This is the Booked For The Month podcast with your host, Chip. I pick a book every month, read it, and review it. It really is that simple. No, I don’t know what I’m doing, and yes, you can absolutely follow along every month!

This month's book is The Thirteenth Child by Erin A. Craig.

The Thirteenth Child follows the female main character Hazel as the thirteenth child of an impoverished family who was chosen to be adopted by one of three deities; the Dreaded End.

Hazel spends most of her childhood neglected and abused by her family hoping for the day her godfather would rescue her. When that day comes, the Dreaded End finally arrives to take Hazel under his wing with the intent to mold her into a renowned healer.

She undertakes an unsolicited journey to become a divine prophet, carrying out the purpose bestowed upon her. Hazel soon learns that with this great power comes a hidden curse that she alone must bear.

She struggles against the confines of the destiny forced upon her as she deals with grief, forbidden love, loneliness, and ethical dilemmas throughout the novel from peasantry to elite status.

*This podcast is not sponsored at the time of uploading and any opinions (unless explicitly stated as endorsements) should not be taken as endorsements*

This is the Booked For The Month podcast with your host, Chip. I pick a book every month, read it, and review it. It really is that simple. No, I don’t know what I’m doing, and yes, you can absolutely follow along every month!

This month's book is The Thirteenth Child by Erin A. Craig.

The Thirteenth Child follows the female main character Hazel as the thirteenth child of an impoverished family who was chosen to be adopted by one of three deities; the Dreaded End. Hazel spends the first 12 years of her life neglected and abused by her family hoping for the day her godfather would rescue her. On the day of her 12th birthday, the Dreaded End (also known as Merrick) finally arrives to take Hazel under his wing with the intent to mold her into a renowned healer.

After a year full of learning and practicing her medical skills, her godfather bestows upon her the power to ascertain the cure for any mortal ailment. She uses this power to heal many citizens of the kingdom of Martissienes (Mar-Tee-See-Inn) and soon discovers her gift can also be a curse. Hazel discovers the “deathshead”, a skull that appears when she touches her patients that are destined to die by her hand.

Hazel struggles with the ethical dilemma of euthanization, especially when it comes to her family and love interests. Upon realizing that those she does not send to the Dreaded End will lead to the inevitable demise of those around them, she is forced to commit what she deems as murder; forever haunted by the specters of her victims.

Hazel is soon summoned to the court of the royal Marnaigne family to heal king Marnaigne from a deadly case of the Shivers. Adapting to the new way of life, Hazel finds herself presented with forbidden romance, the future of the kingdom, and regaining control of her life that was taken away from her even before birth.

*This podcast is not sponsored at the time of uploading and any opinions (unless explicitly stated as endorsements) should not be taken as endorsements*

This is the Booked For The Month podcast with your host, Chip. I pick a book every month, read it, and review it. It really is that simple. No, I don’t know what I’m doing, and yes, you can absolutely follow along every month!

This month's book is Uprooted by Naomi Novik.

• The plot follows Agniezka who is from a village called Dvernik, which is a part of a kingdom known as Polnya.

• The villages in Polnya are explained to be haunted by an encroaching strip of corrupted woodland known as the Wood; which brings hardship for the villagers by overtaking their crops, livestock, and even the villagers themselves.

• Both sides of the wood have been fended off in an at-best deadlocked battle for centuries between wizards and witches; the most important to the plot being known as the Dragon.

• Every 10 years the villages in Polnya offer a group of girls as tributes for the Dragon to select a servant from.

• Nobody knows what the Dragon does with his apprentices for the 10 years they serve, but Agniezka explains they are forbidden to leave the Dragon’s tower and afterward often return only briefly to the village before eventually travelling to the city or elsewhere to scarcely be seen again.

• When the day of the next selection is upon the villagers, Agniezka’s entire world comes crumbling down as the most unexpected event occurs.

• The ensuing plot follows Agniezka through her struggles as she adapts to her new calling involving magic, royal diplomacy, friendship, intimacy, and of course battling the Wood.

  
  

  *This podcast is not sponsored at the time of uploading and any opinions (unless explicitly stated as endorsements) should not be taken as endorsements*

This is the Booked For The Month podcast with your host, Chip. I pick a book every month, read it, and review it. It really is that simple. No, I don’t know what I’m doing, and yes, you can absolutely follow along every month!

This month's book is Uprooted by Naomi Novik.

The plot follows Agniezka who is from a village called Dvernik, which is a part of a kingdom known as Polnya.

The villages in Polnya are explained to be haunted by an encroaching strip of corrupted woodland known as the Wood; which brings hardship for the villagers by overtaking their crops, livestock, and even the villagers themselves.

Both sides of the wood have been fended off in an at-best deadlocked battle for centuries between wizards and witches; the most important to the plot being known as the Dragon.

Every 10 years the villages in Polnya offer a group of girls as tributes for the Dragon to select a servant from.

Nobody knows what the Dragon does with his apprentices for the 10 years they serve, but Agniezka explains they are forbidden to leave the Dragon’s tower and afterward often return only briefly to the village before eventually travelling to the city or elsewhere to scarcely be seen again.

When the day of the next selection is upon the villagers, Agniezka’s entire world comes crumbling down as the most unexpected event occurs.

The ensuing plot follows Agniezka through her struggles as she adapts to her new calling involving magic, royal diplomacy, friendship, intimacy, and of course battling the Wood.

*This podcast is not sponsored at the time of uploading and any opinions (unless explicitly stated as endorsements) should not be taken as endorsements*