Month: January 2018

February TBR

Posted January 31, 2018 / Book Lists, Features, TBR Lists / 4 Comments

My monthly TBR feature here shows my progress based on last month’s TBR, my plans for this month, and anything else I might be thinking about from a reading perspective. Sometimes I feature a little poll at the bottom so you guys can help me figure out a certain title I should read from a group of books. January Progress GUYS THIS IS UNPRECEDENTED – for the first time ever, I read every single book on my TBR list from the previous month! I can’t believe it. So yes, I managed to read seven books out of the seven I picked out for January. I started the Hope’s Crossing series with BLACKBERRY SUMMER, read all three of my January egalleys, started my reading year with FOOLISH HEARTS, and read other books I’d been meaning to get to. I’m going to pat myself on the back all month. I also read a handful of books I picked out from my winter bingo TBR ideas! So that’s another two books, plus some of the ones up here that double-counted. YES. On Deck for February Finishing Bingo Black author: Dear Martin by Nic Stone Science fiction: Wires and Nerve by Marissa Meyer Buddy read: TBD if Cristina and I do Book Buddies 2018 debut: Nice Try, Jane Sinner by Lianne Oelke Music themes: Noteworthy by Riley Redgate Library Books Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire Book from my library holds list on the left, if something comes in! I picked up DATSAB the other […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #168: Can’t Believe I Read

Posted January 30, 2018 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 3 Comments

Books I Can’t Believe I Read Top Ten Tuesdays were started by The Broke and the Bookish and are now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, 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. I wish I was better about reading books outside of my comfort zone. I stick to a heavy rotation of contemporary YA fiction, with a bit of fantasy, paranormal, “adult” fiction, and mystery/thriller thrown in. But, as you can tell from my chart here, I read more than 50% contemporary books. This list is going to consist of some of the books I “can’t believe I read” because they’re so far out of my comfort zone. I would consider those books to be adult mystery/thriller (or really anything adult non-contemporary), mystery/thriller books that are horror-ish, historical fiction without a lot of magic, dystopias (underhyped ones at least), and some paranormal-y romance books. So, you’ll see below that most of the books featured today fall under those categories. I can’t believe I read A Madness So Discreet because it’s a little more psychological/horror-almost? And it was historical fiction?? There’s almost nothing about this book that screams Lauren but I ended up totally loving it. This book was the ultimate random read that lead to a pleasant surprise. I can’t believe I read (and loved) The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue for somewhat similar […]

The Cruel Prince Celebration and Giveaway

Posted January 29, 2018 / Cover Colors, Features, Food & Drink, Personal / Information / Etc. / 10 Comments

I am absurdly excited to be partnering with NOVL in today’s celebration for THE CRUEL PRINCE. They were kind enough to send me a gorgeous finished copy too. I absolutely adored this book – check out my full review here to see why! Holly Black is the queen of fae stories and this was no exception. I can’t believe I have to wait a year for the next book. In the meantime, I’ll keep getting excited about THE CRUEL PRINCE and planning my inevitable reread 😉 Today I’ll be sharing faerie fruit recipes and my Cover Colors feature. About the Book & Author The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air #1) by Holly Black Young Adult Fantasy – In stores January 2, 2018 By #1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black, the first book in a stunning new series about a mortal girl who finds herself caught in a web of royal faerie intrigue. Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever. And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe. Jude was seven years old when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the […]

Potential 2018 Rereads

Posted January 26, 2018 / Book Lists, Features / 8 Comments

I don’t do as much rereading as I could, should, or want to. I always tell myself I don’t have enough time with all of the other NEW books out there. However, the best kinds of rereads that sort of take away from this issue are (a) audio rereads because it’s like bonus reading time anyways and (b) rereads of books I read for the first time a VERY long time ago, so it’s like I’m reading it again for the first time. I’ve had success with some nostalgic series in the past. I hope to reread some more recent releases this year though, because lots of books have sequels coming out and I decided I wanted to be prepared! MY LADY JANE by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows Reason: It was SO good and I got the audiobook on sale recently; companion story coming out soon Format: Like I said, I got the audiobook on sale after Black Friday! When: Probably sometime close to the release of the new book? They’re not an actual series so I don’t HAVE to do it this way, but I’m guessing I’ll read it sometime around April. I realistically could hold off on rereading this because I don’t have a NEED, but I may as well let myself have some fun 🙂 CARAVAL by Stephanie Garber Reason: I don’t remember much from my first read of the book (what else is new though?) and I preordered the second book in the series. I remember there […]

Library Love | January

Posted January 25, 2018 / Features, Library Love, Weekly Memes / 9 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’ve been using the ebook section of my new library quite a bit, but I got motivated to get some physical copies this month as well. Whenever I have a robust hold list and a few books checked out, I know it’s enough to share here. Here we go! Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire | I read the first book a while back and generally enjoyed it, even if I found it a bit predictable. The series is very diverse, which is something I’ve been looking for lately. These books are so tiny too! I read an ebook for the first one so it was weird to see how short they are in a physical copy. Public Relations by Katie Heaney and Arianna Rebolini | I saw Estelle and many others talking about this book on Twitter, and I think she started a movement with a few us! I requested it from the library (it was already on my Goodreads TBR but just not high enough up) and it came in quickly. I’ll be reading it when I need something cute and addicting. The Wonder of Us by Kim Culbertson | I’ll admit that this is […]

Review Round Up | They Both Die at the End, Foolish Hearts, Top Ten, and Wonder Woman: Warbringer

Posted January 24, 2018 / Book Reviews, Review Roundup / 6 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 definitely DID expect for this book to wreck me, based on what the last Silvera book did to me, and that doesn’t even consider the countless reviews of THEY BOTH DIE AT THE END where people talked about it wrecking them. I was totally prepared for it and not nearly prepared enough at the same time. The story is set in the near-future world, where a company called Death-Cast calls you on the day you’re going to die. You don’t know how or when specifically, but just that you have less than 24 hours left. Rufus and Mateo both receive the call and meet up through the Last Friend app. I’m so happy that I ended the year with this book. Can you ask for a better rating to finish a reading year?! Adam Silvera writes such compelling stories with characters I grow to love so quickly. Seeing people just go through one 24 hour period and feeling connected to them in that short of a timeframe is really powerful to me. I love stories where people are connected in ways you don’t understand at first. The first part of the book alternates between Mateo and Rufus as they learn their fates. The following parts include […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #167: Old Favorites

Posted January 23, 2018 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 12 Comments

Books I Really Liked from My First Year of Blogging (That I Can’t Really Remember) Top Ten Tuesdays were started by The Broke and the Bookish and are now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, 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. I may as well make this list featuring every single book I read. I am so terrible about remembering books, even if I finished them an hour earlier. (This is a major reason I write my reviews within the same hour of finishing the book!). I have to say though, I’m usually pretty good about remembering my FAVORITE books. I decided to make a tiny spin on the topic and specifically focus on books from 2014, my first year of blogging. Without further ado, here are some books I really enjoyed from 2014 that I can’t really remember anymore. Adult Fiction Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan | I enjoyed this book a lot, even though it’s definitely one of those random books from 2014 that were ~out of my comfort zone.~ I read it for a local book club I joined for like two months and found it really interesting. I don’t remember nearly anything about it though… The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson | The only thing I remember about this book is that it centered around a […]

Low Rated Books I Loved

Posted January 22, 2018 / Book Lists, Features / 14 Comments

I’m really feelin’ the inspiration that people are getting from Booktube for blog posts! I’ve been noticing this a lot lately and it’s created some fun posts for sure. The latest one I’ve loved is from Madalyn, who got the inspiration from BooksAndLala’s video. It’s about some low rated books (on Goodreads, sorted by overall rating) that we loved. This is the ever elusive “positive black sheep” opinion. Everyone hated it but I loved it. Anne & Henry by Dawn Ius Goodreads average rating: 3.06 stars | My rating: 4 stars I can’t put my finger on why I enjoyed this so much, but I did. I think it was an interesting retelling of Anne Boleyn and King Henry VIII, but I think people who don’t know too much about their story may like it more. I saw a lot of mixed reviews from people with more knowledge of their situation. I talked in my review about how Henry was really lame; I could see why he liked Anne but not the other way around. Ask Me How I Got Here by Christine Heppermann Goodreads average rating: 3.19 stars | My rating: 4 stars I suppose I can see why this would be hit-or-miss. I don’t love books in poetry or verse (or even books of straight-up poems, usually), but I enjoyed both works by Heppermann. This story was powerful while still being a very quick read for me. The topic is very heavy and I guess wouldn’t be […]

Failures and Lessons of 2017

Posted January 19, 2018 / Discussions, Features / 4 Comments

I’m not going to sit here and beat myself up over the reading-related failures of the previous year, so don’t worry about that. I just felt like it would be nice to look back over some of the goals and challenges I tried out that didn’t exactly work for me… as well as some of the lessons learned. I’m also going to talk about my reading, blogging, and personal resolutions for the year — how did I do? Reading, blogging, and personal resolutions: PASS: Read less…and give myself time to focus on other hobbies I definitely FEEL like I spent less time reading. I managed to easily meet my Goodreads goal (and could have gone over thanks to holiday novellas and a quick reading addiction that happened before Christmas). I love reading when I have spare moments, specifically before bed or during football games/WWE matches I can pay half-attention to. I’ve noticed that in general my entire night doesn’t consist of reading anymore. Chris and I are free to watch things together or go out and do something, and I don’t feel guilty about NOT reading. I debated quite a bit about what to set my Goodreads goal for in 2018. I liked the slight pressure of 150, since my reading did decline, but I felt like it was a solid number that I could fairly easily get. PASS: Reinvigorate The Nostalgia Project and reread more I’m going to count this one as a pass. Cristina and I managed to […]

ARC Reviews: Pretty Dead Girls and As You Wish

Posted January 18, 2018 / Book Reviews / 2 Comments

I was looking forward to this book but I’m always nervous about mystery/thrillers. I’ve said in the past how I’m not really great at figuring them out, so if I DO happen to determine whodunnit too early… the book gets a little ruined for me. Frankly it’s because I don’t read a lot of murder mysteries; I tend to think all of the ones I read are SO good because they always manage to blow my mind. I wish I could say that was the case here. So aside from that element, which I’ll get to after, I didn’t love a lot of the OTHER parts of this book either. The main character, Penelope, is characterized as this perfectionist with parents who push her into doing everything. She has siblings who suffered the same fate but they’re all apparently well-adjusted kids still. I thought this sounded like a recipe for disaster, but instead it was completely glossed over and barely discussed. It’s the kind of thing that could lead to some major character flaws or a showdown later in the book. Unfortunately, Penelope just completely fell flat for me. Her internal monologue and constant need to start fights with Cass was increasingly annoying with every fight she instigated. I totally get being cautious because you barely know the dude and there’s a murderer out there… but this was so excessive and REPETITIVE. She accused him of the same things and they had the same conversations all the time, as if […]