Month: August 2015

Inside & Out #12: Sarah from What Sarah Read

Posted August 10, 2015 / Features, Inside and Out / 0 Comments

Admiring book covers and bookmarks, shared by you! Welcome to INSIDE AND OUT. This feature includes two of my absolute favorite book-related things: bookmarks (inside) and book covers (out)! I’ve invited guest posters to share their favorite book covers and bookmarks here on the second and fourth Mondays of each month. Sign-ups are always open (see bottom of post)! Check out past posts here. Sarah from What Sarah Read Twitter: @whatsarahread| Instagram: @whatsarahread| Tumblr| Pinterest | Goodreads Tell me a little about yourself: I feel like my Twitter bio describes me perfectly! I’m a…Boston girl, book blogger, cat lover, diet coke addict, cheeseburger expert, daydreamer, fangirl, disney obsessed, unapologetic goofball and lover of life!! Yep…that’s me in a nutshell. Talk about your blog (what you blog about/kinds of books, features, etc.): What Sarah Read just celebrated it’s one year anniversary back in May and I am so thrilled with how many friends and readers I have met along the way. You’ll find book reviews that are usually accompanied by fun mood boards, as well as special features highlighting my favorite books, weekly memes like Top Ten Tuesday, and my own original feature…Fangirl Friday. It’s a fun way to invite my bookish friends to the blog each week to have them fangirl about their favorite things. Favorite genre: Do I really have to choose? I love young adult contemporary AND fantasy. There are so many amazing books from each that I could never possibly choose. As long as a book has a lot of soul and […]

Review: Three Day Summer

Posted August 8, 2015 / Book Reviews / 10 Comments

I LOVE WOODSTOCK. I love music from the 60’s and 70’s more than any other time period so I knew I was going to at least love that element of this book. I even wrote a research paper on Woodstock back in high school, because obviously it’s the best time period in history. Can we get more books set in this time? Thanks. I thought the atmosphere felt really well-done and representative of the time. I’ve seen countless Woodstock movies and read articles, so I feel like it was definitely historically accurate. I actually believed that these two characters could have been real concertgoers at Woodstock. The MUSIC was perfect. If I had a time machine……. Every time they referenced Janis Joplin or Roger Daltry or the “new guy” Santana, I squealed a little bit. And of course the biggest event of all: Jimi Hendrix. Goosebumps, dude. Cora, a nurse volunteering at the event, and Michael, a hippie concert attendee, hit it off right away. They were interesting characters that came from different backgrounds but were struggling with similar things – primarily their future. Could Cora become a doctor? And what the hell was Michael going to be when he grew up? The two of them were perfect characters to meet and explore the concert together, and again – very representative of the time. I feel like it would have been nice to get to know Michael a bit more. I think Cora was more fleshed out, including her family […]

Series Review: The Lying Game Books 4-6 + Novella

Posted August 7, 2015 / Book Reviews / 2 Comments

So, as you saw in my previous post, I went on a little binge. It was a very spur of the moment decision and I figured I’d just work through the audiobooks for these ones over the course of the month…. but, I couldn’t stop. It ended up being a full-on series binge-read, which fits nicely in my Summer of Series Challenge! I didn’t put it on my TBR, but oh well. I should have known Sara Shepard would make me turn the pages nonstop until I was finished with the series. The Lying Game: Books 4, 5, and 6, plus the other novella I won’t spoil each individual book in the reviews, as usual, BUT each review will likely have spoilers for the previous book(s)! So, beware. To be honest, this rating is probably a little too high. The ending definitely didn’t surprise me but it did make the book a bit more interesting. I’m getting sick and tired of the same plot in each book: Emma learns a piece of information, aggressively suspects someone the entire book, chases down dumb leads and assumes the worst without thinking first, and refuses to think it could be anyone but the person she chose as the latest suspect. She spent the entire book being an idiot and jumping to conclusions. It was just SO convenient that the person she suspected just so happened to be doing sketchy things while she suspected them (when they never really had before). The TV show made me suspect […]

Cover Colors: A Court of Thorns and Roses

Posted August 6, 2015 / Cover Colors, Features / 16 Comments

It’s no secret that I’m obsessed with book covers. I love the colors, the typography, the different designs that cover artists can create. I even have a guest post feature where people share their favorite book covers and bookmarks! I decided to start up this random feature where I draw color inspiration from my favorite book covers. I may create an outfit, pick out some nail polish, or design a quote graphic. Today’s cover is… A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas This cover is just beyond cool… and the book inside is even better. I wanted to use the purples and grays in a quote, but couldn’t resist the opportunity for a kickass outfit too! I chose a feathery black dress, like the one on the cover, and some red patent leather pumps for a pop of color. A Court of Thorns and Roses by bookmarklit featuring cocktail dresses

Series Review: The Lying Game Books 1-3 + Novella

Posted August 5, 2015 / Book Reviews / 3 Comments

So, I went on a little binge. It was a very spur of the moment decision and I figured I’d just work through the audiobooks for these ones over the course of the month…. but, I couldn’t stop. It ended up being a full-on series binge-read, which fits nicely in my Summer of Series Challenge! I didn’t put it on my TBR, but oh well. I should have known Sara Shepard would make me turn the pages nonstop until I was finished with the series. The Lying Game: Books 1, 2, and 3, plus the prequel novella I won’t spoil each individual book in the reviews, as usual, BUT each review will likely have spoilers for the previous book(s)! So, beware. WOO that was really good! I shouldn’t say that I’m suprised at how good it was, but I kind of am. Sara Shepard is known for writing the same kind of books over and over again. I think most people admit that, even her big fans (like myself). There’s just something about her writing style that works for me and keeps me engaged, even if some of it feels like deja vu. THE GOOD NEWS IS: this book was actually not like her other books/series at all. It felt like a completely fresh story, which is definitely what made all the difference. Instead of following a group of girls around trying to figure out mysteries and/or murders (Hi, Pretty Little Liars, The Heiresses, and The Perfectionists), this one involves long-lost twin sisters. […]

Bout of Books 14 Sign-Up and Progress

Posted August 4, 2015 / Book Challenges, Features / 11 Comments

YAY! It is time! Pardon my double post for today, but I saw that the sign-up post happened a few days ago and I want to be on top of things. Bout of Books is one of my favorite things that happens for the book community and I can’t believe how many I’ve been able to do so far. More info about Bout of Books for newbies: The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 17th and runs through Sunday, August 23rd in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 14 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team I hope to participate in more challenges this time around! AND get more reading done without making it feel like an obligation. I am definitely going to use this challenge to beef up my summer reading. I always say how I save summer-oriented books for the summer months, but I usually get sidetracked with way too many other things instead. I’m going to share my proposed TBR and goals right here in this post, because why not? I’m in the mood to not get any work done today. The focus of this Bout of Books will be: […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #50: Retellings

Posted August 4, 2015 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 13 Comments

Ten Fairytale Retellings (2 Loved + 8 To-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. So, first of all – this is my 50th TTT! I can’t believe it. 50 straight weeks of Top Ten Tuesday. Damn. And second, YAY! I love this one! I have a lot of retellings on my TBR and even joined a challenge for them this year. I have plans for quite a few more – especially with the Lunar Chronicles readalong starting this month. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas | Still can barely talk about this one Princess of Thorns by Stacey Jay | Took a while to get going, but fantastic after it did! Cinder by Marissa Meyer | Reading very soon for the Lunar Chronicles readalong! Ash & Bramble by Sarah Prineas | Started this but had to stop and send to the next person Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Berry & Ridley Peterson | A classic I need to read Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson | I’ve heard nothing but fantastic things about this one Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge | This has been on my TBR forever! Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay | I loved PoT so I have to […]

Review: Get Dirty

Posted August 3, 2015 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

I had suuuuper mixed (okay, fine, more negative) feelings about the first book, but was absolutely determined to read this one. All other issues aside, I NEEDED to know who the killer was. I had a few people in mind after the first book… and that cliffhanger GOOD GOD. I figured I should give this one a slightly better rating than the first one because for some reason I kind of liked it a bit more, but it technically all comes down to the same issues. The pacing was still an issue, the girls still felt like cardboard cut-outs of typical high schooler stereotypes (except maybe even worse this time around because there was pretty much no personality at all), and… the worst thing of all… my theory was correct. If you know me at all, you’d know that (a) I don’t read a lot of mystery/murder/thriller books and (b) I am ridiculously AWFUL at falling for red herrings and can literally never figure out who the killer is. Ever. Well, except in this case. In summary, if I’m able to figure out who the killer was in your mystery book, then it wasn’t that great of a mystery. I liked how everything wrapped up but essentially everything else from the book wasn’t very memorable. I just finished the audio this morning (July 2nd, at the time of writing this DUH) and I can’t even remember what the fuck happened throughout the book. I feel like there was even LESS of […]

Book Barn Trip

Posted August 1, 2015 / Personal / Information / Etc. / 8 Comments

As someone who lives in Connecticut, I do a lot of complaining about the lack of things there are to do around here. It’s such a small state but honestly, it packs in a lot of museums, bookstores, restaurants, beaches, and the good ol’ outdoors. I may shit-talk about Connecticut a lot, but honestly? It’s kind of nice being able to travel from the top to the bottom of your state in 2 hours. Literally. So, what’s even more amazing is that the Niantic Book Barn is on the literal opposite side of the state from me, and yet I can still go there for a day trip. Last Sunday, Chris and I drove down to Niantic in the late afternoon and were still home way before bedtime. Here are some highlights from this glorious place and my book haul at the end! I’ve been here once before but it was right before I started blogging, so I didn’t have the opportunity to share anything! The glorious barn(s) of books The best part about the Book Barn is that there are multiple little barns and buildings full of books everywhere. They sell all used books (and buy them too), and break them into different categorized buildings. I should have taken a picture of the map, but oh well. It basically shows where you can buy different genres of books. The Young Adult section is in the main barn, but I always have to explore all of the other buildings before hitting […]