Month: September 2014

Bookmark Lit Bulletin: Mid-September 2014

Posted September 15, 2014 / Bookmark Lit Bulletin, Features, Wrap-Ups / 7 Comments
Bookmark Lit Bulletin: Mid-September 2014

Hello friends! It’s time for September’s first Bookmark Lit Bulletin. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – the first half of this month has been absolutely crazy for me. It consisted of a lot of packing, moving into our new apartment, my birthday, and my college alumni weekend (check out my personal post from my birthday with some more details!). Without further ado, here’s what I’ve been up to and where I’m headed next! I wish I could say I read a lot during this month. August was INSANE book-wise for me; I read 20 books – this is definitely a record! Many thanks to Bout of Books for really getting me going. I definitely enjoyed most of them, with a few exceptions. The first half of September has involved very little reading. I finished a few books immediately at the beginning of the month, but lately I’ve had a bit of a rut. I just haven’t had a lot of time to read. I also think I’ve been reading too many contemporaries; I need to switch my genre up soon so I can have something a little different. I’ve posted seven reviews so far this month. On a personal note, as I said earlier, lots of personal updates this month! I turned 23 on the 9th and had a good time celebrating with my boyfriend and friends. My celebrations will continue into the weekend as I head back to my alma mater for a couple of days. […]

Musing Mondays #7

Posted September 15, 2014 / Musing Mondays, Weekly Memes / 0 Comments
Musing Mondays #7

 What books are you currently desperate to get your hands on?  Loop by Karen Atkins | Release Date: October 21st 2014 At a school where Quantum Paradox 101 is a required course and history field trips are literal, sixteen year-old time traveler Bree Bennis excels…at screwing up. After Bree botches a solo midterm to the 21st century by accidentally taking a boy hostage (a teensy snafu), she stands to lose her scholarship. But when Bree sneaks back to talk the kid into keeping his yap shut, she doesn’t go back far enough. The boy, Finn, now three years older and hot as a solar flare, is convinced he’s in love with Bree, or rather, a future version of her that doesn’t think he’s a complete pain in the arse. To make matters worse, she inadvertently transports him back to the 23rd century with her. Once home, Bree discovers that a recent rash of accidents at her school are anything but accidental. Someone is attacking time travelers. As Bree and her temporal tagalong uncover seemingly unconnected clues—a broken bracelet, a missing data file, the art heist of the millennium—that lead to the person responsible, she alone has the knowledge to piece the puzzle together. Knowledge only one other person has. Her future self. But when those closest to her become the next victims, Bree realizes the attacker is willing to do anything to stop her. In the past, present, or future. I have read ONE time travel book and I’m so obsessed […]

Swoony September: Mid-Month Update

Posted September 14, 2014 / Book Challenges, Features / 0 Comments
Swoony September: Mid-Month Update

I joined up with Swoony September, hosted by The Bookaholic Blurbs! It’s a readathon for the month of September that involves all sorts of swoony contemporary romance books. I’m combining this in part with my Goodbye Summer Readathon, which includes a lot of the same books. Here’s my mid-month update for the readathon! Not bad so far. After the mid-month mark, I will definitely have a lot more time to read and most likely finish up with these titles.

Review: Open Road Summer

Posted September 14, 2014 / Book Reviews / 10 Comments
Review: Open Road Summer

Let me get this out of the way quickly: I’m not a huge music person. That sounds weird or stupid, but I’m just not. I don’t mean that I don’t like music or don’t listen to music, because I DO. I really do. I prefer classic rock to the popular stuff on the radio now; I tend to only listen to music that’s from the 60s, 70s, or 90s. Some people have to be plugged into music all day every day, but there are some days I even go without listening to music at all. (That sounds weird because I used to never be that way; I’m pretty sure I can blame audiobooks for that one). That being said, I generally don’t gravitate towards books with music or musicians as a central part of the plot line. It’s not that I can’t relate to it or won’t like it, it’s just a topic that doesn’t jump out to me. Open Road Summer clearly is a book based around music, but it was not what I was expecting – in a very good way. Reagan heads out on tour for the summer with her best friend Lilah, who is a country music star. When some drama unfolds and Lilah’s image is in jeopardy, a child star singer named Matt joins the tour. To me, this was a story much more about friendship than about relationships. Sure, there is PLENTY going on with romantic relationships, breakups, and make-ups, but I think the central […]

The TBR Tag

Posted September 13, 2014 / Other Memes, Weekly Memes / 7 Comments
The TBR Tag

I found this over at Bibliophile Bliss – I wasn’t tagged, but she “tagged” anyone who wanted to participate. It’s a series of questions about your TBR (or “To Be Read”) list … Here goes! 1. How do you keep track of your TBR pile? Goodreads! I think this is a fairly standard answer from a book blogging perspective. My TBR shelf is a huge mess that has no form of organization unfortunately… but it’s the only way I can keep all of the books I want to read in one spot! I also use Amazon somewhat; any book I know I’ll be reading/buying soon will go on my Wish List so I can grab it easily. 2. Is your TBR mostly print or ebook? I definitely have more print books on my TBR shelves that are waiting to be read. Don’t get me wrong – I still have PLENTY of Kindle books to read. I even have some that are on my old Kindle. My actual TBR list on Goodreads doesn’t have specific editions added; I just add the first edition that comes up in a search. 3. How do you determine which book from your TBR to read next? A lot of factors, actually! The biggest factor is what my mood is at the moment I finish my previous book. At the end of August I was majorly in the mood for summery contemporary romances…so I filled my whole September TBR List with swoon-worthy books like that. (Now, after […]

Review: Twenty Boy Summer

Posted September 12, 2014 / Book Reviews / 6 Comments
Review: Twenty Boy Summer

This book has been on my radar for a while. The plot of the book follows Frankie and Anna as they embark on Frankie’s family vacation. The girls have been close for their entire lives and Anna is pretty much considered a part of her family. A year before, Frankie’s older brother Matt passes away. The last month of his life, Anna and Matt were secretly seeing each other. Anna’s relationship with him is unfinished when he unexpectedly dies and she is unsure about how to tell Frankie. Frankie comes up with the idea of the Twenty Boy Summer to occupy them during their vacation. This was obviously a somewhat large part of the plot (I mean, it’s the title of the book and everything!) but I didn’t think it was that necessary or relevant. They end up meeting some boys soon after they arrive and the competition sort of fades away. Overall, the story of this book was really amazing. I enjoyed getting to know the characters and exploring how they each worked through their grief. I really liked that it wasn’t as predictable as I expected. I’ve been falling into that trap lately with contemporary YA, where the book happens exactly as you’d think and there’s no mystery to it. The “climax” of the book was really the only part I saw coming. However, I liked the way it was developed and dealt with. Without giving too much away, the issues that normally would be “resolved” in a […]

Goodbye Summer Readathon: Update #2

Posted September 11, 2014 / Book Challenges, Features / 5 Comments
Goodbye Summer Readathon: Update #2

My Goodbye Summer Readathon started on August 27th and will continue through September 15th. Please feel free to join us if you’d like; it’s a laid-back readathon to simply get in all of the books you wanted to read this summer but haven’t read yet! Here’s my updated TBR and progress. Sorry for the delay this week – I wanted to post on Monday but got caught up in moving!

Review: Five Summers

Posted September 10, 2014 / Book Reviews / 1 Comment
Review: Five Summers

I liked this book enough but it didn’t blow me away. The general idea is that these four girls (Emma, Skylar, Jo, and Maddie) all attended four years of summer camp together when they were younger. They’e grown apart over the years and hope to reconnect over their reunion weekend. The book makes you wish you had friends like that or an experience at a summer camp. I never had that and I wish more than anything that I did. I think the ending was drawn-out a little bit; the last 80% of the book could have easily been consolidated into a chapter or two. The ending was extremely predictable and I can safely say all of my theories about their secrets or how things would play out came true.  I think all of the girls tended to blend together a little too much. I don’t mean that they were super similar to each other; I just mean that they were characterized at a very superficial level. They all had different problems and stereotypical “personalities” but all sounded the same. There was the tomboy, the girl who’s hiding something, the party girl, and the innocent/shy girl. Otherwise, they were not characterized beyond that stereotype. Emma seemed to be the main character. She was pretty innocent, shy, and still a virgin. She was harboring a longtime crush on Adam, who could be sleazy but also seemed to be “different” around her. I didn’t really buy it. I didn’t understand at ALL what […]