Author: Rosina @ Lace and Dagger Books

My name is Rosina and I love talking about and reviewing books!
Manga

Manga I’d Love To See Translated Into English

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger BooksLeave a Comment on Manga I’d Love To See Translated Into English
Manga I’d Love To See Translated Into English

The problem with being into manga is you’ll always stumble upon series that look good but need English translations. Fortunately, publishers sometimes hold surveys asking what titles they should pick up, so you can always shout about them. But until then, if you want a copy? You’ll have to grab it in Japanese or another language if it’s been translated elsewhere.

Since I’ve started collecting more series in Japanese, I’ve got a growing list of series that I really want English publishers to pick up. So today, I wanted to share my excitement for some of these series with you all! You may wind up wanting them translated too.

Continue reading “Manga I’d Love To See Translated Into English” →
ARC, books, Review, Young Adult

Book Review: City of Nightmares by Rebecca Schaeffer

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger BooksLeave a Comment on Book Review: City of Nightmares by Rebecca Schaeffer
Book Review: City of Nightmares by Rebecca Schaeffer

I love good sci-fi and fantasy novels, especially those that blend those aspects into something new and exciting. And superhero stories can be a great example of that. But what if we have a superhero-like story and world without actual heroes? That’s what we’ve got here with City of Nightmares. I was lucky to be sent a proof copy of this book to review, thanks to Kate at Hodderscape. So thank you so much!

In City of Nightmares, we follow 19-year-old Ness, a young woman terrified of nightmares since her big sister transformed into a giant spider and ate their father. Now she lives in Newham with a charity or cult that helps protect people from those Nightmares. But Ness can’t do much to help, so when she takes on a new job hoping to find a reason that she should be able to stay, it blows up in her face? It’s a big problem. The only person around to help her is a nightmare boy she’s terrified of eating her. But as they find their way back to the city, Ness begins to learn that maybe not all Nightmares are what she thought they were.

Continue reading “Book Review: City of Nightmares by Rebecca Schaeffer” →
Adult, book tag, books

Try A Chapter Tag – Popular Romance Edition

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger Books4 Comments on Try A Chapter Tag – Popular Romance Edition
Try A Chapter Tag – Popular Romance Edition

Doing a Try a Chapter challenge every now and then is a great way to narrow down your TBR. You’ll either get excited about the books you have to read, or at least you’ll realise they aren’t for you. I wanted to do another one but needed to figure out what theme to follow.

Then I noticed that I’ve been buying more romance books.

So, why not try the first chapters of a few popular ones I own?

The results of this challenge surprised me. So let’s get into the books!

Continue reading “Try A Chapter Tag – Popular Romance Edition” →
Reading

How To Be Kind To Yourself About Reading

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger Books16 Comments on How To Be Kind To Yourself About Reading
How To Be Kind To Yourself About Reading

My big goal this year is to be kinder to myself regarding reading. By the end of last year, I was pushing myself to read more and more to get my physical TBR to less than 100. I managed that, but it meant that I was reading so much all the time. Plus, there were a few review copies that I’d been sent that I needed to read, and it just got to be too much.

This year, I’m going easier on myself. I’m already ahead on review books, so I can space them out, and I’m doing this TBR basket where I’ve got a pile of books to pick from, but I can read them in any order.

I’m thinking a lot about ways I can be kinder to myself this year, so I wanted to share some of them with you.

Continue reading “How To Be Kind To Yourself About Reading” →
Manga

Shoujo Manga Recommendations

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger Books2 Comments on Shoujo Manga Recommendations
Shoujo Manga Recommendations

For as long as I’ve been reading manga, I’ve been predominantly reading shoujo manga. If you’d asked me earlier this year, I’d have assumed that I was starting to read less of it, but it’s been the exact opposite. I’ve been picking up more and more of it again.

So, I thought it was about time to share some of the shoujo manga that I love – and are readily available – for you to all check out.

Some of these will be the cutesy type of series that you expect hearing the word shoujo, but some less so. So give this list a read, even if you think you don’t like shoujo.

Continue reading “Shoujo Manga Recommendations” →
Review, tips

A Guide To Using Buyee + Review

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger BooksLeave a Comment on A Guide To Using Buyee + Review
A Guide To Using Buyee + Review

If you’ve been following me on my social media other than this, you might have noticed that I like buying a lot of anime and game merch from Japan. I also like supporting small creators. So having the opportunity to treat myself to things from Japan every now and then? That’s pretty amazing.

In the past, that would’ve meant scouring eBay or using the one Japanese site that I’d found and trusted. But over the last few years, I’ve been finding more and more places to buy stuff. Including straight from Amazon Japan. And out of all those sites, the one that’s come to be my favourite is Buyee.

Continue reading “A Guide To Using Buyee + Review” →
anticipated releases, books, Manga, Young Adult

My Anticipated Releases – Books I’ve Preordered in January & February

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger Books3 Comments on My Anticipated Releases – Books I’ve Preordered in January & February
My Anticipated Releases – Books I’ve Preordered in January & February

Ahh, preorders, what a great way to start the year. There are so many anticipated releases coming out this year. And though I can’t afford to preorder all of them, I have preordered a few in January and February.

So, I thought, why not share them with you guys? Add to your TBRs, haha. I won’t be posting regular lists of books I’m anticipating this year, as these posts take way too long. But I do want to take this opportunity to share some of the books and manga I’m excited about.

Starting with…

Continue reading “My Anticipated Releases – Books I’ve Preordered in January & February” →
Update

My Bookish Goals 2023

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger Books8 Comments on My Bookish Goals 2023
My Bookish Goals 2023

I obviously had to do another goals post this year, huh? At the end of last year, I reacted to my goals for 2022, and I was mostly successful! 

Keeping your goals in mind can definitely help you figure out what you want to do in the new year. So I’m setting some specifically bookish ones for this year.

I’ve done away with the genre-focused goals this year and anything too specific. I find that I often forget that I’m supposed to be picking up more of whatever. So, when I look back at the end of the year, it’s always very hit or miss. So I’ll be a little more open, and I’m going to be a little kinder to myself.

And that’s actually the goal we’re going to start with.

Continue reading “My Bookish Goals 2023” →
ARC, books, Review, Young Adult

Book Review: The Agency for Scandal by Laura Wood

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger Books1 Comment on Book Review: The Agency for Scandal by Laura Wood
Book Review: The Agency for Scandal by Laura Wood

I took a bit of a break from my blog with the end of the year being so busy, but now we’re into January and have a new year of books ahead! I’m happy to start the year off with a post on a book I was so excited to read. I requested an ARC of this from Scholastic, but I didn’t think I’d be getting a copy. However, I was lucky enough to be sent an early finished copy after all, and this book is stunning. The cover art is pretty, and the spine?! I love it so much. It looks so cute sitting on my shelves.

I should probably stop gushing about the design now and actually tell you about the book! But wait until you see it~

This is actually my second time talking about this book on my blog. This was the first book I did a mini review on in my series Will I Like This Book? I was intrigued by the small sample, and I just knew I had to read on. We all know I’m not the biggest fan of historical fiction, but this is one that sparked my curiosity.

The Agency for Scandal follows eighteen-year-old Isobel, a young woman trying hard to hide from society that her family is penniless. She works with a women’s detective agency to right wrongs and digs up scandals about the powerful men who deserve to be bought down. What she doesn’t expect is that one day a case will tangle her up with the Duke she’s been nursing a crush on, who doesn’t seem to know she exists. 

Continue reading “Book Review: The Agency for Scandal by Laura Wood” →
japanese

Japanese Catchup #3 aka What Have I Achieved This Year?

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger BooksLeave a Comment on Japanese Catchup #3 aka What Have I Achieved This Year?
Japanese Catchup #3 aka What Have I Achieved This Year?

2022 was the year that I finally decided to sit down and start learning Japanese properly. I’d tried before, multiple times and I had things I could use because of it, but I was fed up with always giving up. I’ve been writing about my experience to encourage me to keep going and I have!

I’ve been learning Japanese for a few months now and that’s a success.

Continue reading “Japanese Catchup #3 aka What Have I Achieved This Year?” →