#BookReview: Kushiel's Dart by @JCareyAuthor with @adivineeternity

About the Book: When Love cast me out, it was Cruelty who took pity on me.

The land of Terre d'Ange is a place of unsurpassing beauty and grace. It is said that angels found the land and saw it was good...and the ensuing race that rose from the seed of angels and men live by one simple rule: Love as thou wilt. 

Phèdre nó Delaunay is a young woman who was born with a scarlet mote in her left eye. Sold into indentured servitude as a child, her bond is purchased by Anafiel Delaunay, a nobleman with very a special mission...and the first one to recognize who and what she is: one pricked by Kushiel's Dart, chosen to forever experience pain and pleasure as one.

Phèdre is trained equally in the courtly arts and the talents of the bedchamber, but, above all, the ability to observe, remember, and analyze. Almost as talented a spy as she is courtesan, Phèdre stumbles upon a plot that threatens the very foundations of her homeland. Treachery sets her on her path; love and honor goad her further. And in the doing, it will take her to the edge of despair...and beyond. Hateful friend, loving enemy, beloved assassin; they can all wear the same glittering mask in this world, and Phèdre will get but one chance to save all that she holds dear.

Set in a world of cunning poets, deadly courtiers, heroic traitors, and a truly Machiavellian villainess, this is a novel of grandeur, luxuriance, sacrifice, betrayal, and deeply laid conspiracies. Not since Dune has there been an epic on the scale of Kushiel's Dart - a massive tale about the violent death of an old age, and the birth of a new.

#BookishChallenges: March Challenge Announcement

Welcome to Bookish Challenges! We hope that you enjoy joining these as much as we have loved making them! Each week we will feature a few Instagram posts that joined the challenge that we fell in love with! You can join to just follow the directions below! 

#BookBlitz: Love on a Battlefield by @posyroberts @xpressotours #Giveaway

Not every compass points north.
Andrew Summers is forced to spend his vacations reliving Civil War battles with his father. He hates every minute, until a blue-eyed, red-haired boy behind enemy lines catches his eye.
Shep Wells would much rather travel the world than play at boring war reenactments. He never dreamed a Texan boy would capture his heart.
Real life and years separate them; Andrew is forced onto real battlefields, but for Shep the world is a playground. They’re opposites, but writing letters closes the distance, uncovering their hopes and dreams. When Shep visits Andrew, they get to see if the tug they’ve felt for years is the compass pointing the way home.

#BookReview: A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919 by @ClaireHartfield with @adivineeternity

About the Book: On a hot day in July 1919, three black youths went swimming in Lake Michigan, unintentionally floating close to the "white" beach. An angry white man began throwing stones at the boys, striking and killing one. Racial conflict on the beach erupted into days of urban violence that shook the city of Chicago to its foundations. This mesmerizing narrative draws on contemporary accounts as it traces the roots of the explosion that had been building for decades in race relations, politics, business, and clashes of culture. 

#BookReview: I Can't Make This Up: Life Lessons by @KevinHart4real with @adivineeternity

About the Book: Superstar comedian and Hollywood box office star Kevin Hart turns his immense talent to the written word by writing some words. Some of those words include: the, a, for, above, and even even. Put them together and you have the funniest, most heartfelt, and most inspirational memoir on survival, success, and the importance of believing in yourself since Old Yeller.

The question you’re probably asking yourself right now is: What does Kevin Hart have that a book also has?

According to the three people who have seen Kevin Hart and a book in the same room, the answer is clear:

A book is compact. Kevin Hart is compact.

A book has a spine that holds it together. Kevin Hart has a spine that holds him together.

A book has a beginning. Kevin Hart’s life uniquely qualifies him to write this book by also having a beginning.

It begins in North Philadelphia. He was born an accident, unwanted by his parents. His father was a drug addict who was in and out of jail. His brother was a crack dealer and petty thief. And his mother was overwhelmingly strict, beating him with belts, frying pans, and his own toys.

The odds, in short, were stacked against our young hero, just like the odds that are stacked against the release of a new book in this era of social media (where Hart has a following of over 100 million, by the way).

But Kevin Hart, like Ernest Hemingway, JK Rowling, and Chocolate Droppa before him, was able to defy the odds and turn it around. In his literary debut, he takes the reader on a journey through what his life was, what it is today, and how he’s overcome each challenge to become the man he is today.

And that man happens to be the biggest comedian in the world, with tours that sell out football stadiums and films that have collectively grossed over $3.5 billion.

He achieved this not just through hard work, determination, and talent: It was through his unique way of looking at the world. Because just like a book has chapters, Hart sees life as a collection of chapters that each person gets to write for himself or herself.

“Not only do you get to choose how you interpret each chapter, but your interpretation writes the next chapter,” he says. “So why not choose the interpretation that serves your life the best?”

#BookishTravels with @adivineeternity: Let's go to the NYPL Library!

Well hello there! I see you've found my comfy corner of the world, which is currently somewhere in New York City where I live with an oversized book collection, my cat, and not enough money to physically travel everywhere I want to. Who am I, you ask? I'm Caity, one of the awesome reviewers on Crossroad Reviews! I joined recently and am now inviting you to join me on my bookish travels.

Each week we will be featuring something related to both books/reading AND traveling, be it incredible bookstores and libraries from around the world, travel literature and the places they feature, books set basically anywhere, author's houses or destinations of choice, and any of a variety of other amazing things which fit the category. 

Want to visit a specific place? Let us know in the comments!! 

#BookBlitz: Shattered Destiny by Yumoyori Wilson & Tamara White @xpressotours #Giveaway

What if one act of kindness shatters your destiny? One moment that changed your life forever. Would you embrace it or fight with everything you had?

Born to a powerful mother and father, both highly respected in our clan for their magic and strength, I was neither powerful nor respected. I was born a null. Devoid of any of the strength or power of my clan and to make matters worse, my attempted shift into dragon form revealed I’m nothing more than a mere human.
When my mother became ill and my father abandoned us, I became the head of the household. I didn’t mind doing hard labor; actually, I enjoyed knowing I could be of use to my mother by performing the duties she could no longer do.
My life had become the same routine until I decided to step in and help an injured dragon who crossed my path. After healing them, my clan turned on me, taking me to the King to be interrogated. Now, I’m free and on the run – beginning my journey into the unknown.
I am Abigail Fiammetta. I vow to live and reclaim the shattered pieces of my life. Even if I have to kill to do so.