Blog Series: Read-Bait

Read-Bait: “Private School”

Posted February 5, 2015 / Book Lists, Features / 16 Comments
Read-Bait: “Private School”

Here is my first post in a new series here at the blog: Read-Bait! Over the coming weeks, I’ll be featuring different words or phrases that catch my eye in book descriptions, the books I’ve read under those categories, and the books I plan on reading. I hope it shares some insight about my reading preferences and interests. As always, feel free to recommend any books you’d think I like! You know how it goes: you’re browsing Goodreads, clicking on books that look interesting, and checking out their summaries. All of a sudden you see a certain word or phrase in the synopsis that triggers an automatic reaction to click that “Want to Read” button. I call this “read-bait” – any word(s) that make you instantly think that you MUST read this book. One example for me is… The minute I see a plot summary for a book involving some kind of special school, I’m on board. I loved the idea of attending boarding school when I was younger: living with your classmates, walking to class like you’re at college – it all sounded awesome. My first foray into this category was the Private series by Kate Brian. It featured a girl who attended private school on scholarship and got involved in some pretttttty crazy shit, including murders, mean girls, and boy drama. Along that same vein, when Gossip Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar branched out and gave Jenny her own series, The It Girl, I was in heaven. Jenny was headed […]

Read-Bait: “Death” and “Grief”

Posted February 12, 2015 / Book Lists, Features / 4 Comments
Read-Bait: “Death” and “Grief”

Here’s another post in a new series here at the blog: Read-Bait! Over the coming weeks, I’ll be featuring different words or phrases that catch my eye in book descriptions, the books I’ve read under those categories, and the books I plan on reading. I hope it shares some insight about my reading preferences and interests. As always, feel free to recommend any books you’d think I like! You know how it goes: you’re browsing Goodreads, clicking on books that look interesting, and checking out their summaries. All of a sudden you see a certain word or phrase in the synopsis that triggers an automatic reaction to click that “Want to Read” button. I call this “read-bait” – any word(s) that make you instantly think that you MUST read this book. One example for me is… Clearly this topic sounds a bit morbid, but hear me out. You all know you agree with me. When there’s a book about the various aspects involved with death, moving on, or grieving – I’m all about it. Whether the person in the book actually dies (not a spoiler, it’s in the synopsis!), or they’re getting over the death of someone, or they’re obsessed with the concept of death, or even if they’re in that “in between” place between earth and the afterlife… I am so on board. Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin is a book I read a LONG time ago, but was my first introduction into books that occur after death. In this case, […]

Read-Bait: “Parallel Universe”

Posted February 26, 2015 / Book Lists, Features / 9 Comments
Read-Bait: “Parallel Universe”

Here’s another post in a new series here at the blog: Read-Bait! Over the coming weeks, I’ll be featuring different words or phrases that catch my eye in book descriptions, the books I’ve read under those categories, and the books I plan on reading. I hope it shares some insight about my reading preferences and interests. As always, feel free to recommend any books you’d think I like! You know how it goes: you’re browsing Goodreads, clicking on books that look interesting, and checking out their summaries. All of a sudden you see a certain word or phrase in the synopsis that triggers an automatic reaction to click that “Want to Read” button. I call this “read-bait” – any word(s) that make you instantly think that you MUST read this book. One example for me is… I joined in with Andi and some others on a feature called Parallel Time Loop, where we featured our favorite books about time travel and parallel universes. I have been fascinated with this topic for as long as I can remember and chose Just Like Fate for my book. My post over there about my background and experience with parallel universes and how every decision shapes our lives in some way. ANYWAYS, that book was really my first foray into the genre and I loved it. It was a parallel life book, where one decision that Caroline makes alters the path of her life forever. It asks the question: do we end up in the same […]

Read-Bait: “Fairy”

Posted March 5, 2015 / Book Lists, Features / 8 Comments
Read-Bait: “Fairy”

Here’s another post in a new series here at the blog: Read-Bait! Over the coming weeks, I’ll be featuring different words or phrases that catch my eye in book descriptions, the books I’ve read under those categories, and the books I plan on reading. I hope it shares some insight about my reading preferences and interests. As always, feel free to recommend any books you’d think I like! You know how it goes: you’re browsing Goodreads, clicking on books that look interesting, and checking out their summaries. All of a sudden you see a certain word or phrase in the synopsis that triggers an automatic reaction to click that “Want to Read” button. I call this “read-bait” – any word(s) that make you instantly think that you MUST read this book. One example for me is… I think in general fairy books can be VERY hit or miss for some people. I’ve always been fascinated by the possible existence of faeries. (Yes I’m probably going to switch between different spellings throughout this. Sorry. Not sure why this happens to me.) My cousins and I used to run around looking for them and literally talk about them nonstop. Some of the first fae stories I read were Tithe by Holly Black and Faerie Wars by Herbie Brennan. I read them SO long ago that I genuinely don’t remember much about them. In fact, I recently mixed the two series up and ended up buying quite a few books in one series when I […]

Recent Read-Bait: Reunions, Memories, and Boarding School

Posted March 16, 2016 / Book Lists, Features / 15 Comments
Recent Read-Bait: Reunions, Memories, and Boarding School

You may remember my read-bait series from a long time ago, where I talked about certain keywords, phrases, and tropes that call my name. I planned to keep going with these posts because there are many, many topics that suck me right in. I kind of abandoned it but never fear! Here I am today to talk about recent words that have grabbed me…Please note that the “boarding school” category has kind of morphed into also including secret societies/prep schools/etc. Things like that. You know what I mean. Anyways! I’ve been adding books to my TBR that feature these three topics because of the above books. I read What Alice Forgot with Cristina for Book Buddies. I ended up enjoying it more than she did in general, but the whole memory loss issue made me really interested in finding more of these amnesia books. Second Time Around was a book I VERY randomly found somewhere and decided to check out from the library. Very glad I did! It was a cute story featuring a reunion of old friends, revealing of secrets – you know the drill. Tons of fun. Last but not least, I checked out the Hex Hall series from the library recently and wanted to binge. I love the boarding school topic! I ended up getting sidetracked and having to return books 2 and 3, but I totally plan to finish sometime soon. Recent TBR Additions From What I Remember by Stacy Kramer and Valerie Thomas /// piecing together the night before It’s All Your […]

Recent Read-Bait: Fake Dating, Bucket Lists, and Family Drama

Posted August 4, 2016 / Book Lists, Features / 12 Comments
Recent Read-Bait: Fake Dating, Bucket Lists, and Family Drama

You may remember my read-bait series from a long time ago, where I talked about certain keywords, phrases, and tropes that call my name. I planned to keep going with these posts because there are many, many topics that suck me right in. My most recent post discussed reunions, memory loss, and boarding school. Here I am today to talk about recent words that have grabbed me… I’ve been adding books to my TBR that feature these three topics because of the above books. I recently (finally) read The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West. I waited forever because I was nervous about some of the other elements of the story. It wasn’t my favorite by her, but it definitely succeeded in getting me to add more fake dating to the TBR. Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson is a book I read back in 2014, but it got me thinking about bucket lists and other situations where the main character is checking items off some kind of list. I love that kind of thing so much because there are always so many adventures to be had! And lastly, adult fiction is generally something I don’t read as much as I want to… and I have SO many on my TBR! I’ve been loving the books about family drama or changing family dynamics lately, which started with Where We Fall by Rochelle B. Weinstein. Any kind of family going through changes or growing apart or getting divorced makes it onto my TBR very quickly. Recent TBR […]

Recent Read-Bait: Carnivals, Disappearances, and Lottery/Riches

Posted March 10, 2017 / Book Lists, Features / 12 Comments
Recent Read-Bait: Carnivals, Disappearances, and Lottery/Riches

You may remember my read-bait series from a long time ago, where I talked about certain keywords, phrases, and tropes that call my name. I planned to keep going with these posts because there are many, many topics that suck me right in. My two recent posts discussed reunions, memory loss, and boarding school, then fake dating, bucket lists, and family drama. Here I am today to talk about recent words that have grabbed me…I originally made up a whole post about circus-related books but I really couldn’t come up with enough content. I love the magical feel of the carnival (especially in books, because there’s usually real magic involved). Caraval by Stephanie Garber sealed the deal for me when I read it over the summer. I’ve added so many books to my TBR involving carnivals of some kind. I’m not one for mystery/thriller books usually because I get creeped out easily but I’ve been trying to expand my horizons. I thought The Leaving by Tara Altebrando was super interesting – not perfect – and it made me want to add more to my TBR. There are quite a few books in this “disappearance” category. Something about a person going away/being kidnapped and, in some cases, coming back, really intrigue me because I’m left wondering what happened in the interim! And finally, this makes an appearance again as an old, resurfaced favorite: rich people. I used to read all the classic rich, boarding school stories when I was younger. In this […]

Recent Read-Bait: Wishes and Travel Meet Cutes

Posted December 7, 2017 / Book Lists, Features / 3 Comments
Recent Read-Bait: Wishes and Travel Meet Cutes

You may remember my read-bait series from a long time ago, where I talked about certain keywords, phrases, and tropes that call my name. I planned to keep going with these posts because there are many, many topics that suck me right in. My recent posts discussed reunions, memory loss, and boarding school, then fake dating, bucket lists, and family drama, then carnivals, disappearances, and rich people/winning the lottery. Here I am today to talk about recent words that have grabbed me… This post is just about two read-bait topics for once, primarily because I was eager to post another one of these. The first topic is about “wishes” in some way, shape, or form. I love books involving wishes being granted or people being able to grant wishes for other people. I read Down with the Shine by Kate Karyus Quinn last year and was pleasantly surprised at how much I loved it. This book involved magical moonshine that grants wishes for the people who drink it, so the main character had to track everyone down to reverse them. The concept was an incredibly unique take on the wish topic and led me to add so many others to my TBR. Next, one of my favorite tropes in books is when people meet while traveling (especially internationally, since ya girl doesn’t even have a passport yet…). Books like Wanderlost by Jen Malone and Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson got me thinking about characters encountering “travel-related meet cutes” with the love interest. […]

Read-Bait: Resorts, Camps, and Retreats

Posted January 25, 2019 / Book Lists, Features / 0 Comments
Read-Bait: Resorts, Camps, and Retreats

I used to do quite a few posts under this umbrella and am simplifying them a little bit to share some more! I’ve always loved books set in cute bed and breakfasts, hotels, or campgrounds. There’s something about this kind of insular setting where people stay, get to know each other, and sleep overnight. This is probably part of the reason I love boarding school books so much! I wanted to go slightly beyond the “vacation” aspect and talk about more specific places people may stay for a week or so – health resorts, marriage “boot camps,” summer camps – things like that. All of the books on this list (except TWO that I’ve already read) are on my TBR. Retreats and Resorts    Nine Perfect Strangers was fascinating – the book alternates between these people (and a couple of the retreat’s employees) as they start their so-called wellness journey. I can’t get into the specifics really, as the story gets weird and wild, but I thought it was so interesting. Couldn’t put it down! The Last Resort is waiting in my Netgalley queue and is specifically about a resort that deals with failing marriages. When a tropical storm hits and traps everyone inside, some shit apparently goes down. Christmas at the Lakeside Resort was on my TBR for the holiday season but I never got around to it. When the MC inherits some cabins by a lake, she sets out to turn them into a little camping resort. This story seems lighthearted and more vacation-oriented […]