Month: January 2023

Top Ten Tuesdays #394: Freebie

Posted January 31, 2023 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 8 Comments
Top Ten Tuesdays #394: Freebie

Freebie: Recent/Upcoming Covers I Love 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. Three things are certain: death, taxes, and Lauren using a freebie TTT to talk about book covers. This week, I’m just sharing a quick snapshot of some books that just came out (within the last 6 months or less) and upcoming releases with covers I love. I keep track of these here on Goodreads if you want to check any of these books out!

New-To-Me Authors from 2022 I’m Excited to Read From Again

Posted January 30, 2023 / Book Lists, Features / 2 Comments
New-To-Me Authors from 2022 I’m Excited to Read From Again

Inspired by the recent TTT about new-to-me authors from 2022, I thought it would be fun to talk about the NEXT books I’m excited to read by those authors. Not all of these books are 2023 releases so you’ll see a few “oh dang I should read their backlist books” titles on here too. Some of them are missing and don’t have an upcoming release announced. 2023 or Later Releases I’m pumped to already have a review copy of Katy Birchall’s next release, THE LAST WORD. I’m not mad about anything that claims to be a mashup of THE HATING GAME and BEACH READ. It’s enemies-to-lovers, obviously. I also have another backlist title by Birchall in my next section. As I talk about below, Ashley Winstead has both romance and mystery books in her backlist and as upcoming releases. She has two announced books – MIDNIGHT IS THE DARKEST HOUR and THE BOYFRIEND CANDIDATE. I don’t know if they’re coming out in 2023 or later but I’m going to keep them here just in case. I’m absolutely jacked up for MEET ME AT THE LAKE. I told myself there was no way that EVERY SUMMER AFTER was as good as people kept saying… and it was. I read it in one sitting. I’m really excited to see if her next release lives up to all the hype. Talk about a gorgeous cover, too! Lucy Clarke’s ONE OF THE GIRLS surprised me in a really good way! I’m not as excited […]

The Rise of Cozy Reads (Recs, TBR, and Other Media)

Posted January 27, 2023 / Book Lists, Discussions, Features / 2 Comments
The Rise of Cozy Reads (Recs, TBR, and Other Media)

The latest book trend in the past couple of years has been around all things COZY. It can mean something different to everyone and encompass a number of genres, but lately it’s all about the cozy mysteries and cozy fantasy books. (Hell, even romance books are getting lighter – I’ve noticed with many that I’ve read in the past few years, the “black moment” is not as big and dramatic as other books I’ve read in the past. The couple has a reasonable issue to fight through and the drama is lower.) All of my favorite booktubers have also hopped on this genre trend, with tons of themed reading vlogs and recommendation lists coming out regularly. I, for one, love it. I wrote about my fascination with and interest in cozy mysteries (books and movies) a few years ago and have always added them to my TBR. I also have discussed companion series set in cute, cozy, small towns. I haven’t really gotten to cozy fantasies yet but I’ve added a ton to my list. I finally made a Goodreads shelf specifically for “cozy reads” of all genres for when I really just need it in my life. So why this trend now? I think the last few years have been hard on all of us, collectively, with the pandemic and state of the world. (Realistically ever since 2016…) We all want something lighter, something cozy, and something comfortable sometimes. I remember when the hygge moment took the world by […]

Most Anticipated Reads of 2022 – How Did I Do?

Posted January 26, 2023 / Book Lists, Features / 2 Comments
Most Anticipated Reads of 2022 – How Did I Do?

Last year’s post was a bit more detailed because I was looking at my “five star predictions” – I forgot to do that one for 2022 so this is mostly through other posts instead. TTTs always have some “most anticipated” book prompts and my seasonal TBRs usually include them for each season of new releases. I’m also going to include books from my “jazzed up for this” shelf on Goodreads – the books I’m most excited about land on there. I did cull these a little bit since it got out of hand and many of them weren’t truly my most anticipated. Overall Stats 37 books on my most anticipated lists for 2022 Read 15 books (41%) | Didn’t read 22 books (59%) Ratings of books read: 5 stars = 3 books = 20% 4.5 stars = 2 books = 13% 4 stars = 7 books = 47% 3.5 stars = 1 book = 7% 3 stars = 1 book = 7% DNF = 1 book = 6% Books I Managed to Read Overall, a pretty good job here! I didn’t read as many books as I thought I would from this fake most-anticipated list, but it does have a lot to do with overall number of books read. I only read 75 books in 2022 again. In any case, here’s how the breakdown of ratings worked: 5 Stars 4.5 Stars 4 Stars Under 4 Stars Above in order: 3.5 stars – 3 stars – DNF Books I Didn’t Get […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #393: New-To-Me Authors

Posted January 24, 2023 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 10 Comments
Top Ten Tuesdays #393: New-To-Me Authors

Favorite New-to-Me Authors of 2022 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 was fun to reflect on! It also inspired me to write a post about books I’m excited to read in 2023 from some of these authors, since quite a few of them have new/upcoming releases too! Here are the authors I read for the first time that I really enjoyed this year – there are a few other new-to-me authors and books I cut to keep this to ten, but this is really the true list of top faves! Ashley Winstead / Kate Spencer / Katy Birchall Carley Fortune / Lucy Clarke / Helena Greer / Holly Miller Kirsten Miller / Catherine Steadman / Emily Stone

Review Round Up | The Villa, The Stolen Heir, and Lunar Love

Posted January 23, 2023 / Book Reviews, Review Roundup / 2 Comments
Review Round Up | The Villa, The Stolen Heir, and Lunar Love

I’ve been following Rachel Hawkins for years – from her YA work to today’s adult mystery/suspense fiction – and she remains a lowkey favorite of mine. This book sealed the deal for me and she is still cemented as an auto-buy author. Some early reviews are a bit mixed but I actually liked both timelines: one takes place in the 70s during the original murder and the other is present day with two best friends staying at the villa. The book was very tense throughout, where you know something bad is going to happen in at least one timeline but probably both. I really loved the ending: it totally surprised me. It’s not really a true mystery or thriller but more of a suspense novel, which is definitely still a fun ride. I couldn’t put it down and was always so curious to see what would happen next. The mashup of comps at the bottom of the synopsis (“Inspired by Fleetwood Mac, the Manson murders, and the infamous summer Percy and Mary Shelley spent with Lord Byron at a Lake Geneva castle––the birthplace of Frankenstein”) all feel accurate based on m limited knowledge of those three. I would say my own personal comparison is like a much darker version of Daisy Jones and the Six haha. I love Holly Black and her writing so much. There’s truly nothing better than falling back into a familiar world, especially when you thought your time with it was over! THE STOLEN HEIR kicks […]

Books on My TBR That *Aren’t* Contemporary or Mystery/Thrillers

Posted January 20, 2023 / Book Lists, Features, TBR Lists / 8 Comments
Books on My TBR That *Aren’t* Contemporary or Mystery/Thrillers

95% of my TBRs include contemporary books and mystery/thriller/suspense-types. Anything under fantasy or science fiction umbrellas tend to be graphic novels, and my nonfiction reads are always cookbooks. I’ve been reading a lot less than usual so I tend to avoid “heavy” or slower books, which I tend to associate with fantasy. Since 2020, I’ve only read 14 fantasy novels (which includes a *reread* of the ACOTAR series), plus 6 more books that were paranormal-ish or lighter fantasy). Looking at one of my genre pie charts from the past few years, the fictional (novels only) books outside of contemporary and mystery/thriller account for only 10% of my reads! Over the past couple of years, my fantasy/paranormal reads have only included books by SJM (rereads included), the next book in the WAYWARD CHILDREN series, anything by Holly Black or Libba Bray or Leigh Bardugo, and a few other random reads. In my quest to add more 2023 books to my Goodreads TBR, I found a lot of fun fantasy novels (and some sci-fi or other genres) and thought THIS post would be a great place to share those books. I hope it inspires me to pick up more non-contemporary or non-mystery books in 2023. Recently Published (2022) Some of these are by favorite/previously read authors like Susan Dennard, Holly Black, Brigid Kemmerer, Jenna Evans Welch, and Sandhya Menon. Others are new to me and recommended by various lists, booktubers, etc. over the last year. Backlist Titles Kind of the same thing […]

Currently 1/19

Currently 1/19

I haven’t done one of these since 2021 (these latest prompts stolen from Hannah at So Obsessed With) and wanted to share a little more about my life and what’s been going on lately. Lauren Lately kind of fell by the wayside thanks to Covid (literally my last one was March 2020…) and we’ll see if I plan to ever bring it back. I thought this would be a nice way to capture how I’m feeling right now! Bookish I’m thrilled that my love for reading is back. I’m feeling so much less slumpy than the past two years. I think it took a lot out of me always being behind on my Goodreads goal (such a stupid thing to care about that much but I can’t help it!) and I just never wanted to sit and read, thinking it was fruitless or putting too much pressure on myself to get back on track. 2023 feels like a fresh slate for reading and I’m feeling so good! Currently reading: At the time of writing this, I’m reading LUNAR LOVE. I told Chris about it when I was debating which books to read in order this month and he told me I better get going on the Lunar New Year-ish book so it’ll be done by our celebration with his family on the 21st! This is super cute and I’ve been blazing through it. I’m assuming I’ll be done with it by the time this post goes up. Currently audiobook-ing: Soooo thrilled […]

Library Love | January 2022

Posted January 18, 2023 / Features, Library Love, Weekly Memes / 2 Comments
Library Love | January 2022

My last post in this series was February 2021! It’s funny because out of the books I featured in that post, I ended up reading the majority of them in other formats instead from the library lol. I’ll admit that I’m not always the best at reading library books before they need to get returned. I’m hoping to be better about that this year! Here are the latest books I currently have checked out and those on hold. DAISY DARKER by Alice Feeney | I kept mixing this title up with ONE OF THE GIRLS (which I read/finished on my honeymoon last year), so I was thinking I had a review copy of it. Nope. My mom read it recently and pushed me to get to it sooner rather than later! I went in to pick up a library hold and spotted it on the shelf. I’ve never read Alice Feeney, which seems a bit crazy because every booktuber I watch likes her books. EMILY WILDE’S ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF FAERIES by Heather Fawcett | This is the book I was heading in to pick up when I spotted the previous book on my list. I saw a booktuber post about it as an anticipated release and knew I needed it in my life. Maybe it’s an unpopular opinion, but faerie-related fantasy books are my favorite. I’ve been fascinated by faeries since I was a kid. Anyways, hoping this one lives up to my own hype! TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW by Gabrielle […]

Bookmark Lit Bulletin | December 2022

Posted January 16, 2023 / Bookmark Lit Bulletin, Features, Wrap-Ups / 0 Comments
Bookmark Lit Bulletin | December 2022

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 an annoying person that feels like they have to complete everything… so even though we’re halfway through January, here’s my December wrap-up. To be fair, I read a HUGE amount of books to finish off 2022 strong and complete my Goodreads challenge, so I can let myself get some credit here! I read 7 books in November and *17* books in December lol.      17 books in November 17 read  •  0 rereads  •  0 DNF Pages read: 4068 •   Average rating: 3.97 stars Sources: 12 borrowed, 2 review, 2 purchased, 1 BOTM Formats: 9 ebooks, 3 mixed, 2 egalleys, 1 hardcover, 1 paperback, 1 audiobook Genres: 9 contemporary, 6 science fiction, 2 mystery/thriller Age Target: 11 adult, 6 young adult Check out my 2022 challenge sign-up post for more details, goals, etc.! Popsugar Reading Challenge 1 read this month | 33/40 read total Sapphic book Calendar of Crime Challenge  Holiday in the month Breakdown: 4 purchased  | 0 library books | 1 free/gifted | 4 for review All review copies were provided for free in exchange for an honest review. For […]