Category: Features

The Aesthetically Pleasing Book Tag

Posted June 22, 2017 / Book Lists, Features, Personal / Information / Etc. / 6 Comments

Man, I have never seen such a perfect book tag for me! I’m so glad Morgan pointed it out to me when I asked for recs on Twitter. She originally saw it on A Kernel of Nonsense and then did it herself too. It’s about boooook coversssss. MY FAVE. Best color combo on a book cover Piper Perish | All We Have Is Now | The Summer After You + Me I’m a big fan of bold colors or watercolors on book covers. These three use color very nicely! I have waaaay too many others on my shelves I could feature here but I was struck by these when I went through my list. I like colors blending together or fading like an ombre. Best typography/font on the cover TATBILB | The One That Got Away | The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend Okay this is something I could have A MILLION for. I’m a huge sucker for fonts and fancy, handwritten typography on book covers. All of the TATBILB covers in the trilogy have the same perfect typography, so I’m including just book one as a placeholder. Clearly I’m a fan of cute cursive! Best simple cover Who Runs the World? | An Unkindness of Magicians | We All Looked Up I know you could argue that the center cover is not simple, by any means, but I love the simple colors mixed with the intricate background. Otherwise, the simple covers shown here get the job done by intriguing the reader (for me […]

(Re)Reading Sarah Dessen | Cover Colors

Posted June 21, 2017 / Features / 1 Comment

Everyone knows that Sarah Dessen is the queen of contemporary romance and adorable (and often darker or more complex), coming-of-age summer stories. I have read and loved most of her books already, but I made it a point recently to read (or in a lot of cases, reread) all of her books. Her books are important to so many people and really are what got many of us into reading contemporary romance books. This summer, Cristina from Girl in the Pages and I have teamed up to talk alllllll about Sarah Dessen – when we started reading her books, our experiences with rereading, and other fun discussions, recommendations, and personal stories. Our feature will take place over 4 weeks this June on Wednesdays (here) and Thursdays (there). Schedule Introduction, Our Sarah Stories, and Discussion of Someone Like You June 7th on Bookmark Lit – June 8th on Girl in the Pages Dessen Recommendations and Similar Stories June 14th on Bookmark Lit – June 15th on Girl in the Pages Blog Features: Cover Colors (BL) and Event Recap (GitP) June 21st on Bookmark Lit – June 22nd on Girl in the Pages Once and For All, Dessen Favorites, and Wrap-Up June 28th on Bookmark Lit – June 29th on Girl in the Pages I decided to feature two covers of Dessen books that haven’t previously been used on the blog. These two are the ones I’m most looking forward to rereading but haven’t yet (because I’m nervous I won’t love them as much!) For these books, […]

Lauren Lately | June 2017

Posted June 16, 2017 / Features, Lauren Lately, Wrap-Ups / 12 Comments

Because my Bookmark Lit Bulletin wrap-ups got out of hand, I wanted to break up my monthly wrap-ups into two posts: one personal and one bookish/bloggy. I created Lauren Lately here to highlight all of the personal happenings in my life: events, activities, shows I’m addicted to, things I’m obsessing over, recipes I’ve loved, and goals for the next month. I decided to space them out so this wrap-up happens around the mid-point of the month and the bookish one happens at the end of the month. ✨ Check out my most recent bookish and bloggy wrap-up HERE ✨ Skatepark reading | Chris hits the skatepark quite a bit during the warm months. I really enjoy going with him so I can watch him skate around and learn new tricks. But… my time there would be very boring without a book. I’ll sit on the bench or top of the ramp to watch him and read. Portland round two | We had an EARLY and LONG day back in Portland, ME for Chris’s sister’s graduation. Lots of stressful things happened but we tried to keep cool heads… otherwise we could have gone crazy. We skipped out for lunch on the water and then helped her pack up the apartment. We also went to check out the local skatepark and skate shop too. Bike riding | We finally grabbed a bike for Chris and my dad put air in my tires, so we’re officially able to ride bikes around! We’ve gone a few times to […]

(Re)Reading Sarah Dessen | Dessen Recs & More

Posted June 14, 2017 / Features / 4 Comments

Everyone knows that Sarah Dessen is the queen of contemporary romance and adorable (and often darker or more complex), coming-of-age summer stories. I have read and loved most of her books already, but I made it a point recently to read (or in a lot of cases, reread) all of her books. Her books are important to so many people and really are what got many of us into reading contemporary romance books. This summer, Cristina from Girl in the Pages and I have teamed up to talk alllllll about Sarah Dessen – when we started reading her books, our experiences with rereading, and other fun discussions, recommendations, and personal stories. Our feature will take place over 4 weeks this June on Wednesdays (here) and Thursdays (there). Schedule Introduction, Our Sarah Stories, and Discussion of Someone Like You June 7th on Bookmark Lit – June 8th on Girl in the Pages Dessen Recommendations and Similar Stories June 14th on Bookmark Lit – June 15th on Girl in the Pages Blog Features: Cover Colors and I Will Go Down with My Ship June 21st on Bookmark Lit – June 22nd on Girl in the Pages Once and For All, Dessen Favorites, and Wrap-Up June 28th on Bookmark Lit – June 29th on Girl in the Pages This week we came up with the broad category of making some recommendations! This could include recommendations for specific Dessen books based on favorite topics or other authors/books, OR it could be recommendations for other books based on your favorite Dessen. Cristina […]

On My List (1)

Posted June 9, 2017 / Features, On My List / 4 Comments

I love Jamie’s New to the Queue feature because it highlights new things she’s added to her different “to do/ read/ watch/ etc.” lists. This new random feature – called simply On My List – will show off the most recent books, movies, shows, podcasts, and other things to make it on my list. Unreleased Hello, Sunshine by Laura Dave | I’ve owned a copy of this author’s debut but haven’t sat down to read it yet, for whatever reason. I saw this one and requested it immediately from Netgalley, so we’ll see how I feel! I love books about celebrities and big secrets being revealed, plus this cover is so summery! Another Place by Matthew Crow | I’ve been on a mystery/thriller kick lately. I love the idea of someone returning home to a not-so-quiet-anymore small town. I don’t often read male authors in YA for a few reasons, so it’ll be interesting to see the “lost girls” premise written by one… RIP Eliza Hart by Alyssa Sheinmel | So again, the mystery thing comes into play. Add in old friends being reunited (one of them being the one who dies), plus boarding school? Totally in. I can’t wait to see what the hell happened to Eliza! Published Happens in the Hamptons by Holly Peterson | Any book involving the Hamptons will probably make it on my TBR. Have I even been there before? No. I just love the idea of beachy/island towns. The Forbidden Garden by Ellen Herrick | First of all, perfect cover. […]

(Re)Reading Sarah Dessen | Introduction and Someone Like You Discussion

Posted June 7, 2017 / Book Lists, Book Reviews, Features / 7 Comments

Everyone knows that Sarah Dessen is the queen of contemporary romance and adorable (and often darker or more complex), coming-of-age summer stories. I have read and loved most of her books already, but I made it a point recently to read (or in a lot of cases, reread) all of her books. Her books are important to so many people and really are what got many of us into reading contemporary romance books. This summer, Cristina from Girl in the Pages and I have teamed up to talk alllllll about Sarah Dessen – when we started reading her books, our experiences with rereading, and other fun discussions, recommendations, and personal stories. Our feature will take place over 4 weeks this June on Wednesdays (here) and Thursdays (there). Schedule Introduction, Our Sarah Stories, and Discussion of Someone Like You June 7th on Bookmark Lit – June 8th on Girl in the Pages Dessen Recommendations and Similar Stories June 14th on Bookmark Lit – June 15th on Girl in the Pages Blog Features: Cover Colors and I Will Go Down with My Ship June 21st on Bookmark Lit – June 22nd on Girl in the Pages Once and For All, Dessen Favorites, and Wrap-Up June 28th on Bookmark Lit – June 29th on Girl in the Pages As I mentioned in my intro paragraph, Sarah Dessen has been my go-to favorite for years and years. I don’t remember the first time I picked up one of her books, but I’m fairly sure it was This Lullaby or The Truth About […]

Bookmark Lit Bulletin | May 2017

Posted June 1, 2017 / Bookmark Lit Bulletin, Features, Wrap-Ups / 10 Comments

The Bookmark Lit Bulletin was created to wrap up each month and prepare for the next. I share my book haul, books I read and reviewed, posts I shared, challenge updates, and more from the previous month. I also let you know what may be coming up on the blog in the coming month. You can read past bulletins here. I recently split out my personal posts into the Lauren Lately feature, so this is a bit shorter! I have to say, reading two books that were over 600 and 800 pages apiece AND getting other reading done was a nice accomplishment. It took me a while to read both due to life obligations (during ACOWAR) and the audio/ebook combo I was doing with THE SWEET FAR THING. I did a good job of reading a few more books in addition, but I wish I got to a few more! I ended the month with a perfect, powerful story (a little book called THE HATE U GIVE — maybe you’ve heard of it? 😏) and didn’t read anything else for two days. Average rating for books read in March: 3.83 stars Highlights & Lowlights This month’s books: Year-Long Contemporary Romance Challenge 5 this month | 37 read total | 176% complete Books read from the pre-planned TBR: 0 this month | 2 total Flights of Fantasy Challenge 3 this month | 15 read total | 60% complete Spring Bingo Challenge All the books: Magic Zenn Diagram – Brant Thriller Blacklist – Noel PoC on cover Always and Forever, […]

June TBR

Posted May 31, 2017 / Book Challenges, Book Lists, Features / 22 Comments

I recently started a monthly TBR feature, where I try to pin down which books I plan to read in the upcoming month. It also helps remind me throughout the month which books I’m supposed to be reading, for various reasons. I add a little poll at the bottom too, so you guys can vote and help me narrow down some of my options as well. Here are my top TBR choices for this month and how I did last month… May Progress May was a pretty good reading month! I had two HUGE books to read between ACOWAR releasing and THE SWEET FAR THING being “due” for my book club. Those two books totaled 1,435 pages. I’m impressed I was able to finish as many books as I did! I’m glad I prioritized some of the May releases I was really looking forward to as well. Definitely a solid job on my May TBR. On Deck for June ARCs to Read Juniper Lemon’s Happiness Index by Julie Israel | The Possible by Tara Altebrando I Believe In a Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo I’ve had a couple of these on my TBR before (and I’m very excited to read them) but keep letting them slide into the following month. I hope to bang all three of these ARCs out before their release date (or at least very close to their release date!). Fingers crossed they’re all awesome, obv. Owned and/or New Releases Just Dreaming by Kerstin Gier […]

My Favorite Instagram Pictures

Posted May 24, 2017 / Book Lists, Features / 9 Comments

I don’t do a lot of fancy bookstagram things. I usually use ~action shots~ to show what I’m currently doing, where I’m currently reading, and especially what I’m currently reading! I like to share my book hauls, the food I’m eating while I read, and other related objects/locations. I don’t do much with props. So, in other words, my bookstagram is actually kind of boring. However! I decided to toot my own horn a little and share my personal favorite Instragram pictures from my account. (I’ve previously shared my favorite other bookstagrammers also, FYI.) A post shared by Lauren • Bookmark Lit (@bookmark_lit) on May 17, 2017 at 10:12am PDT A post shared by Lauren • Bookmark Lit (@bookmark_lit) on Apr 14, 2017 at 12:35pm PDT A post shared by Lauren • Bookmark Lit (@bookmark_lit) on Nov 14, 2016 at 4:38am PST A post shared by Lauren • Bookmark Lit (@bookmark_lit) on Apr 13, 2016 at 4:25am PDT A post shared by Lauren • Bookmark Lit (@bookmark_lit) on Feb 16, 2016 at 4:27am PST A post shared by Lauren • Bookmark Lit (@bookmark_lit) on Oct 16, 2015 at 6:31pm PDT A post shared by Lauren • Bookmark Lit (@bookmark_lit) on Jul 5, 2015 at 12:05pm PDT A post shared by Lauren • Bookmark Lit (@bookmark_lit) on Jul 1, 2015 at 11:52am PDT A post shared by Lauren • Bookmark Lit (@bookmark_lit) on Oct 31, 2014 at 7:58pm PDT

Seriously, How Have I Not Read This Yet?

Posted May 19, 2017 / Discussions, Features / 24 Comments

A lot of books end up on my “jazzed up for this” shelf on Goodreads. I made a whole 2015 challenge about the books I MUST read because I was previously so excited for them. So why do I never read them?! This happens way way way too often. Here are some of the books I’m ashamed to admit I haven’t read even though I’ve been ~so excited~ about them for years. Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour | This was one of those books I added to my TBR riiiiight before I started blogging. I loved the cover and the Hollywood-centered premise. The Catastrophic History of You & Me by Jess Rothenberg | I love books where people are stuck in between life and death, in that kind of ghost-y afterlife watching their friends and family move on. The Art of Lainey by Paula Stokes | This synopsis has me written all over it, but for some reason I haven’t opened it up yet. I even own this book like an asshole, as usual. 17 First Kisses by Rachael Allen | I loooooved the other Rachael Allen book I read and have had this one sitting around for quite some time. I don’t have excuses because this seems perfect for me. Before I Go by Colleen Oakley | Much like the previous one, I read another Colleen Oakley first. BEFORE I GO has been on my shelf for years and the concept sounds great, but I’m not prepared for the sads. My Heart […]