Reading Life, Habits, and Format Updates

Posted May 9, 2025 / Discussions, Features / 0 Comments

I’m constantly trying to figure out the best way to get my reading done and share the wealth across all of my various platforms and devices. I’ve talked a lot about how I plan my reading and TBRs (and occasionally throw that out the window), as well as the different reading devices I have (primarily Kindle and Boox Palma) and subscriptions I use (Everand, Spotify, etc.). I thought I’d update some of my general reading preferences, book buying habits, reading and listening formats, and more. Reading Formats – When & Why Audiobooks everywhere Audiobooks are my favorite and I do supplement the VAST majority of my reading with them. Spotify’s audiobooks have made this work sooo seamlessly and I’m truly obsessed with the fact that I can access almost any book there and listen to bits and pieces of it. 15 hours is plenty of listening time for me when I only use them in addition to whatever I’m reading physically or digitally. I always check Everand, Libby, and Hoopla for audiobooks though – listening on one of those services/apps is my priority since those don’t count hours like Spotify. Kindle Oasis for egalleys and already-purchased ebooks Like many people, I’m not interested in supporting Amazon any more than I have to. I’ll get into that a little more when I talk about my Boox Palma. I have a Kindle Oasis that I am obsessed with (sorry to my neglected Paperwhite) but I won’t be buying new ebooks from Amazon. […]

Recent Reads | Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales and The Business Trip

Posted May 7, 2025 / Book Reviews, Review Roundup / 0 Comments

Unfortunately I don’t know if this was a victim of my reading slump or if I just didn’t love it as much as the other two, but it took me a LONG time to read this. I started in early March right after it came out and ended up putting it on hold for nearly a month while I finished up some other things. I began it again in earnest in early April and didn’t finish until the last day of the month, when I was DETERMINED to get it done. I think if I had just sat down and actually read it I would have enjoyed it more. In my brain this is still a five-star series if that counts for anything. The story follows Emily and Wendell as they try to fix the curse on his kingdom. I love the two of them plus Shadow and other characters. The pacing of the story was a little off and felt like staccato events happening on and off with some fluff in between. I never felt the real danger or adventure that I felt in the other two books. I can see this being the final installment but am also a little disappointed by the ending if it actually IS the last book. This series is the epitome of cozy fantasy with a litttttle more action. I was debating what thriller to read when I remembered a friend told me how addicting this one was, and I really needed something to […]

Anticipated Upcoming Releases for the Summer

Posted May 5, 2025 / Book Lists, Features / 1 Comment

I know there will be plenty more TBRs for the year and seasonal posts but there are just so many good books coming in the upcoming months that I decided to share some of my most anticipated ones for this summer! Hopefully you can add some to your list. May 6th May 13th May 20th & 27th June 3rd & 10th June 17th June 24th & July 1st July 15th & July 22nd July 29th August 5th August 12th August 26th

Bookmark Lit Bulletin | April 2025

Posted May 2, 2025 / Bookmark Lit Bulletin, Features, Wrap-Ups / 0 Comments

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. My reading slump unfortunately continued into April! Good lord. Instead of forcing myself to read random short things or cookbooks, I just let it happen. My reading calendar is a staggered mess because I didn’t even read a book every single day. My goal for May is to actually pick up a book – even for a few pages or driving with an audiobook – every day. 5 books in April 5 read • 0 reread • 0 DNF Formats: 5 mixed format Status/source: 2 library, 2 preordered, 1 review Age Target: 5 adult Here are all the books I read this month with ratings! 25 in 25: 30% 52 Book Club: 44% Buzzword Reading Challenge: 50% Buzzword Cover Challenge: 67% Breakdown: 5 hardcovers | 1 paperback | 4 egalleys | 2 ebooks | 0 audiobooks All review copies were provided for free in exchange for an honest review. Physical Books From Aardvark: Any Trope But You by Lavine, The Tainted Cup and A Drop of Corruption by Bennett Preordered/release event: Great Big Beautiful Life by Henry, Tell Me […]

May TBR

Posted May 1, 2025 / Book Lists, Features, TBR Lists / 0 Comments

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. May TBR Reading my summary here from the April TBR post was depressing. I wanted to get back to reading more than 8-9 books a month and instead I read half of that. Genuinely so sad. My reading slump continues. I know my life is going to get crazier over the next few months so I should be nice to be myself but I hope I can get back to reading more. Review Copies A couple of holdovers from last month that I didn’t get to thanks to my slump – THE SEVEN O’CLOCK CLUB and A PROPOSAL TO DIE FOR. The rest of these come out in the month of May so I really hope to get on track with my egalleys. I’ve honestly done better in 2025 than other years but April/May being huge release months combined with me not reading much… not a recipe for success. Preorders & New Releases I’ve preordered THE MISSING HALF and ONE GOLDEN SUMMER and those arrive within the next week or two. I plan to buy NO ONE WAS SUPPOSED TO DIE AT THIS WEDDING on or near release day […]

Recent Reads | The Maid’s Secret and Great Big Beautiful Life

Posted April 29, 2025 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

This series is a really fun time. Molly the Maid has solved now 3.5 mysteries around the Regency Grand Hotel and I thinkkk this may be her final one? Not sure if other books have been announced but this really feels like a last book. This was another generally enjoyable installment in this series, but definitely my least favorite. The story alternates between Molly’s daily life/the overall mystery and her gran’s diary entries. Unfortunately I wasn’t super invested in either timeline, but I especially didn’t enjoy the diary entries. I thought they were so boring. Yes, it helps move the story along in some ways, but I wasn’t at all invested. I think the main mystery was a little lame as well. I never felt like the stakes were really high and the story was just kind of plodding along. I think the series has run its course from a plot perspective but I have to be honest – I would read additional books if they were to come out. As I’ve said a hundred times before, there are a few authors where I am ANXIOUSLY awaiting their next release and can guarantee I’ll read them during pub week (or early enough if I get an egalley). These days that includes Emily Henry, Christina Lauren, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Carley Fortune, and Abby Jimenez. Typically these authors (for the most part) get fairly rave reviews but Henry and Jimenez always do…especially for me. 2025 has been weirdly polarizing for those two […]

Recent Reads | Swept Away and Magpie Murders

Posted April 23, 2025 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

I’ve loved quite a few of O’Leary’s books but actually DNFed her last release – for whatever reason the story just wasn’t clicking for me and I haven’t felt pulled to start it again. I was really hoping to get back on track with her for this novel and I’m happy to report that happened! The story follows Zeke and Lexi as they deal with the aftermath of a one-night stand. They realize when they wake up in the morning that the houseboat they were using has somehow gotten untied and was swept out to see. They don’t have power, they’re running out of food, and – to top it all off – they literally don’t know each other at all. Obviously the premise alludes to a bit of a survival story but for some reason I didn’t realize how intense it would be! I kind of just assumed they’d get rescued in a few days but there was actually a lot of peril and accidents to deal with. Some early reviews had folks unprepared for this and it affected their enjoyment, but I still really enjoyed it. It’s just not a straightforward fluffy romance. The ending had some twists that I didn’t see coming (which makes me feel like an idiot because maybe they were obvious?). It took a little while to get on board with those reveals but I was pretty pleased by the end of the book with how everything turned out. This was a super emotional […]

Sunday Post #5 – She’s Back?

Posted April 13, 2025 / Sunday Post, Weekly Memes / 2 Comments

The Sunday Post is hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where you share news about your blog on a weekly basis. It can include what you’ve been reading, what you’ve posted, what’s coming up next, and any books you added to your shelves! I did four of these back in 2015 and clearly fell off. They’re meant to be a weekly link-up but I know I’d never keep up with that at this point in my life! I thought it would be fun to occasionally highlight some things I’ve been up to since I rarely – if ever – share about my life on here anymore? I used to do monthly personal life recaps but they just haven’t happened in years. Without further ado, let’s give this a go again! It’s hard to know where to even begin since I haven’t talked about my life in ages on here. My last Lauren Lately was in March 2020… a literal lifetime ago for so many reasons. I did some DITL posts and a big life recap post in 2021 as well as a Currently installment in 2023, but that’s it! Without getting into the million little things and very few big things since 2023, let’s just go with the last few weeks or 2025 in general. (UConn) Basketball UCONN WOMENS BASKETBALL WON THE NATTY AGAIN! We got so into basketball this season and I became way too invested in Paige Bueckers winning her national championship before graduating. All of the girls […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #469: Springy Covers

Posted April 8, 2025 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 1 Comment

Springy Covers 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’m a huge sucker for a book with flowers and cute springy vibes! These are some of my favorites from the last couple of years, including books releasing soon.

Recent Reads | The Searcher and The Lodge

Posted April 7, 2025 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

My book club is really getting me out of my comfort zone at times but so far it hasn’t been a successful endeavor lol. I guess I just know what I like, and this kind of book is not it. The books that were already on my TBR when we selected them have generally worked out pretty well, and the two books I’ve read ONLY because of the club… not so much. Why do we need to read about annoying men? This book follows Cal Hooper, a retired Chicago cop who moves to Ireland to fix up an old house and live quietly post-divorce. When a young boy approaches him one day and asks for help looking for his missing brother, Cal can’t resist helping him out. Unfortunately, this was SO INCREDIBLY BORING. I could truly sum up the plot in three sentences (just add one to the paragraph above that describes the ending) and yet I had to read almost 500 pages. Even the reveal at the end was incredibly obvious. Most reviews were surprised by it but I thought it was pretty glaring who was involved. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I just don’t like reading about men. Or cops / ex-cops. Or guns and hunting. Unfortunately all three of these things were present in spades. Tana French wrote Cal Hooper in a way that a lot of men write women – stereotypically and frustratingly. Did we really need to hear about him adjusting […]