Month: November 2024

Predicting My EOY Reading

Posted November 14, 2024 / Book Lists, Features, TBR Lists / 1 Comment

At the time of writing this post, I’ve read 87 books and am currently reading 3 books. That leaves just 10 books(!!!) between the second half of November and all of December to finish off my Goodreads challenge. If I’m being honest, there’s a good chance I’ll finish more books than this because I have five holiday novellas (plus two other super short/kind of novellas) to read in addition to other full-size books. I thought it would be fun to predict the final ten books of the year if I had to guess, but also share the additional books I think I may realistically read beyond my reading challenge. I knew 100 books would be a challenge since I’ve kept my goal at 80 books the past couple of years. I’ve read some shorter books and novellas to get me over the hump so it would be nice if I can hit 105 or 110 books on the year. Current Reads I’m finishing up reading a cookbook (yes, I read them cover to cover) called WHAT TO COOK WHEN YOU DON’T FEEL LIKE COOKING. I have a Christmassy romance going on my Kindle from Libby called I’LL BE GONE FOR CHRISTMAS, which is super cute as of now. And finally, my physical read mixed with audiobook listening is ONLY IF YOU’RE LUCKY for my in-person book club. I forgot the meeting was already coming this Monday so I had to get going. Holiday Novellas Amazon released another novella series this year, so […]

Recent Reads | Love and Other Conspiracies and Hemlock House

Posted November 8, 2024 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

I saw this book getting some love on Goodreads and decided to request it on a whim from the library. I really haven’t read a lot of romance this year and was hoping to find a win… and boy did this deliver! I absolutely loved this romance – A+, no notes. Hallie is in need of a breakthrough show for her job at Skroll (basically like Buzzfeed I guess but heavy on video content) when she finds a random conspiracy show on TV and falls for the guest of the episode, Hayden. She learns of his successful podcast and immediately thinks he has something special. The two of them begin a show where he discusses conspiracy theories and hunts cryptids. She’s the skeptic and he’s the believer, and their banter on the show quickly turns into something more. I absolutely loved the tension and chemistry in this book. Hayden honestly set the bar high for other romance heroes. He was thoughtful, caring, and sweet at every single turn. Hallie had a horrible previous relationship with her ex that still works at Skroll, so there was a lot of heaviness and gaslighting in this book. It was hard to read and I prefer my romances super fluffy, but the swooniess of everything else overpowered it. I was rooting for Hallie so hard. I knew pretty early on that this was going to be a five-star read and it maintained that level of excellence throughout the entire story. It will certainly go […]

Bookmark Lit Bulletin | October 2024

Posted November 6, 2024 / Bookmark Lit Bulletin, Features, Wrap-Ups / 1 Comment

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. Another weird month for October but generally read a decent amount quantity-wise… just not length-wise! I read a few novellas to flesh out the month since I just never got in a good rhythm with full-length books. I’ll see how the rest of the year goes, I guess. I don’t doubt I’ll reach my Goodreads goal but I do think there will be a lot more novellas unfortunately. I have so many novels I’m excited to read but just can’t make the time! 8 books in October 8 read • 0 reread • 0 DNF Pages read: 1,952 • Average rating: 4.06 stars Genres: 5 mystery/thriller, 2 contemporary, 1 historical fiction Formats: 4 ebook, 3 mixed format, 1 hardcover Sources: 4 Kindle Unlimited, 1 BOTM, 1 library, 1 preordered, 1 purchased Age Target: 7 adult, 1 young adult Here are all the books I read this month with ratings and one-line thoughts! Popsugar Reading Challenge: 40% 52 Book Club: 69% Book Cover Bingo: 84% 24 in 24: 33% Breakdown: 3 hardcovers | 1 paperback | 1 egalley | 2 ebooks | […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #456: Covers

Posted November 5, 2024 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 0 Comments

Books with Flowers on the Cover (TBR Edition) 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 am always a sucker for book cover-related prompts so here I go as usual! I decided to fill in the “blank” on the cover with flowers because duh. I didn’t want to pull the same books you would have seen around here recently so there’s a mix of release dates below. All of these books are on my TBR.