Month: March 2017

April TBR (Including A Very ARC-ish Readathon and Owned Book April)

Posted March 31, 2017 / Book Challenges, Book Lists, Features, TBR Lists / 15 Comments

I recently started a monthly TBR feature, where I try to pin down which books I plan to read in the upcoming month. It also helps remind me throughout the month which books I’m supposed to be reading, for various reasons. I add a little poll at the bottom too, so you guys can vote and help me narrow down some of my options as well. Here are my top TBR choices for this month and how I did last month… March Progress Another good month of TBR-related progress! I read or started SIX of the books I chose ahead of time. I am super proud of myself for this. Okay, one of them was a DNF, but still. I’m happy I at least got to six of them. A couple were disappointing and one (WHAT TO SAY NEXT) blew me away, so I suppose that’s not bad. And I banged out three Netgalley reviews out of these! On Deck for April Personal Challenge: Owned Book April This month I’m focusing on reading books I own physical copies of. This can definitely include ARCs (especially if the pub date has already passed) and other already-published physical copies I haven’t read yet. I came up with this idea before making my March TBR (which included a lot of borrowed books) so I decided to focus on it for April instead. My goal is to read 75% books I own. The other 25% can include ARC tour books that come in, audiobooks I listen to, […]

ARC Review: Geekerella

Posted March 29, 2017 / Book Reviews / 12 Comments

Initial Excitement I heard a bit of buzz about this one early on from some bloggers, so I immediately requested it… then started it that same night! I’m not AS fandom-y as a lot of my friends (minus a couple of things) but I had a feeling this book would resonate with me anyways. I’ve only been to one Comic Con but love the feel of cons. I love that people can be themselves and geek out without being judged. I’m also a big sucker for Cinderella retellings! Quick Summary Elle is in the classic Cinderella situation – her stepmom is terrible and her stepsisters are just as bad, her dad (and much earlier, mom) passed away, and she’s constantly forced to do things around the house. She and her dad bonded like crazy over Starfield, a sci-fi TV show, and she has a popular-ish blog about the series. There’s a new movie reboot coming out and she’s not very happy with the main character’s casting, but that doesn’t stop her from entering a cosplay contest at ExcelsiCon (a con that her dad created). There were countless connections between Elle and the lead actor in the Starfield movie, Darien, without them actually knowing each other. LOTS OF CUTE THINGS HAPPEN. Storytelling, Setting, and Feels I loved how fandom-centric this book was. I haven’t read many “geek” books like this but my sister has (you bet your ass I preordered this for my sister). I have to say, it covered pretty much […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #132: Authors to Meet

Posted March 28, 2017 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 13 Comments

Ten Authors I’d LOVE to Meet 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 topic is about meeting authors – the ones you’ve met or the ones you’d love to meet. I have actually met only ONE author before (Leigh Bardugo at BEA 2015) and otherwise saw Sarah J. Maas at a book event (didn’t officially meet her though). So, naturally, I’m highlighting 10 authors I would loooove to meet.

ARC Review: Alex, Approximately

Posted March 27, 2017 / Book Reviews / 7 Comments

Initial Excitement I was WAY too excited about this book and the amazing Nick sent it to me to enjoy early. I absolutely loved Bennett’s YA contemporary debut and had been eagerly waiting for her sophomore novel for a long time. I just knew I was going to love it based on the premise, early reviews, and my love for banter/hate-to-love romance. So many of the best ingredients for a Lauren book. Quick Summary Bailey has been talking to “Alex” on a film site for a while, going by the username “Mink.” He lives in the same town as her father, oddly enough, and he’s been asking her to come visit for a film festival that summer. Little does he know, Bailey has just moved in with her father and is waiting to make sure Alex isn’t some crazed serial killer before they decide to meet up. She’s quickly distracted by Porter, a hot and rude-but-funny coworker at the coolest museum ever, and new friend/coworker, Grace. Her and Alex’s conversations taper off as she gets closer to Porter. Little does SHE know, Porter is actually Alex. Storytelling, Setting, and Feels Oh man SO MANY THINGS. First of all, the story. I love the idea of them knowing each other without realizing who it is. It created so much fun tension for the reader and I kept wondering when they were going to figure it out. It did get a bit frustrating toward the end, but I loved watching them get to […]

March Netflix and Books Challenge Check-In

Posted March 25, 2017 / Book Challenges, Features / 2 Comments

Erica from Diving Under the Cover and I introduced our Netflix and Books Challenge for 2017 as a way of making progress on books we want to read and TV shows we want to watch. The TBR lists were chosen by matching books up to various TV shows based on characters, plots, etc. You can learn all about the challenge and join in anytime here! Don’t forget, you can also still participate in our Netflix and Books Tag that we debuted in 2016; it’ll give you some points in this challenge too! Reading Progress No news to report here! I’m still in waiting mode for a few books to be released from my TBR. I also haven’t really been in the mood for my rereads on here either (The Great Gatsby and Gossip Girl). I’m afraid that GG will create a whoooole binge of the series and I have too many review copies to read instead haha. I wish I had those books in audio form… Completed books so far: January Book main character has the same name as a TV show MC: Book: Take the Key & Lock Her Up TV Show: Will & Grace Connection: MC named Grace February Still to read: TV Watching Progress LOL so yeah no progress here either. I just have been watching very few shows aka mostly Friends. We’ve watched some random other shows, plus Shameless as always, so we’ll see when these final get banged out. I think the most likely one will be Bob’s Burgers […]

Why I Love Goodreads

Posted March 23, 2017 / Discussions, Features / 21 Comments

Like the vast majority of bloggers I know, I LOVE Goodreads. I don’t think I’ve really ever sat here and explained why though. A while back Kate posted a list about this and I was inspired… then kept a post sitting in my drafts for months. I wanted to revisit it today because I wrote a few Goodreads-related posts back in January that people seemed to like, about how I get ahead on my goal for the year and why I reduce that goal each year. Reasons I’m Addicted to Goodreads 100% bookish things all the time This is definitely the biggest factor for me. I love other social networks for various reasons, but I can get bogged down and distracted very easily. I need to find a better way to balance staying up-to-date on current events and maintaining self-care. In any case, when I need to avoid other social network sites (like Twitter and Facebook when I team I absolutely despise wins the Super Bowl and countless fake fans in my region take to the internet to celebrate), I know I can stay in a happy bookish bubble on Goodreads. I still feel connected to my bloggers and reader-friends, but I won’t see things that will annoy me when I choose to avoid them. Adding books to my TBR and other shelves Keeping track of books is the sole purpose of Goodreads, really, aside from connecting with other book lovers. I aggressively use their shelving system to track books I want […]

Adult Fiction Reads on my Radar (2)

Posted March 22, 2017 / Book Lists, Features / 8 Comments

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but I have been reaching for the adult contemporary fiction books lately. I always used to add them to my TBR based on some of my favorite bloggers’ recs but I would never actually sit and read them. (Evidence of this? Since the last version of this post, I read a whopping ZERO of the books I highlighted, so please come punch me in the face.) Here are some adult fiction books I plan to read sometime! The Antiques by Kris D’Agostino /// The plot feels very similar to Reunion, but I hope it turns out a little better for me! I love learning about the different family dynamics and drama that happens when people reunite. I almost picked it up at the library a few weeks ago but I had a bad feeling it’d sit there unread. Forever is the Worst Long Time by Camille Pagan /// This title is a tongue twister, lol. This is a very love triangley book but I like the sound of it! Sometimes you can’t help how you feel about people and this book seems to explore what happens when certain lines get crossed. The Forever Summer by Jamie Brenner /// I love books set on Cape Cod, so this book has that going for it right off the bat. When the MC’s life starts falling apart, a woman who is apparently her half-sister whisks her away to a B&B on the Cape. She meets new family members and […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #131: Couldn’t Put Down

Posted March 21, 2017 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 10 Comments

Ten Recent Books I Couldn’t Put Down 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 topic is: “Read In One Sitting Theme: ten of the shortest books I’ve read, top ten books I read in one sitting, ten books to read when you are short on time, top ten books that will make you read the whole day away, etc.” I feel like I’ve talked about the whole “read in one sitting” thing before many times! You can click on any of the pieces of the above sentences to read my posts for them 😉 SO today I figured I’d spin it off into the most recent books I read that I couldn’t put down. I have a Goodreads shelf for this very thing! Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham When I couldn’t put it down: Basically the whole book | Why I read past my bedtime: This was the kind of book where I was never really motivated to pick it up and read, but once I got started – oh man. I could not stop. The chapters alternated between past and present day, while the mystery built up slowly between both periods of time. There was such a sense of urgency while reading! I was always dying to see what […]

Review Round Up | Dark Star, A Little Something Different, Wires & Nerve, and Bounce

Posted March 20, 2017 / Book Reviews, Review Roundup / 0 Comments

In an effort to cut down on posts and burnout, my Review Roundups will feature 2-4 backlist books I’ve read or listened to recently. My ARC reviews usually get the solo treatment. Enjoy the mini reviews! I needed an Urban Fantasy for my Bookish Bingo card and Morgan recommended DARK STAR. I wasn’t sure how the book would work for me because the last demon-y book I read was very meh and I never continued with the series. I was pleasantly surprised by DARK STAR and enjoyed it more (despite the same rating lol)! I liked Audrey and pretty much all of the rest of the characters in this one. It was fun to see secrets be revealed from start to finish. Her mom, her friends, the other people with ~powers~ … they were all really interesting characters that I hope to learn more about going forward. There even was a BIT of romance near the end. It sucks because I honestly can’t think of much more to talk about? The book flew by, as I combined some audio hours with reading the ebook for the ending. I liked it enough but there’s not much to discuss. I can tell that there’s still SO much more left to cover in the upcoming books, without feeling like they’re stretching the story too much. The ending was closed enough to not feel like a cliffhanger but open enough to get that feeling of more coming soon. This is absolutely one of those books where the concept […]

Library Love | March

Posted March 17, 2017 / Features, Library Love, Weekly Memes / 11 Comments

I’ve been wanting to share some library hauls on the blog, since I don’t include them in my monthly wrap-ups. I go through phases where I use the library A LOT and phases where I forget it exists somehow. Whenever the mood strikes, I’ll share what I’m working on from the library during any given month. I haven’t done one of these since November so I thought it was time… since I go crazy every time! Don’t You Wish by Roxanne St. Clair | I saw this one on the shelf and grabbed it without thinking. I first was confusing it with another book, but quickly realized this was also on my TBR! So, no harm, no foul. I’m obsessed with parallel life books in every single form, so you could say I’m excited to check this one out. My Not So Perfect Life by Sophie Kinsella | I requested this book ASAP once I saw some great reviews roll in. I used to love Sophie Kinsella but haven’t read one of her books since like 2013 or 2014. I actually just finished this one (I started it the same day I picked it up from the library lol) and LOVED it. The Last of August by Brittany Cavallaro | I really enjoyed the first book in the Charlotte Holmes series and have been anxiously awaiting this release! I hope it improves on the story and addresses some of the “issues” I had with the characters in book one. I’ve been really into mystery books […]