Month: June 2020

Top Ten Tuesdays #294: Anticipated Releases

Posted June 30, 2020 / Book Lists, Features, TBR Lists, Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 3 Comments

Anticipated Releases for the Second Half of 2020 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 feel like so many pub dates have shifted that a lot of my books from my post for the first half of 2020 would move into this list! I’ve decided to keep this list away from those books (to highlight more), since I already posted about them. I also am going to avoid review copies AND books from my Summer TBR posts (here and here). Therefore, we’re looking at books being published between late September and December. I absolutely couldn’t put down Dear Martin when I read it so you know Dear Justyce is on my list. I hope it’s equally impactful and quick to read! I’m super excited for A Deadly Education because it sounds similar to Harry Potter with a wizarding school. Gorgeous cover too! Simmer Down focuses on the food truck scene, which is something I’m super into in general, so this will be awesome. Another fun cover too! I love books set over the course of one day, and This Is All Your Fault involves saving an indie bookstore too. Sounds right up my alley. The Truth Project is another one that drew me in because it’s a bit of Lauren-bait. DNA results come back and […]

The Bright Side (6/26)

Posted June 26, 2020 / Personal / Information / Etc. / 1 Comment

As we’re all going through the same global pandemic with various levels of “stay the F home,” I thought it would be fun to highlight the good things in each week, instead of dwelling on the negatives, the unknowns, and the uncertain future. I tend to do some kind of wrap-up or rundown of my week/month/etc. on Fridays each week (often linking up with Friday Favorites/Currently) so this isn’t too much of a diversion from that. ✨ Murder in Hollywoodland Podcast I’ve been somewhat slacking on podcasts lately because I’m not commuting anywhere, and barely driving at all! I’ve been trying to use audio time for books instead. Anyways, I still listen to the usual ones each week while doing dishes and other household chores. This podcast, Murder in Hollywoodland, is new and really enjoyable! I loved the fictional Deadly Manners podcast and this one kind of reminds me of that, except it’s based on a real murder in Hollywood in the 1920s! Great production style and narrators. ✨ Skinnytaste One & Done I posted about this at the end of last week’s post because I had just gotten this in, but we’ve made quite a few recipes since then! I’ll probably do the usual roundup like I did for the Cravings cookbook next week, but we’ve made the spicy fried chicken sandwiches, chipotle chicken tostadas, carne asada fries, broccoli cheddar soup, and philly cheesesteak egg rolls as of this post! ✨ Outdoor Reading As usual, I continued to ATTEMPT […]

Summer Bucket List

Posted June 25, 2020 / Book Lists, Features, Goals & Planning, Personal / Information / Etc., TBR Lists / 1 Comment

I write similar posts every year, where I share the items on my summertime bucket list and the summery or beach-setting books I hope to read. While my reading has been shit, I usually can count on my nice porch to bring my reading mojo back. I’m finding that working from home, for some reason, makes me read LESS and not more. I hope the warm weather continuing will help me get into reading. Bucket List & To-Do’s Take a couple of local nice-weather day trips We’re blessed to live about an hour away from Mystic, one of my favorite places in Connecticut. Our state overall has been doing much better than many others from a Covid transmission perspective, so things have been reopening. I’m still not ready for indoor dining personally and have yet to eat outside on a patio (even though that’s been open for multiple weeks already), but I feel ready for that part somewhat soon. Anyways, I hope to take a day trip or two in Connecticut on a nice weekend day (and/or during our Fourth of July week of vacation!) to Mystic and probably Niantic or a similar coastal town. Enjoy friends’ backyards and pools We’re still social distancing to a pretty decent extent, but we’ve been able to see friends from a distance by setting up chairs in backyards and hanging out that way. One of our friends has a nice swimming pool so we’re hoping to spend time over there and grill out […]

Review Round Up | Date Me Bryson Keller, Four Days of You and Me, and The Boyfriend Project

Posted June 24, 2020 / Book Reviews, Review Roundup / 1 Comment

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! Oh man, this book was EXACTLY what I needed. I’d been struggling with reading during quarantine (and honestly was behind on my challenge BEFORE too) so Chris suggested I take a break from the book that was taking me forever and putting me in a slump, and read something quick and fun. I was able to sit down and read DATE ME, BRYSON KELLER in one sitting on a Monday night and it was exactly the kick in the pants I needed to read more and finish April stronger. The story is about a dare that popular guy, Bryson Keller, takes on at the end of their senior year. He vows to date one person per week until spring break, based on whoever asks him out first on Monday morning. He shows up late to school and royally messes up Kai’s morning, so he randomly spits out “date me, Bryson Keller” and to his surprise, Bryson says yes. Kai is a closeted gay teen who really just wants to experience having a boyfriend and see what it’d be like to hang out with Bryson all week. Needless to say, sparks fly between the two boys and it was THE CUTEST. I was literally squealing multiple times throughout […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #293: 10th Anniversary

Posted June 23, 2020 / Book Lists, Features, TBR Lists, Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 1 Comment

Top Ten Tuesday Turns 10! 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. It’s the 10th anniversary of Top Ten Tuesday this year, so we were tasked with looking at old topics and using them for this week. It could be picking an old one you missed, updating a past topic that you’ve done, or adding ten more books to a previous list. I’ve done various posts like slump-busters or books I couldn’t put down, and given that this year has been garbage for reading, I thought I’d do another one of these. Here are the recent books that grabbed me, I couldn’t put them down, and they helped break my slump a little bit.

The Bright Side (6/19)

Posted June 19, 2020 / Personal / Information / Etc. / 1 Comment

As we’re all going through the same global pandemic with various levels of “stay the F home,” I thought it would be fun to highlight the good things in each week, instead of dwelling on the negatives, the unknowns, and the uncertain future. I tend to do some kind of wrap-up or rundown of my week/month/etc. on Fridays each week (often linking up with Friday Favorites/Currently) so this isn’t too much of a diversion from that. ✨ Juneteenth Today is Juneteenth, the celebration of the official end of slavery in the US! There are plenty of infographics on Instagram and articles about it. This should be a national holiday. It’s important to continue to learn about things that were absolutely missed in school. ✨ Chris Morocco Recipes There has been a lot of drama within the BA Test Kitchen lately, and it really sucks to hear that people of color are not paid equally for their work. Long story short, most of the hosts/chefs are not filming videos until there is concrete evidence that the company has improved compensation for ALL. I hate that something I love so much has a garbage culture within it but it seems like people are fighting for real changes, which is wonderful. Before all of this went down, I had three recipes from Chris Morocco lined up (one of the hosts/editors) for this week and we made them all. Bulgogi Meatloaf Sandwich: Honestly this was pretty damn delicious. Chris’s mom made us kimchi a few […]

TTT: Summer TBR Part Two (Aug/Sept)

Posted June 17, 2020 / Book Lists, Features, TBR Lists / 0 Comments

I usually don’t mind including more than ten books in a TTT but there are just SO many good summertime releases to highlight on my TBR (like… more than 20)! I thought it would be more fun to spread the love between two posts this week to share the books from June/July yesterday and August/September today. I’m going through the technical end of summer (September 22nd). August They Wish They Were Us by Jessica Goodman | Umm, Gossip Girl meets One of Us is Lying? Sold. Super duper sold on this one. It’s a murder mystery set at a prep school on Long Island. I am SO excited for this – cannot wait. More Than Just a Pretty Face by Syed M. Masood | I’m intrigued by this one – I don’t usually read books from a male POV but this one sounds good. The main character tries to become a “renaissance man” to prove to his longtime crush (and her family) that he’s worth her attention, but he ends up falling for his “tutor.” The Love Scam by Maryjanice Davidson | I have to admit that I love the cover more than the synopsis, but it does seem interesting! I think the gist is that a guy starts getting scammed by someone and then people fall in love… lol. Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop by Roselle Lim | Okay I’m nervous about this one. I was obsessed with the cover and premise for her debut but I ended up not really loving it […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #292: Summer TBR Part One (June/July)

Posted June 16, 2020 / Book Lists, Features, TBR Lists, Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 0 Comments

Books on my Summer TBR 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 love making TBR posts even when my reading is hot garbage. I ended up with over twenty books to highlight between late June and late-ish September, so I decided to split this summer TBR into two posts! You’ll see the books from late June and July today, and books from August and September (through the 22nd) tomorrow. Late June You Say it First by Katie Cotugno | I’m a huge fan of her work and this cover is adorable. I can’t tell if it’s really the “people from opposite ends of the political spectrum come together and work it out” kind of book – it seems like it’s on the verge but mostly centers around them having conversations about a variety of topics. Summer at Lake Haven by RaeAnne Thayne | Another season, another time I’m surprised by a new Haven Point book! She keeps releasing them and I’m always excited 🙂 I’m jazzed to read about Samantha too! Girl, Unframed by Deb Caletti | I didn’t read her last release, which many people loved, but this one seems more up my alley – it’s a thriller where a girl returns to […]

The Bright Side (6/12)

Posted June 12, 2020 / Personal / Information / Etc. / 0 Comments

It didn’t feel right to post a “bright side” kind of post last Friday, so I skipped it. While there is still a LONG way to go and I don’t think we need to “get back to normalcy” like others seem to want, I am going to begin posting more on the blog again and continuing to share relevant information to the Black Lives Matter movement wherever applicable, whenever needed. I’ve been sharing information frequently on my still if you’d like to check things out there. As we’re all going through the same global pandemic with various levels of “stay the F home,” I thought it would be fun to highlight the good things in each week, instead of dwelling on the negatives, the unknowns, and the uncertain future. I tend to do some kind of wrap-up or rundown of my week/month/etc. on Fridays each week (often linking up with Friday Favorites/Currently) so this isn’t too much of a diversion from that. ✨ Black Lives Matter It’s clear that the protesting is working – so many pieces of legislation are getting started (finally) and some cities are defunding police (want to see more of that). I can keep hoping, supporting, donating, signing, and maybe even protesting (like I said the other day, I’m extremely anxious in crowds so I’m not sure on this yet but I really hope I can soon). I’m donating $5 for every protest I could attend but choose not to for that reason. Keep checking HERE […]

Eating Lately via My iPhone

Posted June 11, 2020 / Food & Drink, Personal / Information / Etc. / 1 Comment

Like everyone during quarantine, we’ve been doing a lot of cooking and baking! It’s been so fun to find new meals, work with what we have, and bake tasty (well-deserved) treats. I was inspired by Communikait and her “what I’m eating lately via my iPhone” posts. They’re simple photos of meals she’s had and a little description about the recipe. I made a lot of Cravings recipes since my last What I’m Eating Lately, which were in a dedicated post, but we’ve made a lot of other things in between that will be included here. I’ll also be including more Cravings recipes since that roundup! I bought some fresh lobster from my friend’s dad’s seafood shop/deli a month or two ago because Chris was craving lobster pasta. We have a favorite local spot that has a suuuuper creamy lobster pasta – it’s really good but just too much sometimes. I decided to do a really simple and light one with butter, lemon juice, crushed red pepper, etc. This was our Cinco de Mayo meal of chimichangas with all of the usual dips and sauces. I think I shared this back then but whatever. I also made jalapeno margaritas, which were so delicious. We’ve gotten in the habit of making tasty, huge breakfasts on the weekend since we don’t usually have plans right away. This was a huge, loaded breakfast sandwich that we made a month or so ago. It was so tasty. We made our first journey out to a really tasty ice cream […]