Month: October 2014

Five on Fridays #4

Posted October 17, 2014 / Five on Fridays, Weekly Memes / 1 Comment
Five on Fridays #4

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. Girls (HBO) This is my new TV addiction. I said in last week’s Five that I don’t have any time for TV anymore and I was feeling like there were no shows that interested me. Well, literally that same day I decided to stay up and try a new show: Girls. Jesus it’s so perfect and hilarious. It’s just so realistic and interesting; I binge-watched the whole first season before bed on Friday and when I woke up on Saturday. Oddly enough, I haven’t had time to watch it since, but I’m hoping to have some time this weekend. I’m really interested in checking out Lena Dunham’s book now too – have any of you read it? (Not That Kind of Girl) My Kindle Okay so I’ve been a little library-crazy over the past few weeks. I’ve totally forgotten how much I enjoy using my Kindle! I know there’s no better feeling than holding a real book… but there are so many glorious benefits to using a Kindle instead sometimes. I’ve been able to read in bed once we turn off the lights. I don’t have to struggle with finding a comfortable position to hold the book open. I can read using the Kindle app on my computer when I’m feeling lazy at work. It fits much better in my […]

Introducing: Book Buddies!

Introducing: Book Buddies!

After expressing an interest in finding a “reading buddy,” I had quite a few people apply to join me! It was a hard decision because I really wanted to partner with everyone, but I knew I would be taking on too much. I decided to partner up with two of the bloggers who applied. I do plan to do something with everyone who applied, because this really was a hard choice – keep an eye out from me in the future! Who are my buddies? Cristina from Girl in the Pages  ||  Cristina has such a cute blog that I’ve admired for a while! As you can tell, I’m a big fan of using hearts everywhere on my blog too 😉  She posts incredibly insightful and thought-out reviews. Our TBR lists look really compatible and she brought up some great ideas I hadn’t considered yet for Book Buddies. Cristina and I will focus on standalones and seasonal reads. You can see our partner posts in October, December, February, April, June, and August! Kaitlin from Next Page Please!  ||  Kaitlin reads a lot of the same books as I do and cleverly splits her reviews into a Non-Spoiler and Spoiler section; I love this when I’m reading the review for a book I’ve already read! She suggested some books I’ve wanted to read for a while, so hopefully we can cross those off our TBR lists finally! Kaitlin and I will be embarking on a couple of series reads together. You can see our […]

Blog Tour Excerpt: Chronicles of a Lincoln Park Fashionista

Posted October 16, 2014 / Book Reviews / 1 Comment
Blog Tour Excerpt: Chronicles of a Lincoln Park Fashionista

Book Info and Links Title: Chronicles of a Lincoln Park Fashionista Author: Aven Ellis Release Date: September 10, 2014 Genre: Chick Lit, Romantic Comedy Goodreads / Buy It! Book Summary Recent college graduate Avery Andrews is ready to begin a new life in the big city. She’s landed an apartment in Chicago’s famed Lincoln Park neighborhood–and has her eye on the cute commodities trader just a floor above. If Premier Airlines knew about her fear of flying, they never would have hired her to be their marketing assistant—but it’s not like Avery wants a lifelong career. Right now she simply wants a job to pay her bills…and fund a few little shopping excursions, too. Her new lifestyle comes with a price tag, as Avery is not only faced with paying a ridiculous rent but finds she’s perceived as one of the vacant, husband-hunting fashionistas who live in the area. Avery resents this stereotype—so she doesn’t want a lifelong career, and she loves fashions she can’t afford, but that doesn’t mean she is empty-headed and spoiled, does it? When an opportunity to participate in a documentary at work arises, Avery finds a two-fold solution to her problems. She’ll earn extra money for it, and the documentary will show her as a serious career woman, enabling her to shed that husband-hunting fashionista label for good. When the camera is on, Avery attempts to be a motivated professional woman. But when she is challenged by Deacon Ryan, the videographer assigned to cover her story, […]

Bookmark Lit Bulletin: Mid-October 2014

Posted October 15, 2014 / Bookmark Lit Bulletin, Features, Wrap-Ups / 0 Comments
Bookmark Lit Bulletin: Mid-October 2014

Hello friends! It’s time for October’s first Bookmark Lit Bulletin. As you know, I don’t participate in weekly haul memes or do a lot of updating on my life each week. I developed my little newsletter here to fill you in on all of the bookish and non-bookish things that have filled my head throughout the month. The first bulletin comes out mid-month and the second bulletin comes out at the end of the month. The end-of-month version will feature my book haul! Thanks for reading xoI started my month by finally finishing Trial By Fire! It was a great book that unfortunately kept getting interrupted by other books with deadlines. My Goodreads tells me I took a month to finish it – yikes. Now that I received that surprise book mail, I’ve anxiously hoped for more! As a new blogger I was pretty surprised when it came to my apartment. I know I shouldn’t expect it too much but now I’m hoping and hoping every day when I check the mail! I’ve read five books since the beginning of the month and finished one audiobook. Overall (as you can see below), they were all pretty great! I wish I could say the same with the current book I’m listening too; Rites of Passage isn’t for me so far. Favorite book of the month: Dissonance! I finally read it and it was exactly what I had hoped it would be. Biggest let-down: I was obsessed with Liane Moriarty after finishing The Husband’s Secret, […]

WWW Wednesdays #13

Posted October 15, 2014 / Weekly Memes, WWW Wednesdays / 6 Comments
WWW Wednesdays #13

WWW Wednesdays are hosted by Should Be Reading, where we answer three questions: what are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? and what are you planning to read next? I just started Catching Jordan the other day and am already pretty far in. So far the characters are amazing. I LOVE Jordan and all of the boys on her team that seem to have her back no matter what. I can’t believe I haven’t read a book about football yet considering it’s my entire life during autumn. I’m still working on Poisoned Apples. Because it’s a book of poetry, I’m just kind of slowly reading through them. I’m listening to Rites of Passage on audio right now and I have extremely mixed feelings. I like that Sam is such a badass who doesn’t let anyone bring her down. I like the impending romance that’s happening. BUT – I absolutely can’t stand the hazing and misogyny. I know that it’s supposed to show their attitudes and how resilient Sam can be, but it’s just really hard for me to listen to. I’ve thought about stopping it quite a few times but I’m not one to DNF books. I know the hazing is only going to get worse, so I’m not sure I’ll be able to handle it, but I like that the romance will be coming into play soon and that she’s starting to figure out what’s really going on at the DMA. I’m interested enough in the […]

Seeking a Reading Buddy!

Posted October 14, 2014 / Personal / Information / Etc. / 9 Comments
Seeking a Reading Buddy!

I’ve been thinking of guest posts a lot lately and partnering up with another blogger for some things. I’ve decided that I’m officially looking for an affiliate/partner/buddy to join in with me for maybe a monthly post or feature on both of our blogs. Nothing too crazy – obviously we’ll both keep our blogs and our normal schedules. (This isn’t for a co-blogger or anything). Let me tell you a little bit about what I’m thinking. Wanted: someone with similar reading tastes, compatible TBR piles, and the desire to read and discuss with me! I want to partner with someone to do a monthly book review (discussion). Instead of a traditional review format, we’ll ask each other some questions about our feelings towards it, share our opinions, and agree/disagree on different points in the book! We’ll keep it spoiler-free like a normal review would be. The first half of our discussion review would be posted on one of our blogs, and the second half would be posted on the other person’s – that way, we can both gain some traffic to the posts and we won’t be repeating content. What I’m Looking for in a Partner Similar tastes in books. Seems logical, right? If you’ve been following me on here or checked out my ratings on Goodreads, you’ll know how we align on certain books. I’m hoping my reading buddy will have some of the same feelings about books I’ve already read so I can be fairly sure we won’t differ too […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #11: Book Places to Visit

Posted October 14, 2014 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 8 Comments
Top Ten Tuesdays #11: Book Places to Visit

Ten Places Books Have Made Me Want to Visit Hogwarts – Yeah, despite all of the crazy awful stuff that happened there, OF COURSE I want to go there and live there! Who doesn’t want to chill with everyone in the Harry Potter books and have magic? Paris – Plenty of books and movies have made me want to visit Paris, but obviously Anna and the French Kiss solidified that for me! San Francisco – Not as much world-building for this one compared to Paris, but Lola and the Boy Next Door highlighted a lot of cool things out there. I think it made me want to go to California in general (more so than ever before)! Road trip – I’ve always wanted to hop in a car with my friends and take a road trip around the US, but Open Road Summer definitely added to that! Granted, they were in a giant tour bus headed to concerts, but it still made me crave a summer-long trip like that. Lake Phoenix – The Poconos have always interested me, but the cute little town described in Second Chance Summer sounds like an awesome place to have a lake house. Boulder, CO – Okay I don’t actually really want to visit Boulder, but I want to go there and visit with everyone from Aspen! I loved the characters so much that I would totally move across the country and hang out with them forever. Hamptons – I’ve always wanted to be rich and […]

[Release Day Blitz] Excerpt and Author Interview: Damsel Distressed

Posted October 14, 2014 / Book Reviews / 2 Comments
[Release Day Blitz] Excerpt and Author Interview: Damsel Distressed

Damsel Distressed by Kelsey Macke LEARN MORE: Goodreads | Website | Tumblr  ////  BUY IT: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Kobo Hot girls get the fairy tales. No one cares about the stepsisters’ story. Those girls don’t get a sweet little ending; they get a lifetime of longing. Imogen Keegen has never had a happily ever after–in fact, she doesn’t think they are possible. Ever since her mother’s death seven years ago, Imogen has pulled herself in and out of therapy, struggled with an “emotionally disturbed” special ed. label, and loathed her perma-plus-sized status. When Imogen’s new stepsister, the evil and gorgeous Ella Cinder, moves in down the hall, Imogen begins losing grip on the pieces she’s been trying to hold together. The only things that gave her solace–the theatre, cheese fries, and her best friend, Grant–aren’t enough to save her from her pain this time. While Imogen is enjoying her moment in the spotlight after the high school musical, the journal pages containing her darkest thoughts get put on display. Now, Imogen must resign herself to be crushed under the ever-increasing weight of her pain, or finally accept the starring role in her own life story. And maybe even find herself a happily ever after. Excerpt They’ve been lying from the start. From the first time we hear the words “once upon a time,” we’re fed the idea that these girls— these gorgeous, demure, singing-with-the-wildlife girls—get a happy ending. And I get it. Poor thing had to do some chores around […]

Review: Dissonance

Posted October 13, 2014 / Book Reviews / 15 Comments
Review: Dissonance

Have you ever read the description of a book that felt like the most YOU book of all time? Like the author literally jumped into your brain and wrote it just for you? Yeah, Dissonance is one of those books for me. I’m sorry if this review is just me fangirling like a wild woman, but I’m just too excited. When I first saw this book pop up, right before my blogging days got started, my jaw dropped at the plot summary. This concept of creating new universes based on every decision you make was something I thought about ALL of the time. Anyone remember that episode of the old Disney show So Weird? The girl makes a decision to pick orange juice instead of grapefruit juice, which splits into two different universes.. In one she ends up late to school, gets detention, and falls into a bad crowd. The other world has her day going normally. The two versions of herself somehow squeeze into one world and she has to work to get the other one out. Yeah, well, ever since that episode I’ve been obsessed with that concept. Talk about taking “everything happens for a reason” literally! WELL I DIGRESS A LOT but this book was perfect for me. I talked about it for MONTHS, built it up in my head to be the best book I would read this year, and guess what? It delivered. As far as the actual story goes, we learn about Del and […]

Musing Mondays #11

Posted October 13, 2014 / Musing Mondays, Weekly Memes / 7 Comments
Musing Mondays #11

Describe one of your reading (and blogging) habits. I think I’ve discussed hype and how it affects my reading on here before. (Maybe?) Lately I’ve been thinking about how certain books, especially those that are recently published, get so much hype from bloggers around our section of the internet. I know that most bloggers get review copies and/or follow new releases closely, so I’ve come to expect this. It has me thinking about review variety around the blogosphere. What books to people want us to review? I want people to find my reviews valuable and interesting, but I also want to read what I LIKE to read. I will definitely honor any reviews for books from publishers, but more than likely they’re books that I think look interesting or I requested. Do people dislike reviews of older books? Do you only want to see reviews for new releases? Frankly I’ve been a little bored when checking out my feeds. I see the same reviews for the same few books every week. I’m happy us bloggers are here to promote new releases to the world, but I also like reading about books I may have otherwise missed. I like reading some books that have been on my shelf for a while. Are those posts less interesting? No offense for anyone out there reviewing new releases, because I do it too, but I’m just MUSING about what kind of reviews people care about. Musing Mondays is a meme at Should Be Reading, where […]