Month: November 2017

December TBR

Posted November 30, 2017 / Book Lists, Features, TBR Lists / 3 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… November Progress LOL AT NETGALLEY NOVEMBER, LAUREN. I didn’t read any of my review copies and only managed to read one physical copy. I’m not overly surprised because I didn’t read much during November anyways. Let’s move on to finish off the year strong… On Deck for December Holiday Reads The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand | We’ll Always Have Christmas by Jenny Hale Winter Solstice by Elin Hilderbrand | Snowfall on Haven Point by RaeAnne Thayne The Best Little Christmas Shop by Maxine Morrey I’ve posted my holiday TBR before but wanted to highlight the books I can almost guarantee I’ll get to this month. I recently bought one, got one out from the library, and have two others from Netgalley. Because I’m in the middle of my Haven Point binge, I wanted to include the next in the series because it’s Christmassy. This companion series alternates between summer books and winter books, so this fits in here. I may be able to get another […]

End of the Year Push

Posted November 29, 2017 / Discussions, Features / 4 Comments

In a normal year… I usually do a good job of staying on top of my Goodreads challenge throughout the year. I don’t fall behind on it or lower my goal; I’m able to stay a few books ahead or at the “you’re on track!” level. I read a few books to get ahead early (novellas) and maintained it throughout the first half of the year. This is primarily due to audiobooks being in regular rotation, where I’d finish anywhere from 1 to 3 audiobooks each month. That’s a big addition to my total on the year and a good way of always staying ahead, even when my physical reading pace slowed down. Last year I also binge-listened to the Series of Unfortunate Events, so I was like… 13 books ahead at all times lol. …but not this year. The second half of the year made for a big change in my reading habits. I don’t have time to listen to audiobooks anymore since I don’t have a commute. I do try to listen to one when we come home each month and I have a commute for a few days, but I haven’t been overly successful. My audio reading time would usually be the first hour or 1.5 hours of the day, plus again for a few minutes during lunch and then the commute home (15-20 minutes). All in all, I’d probably get an hour or hour and a half done each day. Now? I barely drive my car […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #159: Winter TBR

Posted November 28, 2017 / TBR Lists, Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 7 Comments

Ten Books I’m Reading ASAP in January 2018 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. Because you’ve seen my holiday TBR already this week, you may have a good idea of which books I’ll be hitting in December. Combine THAT with the monthly TBR post I have coming up later this week and you get the full picture. I decided to feature instead the ten books I’m reading ASAP in January/late winter 2018. That way, you can see a different list instead of the same books repeated all week 😉 December/January Releases Foolish Hearts by Emma Mills // I’m going to want to read this the minute I acquire it at some point, but I think I won’t have enough time in 2017 based on my other “required reading.” I’ve heard nothing but GREAT things about this story, plus I already have loooooved Mills’ two other books. Top priority! As You Wish by Chelsea Sedoti // I have an egalley of this already but haven’t gotten to it. I think this could be my first review copy of the new year! I’ve been enjoying the wish-themed books lately and hopefully this one lives up to the potential. Together at Midnight by Jennifer Castle // I LOVE this premise! I’m a huge fan of […]

Review Round Up | Crazy Little Thing Called Love and The Becoming of Noah Shaw

Posted November 27, 2017 / Book Reviews, Review Roundup / 3 Comments

In an effort to cut down on posts and burnout, my Review Roundups will feature 2-4 books I’ve read or listened to recently. Sometimes they’re newer releases and sometimes they’re all backlist titles. My ARC reviews usually get the solo treatment. Enjoy the mini reviews! I either buy an ebook on sale and never read it, or read it within the first couple weeks of buying it. There’s no in-between. In this case, I’m very glad I hopped on reading CLTCL because it was completely delightful. The book starts on Christmas, has a big Christmas scene/section in the middle, and ends on Christmas as well. It was a nice unexpected “first holiday read” of the year, but could definitely be read in any season. Leila has gone on a “man ban” and started running a successful blog for other single women, which then moves into events, retreats, and presentations, all while balancing her landscape design job. When her brother gets married three months into her celibacy promise, she meets his new brother-in-law, Nick… and her man ban is all downhill from there! I really loved the couple of Leila and Nick, even though they had a number of obstacles to overcome in their journey. Leila was definitely a spunky main character and I just loved their chemistry together. The ending got a bit wild and absurd, but I really liked it. I think it actually was fairly reasonable based on how the characters’ personalities were. The reader really gets to know everyone […]

Tis the Season! | Holiday Plans & TBR 2017

Posted November 24, 2017 / Personal / Information / Etc., TBR Lists / 14 Comments

As usual, I’m overly excited to bring you my reading plan for the holidays! I also have a bunch of other fun things to include, because maybe you know by now how much I love the Christmas season. I wanted to post this early enough to share the Book Buddies book we’re reading for December (because I’m starting it soon) and the other movies or shows I plan to binge ASAP. I started listening to Christmas music the day after Halloween, so I usually don’t care about “after Thanksgiving I can be excited for Christmas” stuff…. but I thought this would be a good time to share. At the bottom of the post, you’ll find ALL of the recent years’ holiday posts, which includes book reviews, discussions, holiday guest posts, Christmassy tags, and lists of my favorite books or tropes. I haven’t done a recap yet in these “intro” posts so if you’re looking for immediate recommendations to add to your TBR this year, check those posts out! I will be using the same review format as last year, including the cheer-o-meter and holiday graphics to show which are mentioned in the book! I’m a big fan of these graphics and review information, so hopefully no one is sick of seeing them quite yet 😉 As you can see, I have a decent amount of options here! Of course there could be some more that pop up and my TBRs are never set in stone. I wanted to include a few […]

Currently [11/21/17]

Posted November 22, 2017 / Personal / Information / Etc. / 0 Comments

I’ve done a few Currently posts on the blog before but never really loved how they came out or the categories I chose. We’ll see how I do these going forward, but I’m drawing from Jamie’s recent Currently list of topics right now (with a few changes/additions)! Thanks girl ? Also yes I realize this is posted on 11/22 but the answers to the questions are from 11/21. Currently reading: Haunting the Deep by Adriana Mather and Perfect Scoundrels by Ally Carter. I haven’t been doing a great job of reading lately for various reasons but I’ll be back ahead on my GR goal once I finally finish these two! Currently listening to on audiobook: I’m in the process of finishing The Becoming of Noah Shaw by Michelle Hodkin for book club. I probably won’t start up another one until we’re home again for Christmastime and I have a commute again. I just don’t make the time to listen as much anymore! Currently listening to: Podcasts take up the majority of my listening time, in the shower or walking around the grocery store. I’m also definitely in the middle of my Christmas music binge! Currently eating: Nothing at the moment but we’re having an office lunch sometime soon. Currently in the process of figuring out where we want to order from. Currently drinking: Odwalla Caramel Apple Cider smoothie thing. I grabbed a couple of these at the store yesterday for workday snacks and this one is interesting. I can definitely taste the […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #158: Thanksgiving

Posted November 21, 2017 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 6 Comments

Ten Books I’m Thankful for (Read in 2017) 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. Thank you for bringing much-needed attention to the issues of race relations and police brutality in the United States. I’m so glad this book was a #1 bestseller for so, so many weeks, and will soon be an equally important movie. If I could thank only one book this year, THUG would be the one. I can’t really describe just how important and truly perfect this story is, in my eyes and many others. I loved the moments of lightness and humor for this family even while they dealt with the unthinkable. I hope the movie doesn’t disappoint! [The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas] Thank you for continuing to bring feminism to the forefront in YA books. I loved this book but definitely agree with some critics that it’s not AS intersectional as it could be. I loved the different points of view from each girl in this group (especially in the “Us” chapters), including the three main characters. They brought different issues to light (and points of view of all types of women) while fighting for justice in an incredibly flawed system. Just a very powerful story. [The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed] Thank […]

Five Star Predictions

Posted November 20, 2017 / Book Lists, Features / 7 Comments

Post found on Pretty Deadly Reviews | Inspired by Mercy’s Bookish Musings I loved this post by Bekka recently where she predicted books that she thought she may rate five stars. I definitely have this scenario happen ahead of reading certain books. It’s usually because (a) the premise sounds RIGHT up my alley, like a super Lauren-book, (b) it’s from a favorite author, and/or (c) the book already has mostly five star reviews from friends with similar tastes. Here are some books I haven’t read yet that I’m predicting I’ll rate five stars (or maybe 4.5 because I’ve been picky lately!). Foolish Hearts by Emma Mills // I love this author so much. Her covers are always intricate and/or gorgeous, and this one is no exception. Of course, the insides match the outsides too! I LOVE her stories. The characters are always interesting and have adorable or unique situations unfold. This book definitely seems up my alley and it helps that her other books got 4.5 stars from me. Starry Eyes by Jenn Bennett // I love this author toooooo. Her first two books have been fantastic, earning 4.5 stars from me as well! Clearly there’s a trend here. I just expect to be blown away by Bennett at this point. Her stories are swoony and always have some kind of unique circumstances or settings involved. I hope this book is just as good as the other two! The Complication by Suzanne Young // I don’t think I’ve ever read a book […]

Gimme the Books (2)

Posted November 16, 2017 / Features, Gimme the Books / 8 Comments

I’ve written a few posts to talk about books I’m super excited about that haven’t been released yet, but I felt like adding to that title repeatedly like I had been doing was a bit much. See early posts here: 1, 2, and 3. I decided to make this into a realistic regular feature where I do kind of a Waiting on Wednesday wrap-up post for when I add books to my TBR and “jazzed up for this” Goodreads shelf. If You Don’t Have Anything Nice to Say by Leila Sales {May 2018} Synopsis: This provocative and relevant young adult novel is about Winter, a one-time National Spelling Bee Champ with a bright future ahead of her. That all changes after she haphazardly writes a racially offensive tweet that she thought was a harmless joke. What unfolds is a barrage of Internet shaming and rejection from her community and closest friends. Winter seeks to redeem herself, but first must come to terms with what she wrote and understand why there was so much backlash. Excitement: This is definitely a timely book. I have a feeling it will make me uncomfortable and get some second-hand embarrassment. I think that the book blogging universe is sensitive to these issues more than my other “personal” Twitter is, so I’m curious to see what the masses think of this topic instead of just us bloggers. Do you give the person another chance? Do you write them off? My Lady’s Choosing by Kitty Curran & Larissa Zageris {April 2018} […]

Lauren Lately | November 2017

Posted November 15, 2017 / Features, Lauren Lately, Wrap-Ups / 4 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 ✨ Apple and pumpkin picking day | We decided to hit up three different orchards last month, just to get out and about. Like I’ve said before, Chris’s foot surgery definitely has led to major laziness… so this was a great way to get out of the house. We had some long, scenic drives and then checked out pumpkins, apples, ice cream, and cider donuts at each stop. It was a really great day to be outside. Chris’s birthday | We weren’t sure what we were doing to do on his birthday because of the boot situation (last year we went for an intense hike…), but we made the most of it for sure! We started out by attempting to go to this restaurant downtown, but it was utterly packed. We decided to regroup on the Eastern Prom and check out the boats. We ended up choosing a nice waterfront restaurant north of Portland, […]