Month: July 2015

Currently – 7/9/15

Posted July 9, 2015 / Personal / Information / Etc. / 8 Comments

Lots of lifestyle bloggers share posts about things they’re currently up to: things they’re feeling, stuff they’re working on, and even what music they’re listening to at the moment. (I also love the “what I’m doing now” tag on Instagram!) I’m taking a cue from them and giving you a slice of my life. my pedicure after work. It’s not exactly NEEDED or anything, because my previous one from a few months ago is actually in good shape… But I just really need the massage chair. I won’t lie, I would literally sit in that chair all day instead of even get anything done to my toes/legs. not any work, that’s for sure. We have so many things in process right now and it’s not leaving me with a lot of actual THINGS to do at work. Since I’m a recruiter, we do a lot of waiting around for people to respond to us, companies to give us feedback, and interviews to happen. I’m definitely in a spot right now where I can do nothing but wait. raspberry lemonade. I love this shit. Simply Lemonade makes the best drinks and their raspberry kind is the absolute best. I bought a container to leave in the fridge at work for the next week or two! Chinese food. My friend and I met up for lunch at the Chinese restaurant down the road. We had to discuss some Jack & Jill plans for my friend’s wedding coming up! We surprisingly don’t have a […]

Burrito Bowl Book Tag

Posted July 9, 2015 / Personal / Information / Etc. / 10 Comments

I’m a dummy and didn’t realize Cristina had tagged me for this… like, months ago. Without further ado, here’s the delicious tag that’s making me tempted to get Chipotle for dinner tonight.. Created by Girl in the Pages and Thoughts and Afterthoughts Links go to my review or Goodreads, depending! RICE | The Foundation – The book that got you into book blogging or reading Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver was the book I read that got me into book blogging. I was googling it after I finished and wanted to see what other people thought of it. I had been using Goodreads on and off since 2010 (since my reading was really spotty from 2009-2013), but never realized that peple actually blog about books. When I saw a few blogs about the book, I thought it would be a really cool idea. I had no idea what it would lead me into! BEANS| The Filler – The book with a whole lot of nothing going on The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton was the worst. It didn’t work for me at all and I was so bored throughout. The story followed a few generations in this family and Ava Lavender wasn’t even introduced until about halfway through. A lot of awful things happen to this family, but I felt like there was really nothing actually happening plotwise. It was a sad history, just listed out in chronological order. UGH. I cannot believe I didn’t just DNF this […]

Review & ARC Review: Daylight Falls Series

Posted July 8, 2015 / Book Reviews / 7 Comments

I bought this book a loooong time ago and totally forgot about it. When I got approved for the second book, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that I already owned the first one! I was a big fan of Jen Calonita’s series about a girl in Hollywood, so this one seemed to be right up my alley. I was right that the Hollywood setting is kind of like book crack for me. I definitely want to read more books like this and will be rereading Calonita’s series again at some point! It was interesting to get the perspective of the best friend to the Hollywood star, who doesn’t want anything to do with it. Honestly I wasn’t the biggest fan of Ally, compared to the other characters. She had a lot of moments that made me want to punch her. Like, A LOT of moments. She was super self-conscious and self-loathing, no matter what Liam said to her. She was incredibly jealous and let her emotions get in the way of any sound decision-making. Aside from all that, I really loved her friendship with Vanessa though; I could see that they had a solid foundation that Hollywood couldn’t fuck up for them. I’m SO EXCITED to read the next book for more Van. The relationship with Ally and Liam happened kind of quickly and was pretty cheesy in the beginning. I definitely rooted for them throughout though. I didn’t really see what Liam saw in her, because of her […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #46: Hyped Books

Posted July 7, 2015 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 27 Comments

Top Ten Hyped Books I’ve Never Read (Newer Releases I Plan to Read or Won’t Read) Top Ten Tuesdays are hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, 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 I’ve done some similar posts to this one before! I’ve decided to do a little twist on this one, and make it the top ten hyped new releases (within the last 6 months or so) that I haven’t read yet – and whether or not I think I’ll ever read them! I always add the hyped books to my TBR but never seem to be in the mood to read them. I have a feeling that a lot of them will slip by me and I’ll never read them, but there are some I’m definitely still interested in getting to at some point. Everyone seemed to be super excited for these two before their release! I actually even started to listen to an audiobook of The Wrath and the Dawn, but ended up quitting. I wasn’t really into the story and had a hard time keeping track of the characters. I will probably try this one again at some point, but I’m not sure! I’ll definitely need to read the print copy if I do. I preordered An Ember in the Ashes when there was a […]

Review: Racing Savannah

Posted July 6, 2015 / Book Reviews / 4 Comments

Maybe I gave myself a little series burnout (since this is the third book I read in a row) and I just wasn’t as excited to read it or invested in the characters. I may not like books about religion, but I apparently (not surprisingly) also don’t like books about horses. I couldn’t get myself to care much about them or the racing aspects, which did take up a lot of time within the book. It took me a little while to get into the story because for some reason it just felt different than her other books. I don’t know how to explain it. Aside from the horses, there was quite a bit of romance here. It was a forbidden love kind of story, where Savannah works for Jack’s family in the horse barn and lives in their “staff quarters” with the rest of her family. Jack is trying to prove that he can run the business successfully and needs to impress his father, so naturally there’s some conflict surrounding their relationship and keeping it hidden. Jack seemed like a decent guy but I really didn’t feel much for him or them. I wasn’t swooning or shipping them, to be honest. Maybe cowboys just don’t do it for me or something. Thinking of him tipping his cowboy hat at her just seemed cheesy instead of cute. That’s probably just me, though. My favorite part of this book was the group of friends that Savannah joins. Vanessa and Rory, in […]

Reading Recap #4

Posted July 5, 2015 / Features, Reading Recap / 4 Comments

Because my reviews are usually posted at least a month after I finish the book, I never really talk about what I’m currently reading or just finished reading. This Reading Recap feature will let you know the the books I just finished reading and listening to, as well as the books I’m currently reading and listening to. Past recaps here! It’s been a while since I’ve posted one of these! I won’t bore you with the twenty two books I’ve read or listened to since the last recap, but will give you just a few of my recent books. Mirrored by Alex Flinn | I’ve been really excited to read more retellings lately, but this one didn’t work for me. I actually loved the retelling elements of the story and thought the plotline was cool, but the rest was very blah. The pacing was off, the characters were okay, and the writing style was NOT for me. Lying Out Loud by Kody Keplinger | Ah, yes, another Kody Keplinger to add to the list! I will definitely read her grocery list. This one wasn’t AS big of a hit with me as the others I’ve read by her, but it was overall really enjoyable still. Full Frontal Feminism by Jessica Valenti | YAY I FINISHED! For a book that I looooved and gave five stars, it sure took me a while to read. I loved getting back into women’s studies a bit and taking my time with this one. Everyone – feminist or […]

Mini Reviews: Magonia and The Good Girls

Posted July 3, 2015 / Book Reviews / 3 Comments

I don’t really even know what to say about it, except that it was incredibly unique and unlike anything I’ve ever read before. I actually HATE birds and am very afraid of them, so I’m surprised this book worked for me at all. We chose this one for my book club and pretty much all agreed with that. Overall, I enjoyed this book, but I did have a few major struggles: It was hard to picture Magonia and the bird people. I feel like most fantasy books have the issue of too much description, but this one could have used a bit more. When writing about a land that’s technically an ocean with ships and different bird-creatures, people are going to have a tough time picturing it. I needed more detail overall. I know that Aza was trying to learn what the issues were in Magonia, as well as her reasons for being there, but it was hard to grasp. They didn’t really tell her anything, and thus the reader didn’t know anything. It would have been better to have a bit more information and explanation. Aza’s reaction to Magonia was not believable. Obviously most of the book is pretty unbelievable, but what struck me the most was that Aza just accepted it. She literally learned that she was basically a bird person in this crazy place above the clouds… and she just went with it! I would have been screaming “what the fuck” repeatedly. Same with Jason. How did […]

Review: Things I Can’t Forget

Posted July 2, 2015 / Book Reviews / 2 Comments

This was not an easy book for me to read. You’d never guess that, considering I read it all in one night. Because of Kenneally’s writing and my love for the rest of this series, I’m really tempted to bump my rating up… but I just can’t do it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad I read the book and got to see some of my favorite people again (Parker and Will, obvs). The events in this series kind of roll into each other for the rest of the books, so it’s awesome catching glimpses of people like JEREMIAH who I already know is going to be PERFECT in Breathe, Annie, Breathe. I don’t think you have to read this series in order (obviously I didn’t for the most part) but it really helps in that aspect. Anyway, again I’ll probably be divisive in my thoughts on this. It seems like most people really enjoyed this book. It was hard for me to let myself enjoy it because of the main character and her beliefs. I like to think I’m an understanding person that can respect others’ opinions, but that doesn’t mean I WANT to hear about some of them for 320 pages. I really can’t do it. I’m surprised I was able to push by some of that and eventually grow to (kind of) like Kate. Kate has always been the epitome of a good girl. She’s been kissed once, never EVER does anything bad, goes to church, and […]

Mid-Year Blogging Update & Goals

Posted July 1, 2015 / Book Challenges, Features, Personal / Information / Etc. / 16 Comments

2015 has been the first “fresh” year of blogging for me. I started my blog in the middle of July 2014 – eeek, one year anniversary is coming up! – so 2015 was MY YEAR for making up goals, joining year-long challenges, and trying to see if I could survive. I signed up for way too many challenges, but I’ve been actually doing a decent job so far. Here’s a rundown on my challenge progress (in more detail than I usually put in my monthly wrap-ups and what I hope to accomplish with the rest of the year on my blog! (Also, sorry if Livin on a Prayer is stuck in your head now.) (AND, this may be slightly outdated because I’ve finished a couple of books since writing this.) Reading Stats Books read: 90 books completed by July 1st Pages read: 30,945 (not entirely accurate, because this includes audiobooks) Genre most read: Contemporary, which surprises no one Goal/Resolution Updates Back at the end of December 2014, Top Ten Tuesday asked us for our bookish and blogging resolutions for the following year. My post had five of each, and I thought I’d check in on my progress so far for 2015! Write more original discussion posts: I wrote 7 discussion posts between January and the end of June, so I think that’s pretty good! About one per month. I would definitely like to increase that number, but a part of me kind of likes spacing them out. I feel like I would run out […]