Can't Wait Wednesday No. 74: The Triumphant, by Lesley Livingston

Welcome to "Can't Wait Wednesday"!

This is a weekly event hosted by

Tressa @ Wishful Endings!

This is also where we excited book bloggers showcase future releases we're eagerly anticipating! 
For more information, 
please click HERE.


There's also a Linky widget, so participating blogs can link up!

Here's my choice for this week!

 The Triumphant

(The Valiant, Book 3)

Lesley Livingston

Hardcover, 384 pages

Razorbill

     February 12, 2019

Feminist Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mythology,Romance,

Young Adult Fiction 

    

    

The final book in the Valiant series takes Fallon and her warrior sisters on an epic journey from the corrupt Roman Republic to the wonder of the ancient world: Alexandria, Egypt.

In the wake of their victorious fight to win back the Ludus Achillea, Fallon and her gladiatrix sisters have become the toast of the Republic. However, as a consequence of his actions during the Ludus uprising, Fallon's love, Cai, has been stripped of his Decurion rank and cast down to serve as one of Caesar's gladiators.

Amid fighting for Cai's freedom, Fallon soon learns that Caesar's enemies are plotting against him and planning to get revenge on his fearsome gladiatrices. When Caesar is murdered by these conspirators, Fallon and the girls lose any sort of protection they once had. Fallon also realizes that the foreign queen Cleopatra is now in grave danger.

Fallon rallies her war band and Cai's friends to get Cleopatra out of the city, and the group heads to the safety of Cleo's homeland, Alexandria, Egypt. Once there, the gladiatrices are promised a place of honor in the queen's elite guard, but is that what any of them really want?

 Why I can't wait for this one!

Oh, yes, peeps, here I am again with the very same situation.....I can't wait for the last book in a trilogy, when I haven't read the first two.... LOL. But the thing is, I am a TSUNDOKU practitioner! Say WHAT?! And what is this "tsundoku"? Ah, so, grasshopper! It is the venerable Japanese art of acquiring books and books and books AND BOOKS, and letting them pile up in one's digs, without reading them. So that's why I can't help but WANT books that look SO tempting, when I STILL haven't read the ones I already have.....
But HEY!!!!! Female gladiators?! How the HECK could I pass these up?!


Check out these tsundoku links!
Wikipedia
BBC News
Open Culture Blog

The previous books in this series! 

Click on the covers 

for the Goodreads pages.

Lesley Livingston is a writer living in Toronto, Canada. She is the author of twelve books to date. Her first novel, Wondrous Strange, was winner of the CLA Young Adult Book of the Year 2010, a White Pine Honour Book, shortlisted for the Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Speculative Fiction, and in 2015 was named one of CBC’s “100 YA Books That Make You Proud To Be Canadian”. Darklight, the second book in this series, was a finalist for the Indigo Teen Read Awards. The concluding volume in the trilogy, Tempestuous, was a finalist for the Monica Hughes Award. These books have sold to more than ten countries to date, and Wondrous Strange has been optioned for film/TV by Shaftesbury Films. 
 
In addition to her books for teen readers, Lesley is also co-author of a Middle Grade series with Jonathan Llyr called The Wiggins Weird. The first book, How to Curse in Hieroglyphics, was shortlisted for the CLA Book of the Year for Children Award and was longlisted for the Canadian Booksellers Association’s Young Readers Book of the Year award. It was also chosen as one of the selections for the 2016 First Book Canada All-Star Reading Challenge.

Lesley’s newest novel, a YA historical epic, The Triumphant, which will be published in February 2019 by Penguin Razorbill (US) and HarperCollins (CAN), is the third in her bestselling trilogy, The Valiant, which tells the story of a 17-year-old girl’s journey from fierce Celtic princess to female gladiator and the darling of the Roman Empire.

Website/Goodreads/Facebook
Instagram/Twitter

What do you think of my
choice this week? 
Please leave a comment and
let me know!

Shelf Candy Saturday No. 258: Suitors and Sabotage, by Cindy Astey

Welcome to Shelf Candy Saturday!

This is my weekly feature

showcasing beautiful covers!

It also provides information, 
if available, on their 
very talented creators!

Here's my choice for this week!

Suitors and Sabotage
Cindy Anstey
Hardcover, 336  pages
Swoon Reads
April 17, 2018
Art, Historical Fiction, Mystery,
Romance, Suspense,
Young Adult Fiction

My Thoughts About This Cover

Here is another GORGEOUS cover in which typography is one of the important design elements, although not the only one, of course. And I LOVE everything about this cover! It's obviously a Regency romance, in the vein of Jane Austen's novels, although mystery and suspense are also included in the plot. What I think is most noticeable, though, is the romance element, due to the beautiful silhouettes. 

I ADORE all of that ornamental scrollwork all over this cover! Those swirls lead the eye everywhere, and one takes in not only the couple at the bottom of the cover, but also the nicely framed title, done in a typical, and very lovely, 19th-century font, as well as the horse and carriage at the top left, and the mansion at the very top and center. 

I would never have imagined that I would actually love a cover done in such muted colors, as I usually gravitate to those with bright ones. However, these work very well here! And I especially like how the title stands out, because it's been done in white, with the caps in light gray. Such a nice touch!

Another design element I like is how the author's name, as well as the light "cover chatter", have been so well incorporated into the overall design. In no way do they distract from it! 

The creator of this AWESOME cover design is Eileen Savage, the Senior Designer at Penguin Random House, for the Young Readers division. She is, of course, based in NYC, as that's where this publisher is located.

Savage obtained her B.F.A. (Bachelor of Fine Arts) in Communications Design in 2011, from Syracuse University, located in the city of Syracuse, in the state of New York, USA. 

She has previously worked with the Penguin Group USA, Viking Children's Books, and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, all based in NYC.

I think that, lately, I've begun to notice more covers that highlight typography in their designs. So I will definitely be featuring more of them!

Online Links

LinkedIn

Reedsy: Eileen Savage

What do you think of 
this week's cover?
Please leave a comment
and let me know!

Book Blogger Hop No. 139: Favorite Followed Blogs

Welcome to the Book Blogger Hop,

hosted by Billy @

Ramblings of a Coffee-Addicted Writer!

This Week's Question

Do you follow other book blogs,

and if so, who are your 

top 3 bloggers?

(Submitted  by Amber @

The Literary Phoenix)

My Answer

Most of us book bloggers do follow other book blogs. Bloggers in general do this, whether their blogs deal with books, crafts, gardening, pets, kids, or some other topic. I am no exception to this blogging 'custom'. It's a nifty way to get to know other bloggers, as well as share ideas and book recommendations!

In my early blogging days, I went CRAZY following blogs left and right, lol. As time went on, though, I came to realize that I could not realistically visit each and every one of these blogs and comment on at least ONE post, every single week. So nowadays, I don't follow that many blogs. Ironically, I have built up a large following myself, because blog tour companies want to see a lot of followers on those blogs where their authors' books are being promoted. 

There are different ways of following blogs, of course. Those of us who use Google's Blogger blogging platform usually follow other blogs with the GFC widget (Google Friend Connect). Those who have Wordpress as their blogging platform, on the other hand, need to use other following methods, as GFC does not apply to Wordpress blogs. (A couple of years ago, there were Internet rumors that Google was retiring the GFC widget, but that hasn't happened, thankfully!)

Other following options include Bloglovin', Networked Blogs, and, of course, following by email. There's also the Linky widget. I use this one, too, but, unfortunately, it doesn't show up in a blog's sidebar if that blog uses "https" in front of their URL. With the recent privacy law being enacted in Europe, I now use "https" in front of my URL. I'm not taking any chances on being fined! Lol. But then the Linky widget doesn't appear in my sidebar..... Well, I'm currently in the process of finding a solution to this little glitch. Until I do, my Linky followers are not visible in my sidebar.  :(

So, when I follow a blog, I usually do so with the GFC widget. If they don't have that, then I use Bloglovin'. I NEVER use the email option, though, because my inbox tends to get a LOT of spam. I sure don't need to get MORE emails! Lol.

Now, on to my three top bloggers..... And what are the criteria for a blogger saying that they have"three top bloggers"? I would say that it would be interesting content, great blog layout, and willingness to reciprocate with comments back, and/or replies. In my honest opinion, I believe all three of these are important. However, if a given blogger has the first two, but is not willing to either reply to my comments on their blog, or to comment back on mine, then I can't really say that they're one of my "three top bloggers". I understand that everyone is very busy (yours truly included), and sometimes, there just isn't enough time to reply to comments left on your blog, or to comment back on the blogs whose bloggers left a comment on yours. I do the best I can, myself. Sometimes I do fall behind..... 

Anyway.... I think book bloggers tend to interact more with other book bloggers whose reading tastes are similar to theirs. This is very understandable, although, in my case, there's at least one book blogger who LOVES the horror genre (I don't), and yet, she's SO nice and friendly, we're able to interact very well.

I really prefer to mention several -- not just three -- book bloggers with whom I interact pretty often, and whose reading tastes are similar to mine. But again, included in that list are book bloggers who, like the one I've referred to above, are just very nice people. They will interact with me, even though we don't quite have the same reading tastes. This is something I GREATLY appreciate! 

So here are the bloggers, in NO particular order:

Sarah @ Brainfluff: Totally fascinating posts, mostly about fantasy and SF, but including book cover posts, too. I LOVE interacting with her, as she's also very nice. Additionally, she's an SF writer!!  :)

Brian @ Babbling Books: He writes fascinating posts about classics, literary fiction, and nonfiction. Brian makes very interesting observations on the books he reads, and I greatly enjoy his comments, as well as his posts! Besides, he's a very down-to-earth, nice person. :)

Stephanie @ Bookfever: She has a wonderful mix of reading genres, including historical fiction, and historical nonfiction. She also hosts giveaways and participates in blog tours! Last but not least, she's a very nice person! :)

Barb @ Booker T's Farm: She LOVES dogs (she and hubby have two very cute Boxer pups), so she features many dog-themed books, especially funny ones. She's also a horror fan, but we both did enjoy reading Dread Nation, by Justina Ireland. (I called this book "horror lite", though, lol.) We kid around a lot! :)

Greg @ Book Haven: He posts such a GREAT collection of pictures, most of them SF-related! He also includes music videos in "Can't Wait Wednesday" post every week, and reviews movies as well as books.  :)

Wendy @ Musings of a Bookish Kitty: Although I haven't visited her blog in a while, I LOVE her posts, which include news (she calls them "mews", in reference to her cats, lol) of her family's activities. I especially enjoy reading about her daughter's progress in school, as well as her outings with Mom and Dad. Her daughter's nickname is "Mouse".  :)

Daniela @ Nocturnal Devices (now renamed 'Bookiverse'): I feel bad that I haven't visited her blog in a while.... She's a VERY bubbly person, and her post titles ALWAYS crack me up! She blogs mostly about paranormal romance, urban fantasy, fantasy, and some SF. She is, of course, VERY funny!  :)

Sue @ The Great Raven: Sue blogs about several genres, as she has very eclectic tastes. She does tend to publish a lot of SF posts. Since she's a librarian, she has a wide breadth of knowledge about several authors and genres. :)

Elizabeth @ Silver's Reviews: Elizabeth is a very sweet, kind person, and we interact mostly through the Book Blogger Hop blog hop/book meme, every week. We've also chatted by phone, though. She reads and reviews historical fiction, mysteries, and women's fiction. Although we don't have similar reading tastes, we still enjoy our chats!  :)

So these are my favorite bloggers and blogs! Do visit them, and check out their posts. I'm sure you guys will find some books in common, and make new friends, as well!  

TGIF and a GREAT weekend to everybody!! <3 :)

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