November & December (Non-Holiday) TBR

Posted October 29, 2026 / Book Lists, Features, TBR Lists / 0 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. November and December Non-Holiday TBR As I’ve done in year’s past, I like to combine my November and December TBRs into one post, and keep my holiday books in a separate TBR post. Usually I treat this like a little book menu for a couple of months since there are a lot less new releases or review copies in these months, and my focus is typically on the Christmassy books. I filled out my “up next” shelf on Goodreads with all of the books I’ll likely read to finish off the year as well! Review Copies I have a few review copies (that aren’t holiday/Christmas books) that I definitely want to get done, both because they’re exciting but also because they’re due or overdue lol. I haven’t been reading a ton of romance I feel like, but I enjoy the unique takes on it – like YOU ME & THE CONSPIRACY and FOSSIL FEUD being adventurous and ENTITIES TO LOVERS featuring some spooky spirits. LOVE FELT LIKE THIS is an exciting sophomore novel from an author I loved last fall and DESTINATION FUNERAL is kind of time loop story […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #507: Halloween Freebie

Posted October 27, 2026 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 2 Comments

Halloween Freebie: Spooky Recent/Upcoming Books on my TBR 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. I do try to read seasonally, with a lot of romance in the summer and beach read-style mysteries. Fall and winter feature thicker books, including fantasy novels, and spookier kinds of mysteries. I really don’t read a lot of true horror books, but I thought I would take a look at some of the books on my TBR that seem spooky or good for this time of year, maybe even verging into horror.

Top TBR Books from my Customized Goodreads Shelves

Posted October 22, 2026 / Book Lists, Features, TBR Lists / 0 Comments

I was going through my Goodreads the other day to plan my reading out and I was seeing some of my fun customized shelf names that I use to track various tropes or ideas. I thought it could be fun to look at those and figure out the top three books from each shelf that I should prioritize reading. Some shelves are meant for tagging books after I’ve completed them, like “book boyfriend” or “something in my eye” (for books that made me cry), so this will focus on the shelves that are meant for pre-reading tropes/topics or tracking review copies and book box selections. ARC – Kindle I track all of my review copies here so I can sort by release date and keep up with my review copy spreadsheet. These books are three from 2026 that I was really excited for and just haven’t gotten to yet! Boarding School-ish One of my favorite book settings is boarding school – I love when there’s a magical element involved, or even just rich kids doing snooty and bad things. Book Box Picks I subscribe to Book of the Month and Aardvark so I try to track the books that I pick on a monthly basis. These are some that I was excited to grab but haven’t gotten around to reading. Books About Books What reader doesn’t like reading books about books or bookstores?! Cover Love I track my favorite covers for whenever there’s a TTT post […]

Holiday TBR 2026

Posted October 19, 2026 / Book Lists, Features, TBR Lists / 0 Comments

It looks like I haven’t done a real holiday post on here in a couple of years! I still have my special review format for holiday reads but I’ve been slacking on the TBRs, etc. As always, this post will feature my holiday review copies, new release TBR, and backlist TBR of holiday books. I always want to read like 20 of them but really end up closer to 5-10 lol. Either way, this year’s lineup looks awesome, so here’s hoping it’s more like 10 books this year! I try not to request a ton of review copies because they usually come out in October and lord knows I’ll be reading them in November at the earliest. Some of these I couldn’t resist! I love Elle Cosimano’s FINLAY DONOVAN series so it was a no-brainer to grab her upcoming holiday mystery. Ally Carter has also been releasing some fun romantic suspense/mystery books lately, including a holiday one in 2024. The companion sequel is out this year. The other two are romances by Lauren Kung Jessen and Lauren Appelbaum that I just had to download. Some of these authors are tried-and-true (even though I may be behind on their recent releases, like Emily Stone and Jenny Bayliss) and many are new to me. I love the new advent-style holiday books/romances and really hope to read at least one this year, reading one story or chapter per day. Kasie West has a cute YA holiday romance this year and Abby Jimenez […]

Recent Reads | Hollywood, Ending and The Silent Appeal

Posted October 16, 2026 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

I’ve been a John Green fan for a long time, just like most kids who were looking for some (pretentious) quotable books in their high school years. He hasn’t written a fiction book in 8 years and this is his first adult one; I haven’t gotten to his nonfiction yet but I definitely plan to! Needless to say, I was very excited to read this one. The story follows Juniper and Kai, two young actors who are on the cusp of their big break. They are starring in an Andy Warhol biopic and kind of bracing themselves for what will happen next. Juniper was a child actress on a TV show so this is one of her first serious roles, and Kai is a brand new innocent face from the midwest. I love this type of story featuring Hollywood stuff, so I was optimistic. To be honest, for a four-star read, this was just okay for me. I loved his last book so I was hoping John Green’s books would still hit hard for me. I think this was good and generally a nice reading experience! I liked the format and the exploration of Hollywood stars on the ride, but it honestly reads like a slice of life about making a movie and doing a press tour. That’s kind of it. Yes, there’s a love story that I enjoyed, but not enough to make a huge impact. I think my biggest issue is how repetitive this was – I thought […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #506: Autumnal

Posted October 13, 2026 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 3 Comments

Book Covers Featuring Autumnal Colors 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. I feel like the autumnal posts never end over here these days! I recently posted a list of books with fall vibes and also a fall-themed TTT freebie. I’m going to share some of my favorite fall covers here! These – naturally – have brown and orange leaves, some pumpkins perhaps, all the autumn vibes!

Recent Reads | The Thoroughbreds and Something About September

Posted October 9, 2026 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

I really ate up THE ACADEMY last year. Dishy (perfect word coined for this series by my friend Cristina) boarding school and rich people drama = very much my thing. Move over, dark academia, hello gossipy academia. The first book in this series was really just a fun romp but it didn’t necessarily knock my socks off from a quality perspective. There was something about this follow-up novel that had me completely enthralled and impressed. This book is definitely all about the drama, but there were so many sweet moments between students, faculty, and family. There was even one particular passage with Olivia H-T and her parents during the family weekend that actually had me laughing out loud. Because there were some deeper moments, I just felt like this book hit me a little harder than the first, like the nostalgia of senior year and the final milestones. I don’t want to spoil anything but this was certainly more of a “slice of life” novel following the entire school year, without a singular major climax or issue. Book one had a combination of that setup along with a big dramatic ending. I do think this book could have had a bit more oomph and drama toward the end to kick it up a notch. Overall, these books are fun rides with interesting characters and plot points. I would absolutely continue to read them if they publish them. There are still some younger students like Grady or Cassie Lee that they […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #505: Happy Memories

Posted October 6, 2026 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 3 Comments

Books that Conjure Up Happy Memories 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. I’ve read a lot of books in really special places and whenever I think of them, I remember exactly where I was so vividly. This is a really fun prompt to share some of those! I started the Black Dog Bay series on a whim with CURE FOR THE COMMON BREAKUP as I was heading to meet my husband at the ski mountain. I vividly remember being enthralled by the small town setting and enjoyed starting this quaint series while night skiing. We went to Hawaii for our honeymoon and – again on a total whim – I started THE QUARRY GIRLS while staring at the ocean. It’s definitely a very depressing book and not at all right for that location, but I smile every time I think of this book and can remember it so perfectly. Great to not read this one at night in the dark at home, and instead overlooking the ocean. I was determined to finish WHAT HAPPENED TO NINA? and listened to the audiobook traveling back and forth to my friend’s bachelorette this summer. I think about this all the time because it […]

2027 Preorders, Review Copies, and New Releases I Can’t Wait For

Posted October 5, 2026 / Book Lists, Features / 0 Comments

I love a fresh year for bookish goal-setting, and taking a peek at the new year of book releases is the BEST. There are some great books by favorite and new-to-me authors I’m so excited for in 2027, and lord knows I already have too many review copies and preorders out there. I thought I’d share some of the upcoming books I can’t wait for so hopefully you can add them to your TBR as well. Review Copies on my Kindle Already Preordered Highly Anticipated (Must Read or Buy)

Bookmark Lit Bulletin | September 2026

Posted October 2, 2026 / Bookmark Lit Bulletin, Features, Wrap-Ups / 0 Comments

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. September is always my busiest month in my personal life between birthday stuff and a ton of plans, so I had pretty high expectations compared to reality because I want to get back on track. I aimed to read 9 books but ended up with 8, which is honestly not bad! I was really gunning for that 9th book and I really think I could’ve pulled it off if if September had 31 days lol. Either way, it makes it really clean to read 10 books per month to finish off the year, since I’m at an even 70 books now. 8 books in September 8 read • 0 reread • 0 DNF/Hold Formats: 3 physical/audio, 2 hardcover, 1 paperback, 1 egalley, 1 egalley/audio Status/source: 4 purchased, 2 preordered, 2 review Age Target: 7 adult, 1 young adult Here are all the books I read this month with ratings! Shelf Reflection Challenge: 82% Read with Allison Challenge: 77% Buzzword Reading Challenge: 75% Buzzword Cover Challenge: 67% Breakdown: 3 hardcovers | 3 paperbacks | 0 ARC | 1 egalley […]