Month: July 2018

Top Ten Tuesdays #194: Hype

Posted July 31, 2018 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 9 Comments

Popular Books that Lived Up to the Hype 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. There’s one book that immediately comes to mind for me, which you’ll see below (and I’ve talked about so often – sorry not sorry). I often get caught up in the hype machine and wrote a whole post about it. I’m going to include a lot of the books from that post because I clearly don’t focus on hype as much as I used to. Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli | I loved this book so much and the movie was JUST AS CUTE. I listened to the audio of this one a little bit after it was released, when the hype was super strong and scary. So glad I listened to everyone’s advice and went for it! My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick | I’ve now read two out of her three books and I really loved this one. I didn’t like the companion/sequel to this and have yet to read her second release. This was the one story, so far, that lived up to the hype. Very cute and enjoyable, with some heavy moments. The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang | Okay yes […]

August TBR

Posted July 30, 2018 / Book Lists, Features, TBR Lists / 5 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. July Progress I’m impressed at myself for getting to four books from my TBR, especially because that’s basically half of what I read in July. It was a crappy month but I got some egalleys completely out of the way (for blog tours and other due dates), so that was great. I checked out a couple of library books that I hope to get to but never made time for them. I was all about the ebooks and audiobooks in July! On Deck for August ARC August The Impossibility of Us by Upperman | Broken Things by Oliver | Sadie by Summers The Last Wish of Sasha Cade by Young | Toil & Trouble edited by Spotswood/Sharpe I did a full ARC August post and TBR list this month, so you can see all of the books here. I’m highlighting the stories I’m most likely to read based on my latest moods and due dates. These are all egalleys (which is my main focus for the month). I’m hoping to get to all of them and keep my ratio at 75% review books and 25% non-review books, hence the section […]

Add It To My List – July 2018

Posted July 27, 2018 / Add It To My List, Personal / Information / Etc. / 5 Comments

This linkup is hosted by Lauren and Bre, where you’re able to share what you’re currently recommending to people in real life. You’ll likely see movies, shows, podcasts, books, household items/purchases, technology – the list goes on! The linkup happens on the last Tuesday of the month, but I’ll be posting sometime in the last week due to TTT. Add to your shopping lists Recent Favorites from Amazon Natural Bamboo Charcoal Oil Absorbing Tissues | I will definitely be doing a new makeup and skincare routine roundup because my life has been CHANGED with some products lately. This is one of my favorites. I bought these oil blotting sheets months ago and didn’t use them until my friend got married in early June. It was a must-use during the super hot day. I LOVED these and so did everyone else! The charcoal part absolutely keeps you more matte for longer after you blot. I use this around 4 PM at work if my makeup has been on for around 8 hours and I don’t really NEED to put powder on top after. Coty Airspun Loose Face Powder | I know I’ve talked about this before too but I wanted to mention it again. The best method for this is as the loose setting powder for your concealer. I do the ~beauty guru~ thing and put concealer to lighten up the center of my face (meaning nose, parts of my cheeks, undereyes, forehead, chin, etc.). I use a damp Beauty Blender to press […]

ARC Review: The Good Luck Charm

Posted July 25, 2018 / Book Reviews / 2 Comments

I’ve been burnt out on YA contemporary for a while now; all of my reads this year have kind of suffered as a result. However, when most of my TBR falls in that category, I end up continuing to read them. Every once in a while I try to mix in an adult or new adult title to keep things interesting. THE GOOD LUCK CHARM did the trick for me! The story follows Lilah and Ethan, who were once best friends turned high school sweethearts. When he went off to college and was inevitably going to be drafted to the NHL, he ended the relationship with Lilah (we learn why during the story). She had since gotten married and divorced, never really giving her heart away. He never bothered with serious relationships when moving to new cities. Ethan returns home to Minnesota because he was traded to their local NHL team, and immediately discovers his father suffering from a stroke. Lilah, a nurse at the hospital and still close family friend to Ethan’s parents, is there to help. They are immediately pulled together again. One of my biggest pet peeves in romance novels is when the main issue is a result of miscommunication or general lack of communication. If the climax or driving issue in the book could be fixed with one conversation, the whole book suffers. I like the “inevitable breakup” part of the story to have higher stakes. However, that doesn’t mean I love a lot of drama […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #193: Sensory Memories

Posted July 24, 2018 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 0 Comments

Books with Sensory Reading Memories 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. This is such a fun topic! I actually wrote a post about bookish memories back in 2017, where I spoke about certain books evoking memories. This topic is about sensory reading memories, which is similar. This TTT will be about specific settings, smells, sights, foods, etc. that I specifically remember when I think of a book I’ve read. (Yes, there will be duplication from my old post.) By the Pool and Outside I read a lot of books by the pool (especially at Chris’s parents house), but the first two here are the ones that I most vividly remember. Chris’s mom made me a cute smoothie (which was delicious) while reading the Three Day Summer. Caraval was another one because I read it while laying on a towel, when I usually am in a chair or in the water. I know, that’s weird to remember, but I just do. I had the bound manuscript and remember reading it in July when the book was released in the following January. Confessions of a High School Disaster was read in one sitting at our old apartment before we moved to Maine. Chris was skateboarding outside our […]

Grocery Shopping Online vs. In-Store

Posted July 23, 2018 / Food & Drink, Personal / Information / Etc. / 6 Comments

I’ve noticed recently that there’s a big trend toward doing grocery shopping online instead of going to a store. This is typically for non-perishable items like canned food, snacks, sauces, etc. Most people still seem to get veggies, meats, and frozen stuff in-store (with a few exceptions!). I’ve been wanting to do an analysis to see what actually makes the most sense from a financial perspective. Influencers have talked about a few different websites for grocery shopping, so I wanted to compare prices between them and see what makes sense for a few of the items I buy regularly. I’m not going to analyze Amazon Pantry or Fresh because I don’t qualify for most of it in my area. My Shopping Situation I typically do my shopping at Trader Joe’s, Stop & Shop (local to the northeast I believe?), and/or Target. My friend’s father owns a meat and seafood store that I want to be better about visiting because he has some good deals as well. We have a local farmer’s market in our town that sells ALL kinds of things but I usually treat that as a special occasion kind of place. I’d go broke if I bought everything from there! My perfect world, shopping-wise, would be to find the best place to get all of my canned food, snacks, and other non-perishable items from, then using a separate place for grabbing fresh meat and/or veggies/fruits each week. I envision myself getting things from one of the online stores […]

TBB Asks: July Vacation Edition

Posted July 20, 2018 / Lifestyle, Personal / Information / Etc. / 3 Comments

I love when Grace does these posts so I decided to participate! I thought it was appropriate to post today since I am currently in the Hamptons for my friend’s bachelorette party. More on that later, I assume! 1. Will you go on a summer vacation this year? Let’s see, I’m currently in the Hamptons for my friend’s bachelorette weekend, so that counts. Chris and I don’t actually have summer vacation plans as of right now? We may try to sneak in a long weekend somewhere in August. Our next trip is currently planned for my birthday in early September. We’re going to the Panthers’ home opener in Charlotte with my parents, since they’re playing my mom’s team! 2. Do nothing but relax or pack it all in vacation? Chris and I tend to get antsy if we don’t plan a few things, but there’s definitely a balance. We usually travel places to see specific sights or do certain activities. When we went to California, we were busy nonstop, and it would have been nice to have an extra day or free afternoon at some point. I like to relax for part of the day and do something that takes up 50-75% of the rest of the day. 3. What month do you like to vacation? We actually don’t do a lot of summer vacations, honestly. A lot of our trips are long weekends. In the winter, we hit ski mountains. In the fall and spring, we go somewhere a little warmer […]

ARC August 2018 Sign-Up and TBR

Posted July 19, 2018 / Book Challenges, Features, TBR Lists / 5 Comments

I’m excited to join another round of ARC August! I have some goals to get my ARC percentage to 80% by the end of the year, so this challenge will be a nice push for both backlist books and some coming later this year. I will probably focus mostly on egalleys, with maybe 2-4 physical ARCs in between, so I can focus on the NG/EW Challenge I’m working on. Here is where I’ll outline my goals, TBR, readathon plans, and bookish bingo. All of the details for this challenge can be found here! Goals and Plans I really would love to somehow get my Netgalley percentage up to 80% this month but I don’t think it’ll be super feasible. I’m currently stuck around 71% and definitely need to read more than 10 books to improve. I hope to read mostly ARCs throughout the month, again primarily egalleys. My goal is for 75% of the books I read in August to be ARCs, that way I don’t have a set number to stress about. I have been reading 10+ books each month so that looks like 7 or 8 if I stick to what I assume will happen. I’m going to include 3-5 books in each category below so I have a good mix to pick from. I’ll let my mood reading guide me so I’m not going to make restrictions about how many from each section. Possible TBR Backlist or Pre-July Egalleys Upcoming or August Egalleys Physical ARCs Readathon (August 4-5th) There […]

Blog Tour | The Art of Inheriting Secrets

Posted July 18, 2018 / Book Reviews / 2 Comments

I was very intrigued by the synopsis for this one and couldn’t resist joining the tour. Family secrets, old manors, and small English villages are always read-bait for me. It seemed like a book that would grab me and not let me go until I was finished with the story, which I definitely needed in my unexpected reading slump this summer. The main character, Olivia, heads to England to uncover the mysteries of her mom’s past. She quickly learns that she’s essentially royalty in this small village. The book started off with so many intriguing elements that I was dying to know what was going to happen next; I loved meeting many of the local characters so early in the story. There was even a very unexpected reference to one of my favorite old movies, The Point! Literally did not see that coming in any book I’ll ever read haha. (The dog was mentioned later but it was awkward because he asked if she had pets and he already knew she had a dog, Arrow, based on this early reference… Just a missed continuity error! I noticed a couple of those, but nothing major.) I thought there were some repetitive conversations early on, when Olivia was learning about her mother and grandmother. Many of the side characters in the village that she met had similar things to say about them and it felt like I read the same conversations multiple times. I also didn’t love how her relationship with Grant, […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #192: Favorite Short Books

Posted July 17, 2018 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 5 Comments

Favorite Books Under 200 pages 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. The topic for this one is technically favorite novellas or short stories. I decided to go with favorite short books in general, all under 200 pages. I read a lot of short contemps but they usually will end up over 200, so this list will likely be “novella” books or short companion stories that I loved. Just One Night by Gayle Forman | I loved this duo, so the follow-up novella that shows some kind of “epilogue” about the couple really tied things together for me. I’m someone who loves follow-ups like that. It seriously gives you the ending you want and deserve. We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | We did a Book Buddies post on this and both agreed that it’s a nice refresher for those who already know why we should all be feminists, and it could be a nice introduction to people who don’t currently understand why. Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide by JK Rowling | I enjoyed all three of these Pottermore novellas, but this was my favorite for some reason. Learning about the random objects, rooms, etc. around the school was more fascinating for me […]