Midyear Challenge Check-in

Posted June 25, 2026 / Book Challenges, Features / 0 Comments

I like to take a look at my annual/year-long reading challenges and see which prompts are missing, as well as what books may fill those gaps..and which prompts are juuuust not happening lol. I’m writing this on June 15th so it doesn’t reflect a true midpoint of the year, but just a little over. I create this post by looking at my immediate and upcoming TBR, review copies I plan to read, and books coming out in the second half of the year. I also will keyword search on my Goodreads shelves where appropriate! Shelf Reflection 53% complete With a city on the cover: I know this is more like a little village but I think a grouping of buildings can count as a city right? THE SILENT APPEAL is a must-read for me this year With an MC who works a blue collar job: I believe this is a billionaire romance with a housekeeper’s daughter so the latter applies based on some reviews I’m seeing. I love Ally Carter’s holiday mystery/romances so IT’S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS is certainly on my Christmas TBR With “first” in the title: FIRST AND FOREVER is on my TBR from keyword searching, though I haven’t read as much Lynn Painter lately and don’t know if I’ll prioritize it… we’ll see. It’s an option for sure With a medical professional: I randomly saw that MURDER AT THE GRAND ALPINE HOTEL has a “shrewd doctor” according to the summary, so there we go Two books by […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #494: Summer TBR

Posted June 23, 2026 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 2 Comments

Summer TBR (incl. Progress) 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 posted my Summer TBR and bucket list since that’s something I usually try to pin down by Memorial Day weekend. I figured I’d include my general summer TBR here for new releases, like I usually do, and also share progress so far since it’s been around a month of summery reading. Summer Release TBR (June – August) Backlist/Other Summer TBR Plans Summery Books Read So Far / Currently Reading

TV Shows to Prioritize (Quirky Mysteries and More)

Posted June 22, 2026 / Media, Personal / Information / Etc., Uncategorized / 0 Comments

I’ve been utterly terrible about watching TV shows or keeping up with new release movies that I’m excited about. I track everything in the TV Time app but unfortunately if you don’t mark the first episode as “watched” when it comes out right away, the show will move out of the immediate to-watch list… and then I forget it exists. I wanted to go through my app and see what I’ve been missing out on and should prioritize. Widow’s Bay This is the top show on my list probably. Everyone keeps talking about it and I love that is kind of a funny horror/mystery show set in New England. I’m not sure how horror-ish it will get, since that’s not usually my jam, but I’m intrigued for sure. The Boroughs This is another one that’s kind of intriguing but also don’t know what to expect. I guess a “supernatural force” or something is plaguing this retirement community and they have to fight back in some way. Every Year After Like everyone and their mother, I read (and loved) EVERY SUMMER AFTER. I haven’t seen great things from readers about the adaptation and how close it is to the book, but I’m still going to give it a shot. My goal was to finish the Off-Campus show before this one debuted but unfortunately I haven’t finished that so this is still on my list… ugh. Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair My family watched the original show religiously and […]

Recent Reads | Five and By Way of Sorrow

Posted June 18, 2026 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

Man, this was so underwhelming and I’m bummed! I saw this book gain some steam online and get really favorable reviews, so I decided to pick it as my Aardvark book for the month. I wasn’t initially interested but the hype got to me a little bit. The premise sounds good and thrilling: you know one of the main characters (there are five of them) will die at the train stop, but won’t know who until the end. The book goes between the train platform in present day and character-based chapters that are really summaries of each character’s life. The idea is a psychological thriller (?) with a strong character study element. Unfortunately it just didn’t work for me. I saw some reviews praising the deep psychological elements – can you forgive these people for their sins? Were you rooting for one person to die instead of the others? All of the characters have made mistakes and aren’t likable, so the reader is supposed to grapple with the morality of it all. The character chapters were just rundowns of the person’s life and the mistakes they made. Yes, they were all unlikable to various degrees but it didn’t really make me feel anything. I thought their problems were pretty stereotypical and predictable, so nothing really shocked me? Don’t go into this book expecting a tense thriller at all. I definitely enjoyed the chapters on the train platform way more than the character ones because that’s where it actually felt like […]

Adventurous or Unique Contemporary Fiction

Posted June 15, 2026 / Book Lists, Features / 0 Comments

I’ve noticed a really fun trend lately where authors are writing adventure-forward contemporary fiction and romance. These stories can have an Indiana Jones vibe, featuring paleontologists, archeologists, or scientists going out on a dig or quest or something similar. The first author I think of is Jo Segura; I’ve really enjoyed all of her books within this trope so far. Her books follow archeologists or scientists who go out to dig sites looking for fossils, scientific discoveries, lost cities, and more. The romances are always really fun and offer a unique setting for a contemporary novel. As you can tell, the titles are all puns based on Indiana Jones movie titles, if that gives you an idea of the vibe! I went back in my brain a bit and remembered that SOMETHING WILDER was actually my first foray into this sub-genre. It’s not the most popular Christina Lauren because it felt a little unrealistic, but honestly I enjoyed the ride! It follows a treasure hunter’s daughter who uses her father’s maps to bring tourists on a fake hunt. I’ve owned a copy of THE JEWEL OF THE ISLE, which is another OG within this genre recently, but haven’t gotten to it yet. This one doesn’t really follow the science or job-forward vibe of the others, but features “two very indoor people rough[ing] it on a remote island after getting swept up in an archaeologist’s hunt for a famed jewel.” I also learned of the Raiders of the Arcana series recently […]

New Auto-Read Authors

Posted June 11, 2026 / Book Lists, Features / 0 Comments

I’ve written many times about my auto-buy or auto-read authors… if they release a book, I will be buying and/or reading it each time. I feel like this list is always evolving or at least growing. Some authors fall off the list for a while for one reason or another, then pop back up again later. For example, I religiously read Kasie West’s YA books for a while and then just grew out of them, especially when I DNFed one a few years ago. I took a break for a while then read one of her adult novels and I think I’ll be back on track with reading all of her new books. Here are some of the authors who I recently added to my auto-read list. Read Multiple and Ready for More The books below are some more proven players lately. I’ve read multiple of their recent releases in the last few years and show no signs of stopping anytime soon! Some of them are writing long series, like Cosimano and Mack, while others return annually with a fun mystery or cute romance. Read One and Can’t Wait for the Next This group are authors that really pulled me in with the first book I read by them and I definitely plan to read their next book immediately. I believe the majority of these authors are debut but some of them have another backlist book or two that I just haven’t read yet.

Recent Reads | Change of Plans and Dolly All the Time

Posted June 10, 2026 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

It’s well-documented on here how much I love Sarah Dessen. I’ve been reading her books since I was a teenager and was really disappointed when we didn’t get another book after her last release in 2019. I started reading her Substack and was surprised to learn of her publishing struggles after such a storied career. Nonetheless, I absolutely preoredered CHANGE OF PLANS when it was announced and read it right away. This story follows the tried-and-true Dessen formula, and I am not mad about it at all. Finley graduated from high school and is ready to head to college with her longtime boyfriend Colin. When she unexpectedly ends up at her mom’s lake house that summer and her relationship ends, she’s reeling from all the ~changes in plans.~ Does this remind me of old school Dessen and give me the same summery feelings? Yes. Does it lack the depth and oomph you get from most of her older books? Also yes. But I think Dessen is honestly stretching her writing muscle again and upcoming books may get back to what we’re used to? This was like her old stuff but faded a little bit lol. I enjoyed the premise a lot but wanted more from the characters and setting. It was almost like each person and plot point needed to be turned up a few notches on the dial, if that makes sense. A bit more punchiness and feels? I would definitely recommend this in general for Dessen fans but […]

Summer Reading Challenges

Posted June 8, 2026 / Book Lists, Features, TBR Lists / 0 Comments

I’m someone who lovesss a seasonal TBR and a reading challenge. When you combine the two for a great reading season – summertime – I’m definitely going to get on board. I’m joining two challenges and tracking them on Storygraph, so I thought I would share here and cover some TBR options based on what I hope to read this summer. Book Clurb Some gals I know in real life have an in-person Book Clurb and I think this is the second year of their summer reading challenge. I enjoyed it last time and hope to complete it this year! Read a book by a debut author: IF BOOKS COULD KILL is the main one that I know for sure is by a debut author and I’d like to read my review copy ASAP Read a book set during summer: There are a ton of books set in summer so just know that the vast majority of the books you see here will work for this prompt lol I added OUR PERFECT STORM specifically here for it Read a recommendation from a friend: I’ve had THE NAME GAME on my physical TBR for a few months now and I saw a bookstagram friend recommend it for summer reading this year Read a book without reading the synopsis: I could do DOLLY ALL THE TIME for this one because while I definitely read the synopsis a long time ago, I randomly started the audiobook this week without re-reading it… which […]

Friday R.E.P.O.R.T. (6/5/26)

Posted June 5, 2026 / Friday REPORT, Weekly Memes / 0 Comments

This Friday R.E.P.O.R.T will consist of what I’ve been reading, eating, planning (instead of playing, I don’t really think it works for me), obsessing over, recommending, and treating. Written on Thursday 6/4. R / reading My reading has still been off despite my desire to improve it. I’m really amped about some of the books on my Summer TBR and love reading outside, but I cannot stop scrolling on my phone. We’re into WNBA season so you’d think I could read during the games that don’t feature my team but I get so into zoning out on my phone. Anyways, I’m currently reading DOLLY ALL THE TIME, which I’m enjoying a lot. I finished Sarah Dessen’s newest book (first since 2019!) and really liked it. I’m excited she’s writing again. I also read Emma Mills’ adult debut, which was an excellent, perfect-for-me mystery set in 2008 Hollywood. E / eating Chris made a new years resolution to eat out more since we usually are big takeout people. We’ve got a list going (by town) so we can decide where we may want to go next. Last weekend we went to Sparrow Pizza in West Hartford and it was excellent. Hopefully we’ll check another item off the list this weekend since we don’t have much going on. I made my favorite banh mi recipe (Chrissy Tiegan’s) and also went back to a favorite coffee shop… I’m addicted to their olive cream cheese and not enough places near me have it! P […]

Bookmark Lit Bulletin | May 2026

Posted June 3, 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. I did a good job of reading more books in May but I still managed to stay behind on my reading challenge. I need to read 9-10 books the next few books to get ahead, which I talked about in my summer goals post. I enjoyed this month’s books as well! It was nice to have some variety ratings-wise, unlike last month lol. 8 books in May 8 read • 0 reread • 0 DNF Formats: 3 physical/audio, 2 egalleys, 1 hardcover, 1 paperback, 1 ebook/audio Status/source: 4 review copies, 2 preordered, 1 owned, 1 Kindle Unlimited Age Target: 7 adult, 1 young adult Here are all the books I read this month with ratings! Shelf Reflection Challenge: 49% Read with Allison Challenge: 52% Buzzword Reading Challenge: 58% Buzzword Cover Challenge: 67% Breakdown: 3 hardcovers | 1 paperback | 0 ARC | 4 egalleys | 0 ebooks | 0 audiobooks All review copies were provided for free in exchange for an honest review. Review Copies From Simon & Schuster: The Silent Appeal by Hallett From Harper Collins: It’s Beginning to […]