real-life feels. Also, the fact that the AI (the artificial intelligence running the game/dungeon) is its own character makes this a deliciously layered tale.
You’re going to experience loss and pain all while belly laughing yourself to the floor, and I recommend this story to someone who is looking for it all. The fact that there is so much intrigue and mystery behind this story right alongside the weirdness of it all is such a fantastic combination. It's like a salty and sweet snack, chocolate covered bacon, if you will. It is very dungeons and dragons had a love child with your favorite video game and that baby grows up to be crazy and make questionable choices with potty humor.
Just try it. You are going to love it too.
For more book recommendations please tune in to Off the Books with B&S on any of your preferred podcasting platforms; new episodes air every other Thursday.
Bethann