Tag Archives: Kerri Maniscalco

March 4, 2020 · 12:00 pm

Personal: March TBR, February Recap, and other Updates


Happy March!

I recently started a “Bookstagram” Account and honestly it is so fun! I definitely needed a new platform and outlet for my creativity. Between the pictures and the captions, this new Instagram account definitely has new opportunities for my brain to play around. There are all sorts of different challenges you could participate in and so many other community members to follow. It also gives me a new way to share and track my TBR list. If you would like to come follow me, click on the link in the Social Media sidebar.

For my March TBR, I’ve decided to take one more attack on my old February TBR before setting them aside for a while to try and match my mood. So for the first two weeks I’m going to continue with Iron King, Hunting Prince Dracula, A Gathering of Shadows, and Bloodwitch. Now, I know most people would say if you have to take a break from a book, it’s not a good book. But as someone with an anxiety disorder that makes it hard to focus on one specific thing over time, I feel like that is a lot of responsibility to put on a book. That being said, these books are still very good, but my brain just can’t hold on to them right now. So I’m going to give them one more shot before moving on to one of these beautiful collections that are calling to my attention.

This month is also the first month that I have gotten to play with my new Keys and Curios journal from Wizarding World Gold. So that will be another fun little thing to go back to periodically through out the month.

I’ve also started using my bullet journal daily this year, and may have to start incorporating that into my posts and stories. It has been a good way to keep track of my to do list and my TBR. It’s also been a tactile way to let my brain and my hands work out what they need. It’s made budgeting easier. It’s made time management sort of easier, my brain still has its own limitations.

Really, for me this whole month is probably going to be about getting back to my creativity. I always seem to lose it over winter. And with the loss of my creativity, my focus and my mood both fluctuate. This month I want to get back to me and stop trying to focus on other people’s opinions of me. This month is all about me and my needs.

(As always, look for this post image on my business pages for any updates on Paparazzi or Younique.)

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February 3, 2020 · 10:00 am

Personal: February TBR/Monthly Update


Happy February!

Can you believe that it’s already the second month of 2020? A new month of a new year, and a new decade. Maybe your January didn’t kick off the year like you’d hoped. But who cares? Every month is a new opportunity to start your goals over. Every day is a new opportunity to start your goals over. Do I have a large list of things I didn’t accomplish this month? Yes. But were they essential? Not really. They didn’t impact my immediate health and well being, they didn’t impact my living situation, they really didn’t impact much at all. Does this mean that I’m not setting the right goals? Maybe. Or maybe it means that I’m setting exactly the right goals. Goals don’t have to always have to be working towards a long term change. Sometimes it’s okay to just work day by day.

That being said, I do have goals for the month, most of them are reading goals but some of them are not. For my reading goals, there are four series that I want to finish in the beginning of this year:

  1. The Iron Fey by Julie Kagawa
    1. January didn’t end as planned as far as this series was concerned. So I intend to finish Iron King by mid-February, and start Iron Daughter before the end. So far I’m 1/3 of the way through Iron King.
  2. Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco
    1. In January I finished my re-read of the first book in this series Stalking Jack the Ripper. So for this month I want to get at least halfway through Hunting Prince Dracula, hopefully I’ll finish it completely, but I’m aiming for halfway to be safe.
  3. Shades of Magic by V.E. Schwab
    1. In January I finished A Darker Shade of Magic and I hope to review it this month. While I’m reviewing the first one I hope to get to at least halfway through A Gathering of Shadows by the end of the month.
  4. The Witchlands by Susan Dennard
    1. As anyone who has seen my recent posts from last year knows; I went on a pretty big binge of Susan Dennard’s Witchland series over the summer. During those months I finished the first three parts of the series but I feel like I burned myself out, so I took a little bit of a break from Bloodwitch. So for this month I wanted to try and finish that in order to finish the latest piece of the series. (Sooz is currently writing more of the series so this isn’t the last book. Also, go check out my review for Truthwitch)

I definitely hope to finish these series by the end of the year, maybe even before June. But for now I’m just going to take it one day at a time. In addition to these reading goals I have some writing goals and money goals, but they are less concrete. I know I would like to edit one of the projects that I have started. But I also want to flesh out character cards for all of my projects and both are big undertakings so I don’t know which to start this month.

For money I know I would like to save double what I usually do for the month and I’m not sure if that’s possible. If I take advantage of the promotions this month for Younique or Paparazzi (check the links in the About Me for details) and hit the goals they set I could probably do it. But again, the goal is not concrete. Later today I will try and have fully updated pages. But for now, here are my goals for February, here’s to a productive month!

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September 4, 2019 · 7:42 am

Personal: September TBR/TTO


Now that I’m finally caught up with posts, and homework, and every other responsibility I have, I can finally organize myself enough to have a planned out TBR and TTO list. So here it is:

TBR

The first priorities for the month are probably my textbooks. The ones I have for this semester are:

  1. Biology (OER) by OpenStax
    1. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39714668-biology-2e?ac=1&from_search=true
  2. Forensic Science by Richard Saferstein
    1. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36948879-forensic-science

These books will take priority over any of the personal reading books on the list. So don’t be surprised if my Goodreads is flooded with textbook updates and my posts take on a more scientific nature again. I’ve definitely missed science discussions and topics. So my interests definitely are going to start swaying back towards science. That being said, the goals I set for myself last month are still on my list. With some slight changes for new releases and challenges.

So, TBFinished:

  1. Bloodwitch by Susan Dennard
    1. I am just so hooked on this series that I could not give it up no matter what else I have going on. I’m so invested in these characters. I need to know what happens to them! I have a feeling this one will take a majority of my down time.
    2. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39863277-bloodwitch
  2. A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
    1. V.E. Schwab is co-hosting a Schwab-tember challenge with some people. This challenges her readers, followers, and fans to read any of her books during September. And I can’t think of a better book to follow up the void left behind by finishing Bloodwitch.
    2. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25667118-a-darker-shade-of-magic
  3. An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green
    1. I just really want to read this one too.
    2. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24233708-an-absolutely-remarkable-thing?ac=1&from_search=true
  4. Dune by Frank Herbert
    1. I’m going to finish this someday.
    2. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39970217-dune

TBStarted:

  1. A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab.
    1. I know I’m going to want to read the second book once I’ve finished the first.
    2. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20764879-a-gathering-of-shadows?ac=1&from_search=true
  2. Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
    1. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34728667-children-of-blood-and-bone?from_search=true
  3. Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson
    1. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42201395-sorcery-of-thorns?ac=1&from_search=true

These haven’t changed from last month.

TBReRead:

  1. Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco
    1. We are getting so close to Captureing the Devil!
    2. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28962906-stalking-jack-the-ripper

These are what I’m excited about for September. As far as products go, I don’t really have any that I’m dying to try this month. If I find anything I’m super excited about I’ll probably post about it in a separate post. There have been some really cool new releases from Younique this month and a pretty exciting Kudos. But I will probably post about them separately on my Facebook page.

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September 1, 2019 · 7:22 pm

Personal: August Recap


So after writing up my July recaps I decided to also write up an August TBR list and an August To Try Out List. However, life caught up to me and so I’m still going to post it, but I’m going to edit it into a recap of sorts instead. So let’s kick things off with my TBR.

TBR

These first books on the list were the books that I had started in a previous month and just wanted to finish this month if I had the time.

TBFinished:

  1. Windwitch By Susan Dennard
    1. I had started this book last month immediately after finishing Truthwitch by Susan Dennard. By the end of July, I was just about halfway through the book so it wasn’t hard to finish this one. I am now so invested in this world that I don’t think I’ll ever get bored of reading about it. Since finishing this book, I have also started Sightwitch which is the short story in between Windwitch and Bloodwitch. Sightwithch was not initially on this TBR list because I didn’t at the time have the book since it was an ebook only.
      1. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29939390-windwitch?ac=1&from_search=true
  2. Dune by Frank Herbert
    1. This book is really big so I’m just sort of reading it in pieces. As much as I can get through in each month. I didn’t read any of it for this month so it will definitely be on the September TBR list that I post on the 1st.
      1. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39970217-dune
  3. An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green
    1. I started reading this as soon as it came out and before the Barnes & Noble Book Club night. But I never quite absorbed the full ending of the book because of how fast I was reading it. I was forcing myself to rush for the Book Club and I wanted to finish the book quickly. But now I went back and restarted and started reading it slowly this time. But then I started reading The Witchlands series. So this also did not get finished this time.
      1. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24233708-an-absolutely-remarkable-thing?ac=1&from_search=true

TBStarted:

  1. Bloodwitch by Susan Dennard
    1. I did actually end up starting this towards the end of this month. So this is going to move up to my September TBF list.
      1. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39863277-bloodwitch
  2. Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
    1. I had seen this on a BUNCH of Bookstagram account pages and I thought I’d check it out. I purchased it but didn’t start it yet.
      1. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34728667-children-of-blood-and-bone?from_search=true
  3. Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson
    1. This was another one that is on EVERY Bookstagram account I follow. So I thought I’d see what all the fuss was about.
      1. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42201395-sorcery-of-thorns?from_search=true

TBReRead:

  1. Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco
    1.  Kerri Maniscalco’s new book comes out in September I believe and so I am super excited to start reading the series from the beginning again.
      1. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28962906-stalking-jack-the-ripper

That was my short list for August, and the progress that I made on them. Obviously, my To Read List is much bigger and will continue to grow. So September’s will build off of that. Here are some things I had wanted to try out in August:

TTO:

  1. You-ology Exfoliating Mask: I had hear that exfoliating masks are really good for your face and getting rid of gunk that has seeped into your pores. Now, my day job is really dirty. Boxes are disgusting. So I really need something to take care of my face. The Bioclarity that I use is very good at keeping my face clean and hydrated but I needed something a little more aggressive to combat all of the layers of gunk on my face. I’ve only used this product three times so far and it has helped make my face softer and smoother. But I’ll keep you posted as I keep using the product.
    1. https://www.youniqueproducts.com/AmyZukas/products/view/US-16204-06#.XWxfdChKiUk
  2. Relics and Rarities: This is a show by Geek & Sundry, and it’s another RPG campaign stream. It is a fascinating concept. It basically arcs the story around what artifacts they choose at the beginning of the episode, and there’s a new guest star every week. They are still trying to complete an overall goal, but it’s not the same set up as Critical Role is. It’s very quirky. I like it.
    1. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7atuZxmT954B-AtfJsw_YbULHL_L7J8z
  3. Webtoon: This is an app that allows you to read online comics. An author I follow on Instagram (Alexandra Bracken), had mentioned that a webcomic called Lore Olympus existed that might mean her latest novel title might have to change. When she mentioned it, I immediately googled it to see what she was talking about because the description sounded like something I had seen pictures of online. So I signed up for the Webtoon app and I was not disappointed! Lore Olympus is SO GOOD! I would definitely recommend this webcomic if you haven’t read it yet.
    1. https://www.webtoons.com/en/
  4. Chokers by Paparazzi Accessories: Paparazzi came out with some pretty cute chokers recently and I really want to get some. I’m just not sure which one to get. I sort of want the cute silver ones, but I also want the corded ones. So I’m not sure which one I’m going to get. But I definitely want one.
    1. https://paparazziaccessories.com/314428/
  5. Calisto6: This is another RPG stream that I wanted to start watching but I never got fully into it. It’s set in a futuristic sci-fi version of L.A. It’s a very different concept, from the description. So it will go on into my September TTO list.
    1. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7atuZxmT957wz-a95ESEGW7de6SgR9is

So those were all of the things that I had wanted to try out for last month. Now that classes have started, we’ll see how September’s goals will get accomplished.

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January 14, 2019 · 10:55 pm

Review: Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco


Stalking Jack the Ripper (Stalking Jack the Ripper, #1)
Can we just talk about this cover too?

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book was so fascinating to me. It follows the life of a girl living in Ripper era London with her Father, her brother, and some pretty high societal expectations. Her Uncle was a doctor with a university position and the ability to perform autopsies. She was a female with a brain too big for her societal expectations and a father too strict to break propriety leading to illicit lessons in forensic science and some next level sneaking around. From carrying extra clothes in her carriage to slipping out in the middle of the night, she had investigative aspirations that reached the sky. Unfortunately, sky high aspirations rarely lead to grounded scientific breakthroughs and this was no different.

Andrey Rose Wadsworth was happy to study under her Uncle. But when the infamous Whitechapel murders threw a wrench in that plan by resulting in her Uncle’s arrest it came down to her and her intellectual rival / eventual love interest to solve the mystery and save the day. With his help, and the notes of the murders, could she fix everything and save her family? Or would it end up breaking it forever? This is the basic summary of just about every heroine story in the YA section of the bookstore with slight variations on what’s being destroyed forever. The difference between this book and the usual heroine stories is the historical aspects of it.

This book brings in just enough detail to bring you in to the times but also lacking just enough to pique your interest and make you want to know more. For me, my brain instantly wanted to know more about the accuracy of the forensic advancement described in the book. For others, the social aspect was more fascinating. The intricacies of propriety and scientific exploration in London’s 1800’s will clearly never cease to be of interest to people, the social aspect was more fascinating. The intricacies of propriety and scientific exploration in London’s 1800’s will clearly never cease to be of interest to people. There is still so much to explore and different perspectives to explore in. I am excited to read the latest installments and see what level she takes the twists to. My overall opinion is that it’s both a good read, and an interesting window into the historical time it portrays.




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