Magical Readathon 2020 – OWLS Tracking

Posted April 6, 2020 / Book Challenges, Features / 0 Comments

As you saw in my sign-up post, I’m joining the OWLS readathon! I’ve decided to become a Hogwarts Professor focusing on Muggle Studies. This career choice allowed me the most flexibility with the prompts, as you’ll see below. Career Choice / Prompts Courses for my career I chose the Hogwarts Professor of Muggle Studies for my career. With this choice, I need to take seven classes total. Defense Against the Dark Arts and the course for my chosen subject (Muggle Studies) are the required classes, and then I can take five more of my choosing! Like I said, this allowed for the most flexibility for me in my reading choices and TBR. We’ll see if I can get all twelve done though! For NEWTS later in the year, I will need to get an O in the subject I’m teaching (Muggle Studies), E in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and at least two A’s in secondary subjects of my choosing. All of the options and TBR Here’s a reminder of the list of potential courses to take and the book-related prompts for them. I’m also including the books I chose as POSSIBLE TBR options for them. As always with my mood reading, this is subject to change! Ancient Runes // Heart rune: heart on the cover or in the title // The Honey-Don’t List Arithmancy // Magical qualities of number two: balance/opposites – read something outside your favorite genre // Deck of Omens Astronomy // Night classes: read majority of this […]

Five on Fridays [7] + April Currently

Posted April 3, 2020 / Five on Fridays, Weekly Memes / 0 Comments

Five on Friday displays the the top five things that have been on my mind this week! It could be book-related, but it may be music, movies, TV, personal life, food, etc. I’ll generally be posting these biweekly and linking up with Friday Favorites (hosted by A Little Bit of Everything, Grace and Love, and Momfessionals). Previous posts can be found here! The Tiger King Hope you’re in the mood for a TV-based FoF because man that’s all I have to share, basically. Like everyone else in the world, we watched The Tiger King on Netflix. WHAT A WILD RIDE. I don’t think I’ve ever watched anything – especially based on a true story – that has this many twists and turns and absurd characters. Everyone in the show is basically terrible and has some major issues going on, but I could not stop watching. We really enjoyed this experience, especially now that we can be hip to all the memes online about it 😉 Ozark I’m a huge fan of Jason Bateman but the premise for Ozark never fully interested me. With season three coming out and seeing a lot of people excited about it, we decided to take the plunge. We finished season one within a few days so we’ll probably just keep cranking through. It’s sort of slow but also really interesting? Some parts of the episodes are a little boring for us but we’re still enjoying it. Lots of interesting character work and again, Jason Bateman. […]

Blog Tour: Super Adjacent

Posted April 2, 2020 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

More purchase links: Bookdepository | iTunes | Kobo | Google Books Follow the rest of the tour HERE! Review I enjoyed Crystal Cestari’s last book series so I was excited to see a new book coming out from her! This one is also set in Chicago and has some element of magic or paranormal. In this case, there are characters with superpowers that work for Warrior Nation; they’re not in hiding or anything. Claire has always wanted to work with them and finally lands her dream internship with the organization. A romance blooms between her and the newest recruit, Joy aka Girl Power. The other main character is Bridgette. She has spent years dating Vaporizer and playing second-fiddle to his superpowers, so she’s ready to move on from being associated to the organization. The story centers around these two girls as they have to rally together and save the city when all of the WarNat heroes go missing. This plot point really didn’t begin until around the 50% mark so I personally am wondering why it was in the book synopsis? I kept waiting for it to happen in the earlier chapters. Either way, there was some nice buildup of the relationships (how Claire and Bridgette meet, how Claire and Joy spark a relationship, how Bridgette and Matt end their relationship, etc.) before the rest of the novel kicked off. The ending genuinely surprised me! I got caught up in a red herring for sure, so I didn’t see it coming. […]

Bookmark Lit Bulletin | March 2020

Posted April 1, 2020 / Bookmark Lit Bulletin, Features, Wrap-Ups / 1 Comment

The Bookmark Lit Bulletin wraps up the last month in reading and what was on the blog, as well as what’s coming up next. You can check out my book haul, books read, posts shared, challenge updates, etc. You can read past bulletins here. If you’re looking for more personal updates, you can check out my Lauren Lately feature; it highlights my life events and non-bookish fun from the previous 30 days. March was a bit off too still, which is okay. I’m going to give myself some grace during this time. I know I tend to read more when the weather is nice and I can go on the porch, so hopefully that turns out to be true this summer. We’re dealing with a lot right now and, as I discussed HERE, reading can be hard at times. I’m excited to begin the OWLS next month so I can be motivated to read more! 9 books read in March 8 new books • 0 rereads • 1 DNF Pages read: 3,102 • Average rating: 3.7 stars Sources: 6 for review, 1 library book, 1 borrowed, 1 owned Formats: [Review] 3 egalleys and 0 physical ARCs 0 hardcover, 0 paperbacks, 0 ebook, 0 audio, 6 combos Genres: 4 contemporary, 3 mystery/thriller, 1 fantasy, 1 paranormal Age Target: 4 adult, 5 young adult, 0 middle grade Check out my 2020 challenge sign-up post for more details, goals, etc.! Popsugar Reading Challenge 3 read this month | 20/40 read total Prompts read: Published in 2020, about a book […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #281: Book Lover

Posted March 31, 2020 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 6 Comments

Signs I’m a Book Lover Top Ten Tuesdays were started by The Broke and the Bookish and are now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, where we make lists of our top ten books (or something else!) based on that week’s prompt. The topics are provided ahead of time and can be found here. Book links bring you to Goodreads or my review. The topic for this week is signs you’re a book lover. I wanted to personalize it a bit to share some of the ways people know that I’m a book lover, including people in my normal non-bookish/online life! Book Blog & Related Social Media This one feels obvious, especially to all of you! But, a friend of a friend said once, “oh yeah, you read a lot. You even have an Instagram account about books, right?” I didn’t realize she had been suggested my bookstagram before so apparently people in my real life know about it! My best friends follow me there but I never thought about acquaintances also following or knowing I had all this stuff. I don’t post about it on my Facebook or other ~regular Lauren~ social media pages. Wall Art ft. Reading I have a few prints in my house about reading and books, which most of my real life friends certainly don’t have! i know friends with movie posters and other kinds of fandom things on the wall, but books are just mine 😉 Bookcases! I always get comments on having full ass bookshelves when people […]

April TBR

Posted March 30, 2020 / Book Lists, Features, TBR Lists / 3 Comments

My monthly TBR feature here shows my progress based on last month’s TBR, my plans for this month, and anything else I might be thinking about from a reading perspective. Sometimes I feature a little poll at the bottom so you guys can help me figure out a certain title I should read from a group of books. Last month’s progress: Woof y’all. Yes, I did a good job of sticking directly to my TBR for the most part (especially where it counts, like the review copies and blog tours)… but my reading is still kind of shitty. There are some moments or days where I’m in the mood to read, but the whole COVID-19 thing has not motivated me. I wrote a post on this actually. Anywaysss I’m behind on my reading challenge and just hoping this is a season of poor reading instead of a permanent change in my reading life. We’ll see! Magical Readathon I signed up for the Magical Readathon (OWLS) the other day and listed a whole TBR over there to meet the prompts to become a Professor of Muggle Studies at Hogwarts 🧙🏼‍♀️🧹🤓 These books all fall under various potential prompts for the readathon, which you can read about on that post instead. THE DECK OF OMENS comes out this month and I’m super excited for it. HOUSE OF EARTH AND BLOOD is from last month – more on that later. THE ART OF LAINEY is a super backlist book I have to read […]

Blog Tour: The Sea Glass Cottage

Posted March 27, 2020 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

More Purchase Links: Harlequin // Indiebound // Books-a-Million Target // Walmart // Google // iBooks // Kobo Review I’ve adored reading the Haven Point series by RaeAnne Thayne over the past several years; I get so excited when I see a new installment announced. I thought it would be fun to branch out and explore other stories by her. THE SEA GLASS COTTAGE was the perfect way for me to do so! I didn’t realize the setting of Sanctuary Bay was used in her other novels as well – I would totally have read those first. Either way, this works nicely as a standalone novel. The story centers around Juliet, her daughter Olivia, and her granddaughter Caitlin. There’s also a POV from Cooper, a childhood friend of Caitlin’s late mother. The three women are trying to live in the same house as Juliet recovers from surgery. Olivia comes down to help her mother and work at the family’s garden center in the interim. Caitlin is fifteen and has lived with Juliet since her mother’s passing when she was a kid. The relationships are strained between the three women for various reasons, primarily based in past issues. I enjoyed all of the characters reconnecting and the town had a few great side characters, like Henry, Melody, and Jake. I have to say that most of the characters had some pretty sad backstories, which was challenging and sometimes a bit of a downer to read. I say this primarily because of the current virus […]

Reading Lately /// Isolation

Posted March 26, 2020 / Discussions, Features / 1 Comment

Like a lot of bookish people, I was excited to dive in to a LOT of good books during self-isolation, quarantine, lockdown – whatever you want to call it. I’ve found that my shitty reading habits have continued from February though and I haven’t finished nearly as many books as I normally would. I find myself browsing my phone, wallowing in the news/social media, playing Candy Crush, and watching Chris play Animal Crossing. It’s just so hard to focus for a few reasons, which I’ll get into below. But! I won’t just use this spur-of-the-moment blog post to whine. I’m going to make myself think of a few solutions too. Problems Unmotivated to read in the first place I’ve had a weird reading year so far. It could be general reading burnout from the past handful of years, reading and reading and doing nothing else. It could be King of Crows being the only thing I wanted to read in January and then the only thing I could think about when I finished reading in February. Either way, that book got me, y’all. I just don’t want to read. I’ve been unmotivated BEFORE all of this started and clearly that’s continuing. This situation is just not helping like I thought it might. Mind-numbing games/media > books I get sucked into the news throughout the day, but primarily first thing in the morning when I catch up on things I missed. I just hate it. I’m doing what I personally can by […]

Magical Readathon 2020 – OWLS

Posted March 25, 2020 / Uncategorized / 2 Comments

So it’s no secret that my reading has been super off this year, especially in over the last month and a half. I talked about how my usual crazy reading schedule and plans don’t necessarily work for me when I’m not in the mood to read – it only works when I WANT to read or have a lot of things I’m excited about. I wanted to simplify my life and stop stressing about meeting challenges. Nonetheless, I have been wanting to join the Magical Readathon (OWLS and NEWTS) for months and months. I knew this would be the perfect thing to get me back in the reading mood since I’d been so excited for it. Without further ado, here is my sign-up and general plans for this April! Information The Magical Readathon consists of choosing a career path and taking Hogwarts courses to pass your OWLS and NEWTS exams. OWLS are in April and NEWTS are in August. There are twelve reading prompts for each magical subject in the OWLS: Ancient Runes // Heart rune: heart on the cover or in the title Arithmancy // Magical qualities of number two: balance/opposites – read something outside your favorite genre Astronomy // Night classes: read majority of this book when its dark outside Care of Magical Creatures // Hippogriffs: creature with a beak on the cover Charms // Lumos maxima: white cover Defense Against the Dark Arts // Grindylows: book set at the sea/coast Divination // Third eye: assign numbers to […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #280: Genre Freebie

Posted March 24, 2020 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 6 Comments

Recent Fave Adult Contemporary Romance Top Ten Tuesdays were started by The Broke and the Bookish and are now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, where we make lists of our top ten books (or something else!) based on that week’s prompt. The topics are provided ahead of time and can be found here. Book links bring you to Goodreads or my review. My blog has had a mix of YA and adult titles for a while. I’ll always read YA, but I’ve noticed that the percentage of adult-oriented books has grown each year. I’m reading a lot of romances from my favorite publishers (Forever and Berkley) so I thought it would be fun to recommend some from those imprints and beyond. Central Park Pact Companion Series I just enjoyed this series SO much. The story is built around three ladies who realize that they’re all with the same man… at his funeral. Naomi, the fling, gets her love story in book one; Claire, the wife, gets book two; and Audrey, the girlfriend, has book three. I adored each of them, with the final installment being my favorite. I’ll be honest: while romance is certainly present, these are highly focused on the girls moving on with their lives in more ways than one, plus their sweet friendship. Sweetwater Springs Companion Series There are two novellas not shown here, by the way, and they’re fully worth reading in between! I’ve fallen so in love with Sweetwater Springs. This charming place has everything I love […]