Month: November 2016

Lauren Lately | November 2016

Posted November 17, 2016 / Features, Lauren Lately, Wrap-Ups / 11 Comments

I always get annoyed with myself that my Bookmark Lit Bulletin wrap-ups are too long and that no one wants to read that much. I get carried away on all sides – the bookish and the personal. So! My solution was to create Lauren Lately to highlight all of the personal happenings in my life: events, activities, shows I’m addicted to, things I’m obsessing over, and goals for the next month. I decided to space them out so this wrap-up happens around the mid-point and the bookish one happens at the end of the month. (After all, I base all of my book stats around the month ending anyways and my personal life is more flexible 😉 ) ✨ Check out my most recent bookish and bloggy wrap-up HERE ✨ Terrible. I made a little note at the top of a post earlier this month and it still stands true. I’m appalled by everything happening right now in the country, and that most people are too selfish and full of privilege to see the other sides to this election. That the implication of their vote goes much further than they realized as they were doing it. I’m not going to say anything else because frankly? I’m still exhausted. Distraught. In mourning. How and when can we move on? Can we even move on? I don’t know. Monday Night RAW was a fun event on Halloween with my friends from college and their boyfriends. The boys all like wrestling so we knew we had to […]

End of 2016 Fake-Ish TBR I Wish I Could Follow

Posted November 16, 2016 / Book Lists, Features, TBR Lists / 9 Comments

In a perfect world, I would finish off all of my reading challenges without any issue. In a perfect world, all of these books would be books I owned. In a perfect world, my reading mojo would be 100% back with no hesitations. Of course it’s not a perfect world and the likelihood I actually get to these books – not only the amount of books here but the actual titles here – is so tiny. I’m terrible about sticking to a TBR in the first place, let alone a short term TBR to finish off all of my challenges before the end of the year. It’s just unlikely. You know how much I love pulling together TBR posts even if I don’t actually get to the books. So! A few things I wish I could finish off include… Rock My TBR Challenge – Read 9 more books that I own to complete the challenge of 25 Must Read in 2016 – Read the rest of the books (6) on my “must read list” for this year Bookish Bingo (Fall) – Read 6 books in the specific categories to fill the bingo card by end of November I can definitely find a way to combine this in as many ways as possible; I could read one book that fits into all three categories if I’m smart about it. The only restrictions are really the specific books I selected to read this year. Regardless of all of these silly rules I place on myself, here we go… […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #115: Favorite Movies

Posted November 15, 2016 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 8 Comments

Ten of my Favorite Comedy Movies 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… Movie Freebie — top ten all time favorite movies, top ten foreign films, top ten rom-coms, top ten 90’s movies, top ten action flicks, top ten tear-jerkers, top ten movies your favorite actor/actress is in, top ten movies with PoC leads, etc. etc.). I guess my natural inclination was to do top ten favorite movies because I haven’t talked about this as much on the blog… but I got sidetracked with just comedies. Other posts about movies I love, if you’re interested: Getting to Know You Blog Hop: Favorite Movies and Music Book People Talk Movies: Animated Movies – The Lion King and other favorites Book People Talk Movies: Bad Movies – The Room and Wet Hot American Summer What About Bob? I used to watch this movie nonstop when I was a kid. My parents and I would quote it ALL THE TIME (especially every time we ate corn). I watched it again a few months ago and it had been quite a few years since the previous time. I’m so glad Chris loved it because this movie is (a) hilarious and (b) incredibly important to me. Good Burger This movie is truly […]

Review: The Unquiet

Posted November 14, 2016 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Initial Excitement This book actually flew quite under the radar when it came out last year. I saw Jamie read it and mentioned how underrated it was, so I just added it to my TBR. My book club ended up picking it out randomly using our extremely scientific method of choosing books *cough* and it was really out of our comfort zone! (We use this infographic to choose. One of us picks one number 1-20 and that corresponds to the box/category, if we count them in order. Then, the other one of us picks another number 1-6 and that corresponds to the book within that box.) So, I was intrigued by the premise and excited to read this underrated story! Quick Summary In this book, there are two connected earths and each person has an “alternate” (aka identical twin kind of thing) that lives on the other earth. Because the second earth is dying, the people are training to take over the first earth. They learn everything about their alternate so they can eventually come across, kill them, and replace them on the main earth. (This is all somewhat hard to understand in the beginning but I don’t think anything I said can’t be inferred from the synopsis.) Storytelling, Setting, and Feels Sometimes getting thrown right into the action can be fun. Sometimes it can be confusing. And sometimes (okay, this time), it can be both! I liked getting off to a quick start and trying to piece things together […]

The Captain America Book Tag

Posted November 11, 2016 / Personal / Information / Etc. / 4 Comments

My friend Morgan created this book tag over the summer and I knew I NEEDED to partake at some point! My blog calendar has been fairly full for the past few months but is finally slowing down a little bit 🙂 This tag is the perfect post to fill in the gaps. Consider yourself tagged if you’re reading! [Header credit goes to Morgan!] Steve Rogers/Captain America A book with a big character transformation Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver • This is always the book I think of for character transformations. Of course the character has to die a few times before she realizes how much of a terrible person she was before, but the growth is absolutely still there. She learned how she should have acted on a regular basis instead of being a mean girl. Peggy Carter A book with a strong female protagonist Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas • I’m happy I can now use this series like everyone else! 😉 She’s not perfect, but she’s strong and badass as hell. She knows what she wants and goes after it. She really stops at nothing to protect the people she loves and herself. Just a straight up BAMF, that Celaena. Bucky Barnes A book with your ultimate BROTP Winter by Marissa Meyer • I could have a lot of answers for this one because The Raven Cycle exists… but the scene with Thorne and Kai talking about girls in Winter really made my day. I’ll never forget […]

Low Reading Months

Posted November 10, 2016 / Discussions, Features / 11 Comments

I used to average somewhere around 15-18 books or more per month, but lately I’ve been getting to maybe 11 books. This is still a lot (especially compared to the general population), but I can’t help but feel like I need to beef it up sometimes. I love reading but often get distracted by other things (like all the new fall TV shows I’ve become obsessed with or various podcasts I literally cannot stop listening to). October was a slooooow reading month. It was October 17th when I realized I had just finished my fourth book of the month. FOUR BOOKS!? And, even crazier, one of them was a 150 page graphic novel. That barely even counts in terms of what I usually end up reading. I knew I wanted to get to at least my usual range for the month and would need to pick up the pace a bit. A lot of friends complained with me on Twitter about how we were just lagging in the reading area that month, so it helps to not feel alone. It can be hard to pinpoint why you’re reading less sometimes, but even knowing why doesn’t always help. For me, like I said, I got so into my new fall TV shows and new podcast(s) that I just put aside books when I’d usually read them. I usually wake up at least an hour before work in order to read some of my book, but that quickly changed when I started catching […]

Recent Graphic Novels #1

Posted November 9, 2016 / Book Reviews / 10 Comments

Hi all – just wanted to make a quick note that this post, as well as so many, are already written and scheduled. If I hadn’t already drafted them, this blog would be left empty this week to mourn the country I thought I lived in. Feel free to unfollow my blog but this election has done nothing for my mental health and so many people will be living in fear, without hope, for at LEAST the next four years – possibly many more. I’m not okay. Just because this post is here today does not mean that I’m okay. It does not mean that it’s all business as usual. Thank you, take care of yourselves <3 – Lauren I love reading comics and graphic novels, but find that I don’t do a great job of reviewing them. I don’t have a lot to talk about but kind of just know if I liked it or not, plus a few favorite elements of the story. I also don’t binge them liked I’d really prefer to do, so the posts sit in my drafts forever. To remedy this, I’m coming at you with this feature, in which I “review” some of the comics I’ve been reading lately and let you know how I’m enjoying them. Recently Read Ms. Marvel 1-2 This series is definitely fun so far. Kamala is a really great main character who has a lot of sass! I love the diversity and the fact that the main character […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #114: New to the TBR

Posted November 8, 2016 / TBR Lists, Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 14 Comments

Ten Books I’ve Added to my To-Be-Read List Lately 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. Jamie’s New to the Queue posts are always enjoyable to read and I’ve done posts like this in the past – both for TTT and just for fun. I even posted about to-be-released books I’m excited about last week. Hopefully you’re not sick of these. I dug around to make sure there wasn’t a lot of overlap between all those posts! We Are Still Tornadoes by Michal Kun and Susan Mullen // There are so many things I love about this book’s synopsis… childhood best friends into more-than-friends, the 80s vibes, writing letters to each other, etc. Life on the Refrigerator Door by Alice Kuipers // I wasn’t sure if this book was literally just full of notes they left on a refrigerator, but the synopsis certainly implies it. We’ll see how that goes, but I’m intrigued. All I Want for Christmas by Jenny Hale // I can’t believe it took me so long to realize this book was a thing! I requested it from NetGalley immediately because Jenny Hale’s Christmas stories are MY FAVORITES. The Casquette Girls by Alys Arden // So this synopsis has a LOT going on and I’m really not even sure what it’s […]

Review: How to Hang a Witch

Posted November 7, 2016 / Book Reviews / 5 Comments

Initial Excitement This book is truly out of my norm. I’ve only read a handful, at most, of books about witches. I just don’t go down that path for some reason. Actually, paranormal books in general are some of my least-read across YA fiction. In any case! I was in the mood for a somewhat creepy, a little scary maybe, book to read around Halloween. I started it that weekend and finished a couple of days later. Quick Summary Sam moves to Salem when her dad, who is in a mysterious coma, is transferred up to Boston. Her family has a huge history in the town and her ancestor, Cotton, was directly involved in running some of the Salem Witch Trials. She moves into her grandma’s house with her stepmom, Vivian, and quickly becomes a pariah, like she’s always been; kids think she’s cursed and they always somehow get hurt around her. Storytelling, Setting, and Feels The coolest part of the book was how atmospheric it was. I was a huge fan of the Salem setting. I live about 2 hours away from there but have never made the journey. I’m thinking that needs to change next year! I absolutely loved the parallels to the history of Salem – lots of the events of this book mirrored the old days of the Witch Trials. The story itself was really interesting too. I’ll get more into Sam soon, but I did like her as a main character for the most part. […]

MORE Upcoming Books I’m Super Excited For

Posted November 4, 2016 / Discussions, Features / 23 Comments

I hope you’re ready for even MORE unreleased books I’m super excited about! Back in March, I talked about some other new and upcoming books I was excited for and thent I also shared books that aren’t releasing for a loooong time but I wanted them immediately. I’ve been trying to highlight newer and upcoming releases (both in the far future and the near future) lately because I have a lot of fun putting bookish lists together and never doing anything with them. I always love adding new books to my TBR and creeping on other people’s posts like this! Without further ado, here are some more upcoming releases (2017 books that now have cover art) that I need. The Young Wives Club by Julie Pennell • February 2017 I really love books involving groups of women coming together to ~bond~ about something. In this case, a few young wives deal with a wide variety of relationship situations and lean on each other to work through them. I also would like to say this cover is perfect and now I need cake. Spellbook of the Lost and Found by Moira Fowley-Doyle • August 2017 I didn’t read this author’s debut even though it really intrigued me, and this concept is no different. Various people in the town start losing things… only to have them reappear in the fields. Then there’s some kind of spellbook and other crazy and mysterious things start happening! I’ve been intrigued by magical realism lately, clearly. This is Not the End by Chandler […]