Month: July 2017

Lauren Lately | July 2017

Posted July 13, 2017 / Features, Lauren Lately, Wrap-Ups / 7 Comments

Because my Bookmark Lit Bulletin wrap-ups got out of hand, I wanted to break up my monthly wrap-ups into two posts: one personal and one bookish/bloggy. I created Lauren Lately here to highlight all of the personal happenings in my life: events, activities, shows I’m addicted to, things I’m obsessing over, recipes I’ve loved, and goals for the next month. I decided to space them out so this wrap-up happens around the mid-point of the month and the bookish one happens at the end of the month. ✨ Check out my most recent bookish and bloggy wrap-up HERE ✨ End of Connecticut | Since I last wrote one of these, we packed up our apartment and moved everything into Chris’s parents’ house (basement). We lived with them from July 18th through July 2nd before coming up here. It was a nice period of time and pretty relaxing, once we had everything organized. The biggest issues are animal-related noises, since they have two bark-y dogs and lots of squawking chickens. Exploring Portland! | This is a large category because we’ve been here for almost two weeks now. It’s so weird to think about! I felt like the day was never going to come, and now we’ve been at it for half a month already. We spent the first two days doing a lot of apartment shopping, since we got rid of a lot of stuff before we moved. We’ve been biking into the downtown area and trying to figure out our favorite route. There are gorgeous […]

Contemporary Romance Challenge – TBR Update

Posted July 12, 2017 / TBR Lists, Uncategorized / 4 Comments

As usual, I signed up for the Contemporary Romance Reading Challenge, this year hosted by my love Andi. I generally blow this challenge out of the water because over half of the books I read each year would be classified as “contemporary romance” or just plain contemporary fiction. I’ve been trying to make my reading a little more even with fantasy, mystery, and sometimes historical fiction, but it doesn’t happen. I challenged myself this year to read a 21-book-TBR of contemporary romances I couldn’t believe I hadn’t read yet. Here’s how I’ve done so far… HAHAHA nice work, Lauren. So, clearly I have some reading to do. I know it will be nearly impossible, knowing me, to actually read the other 19 remaining books on the TBR between now (mid-July) and the end of the year. I just don’t think I’ll motivate myself to do it, especially when I’m trying to prioritize other genres too. This post really just exists to shame myself into reading these damn books: I do HAVE some of these books with me in Portland (either physical copies I brought, galleys on my Kindle, or found them elsewhere like Scribd, the library, or a library-related app). Some of my physical copies are still in Connecticut but I hope I’ll get to them. I think it’s most likely going to be the summery books I get to somewhat soon, since that’s my favorite thing to read. I’m going to try to split this TBR in half to […]

On My List (2)

Posted July 11, 2017 / Features, On My List / 12 Comments

I love Jamie’s New to the Queue feature because it highlights new things she’s added to her different “to do/ read/ watch/ etc.” lists. This new random feature – called simply On My List – will show off the most recent books, movies, shows, podcasts, and other things to make it on my list. Unreleased The Summer of Broken Things by Margaret Peterson Haddix | Hidden secrets? International travel? A popular girl and a not-so-popular girl coming together? Alllll of that. Give me it. I don’t think I actually read this author back when everyone else did, so we’ll see how I fare. Things a Bright Girl Can Do by Sally Nicholls | I’ve been trying to add more historical fiction to my TBR and this seems like a fun start. Rallies, marches, and early feminism are right up my alley (in terms of reading books in general but also if I were to branch more into historical fiction). Turn it Up by Jen Calonita | This cover is just so cute, I couldn’t resist. I generally liked the books I read by Jen Calonita so I hope this one is even better. I don’t care too much about music-oriented books but this girl-centered a cappella group could be fun? We’ll see! Published Haven Point series by RaeAnne Thayne | I loved Hannah’s review round-up about this series recently and immediately added it to my TBR. I love cozy holiday stories, especially when they’re companion stories set in a small town. I seem to be addicted […]

Bite-Sized Reviews: The Last of August & Lucky in Love

Posted July 10, 2017 / Bite-Sized Reviews, Book Reviews / 10 Comments

I know I have full reviews and I have mini review round-ups, but there are some books that could be reviewed in just a few sentences. This is mini round-up I’ll have sometimes for books that really don’t need much more than my small Goodreads review and progress updates say. First up, we have the sequel to A Study in Charlotte. I enjoyed the first book but it wasn’t a favorite. I felt really disconnected from the characters and those issues definitely continued in book two. I’m still intrigued by the “retelling” of Sherlock Holmes vibes, so I will probably read the next book. Next, the newest Kasie West book! She’s clearly in my top three favorite authors. I always love her stories and have not rated one less than four stars. This wasn’t my favorite by her, but it was a solid story about winning the lottery and finding your own way.

ContRom Challenge Topic: Anticipated Releases

Posted July 7, 2017 / Book Lists, Features / 8 Comments

Each month, Andi poses a monthly topic for the Contemporary Romance challenge. I try to participate in my wrap-up posts if it’s a quick, short list, but I like to have a full post about it when I have A LOT to discuss. This month’s topic involves the contemporary romance releases (publishing in the second half of 2017) that we’re most looking forward to reading. Here we goooo! Who’s That Girl by Blair Thornburgh | July 11th 16 Ways to Break a Heart by Lauren Strasnick | July 25th Wesley James Ruined My Life by Jennifer Honeybourn | July 18th Top Ten by Katie Cotugno | October 3rd My New Crush Gave to Me by Shani Petroff | October 31st Foolish Hearts by Emma Mills | December 26th You Don’t Know Me but I Know You by Rebecca Barrow | August 29th The Chaos of Standing Still by Jessica Brody | November 28th This is Not the End by Chandler Baker | August 8th

2017 Mid-Year Challenge Progress & Statistics

Posted July 5, 2017 / Book Challenges, Features, Wrap-Ups / 10 Comments

I love tracking my TBR and trying to see what else there is to accomplish by halfway through the year. I always hope it shocks me into saying HOLY SHIT get going on those challenges… but this year, I’m in pretty good shape for all of them! It looks like I’ll definitely meet my goals. Check out last year’s post if you’re curious! As you see in my monthly wrap-ups, I keep my stats updated each time. The spreadsheet I use is definitely the reason for my organization. I use this time of year (in addition to the end of the year) to REALLY go all-out with my stats. It also helps me create new goals or update existing ones. I may decide I really should read more fantasy or more books from my own shelves. I’ll highlight all of the books I’ve read so far in general too. All of the Books Read So Far Random Fun Smallest book read: Mischief & Magnolias (70 pages) Largest book read: The Sweet Far Thing (819 pages) Most read author: Beth Kendrick (4) Books read 300 pages or under: 24% Books read over 300 pages: 76% Most pages / books in a month: 5,869 pages in February / 16 books in January Least pages / books in a month: 3,406 pages in June / 8 books in May As you know, I love challenges and tend to participate in them quite a bit. I always sum them up in my wrap-ups, but this time of year is great to kick my ass […]

ARC Reviews: What to Say Next and Hello Sunshine

Posted July 4, 2017 / Book Reviews / 7 Comments

OH MAN, I loved this book. I don’t think I have a lot to say about it because I can’t put the feelings into words. The setup is that Kit’s father died a month ago, so she decides to sit with David at lunch to get away from her friends. The two of them end up talking and she’s refreshed by his honesty and bluntness with her, since everyone else has either been tiptoeing around her feelings or acting like she should be behaving normally. David is on the spectrum and was really interesting to read about. I work with a pediatric neuropsychologist that specializes in testing for ADD, autism, etc. so I’m fairly well-versed in those areas. I liked being able to understand where David was coming from because of that, but I also think he was a character that anyone could really connect with. Buxbaum did an amazing job explaining how he was feeling or why he said certain things. I loveeeed the family relationships in this book. David is close with his sister Lauren, who was a cool girl in HS that no one messed with her (or him). They had a great relationship and she taught him some everyday “rules” for fitting in with everyone else. His parents were great and supportive too. On Kit’s side, she pretty much just had her mom. They were close throughout the grieving process but there were moments of tension in the second half of the book as well. I just […]

Bookmark Lit Bulletin | June 2017

Posted July 1, 2017 / Bookmark Lit Bulletin, Features, Wrap-Ups / 3 Comments

The Bookmark Lit Bulletin was created to wrap up each month and prepare for the next. I share my book haul, books I read and reviewed, posts I shared, challenge updates, and more from the previous month. I also let you know what may be coming up on the blog in the coming month. You can read past bulletins here. I recently split out my personal posts into the Lauren Lately feature, so this is a bit shorter! This was a weird reading month. I did a really good job somehow, even with the move happening. I definitely slowed down a lot during the week of the actual move and once we finally settled in, but a few pool days/nights helped at the end of the month. I think my audiobook consumption should have increased with all the driving but I needed mindless podcasts instead. From here on out, it’ll be hard to find audiobook time – just during my shower and getting ready. No more commutes starting NOW. Average rating for books read in June: 3.78 stars Highlights & Lowlights This month’s books: Year-Long Contemporary Romance Challenge 7 this month | 44 read total | 440% complete Books read from the pre-planned TBR: 0 this month | 2 total Rock My TBR Challenge 4 this month | 14 read total | 93% complete Spring Bingo Challenge Book Reviews Discussions, Memes, and More Breakdown: 6 bought | 0 borrowed | 0 gifted | 3 for review Publishers via Netgalley (thank you!): As You Wish by Chelsea […]