Month: August 2019

September TBR

Posted August 29, 2019 / Book Lists, Features, TBR Lists / 3 Comments
September TBR

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. August Progress August was bizarre. I usually have a lot of success with ARC August but I think my lack of reading time or mojo hindered everything. I was lucky to pull off reading 9 books this past month, blazing through basically 3 entire books in the last few days/week of August. I had two readalongs, IRONSIDE and THE DIVINERS, that were spread out nicely in the first half of the month. We had Chris’s sister’s wedding later in the month and therefore Bout of Books was a failure. I didn’t meet my plans for 10 ARCS + 2 readalong books, but I did manage to read 9 total books… Up Next in September Review Copies I’ll keep up my five-ARC-TBR plans as usual, with my backlist, upcoming releases, freebies, and far-away pub date mixture. I’m actually doing okay on Netgalley right now and would love to get ahead on some of upcoming releases. Past Perfect Life by Eulberg | All Eyes on Us by Frick | Ricochet by Berla The Bromance Book Club by Adams | Love on Lexington Avenue by Layne   I have a couple leftovers from ARC August on […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #250: Personal Library

Posted August 27, 2019 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 3 Comments
Top Ten Tuesdays #250: Personal Library

Books I’ve Read That I’d Like In My Personal Library 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 apparently deleted my Goodreads shelf specifically about this so THAT’S FUN, past-Lauren! Regardless, I do read a whooooole lot of books from the library (physical, ebooks, and audiobooks) or from Scribd. That’s how I often get away with not buying a lot of books. I like supporting those platforms and organizations, plus I get to save some money and space. Here are some books that I borrowed from somewhere and would love a physical copy of someday. (I’ve done another post similar to this but I’m not going to cheat and look at those rn.) Book: Red, White, and Royal Blue by McQuiston | Source: Library, Scribd I LOVED THIS BOOK just like everyone else on the planet. I got the library book out but also listened to the audio on Scribd. I definitely need a couple for my personal library because I have a feeling I’ll be wanting to reread it someday! Book: There’s Something About Sweetie by Menon | Source: Egalley I realized that I am the WORST and don’t own this book! I have Menon’s other YA books that I’ve loved, like DIMPLE and […]

Review Round Up | A Curse So Dark and Lonely, Well Met, and We Came Here to Forget

Posted August 26, 2019 / Book Reviews, Review Roundup / 0 Comments
Review Round Up | A Curse So Dark and Lonely, Well Met, and We Came Here to Forget

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! ARC August Edition As always with fantasy books, I kind of waited forever to read my review copy of this book. I was hoping to mix in the audiobook but I couldn’t track it down in my usual places, so I just broke up my reading and charged through. I also made sure it was both my August book club selection AND a pick for my Disney-a-thon TBR, so I would be guaranteed to have read it. I’m not 100% sure if this book is classified as a true portal fantasy, but I loved that it featured both “our world” and another fantasy world – Emberfall. It was fun to learn about that world and those who inhabit it (Rhen, Grey, etc.). The curse and Beauty and the Beast elements were really well done and more unique than the traditional Stockholm Syndrome-esque story or other retellings. I appreciated that a lot. Harper was kind of a badass main character and it was cool to read about a fantasy heroine with cerebral palsy. Like the author’s note said, she wasn’t defined by it throughout the story but there were clear mentions about how it affected her daily life. I do wish I read this all in […]

FaerieAThon Reviews: Modern Faerie Tales

Posted August 22, 2019 / Book Reviews / 1 Comment
FaerieAThon Reviews: Modern Faerie Tales

FaerieAThon is hosted by Super Space Chick, Mel to the Any, It’s Jane Lindsey, and Alexa Loves Books. It’s a six-month-long event that involves reading or rereading all of Holly Black’s books set in the fae world. This includes the Modern Faerie Tales series, The Darkest Part of the Forest, and The Folk of the Air series. Each month has daily chapters to read and live shows to recap/discuss. Links above are directly to announcement posts and videos. I’ll be including my thoughts on the book and anything else I want to discuss related to the fae world! Tithe Quick facts Is this one a first time read or a reread? Reread! I read it the first time probably within the first few years after it was published? I would venture to guess early high school. If rereading, did my review or rating change? I didn’t rate this one the first time around but it was one of those classic “this is one of my favorite books!” situations. I didn’t really have a place to track ratings around 2006! I feel like I considered this a “favorite book” back then though and this time I only rated it 3 stars. Did I keep up with the reading schedule as planned? Yes! I was very diligent about the daily chapters. It was helpful to have the ebook on Scribd so I could read here and there throughout the day. I tried to finish them during work breaks so I didn’t have to cram anything […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #249: Tropes

Posted August 20, 2019 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 5 Comments
Top Ten Tuesdays #249: Tropes

Favorite Tropes in Books 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 often talk about my read-bait topics, which surround book plot points or tropes that immediately make me want to read a book. It also includes settings and other bookish elements that aren’t exactly tropes though, so here’s a more fine-tuned list of legit tropes (not just romance!) that I love to read in books. Snowed In / Stuck Somewhere This is probably one of my favorite tropes out of all of these. I will always add these to my TBR! I love when characters (obviously possible romantic partners, primarily) get stuck somewhere together or snowed in. I remember MAGNOLIA had a whole bunch of my favorite tropes, where the characters’ two families kept pushing them together but they hated each other, then got stuck together in a tornado. UGH what a book. Fake Dating This is another classic romance trope that most people tend to like! I think TATBILB is one of my favorite series/books that uses this trope. The couple creates a fake relationship for whatever reason (make an ex jealous, get parents’ off their backs, etc.) and ends up falling for each other for real. BFFs to More […]

A Day in the Life (8/14/19)

A Day in the Life (8/14/19)

True story: I’ve been attempting to write this post for a while now but I ALWAYS get halfway into my morning routine (or even arrive at work) when I realize I forgot to take photos of my day. I finally remembered to get an early start last Wednesday so here we are with a day in my life! 5:45 AM – 6:00 AM – Alarm goes off, venture downstairs I went to bed fairly early last night so I set my alarm accordingly. I usually like to wake up somewhere within the 6:00 hour but love when I can get up even earlier. I like seven hours of sleep; any more or less than that isn’t great for me haha. I went downstairs and chatted with Chris, who was starting his morning routine. I made my coffee and went back upstairs. 6:00 AM – 7:30 AM – Lounge in bed I will usually do a number of things in the morning before work, like update my bullet journal, watch YouTube or a television show, or read a book. Sometimes I just play Candy Crush and call it a day lol. This morning, I put YouTube on while updating my bullet journal with the book I had finished the day before. I caught up with Kristen and a few others I’ve been into lately for Amazon hauls and more lifestyle-oriented content. When I finished the bujo, I just scrolled on my phone and played Candy Crush while YouTube played in the […]

Lauren Lately | August 2019

Posted August 15, 2019 / Features, Lauren Lately, Wrap-Ups / 2 Comments
Lauren Lately | August 2019

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 ✨ What I’ve Been Up To Weird Al, lots of swimming, and a birthday party | We had a nice mix of weekends over the last month or so. We had a few events and parties sprinkled in, along with casual days swimming and hanging out at Chris’s parents’ house. We went to see Weird Al in concert, which exceeded all of my expectations and I have zero photos of, and then spent the next two days swimming. The following weekend was a birthday party for my friend Alaina and her husband, which was a lot of fun too! Weekend with Jen – Mystic/Westerly/Glastonbury | Chris was away at the bachelor party for his future brother-in-law so I went out and about with his sister! We first went to a small food truck festival in Connecticut, which was decent, and then headed over to Rhode Island. Ivory Ella was having their annual warehouse sale, so we […]

Late ARC Reviews: When the Light Went Out and The Last Resort

Posted August 14, 2019 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments
Late ARC Reviews: When the Light Went Out and The Last Resort

I hadn’t seen much about WHEN THE LIGHT WENT OUT, both before I requested it and after the pub date. I went in with no preconceived notions or expectations. I think I did expect it to have more of a mystery/thriller vibe than contemporary, but not enough to have that ruin the book. I love books about scavenger hunts or to-do lists, especially when left behind by someone who has passed away. In this story, a group of neighborhood kids were forever affected when Marley was accidentally shot by Nick five years ago. Olivia, the main character, was the only one of the group who witnessed it. Bigs, Teeny, Ruby, Harrison, and Olivia’s sister Aidy, join in with Olivia and a returning Nick to follow on Marley’s final “Adventure” scavenger hunt for them. To be honest, there’s not much to say about these characters. They were all fine and moderately developed but there’s not much more. Marley was essentially a manic pixie dream girl character throughout most of the book, which was unsurprising – a lot of books like this memorialize and glamorize the lost person. I can’t even say too much about the plot without spoiling how everything ends. I will say that I really didn’t enjoy how it ended. I ended up starting this one on a complete whim one Sunday and finished it before the day was over. I didn’t want to stop reading; the writing style and setup were so intriguing. I’d read more from this […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #248: Characters

Posted August 13, 2019 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 6 Comments
Top Ten Tuesdays #248: Characters

Characters I’d be Besties With Characters I Wanted to Punch in the Head 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. We had a character freebie recently where I discussed some of my new favorite characters or friend groups, which kind of answers this question – yes, I’d totally be friends with all of them! Because of that, I decided to change this topic up. I’m doing the opposite. There are many books that end up on my “punchable character” shelf for various reasons and I don’t think I’ve highlighted them before? Away we go! Josh and Kristen from The Friend Zone by Jimenez | While I kind of liked this book overall, it wasn’t what I was hoping for. I wanted to punch Josh because he kept talking about how much Kristen was ~not like other girls~ which is one of my least favorite things for a male character to say. He, overall, was too macho for me in many ways, even though he apparently had many sisters that softened him up in some instances. Kristen’s repetitive internal dialogue about him was super frustrating too. Chloe from Notes from a Former Virgin by Chastain | I usually enjoy these Chloe Snow books, especially […]

Book and Blog Traditions

Posted August 8, 2019 / Discussions, Features / 1 Comment
Book and Blog Traditions

There are quite a few traditions I participate in annually/seasonally on my blog. I always sign up for certain challenges, readalongs, and readathons, but I also have my own personal traditions that I’ve kept up for at least a couple of years. These could be reading habits or something else. Here are some of the bookish and blog-related things I do each year! Read Emma Mills’ latest book on New Years Day in one sitting This is a newer tradition but one I have really grown to love. I definitely plan on keeping it up as long as humanly possible! I have a tendency to breeze through and adore each of Emma Mills’ books so far. What better way to kick off the year than with a guaranteed good book, and one I can finish in one sitting? I love having my bookish year start off that way (ahead on my Goodreads goal!). I read FOOLISH YEARTS on New Years Day 2018 and FAMOUS IN A SMALL TOWN for 2019. I’m a little concerned that her next book, LUCKY CALLER, doesn’t appear to come out until January 14th, so I’ll have to get my hands on an ARC to keep my momentum going.     Create and curate seasonal bucket lists and TBRs I’ve talked about my love for seasonal TBRs (especially holiday ones in December and summery ones for June through August) on multiple occasions. I also have come to enjoy making personal bucket lists for some seasons as […]