Month: January 2018

Favorite Things of 2017

Posted January 4, 2018 / Personal / Information / Etc. / 10 Comments

Everyone is doing some amazing 2017 wrap-ups and I decided that I couldn’t resist. I finally saw Andi’s new Favorite Things feature this week and it was the last straw to inspire this post. I don’t plan on making it monthly like her, because lord knows I already have two monthly wrap-ups that kind of already share this, but I thought it would be fun to round out a “best of 2017” list for me. I won’t be including actual books, but I will definitely be featuring book-related things. I took a scroll back through my Lauren Lately posts to see what was a fave each month. Lush Dark Angels Cleanser | I started to get a little bored of my face cleanser, so I went over to Lush to see what might work better. I really enjoy this charcoal cleanser for my oily skin! I’ve noticed that it takes longer for my face to get oily each day, which is usually my #1 concern. The only issue is that it’s hard to completely wash off in the shower (or in general) because it’s black. However… Spongeables Charcoal Face Sponge | …this sponge does the trick! I like that it has a coarse side and a soft/smooth side. I rub the coarse side to exfoliate a little bit and make sure the cleanser is all gone, then I use the smooth side to finish it off. I think this pairs well with the cleanser overall in making my skin feel really smooth. […]

ARC Review: Meet Cute

Posted January 3, 2018 / Book Reviews / 2 Comments

Further down you’ll find reviews for each story with their own star ratings, but my overall feelings about the book are right below. I really loved all of these stories overall, and this anthology left me with a really positive feeling… compared to other anthologies I’ve read! Meet Cute anthology Some People are Destined to Meet Edited by Jennifer L. Armentrout Average rating: 3.75 stars Whether or not you believe in fate, or luck, or love at first sight, every romance has to start somewhere. MEET CUTE is an anthology of original short stories featuring tales of “how they first met” from some of today’s most popular YA authors. Readers will experience Nina LaCour’s beautifully written piece about two Bay Area girls meeting via a cranky customer service Tweet, Sara Shepard’s glossy tale about a magazine intern and a young rock star, Nicola Yoon’s imaginative take on break-ups and make-ups, Katie Cotugno’s story of two teens hiding out from the police at a house party, and Huntley Fitzpatrick’s charming love story that begins over iced teas at a diner. There’s futuristic flirting from Kass Morgan and Katharine McGee, a riveting transgender heroine from Meredith Russo, a subway missed connection moment from Jocelyn Davies, and a girl determined to get out of her small town from Ibi Zoboi. Jennifer Armentrout writes a sweet story about finding love from a missing library book, Emery Lord has a heartwarming and funny tale of two girls stuck in an airport, Dhonielle Clayton takes a […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #164: New Authors

Posted January 2, 2018 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 7 Comments

Top Ten New-To-Me Authors Read in 2017 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 read a lot of great books by “new to me” authors this year but decided to really narrow it down to ten! I loved all of these books and can absolutely see myself buying MANY more by them. Some were debut authors and some are more established, but they were all new to Lauren in 2017! Ashley Poston / Sandhya Menon / Alexandra Ballard Wendy Brant / Angie Thomas / Julie Israel / Kristan Higgins Jared Reck / Mackenzi Lee / Karen M. McManus

Bookmark Lit Bulletin | December 2017 + End of Year

Posted January 1, 2018 / Bookmark Lit Bulletin, Features, Wrap-Ups / 14 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! As usual I wish I could go back in time to the holiday season again! ? I read so many cute holiday books and novellas in December that I would have loved to continue into January. They’re so easy and cozy to read. Anyways, I easily met my goal with plenty of time to spare and stopped myself when I hit exactly 150 books for my goal. I don’t like going over unless it’s to a rounder number, like 155 or 160. I feel weird about reading like 151 or 152 books, which are numbers I was likely to hit. So, it was nice to have some wiggle room to fill out the end of year surveys early! Yearly Wrap-Up of Statistics I wanted to keep these graphs in a scroll box because they get a little intense and fill so much space. If you’re curious about my bookish breakdown for 2017, take a look below! Average rating for books read in December: 3.75 stars Highlights & Lowlights This month’s books: Year-Long Contemporary Romance Challenge […]