I am briefly pausing my hiatus to spread the word about AudioFile SYNC, an annual free audiobook reading project of AudioFile Magazine in partnership with OverDrive and various audiobook publishers. For fourteen weeks starting April 29th (TODAY!) and ending August 4th, two titles each week are accesible and downloadable from the program. What's good is international readers can join in on the fun, too.

Review: Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin

Ayesha at Last
by Uzma Jalaluddin

Synopsis:
A modern-day Muslim Pride and Prejudice for a new generation of love.

Ayesha Shamsi has a lot going on. Her dreams of being a poet have been set aside for a teaching job so she can pay off her debts to her wealthy uncle. She lives with her boisterous Muslim family and is always being reminded that her flighty younger cousin, Hafsa, is close to rejecting her one hundredth marriage proposal. Though Ayesha is lonely, she doesn't want an arranged marriage. Then she meets Khalid who is just as smart and handsome as he is conservative and judgmental. She is irritatingly attracted to someone who looks down on her choices and dresses like he belongs in the seventh century.

Review: In Another Life by C.C. Hunter

In Another Life
by C.C. Hunter

Synopsis:

Chloe was three years old when she became Chloe Holden, but her adoption didn’t scar her, and she’s had a great life. Now, fourteen years later, her loving parents’ marriage has fallen apart and her mom has moved them to Joyful, Texas. Starting twelfth grade as the new kid at school, everything Chloe loved about her life is gone. And feelings of déjà vu from her early childhood start haunting her.

When Chloe meets Cash Colton she feels drawn to him, as though they're kindred spirits. Until Cash tells her the real reason he sought her out: Chloe looks exactly like the daughter his foster parents lost years ago, and he’s determined to figure out the truth.

Blog Tour: Stay A Little Longer by Dawn Lanuza (Review)

A BIG HELLO to you book wanderer who is reading my smol book blog! Today is my stop for the international blog tour for Dawn Lanuza's latest romance novel, "Stay a Little Longer"

Props to the amazing duo of Erika of The Nocturnal Fey and Rafael of The Royal Polar Bear Reads for organizing this tour.

Review: 99 Nights in Logar by Jamil Jan Kochai

99 Nights in Logar
by Jamil Jan Kochai

Synopsis:
A coming-of-age story about one boy’s journey across contemporary Afghanistan to find and bring home the family dog, blending the grit and immediacy of voice-driven fiction like We Need New Names with the mythmaking of One Thousand and One Nights.

Twelve-year-old Marwand’s memories from his previous visit to Afghanistan six years ago center on his contentious relationship with Budabash, the terrifying but beloved dog who guards his extended family’s compound in Logar. Eager to find an ally in this place that’s meant to be “home,” Marwand approaches Budabash the way he would any dog on his American suburban block—and the results are disastrous: Marwand loses a finger and Budabash escapes.

PH Blog Tour: The Bride Test by Helen Hoang (Review+Giveaway)

I am back, my book wanderer friends! I have risen from the book blogger crypts (or wherever place book bloggers lie when they are dead in the book blogging world) because I need to tell you about this new book by romance maven, Helen Hoang.

Huge thanks to Fay of Bibliophile Soprano for hosting the PH Blog Tour for "The Bride Test" by Helen Hoang.

Improving my Sidebar Subscription Gadgets

Book bloggers do a lot of backend work for their blog. When we don't post or update in social media, it does not mean that we are taking our readers for granted. Most probably, we are still doing or thinking about blog-related stuff. So today, I would like to share what I've been up to lately to improve Rurouni Jenni Reads. It has something to do with my 2019 goal of growing my blog's following. This is ultimately a shameless self-promo post, lol.

My 2019 Beat the Backlist Challenge Sign-Up Post

Ahoy, book wanderers! How are you faring 2019, so far? I am popping in for a quick sign-up post for the 2019 Beat the Backlist Challenge, as announced in my opening post for the year. I skimmed over the books I already own and came up with this list of mostly YA books. I do not intend to finish all these books this year. I can at most do one backlist title per month. And this list can still change along the course of the challenge. I am mostly putting this up in the hopes of finding other challengers who got the same books as me to buddy read with.

Review: Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen M. McManus

Two Can Keep a Secret
by Karen M. McManus

Synopsis:
Echo Ridge is small-town America. Ellery's never been there, but she's heard all about it. Her aunt went missing there at age seventeen. And only five years ago, a homecoming queen put the town on the map when she was killed. Now Ellery has to move there to live with a grandmother she barely knows.

The town is picture-perfect, but it's hiding secrets. And before school even begins for Ellery, someone's declared open season on homecoming, promising to make it as dangerous as it was five years ago. Then, almost as if to prove it, another girl goes missing.

My 2019 Discussion Challenge Sign-Up Post

Hello book wanderers! As I've said in my opening post for 2019, I am once again joining the Discussion Challenge. Last year, I aimed for the Discussion Dabbler level, requiring 1-10 discussion posts. I was able to do five, so I am gobsmacked right there in the middle of goal reached and achieved. Also for the first time ever, I got featured as the blogger of the month last October 2018, so wow, it's a weird happy feeling to get my posts spotlighted on the monthly linky post.