Month: November 2015

Nearing the End of 2015…

Posted November 7, 2015 / Book Challenges, Features / 9 Comments

It started to hit me today that 2015 is coming to an end VERY, very soon. That means that the aggressive amount of challenges I’ve signed up for are also ending within the next two months. I set goals for myself at the beginning of the year too. I wanted to revisit some of my challenges again now that it’s really crunch time. Let’s see if I can get going on finishing them up and meeting my other goals! Click here to see all of my challenge tracking specifics. 105 Challenge – 87% complete Goal: Read 105 books in 2015, with allocations for each genre or topic. (Example: read 14 new releases, 13 young adult contemporary, etc. down to 1 book in the final category) Current status: Read 95 books so far and completed 8 out of the 14 the categories. Still need to work on: I have 6 categories that still need to be completed before the end of 2015: → 10 new adult books – 5 more to read → 8 already owned Kindle books – 4 more to read → 6 nonfiction/memoir books – 3 more to read → 5 parallel universe and/or time-bending books – 1 more to read → 4 non-audio rereads – 1 more to read → 3 books owned before college – 2 more to read Fairytale Challenge – 60-90% complete Goal: Read 10-15 books that are classified as fairy tales and/or fairy tale retellings. Current status: Read 9 books so far. Still need to work on: I technically only have one more to […]

Cover Colors: Nowhere But Home

Posted November 6, 2015 / Cover Colors, Features / 7 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… Nowhere But Home by Liza Palmer I love this cover and it’s unique colors. I could never survive in Texas heat, so I tried to pick something I’d wear if I had to get dressed up down there. I picked a blue skirt along the same lines as the one on the cover, and had to represent the stars with some earrings! Nowhere But Home by bookmarklit featuring stainless steel jewelry

Reviews: Scarlet and Cress

Posted November 5, 2015 / Book Reviews / 8 Comments

I think my feelings for this book can be summed up in my Goodreads review, which is usually just a quick snapshot of my gut reaction: Okay yeah, so I am really enjoying this series so far! It’s not what I was expecting (in a good way) but somehow I’m not in LOVE with it like most people. I’m sad about that. I’ve heard that a lot of people count Cress as their favorite, though, so I’m feeling really good about the next book. As for Scarlet, I feel like I didn’t get enough of SCARLET! I love that these books alternate around between some of the main characters, but Cinder’s story from this book is sticking more in my mind than Scarlet’s chapters. I don’t know if it’s because I was more interested in Thorne than Wolf – or something similar – but damn. I kept itching for Cinder’s chapters. I loved the end of the book, when all of the stories connected and everyone came together. I can’t wait to see how they mix in Cress and other new characters in the next couple of books! Stories that have characters whose lives are connected (usually without them personally know each other) are always fun for me. These books, so far, feature a decent amount of action throughout, and then a little uptick towards the end. Usually that climax is what keeps me interested and prepares me for the next book. I’m really glad that I started Scarlet late in the readalong, so […]

ARC Review: Young Widows Club

Posted November 4, 2015 / Book Reviews / 6 Comments

Sigh. For a book with such a sad premise, I sure didn’t feel anything. I wasn’t expecting to like this one that much but I wanted to try it out anyways. The writing wasn’t too bad but the feels and emotions were just straight up nonexistent for me. Tamsen (weird name) got married to her longtime boyfriend Noah when she was just seventeen. Six weeks later, he dies unexpectedly in his sleep. She’s reeling and not sure what to do with herself. Her entire life revolved around him and his band; she even dropped out of high school to work on band manager stuff. The book focused on Tam’s life six months after he passes away. She’s forced to join a Young Widows Club, go back to high school, and think about getting her life back on track. The overall premise of the book was pretty good and interesting enough. Tam as a character was super boring because she didn’t have a life or interests aside from Noah and his friends. Moving on from his death was a huge deal because she had to figure out what kind of future she actually wanted, without him in it. She spends time getting back in touch with her old friend Lula (another weird name) and repairing her relationship with her dad and stepmother. Like I said, I definitely didn’t feel a lot of emotion from this book. Her struggles in finding herself and moving on were at the forefront, but they still didn’t […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #62: Sophomore Novels

Posted November 3, 2015 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 19 Comments

Ten Debut Authors and their Sophomore Novels 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. This week’s TTT is about debut authors and their sophomore novels, which can be taken in two directions: debut authors that have me itching for their sophomore novel, or debut authors whose second book didn’t disappoint. I ended up only thinking of one real solid example for the second category, so I couldn’t resist including it. Otherwise, here I have eight debut authors’ books I LOVED and need their second book ASAP. Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon | The One Thing by Marci Lyn Curtis | First & Then by Emma Mills | Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli | We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach | All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven | The Falconer by Elizabeth May Some of these may count as second novels if the author already had a self-pubbed book or something along those lines, but they’re all YA debuts in general! Loved (or at least strongly liked) all of these above and really looking forward to either the second book in the series or by the author.Emery Lord’s debut Open Road Summer and sophomore novel The Start of Me and You were both fantastic. I […]

ARC Review: The Anatomical Shape of a Heart

Posted November 2, 2015 / Book Reviews / 6 Comments

The premise of this book and the characters inside it were just so unique – I knew I was going to like it (at the very least!). I have definitely not read a book about a girl who draws cadavers and dreams of being a medical illustrator, or a boy who is a graffiti artist with lots of family secrets. Both Bex and Jack felt so real, interesting, and different. I say this a lot, but I love when a YA book features strong family presence. There were some great scenes with Bex, her mom, and her brother. They were so funny and her mom was the best: super understanding and compassionate. I loved the interactions between the people in Bex’s family. I wish there was even more time with them. Even Jack’s family presence (and growth) was strong, and he was just the love interest. I think the biggest thing I loved about this book was how unique it is. The story is unlike any that I’ve ever read. It’s not every day that you meet characters with such interesting backgrounds and interests. They both felt fully developed to me. As I said earlier, Bex wants to be the next great medical illustrator, so she gains access to some cadavers at the local university. She meets Jack on the late night train and discovers that he’s the notorious graffiti artist. The two of them hit it off literally instantly and their relationship grows from there. Jack kept a lot of secrets […]