Month: February 2021

March TBR

Posted February 26, 2021 / Book Lists, Features, TBR Lists / 2 Comments
March 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. March TBR I finally got a TBR post up and running in time! There are a ton of books on here, including holdovers from last month and a bunch of review copies, so we’ll see how I fare. I did a good job of reading most of the review copies I promised last time… Owned Books/Audiobooks to Read Yet again: repeats from previous months. Good lord, Lauren. Please read one of these books. INSTANT KARMA, SEX AND VANITY, and MAJESTY are all physical copies I have, plus the first and third are audiobooks I could listen to either on Scribd or Libro.fm. Review Copies I posted an egalley reading plan the other day to inspire me to read my review copies within a reasonable amount of time. FLOAT PLAN, ACCIDENTALLY ENGAGED, AND IT’S KIND OF A CHEESY LOVE STORY are all books publishing in March. THE SUMMER COTTAGE and TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT publish in May and OF PRINCES AND PROMISES comes out in June, but I know I’ll want to read it as soon as possible. Library Books I posted a Library Love post the other day that outlines all of […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #328: LOL

Posted February 23, 2021 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 2 Comments
Top Ten Tuesdays #328: LOL

Books That Made Me LOL 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 keep a “laughed out loud” shelf up on Goodreads for this kind of prompt! I found that whenever I did my year-end summaries (a while back) I would always have to sift through a ton of books to remember which ones made me laugh out loud (or cry or had a nice friendship or had a shock ending etc.). I got sick of it, so I made shelves I could add books to when completed. Here are the ten most recent books that made me laugh out loud. Believe it or not, most of these are prior to 2020!

10 May Releases for Review

Posted February 22, 2021 / Book Lists, Features / 4 Comments
10 May Releases for Review

I finally updated my review copy spreadsheet with some of the books I’ve acquired and never put in from 2020. I’ve been great about updating as things happen in 2021 too. This is my process: when I get a book approval from Netgalley, I immediately send it to my Kindle and update Goodreads shelves (“ARC Kindle” and “owned Kindle” – I know it’s not the same to have a review copy as owning the book, but the “owned” shelf represents ALL of the books I have on my Kindle, so when I need a Kindle book to read I can just select the one shelf). I then go to my 2021 Books spreadsheet and add it in the Acquired tab. And finally, go to my Database of Review Copies spreadsheet and add it in there according to the pub date. I did this the other day when I got four approvals within two days (woof) and realized I currently have TEN review copies to read that are May releases. I share my acquired books and review copies each month, but thought it would be fun to do a round-up of these books, why I’m excited, and when I think I’ll read them! Yes, part of the reason I’m posting this is to hold myself accountable to some kind of schedule to be on time with all of these. I have four publishing on the 4th, three on the 11th, one on the 18th, and two on the 25th, and technically […]

Library Love | February 2021

Posted February 18, 2021 / Features, Library Love, Weekly Memes / 1 Comment
Library Love | February 2021

I created this Library Love series on my blog so I could share current checkouts from the library as well as some of the books I have on hold, hopefully coming into my greedy hands as soon as possible. I thought it would be fun to bring it back around since it’s been so long! I currently have THE COUSINS and VANESSA YU’S MAGICAL TEA SHOP checked out. I read the first one already and haven’t returned it yet lol but the latter is still on my TBR! I’m hoping to get to it very soon. I have a super small town library so the VAST majority of these books are requested through interlibrary loan. That’s why so many are a certain position out of a large number of books. Even when I’m hold #3 on 6 books, for example, I still usually have a while to wait for whatever reason. Here are the books in my queue! A VOW SO BOLD AND DEADLY by Brigid Kemmerer January 2021 – Hold #3 on 6 copies The first two books here have been on hold the longest. I’ve really enjoyed the Cursebreakers series so far and am really excited to read the final book. I’m annoying in that I prefer to own all the books or none of the books (sometimes I’ll buy an ebook depending on price), so I’ve decided to just get this installment from the library. ACROSS THE GREEN GRASS FIELDS by Seanan McGuire January 2021 – Hold #1 on […]

2021 Popsugar Challenge Potential TBR

Posted February 17, 2021 / Book Lists, Features, TBR Lists / 0 Comments
2021 Popsugar Challenge Potential TBR

I’ve posted ideas for this challenge each year that I’ve participated in it. I’ve taken different approaches to it but it primarily serves as a jumping off point for me (and maybe others) to think of books that fit certain prompts. I tend to fill out this challenge as I go, when I read a book and then check the list to see if it fits something, but sometimes I need a little inspiration. Published in 2021 This one is honestly too easy for most people. I’m not even going to suggest any books because I’m sure the majority of people have something for this on their TBR 😉 Afrofuturist Books in this genre “addresses themes and concerns of the African diaspora through technoculture and science fiction” according to Wikipedia. SLAY was on my TBR already and seems to fit the prompt, per the author! I’m really excited about this one. Heart, diamond, club, spade on cover I did a whole post on hearts on book covers for the Valentines Day TTT so check that out for some heart-based image ideas. Knowing me, that’s the direction I’ll go. I’m putting THE HEART PRINCIPLE here because I missed it on my post and it’s probably the one I’m most excited about reading this year. Author with same zodiac sign as you Apparently there are a ton of great Virgo authors! I still have two books to read by Angie Thomas (featuring CONCRETE ROSE here) and a ton of Agatha Christie books […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #327: Mardi Gras

Posted February 16, 2021 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 2 Comments
Top Ten Tuesdays #327: Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras Book Covers Purple, Yellow, and Green 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 did a cover-related freebie for last week’s TTT too but am naturally thrilled to do it again! It’s Mardi Gras today, apparently, so here are some book covers in the Mardi Gras colors of purple, yellow, and green. I decided to do some covers of books on my TBR that haven’t been released yet.

Review Round Up | Behind the Red Door, The Wife Upstairs, and The Cousins

Posted February 10, 2021 / Book Reviews, Review Roundup / 2 Comments
Review Round Up | Behind the Red Door, The Wife Upstairs, and The Cousins

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 met Megan Collins at a book signing/talk when she released THE WINTER SISTER. I didn’t love that book but did enjoy her writing style. Collins is a local Connecticut author who teaches creative writing at the college Chris went to for a bit. I’ll always read and support her books for these reasons! However, this one was definitely a bit disappointing for me. Fern is headed to help her terrible father pack up his house so he can move to Florida. As a character, I enjoyed reading about her – she has major anxiety, has an amazing and thoughtful husband, and works as a social worker. When she and her husband see that Astrid Sullivan, a girl who went missing and returned somewhat unharmed as a child, has gone missing again, Fern feels like she knows her somehow. But how? She starts to find out bits of information from her past, as well as a shared history or common locations with Astrid, when she’s at home with her dad in New Hampshire. There are a ton of suspicious people and red herrings all around New Hampshire and Maine that Collins brings in to divert the reader. There are a lot of times where I SAY that […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #326: Valentines Day

Posted February 9, 2021 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 4 Comments
Top Ten Tuesdays #326: Valentines Day

Valentines Day/Love Freebie: Book Covers with Hearts 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 think you can kind of always count on me to share book covers for TTT freebies, right? I decided for this love/Valentines Day freebie, I would share some of my favorite book covers with hearts on the cover or is super Valentines Day-ish.

February TBR

Posted February 8, 2021 / Book Lists, Features, TBR Lists / 0 Comments
February 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. February TBR Another late TBR post, but here we go. There are a lot of books carrying over AS USUAL but I finally admitted defeat on a few. They’re just going to get bumped off for now. Owned Books to Read All repeats from January and/or February. Whoops. I really hope to get to INSTANT KARMA since Scribd has an audiobook too. I have SEX AND VANITY (physical copy) and MAJESTY (ebook) too, which I’m excited for… but just lazy because they’re long or physical copies. Review Copies I made it my goal to read three egalleys ahead of their pub dates to get them up and running. A PHO LOVE STORY was just published this week so you’ll see that coming here soon. I started reading THE PROJECT last month but it’s taken me a little while. ACCIDENTALLY ENGAGED is coming next month. SNAPPED is another holdover from last year so we’ll see… ugh. Library Books I currently have VANESSA YU’S MAGICAL PARIS TEA SHOP out from the library and the other two (ACROSS THE GREEN GRASS FIELDS and A VOW SO BOLD AND DEADLY) are out on hold. I have […]

Bookmark Lit Bulletin | January 2021

Posted February 5, 2021 / Bookmark Lit Bulletin, Features, Wrap-Ups / 0 Comments
Bookmark Lit Bulletin | January 2021

  The Bookmark Lit Bulletin wraps up the last month in reading and what was on the blog, as well as what’s coming up next. You can check out my book haul, books read, posts shared, challenge updates, etc. You can read past bulletins here. If you’re looking for more personal updates, you can check out my Lauren Lately feature; it highlights my life events and non-bookish fun from the previous 30 days. I’m thrilled to be off to a good start on my Goodreads challenge this year. I stuck with my challenge from last year when I reduced it to 100 books. I have a good feeling about it because I’m not starting super behind like I did last year. I can fairly easily get through 8ish books per month. Here’s how I started off my 2021!      8 books read in December 6 new books  •  2 rereads  •  0 DNF          Pages read: 3217 •   Average rating:  4.25 stars Sources: 3 review, 3 borrowed, 1 BOTM, 1 library Formats: 3 egalley, 2 audio, 2 mixed, 1 hardcover Genres: 3 mystery/thriller, 2 contemporary, 2 fantasy, 1 historical fiction Age Target: 5 adult, 2 new adult, 1 young adult Check out my 2020 challenge sign-up post for more details, goals, etc.! Popsugar Reading Challenge     6 read this month | 6/40 read total Three generations, family tree, free book, do-overs/fresh starts, something broken on cover, gem/mineral/rock in the title A-Z Reading Challenge   6 read this month: A, B, M, R, S, W January: Acquired […]