Month: May 2016

Top Ten Tuesdays #92: Beach Reads

Posted May 31, 2016 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 16 Comments

Ten Beach Reads: Recent & Upcoming 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 weeks topic is: Beach Reads Week (top ten great beach reads, ten books I plan to read on the beach, ten beach reads for those who don’t like typical ~beach reads~, ten authors who are my go-to for beach reads, etc.).This is actually a perfect topic for today because at this moment I am soaking up my last minutes of vacation! I’m headed home from Hilton Head Island at some point today and will be back to normal life after a long car ride home between tonight and tomorrow. Because I’m in the midst of a beachy, warm vacation, I’m going to share the planned beach reads for this summer and some of the books I brought with me on my vacation this past week. Because I’m on vacation, I’m going to be lazy and not offer any commentary about these books. You’ll have to find the Goodreads yourself 😉

ARC Review: The Leaving

Posted May 30, 2016 / Book Reviews / 8 Comments

Wooof I haven’t been THAT addicted to a book in a long time! I sat down at 10:30 PM on a Friday night to start this book and finished it three hours later without stopping. I’m not a huge mystery/thriller reader but some of them just speak to me. This was definitely one of them. Six kids went missing eleven years ago, and then five of them randomly return. None of them remember what happened. MEEP. I didn’t have any theories while reading (for the most part) so that made it even more fun. I had no idea what was going on. This was the epitome of a page-turner. I sat and literally could not stop reading. I tried to stop when I got tired and ended up reading through bleary eyes for an extra two hours. I loved the style of the story; the chapters were super short and alternated between three characters. Avery is Max’s younger sister (the only person who didn’t return), and Lucas and Scarlett were two that returned. Lucas and Scarlett had some cool effects with the writing style. Hers were kind of written like poetry, with different symbols and text effects. Lucas had some parts (memories) that popped onto the page in black boxes. It’s hard to explain, but it was cool. It added to the effect of the memory loss story. The characters were interesting because they don’t know who they are or what they’re like. They don’t remember anything about their lives, […]

Top 10 Underrated Contemporary Romances

Posted May 28, 2016 / Book Challenges, Book Lists, Features / 8 Comments

As you (probably don’t) know, one goal I had when starting this blog was to feature recommendation lists for people seeking new books to read within different topics. Top Ten Tuesday kind of took over for this area for me, which is perfect, but sometimes I like to create my own. The Contemporary Romance Challenge hosts a monthly topic to partake in. Past topics this year: Anticipated Early ’16 Romances • Recs for Newbies • Favorite Tropes • Favorite Contemp Romances Ever Here’s May’s topic: Underrated Contemporary Romances I have to say, I tend to follow the trends within romance. I don’t go out on a limb much because I’ve gotten SUPER picky about the romances I like and don’t like. I have generally found that self-pubbed romances contain too much angst for me (with the exception of one series you’ll see on this list!!), so I don’t read them unless they’re highly recommended to me. I’ll split this up into different “age groups.” Young Adult New Adult Adult

Super Fitting Book Covers

Posted May 27, 2016 / Discussions, Features / 15 Comments

I love book covers (surprised? No and no and no and no.) and clearly find any excuse to show them off. I’ve been thinking lately about why certain covers are chosen (or even changed) for different books. I love when the book cover is more than just pretty – it actually captures what’s happening inside the book perfectly. You see a badass woman on the cover and she’s kicking ass under the cover too. A cute couple sitting on a beach and that actually happens in the book. I just love it! There’s something great about a pretty cover, obviously, but it can be even better when a book cover perfectly matches the interior of the book too. The Lost and Found by Katrina Leno I loved this story so, so incredibly much. I’m eager for this book to join the world in about a month because I know so many others will be as charmed as I was. I love how the cover reflects the two pairs headed out on road trips, as well as some of the “lost and found” items mentioned throughout the book. A cute and appropriate cover! {Edit: the cover has been changed. I’m not pleased about it but decided to keep this original cover here!} True Letters from a Fictional Life by Kenneth Logan This book is about a lot of things, but I love the eye-catching cover that focuses on one specific element. And honestly? It’s not even that big of a piece of the story. It […]

ARC Reviews: Meet Me Here and Autofocus

Posted May 26, 2016 / Book Reviews / 4 Comments

I love books that take place in one night. The character just graduated or has one night left before college or is leaving for some reason, and they spend all night with their friends making memories. It’s just a fun plotline to me and definitely read-bait. This book definitely had that element. On the other hand, it had some military plotlines that don’t resonate with me as much. I loved one book involving PTSD and loved it, but read another with someone in the military and didn’t enjoy it very much at all. They can be hit or miss I guess but it’s just not a topic that interests me. So, you could say I went into this book with mixed expectations. Thomas is shipping out the morning after graduation, to follow in his brother’s and father’s footsteps. It’s something he’s kind of always wanted to be a part of but also feels forced into because of the familial expectations. The story takes place the night of/after graduation and kicks off with him coming back into contact with his childhood best friend, Mallory. She has some complicated things happening on her end, and the two of them set off to complete some childhood missions. The book travels with them (and other friends, relatives, and new acquaintances) across town. Thomas is planning on running away by morning instead of shipping out because he doesn’t want to be “messed up” like his brother is now that he’s home from the war. I’m […]

Road Tripping! Byeeee

Posted May 25, 2016 / Personal / Information / Etc. / 20 Comments

As you read this, I am preparing to road trip down the East Coast. Or, depending on the time of day, I’m already road trippin’ down the East Coast. I’m going from Connecticut to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina! I’ll be with my boyfriend Chris and our friend Kris (lol) on this epic 14-15ish hour journey. We’re leaving around 5 PM on Wednesday night, when I get out of work, and will drive to Virginia for the night. Then, wake up Thursday morning and continue the second half of the trip. We’ll be on HHI for an extra long Memorial Day weekend and return to CT on Wednesday. I am in such desperate need of a vacation it’s insane. This is well-deserved, if I do say so myself. I thought it would be fun to share some a road trip post today, including a bunch of things – books about road trips, what I’m bringing along for the ride, books I packed with me for the beach, and more. Check it out and wish me luck! We’re going to be visiting all sorts of things around HHI over the next week. We’ll be in the Palmetto Dunes area (the purple section on the bottom of the map), which seems to be near a lot of shopping and some of the better beaches. Honestly I’m sure you can’t go wrong! We plan to check out the Harbour Town lighthouse (left) and eat a LOT of delicious food. Seriously though… you should see […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #91: Feelings Changed

Posted May 24, 2016 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 18 Comments

Eight Books I’ve Liked More or Less Over Time 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 weeks topic is: Ten Books I Feel Differently About After Time Has Passed (less love, more love, complicated feelings, indifference, thought it was great in a genre until you became more well read in that genre etc.). I find that my feelings about certain books don’t often change over time, so I’ll split it up into the books I liked more over time and books I liked less after time. I obviously thought of more once I finished the graphics, but whatever. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas • Before anyone yells at me from either side, I have to say that I did indeed loooove ACOMAF. It has also made me love ACOTAR a little more, the more I think about them both together. The series is headed in such a wonderful direction for the final book and I can’t wait. So my feelings that changed? They’re mostly about Tamlin. I can see now that his controlling ways seem to be more than just the Beauty and the Beast retelling vibes. I just wish I saw things sooner maybe? A reread will tell! Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard • I just don’t care about this […]

ARC Review: Wanderlost

Posted May 23, 2016 / Book Reviews / 11 Comments

What an adorable, swoon-filled read this was! I have loved international-travel-oriented books in the past because it usually gives me insane feelings of wanderlust. (Meant to Be and Just One Day/Year to name a few highly recommended reads!) I’ve actually never been out of the country and this book definitely got me thinking about it. Amsterdam sounds particularly beautiful and luckily that’s at the top of Chris’s travel list too! Anyways, back to the book… I wasn’t sure what to expect but I really wanted a nice fluffy contemporary involving cool places in Europe. That’s exactly what I got! There were a few main elements of the story that led to some predictability (basically the big ol’ lie to everyone), but the cute/swoon factor completely overpowered any qualms I had with cliches. The story centers around Aubree, who is the reason her sister (Elizabeth) got arrested and can’t take a group of senior citizens on a European tour group. She fills in for her, lies to her parents about where she is for the summer, and pretends to be her sister all around Europe. She also meets a VERY CUTE BOY who happens to be the tour company’s owner’s son. You can assume from this description what will end up happening, but it’s the journey of the whole story that makes it great. I loved reading about the different countries and getting to know the 6 seniors onboard. They were all fantastic and had such distinct personalities. I wish there […]

Netflix and Books Tag!

Posted May 20, 2016 / Features, Personal / Information / Etc. / 25 Comments

Hello there! My friend Erica from Novel Ink and I wanted to join forces to create a book tag. We know how much bloggers love binge-watching shows AND reading books, so we combined the two! We’ve selected a TV show to match each prompt and we invite you to change the shows to once that fit YOU, if you’d like. Then, just choose the best book or series to match it. General rules for the tag: Choose a book or book series that best matches the prompt provided Feel free to change the TV show if you’d like it to reflect YOUR preferences! A blank set of the prompts is located at the very bottom in the scroll box Feel free to use our header graphic with the usual credits Link back to us and tag some friends to join in! It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia • Unlikeable character(s) Winning by Lara Deloza | The characters are all very shifty and I loved reading it so much. I feel the same way about everyone on It’s Always Sunny. They’re all terrible people and I love them. Vampire Diaries • Your ship sank or didn’t happen The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins | I’m okay with Peeta in general but Gale had my heart for some reason. I’m a sucker for the childhood-BFF-turned-boyfriend trope, okay? I actually am only a few seasons into Vampire Diaries but am not prepared for the ship changes. Damon is hot though so I’m not mad. Friends • Best cast of characters/friendships […]

Review: A Court of Mist and Fury

Posted May 19, 2016 / Book Reviews / 15 Comments

I was able to attend the ACOMAF tour stop in Warwick, RI, which was moderated by my friend and former Secret Sister Sarah! Both Sarahs were so fun to listen to. Seriously, seeing SJM and hearing her talk about Throne of Glass makes me want to hop on reading those books ASAP! It was also great to see Sarah and catch up about everything. It definitely was worth the 1.5 hour drive! Plus, it was near my old college and I had all the nostalgic feels. Here are a few photos from the event before I kick off my review: It took me a very long time to read this book. I have trouble with fantasy sometimes and I remember having the same issue at the beginning of ACOTAR as well. I just needed time to settle into the world, but everything picked up so much after the first couple hundred pages. This makes it sound like those millions of pages were boring or not good. Believe me, that’s not the case. I found myself reaching for lighter, faster reads in the middle of ACOMAF because I just needed a break. I know I could have sat and read forever if I had the time, but I just needed to take my time and savor it. ACOTAR was also one of those books I felt slightly disillusioned with over time. The more I thought about Tamlin, the more he bugged me. The ending of ACOTAR was an absolute fucking whirlwind […]