Category: Features

Bookmark Lit Bulletin | May 2020

Posted June 1, 2020 / 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. Lol if I thought April was bad, check out May. Yes, I managed to complete 9 books… but two were cookbooks, one was a small coffee table book, and another was a graphic novel. I just couldn’t focus on reading most of the time but I finished a few books in one sitting basically. Idk what’s going on anymore. I really wanted to finish a 10th book over the weekend but spent all of my time online following and supporting the protests instead of being able to focus on books. 9 books read in May 9 new books • 0 rereads • 0 DNF Pages read: 2,480 • Average rating: 4.1 stars Sources: 7 for review, 1 gifted, 1 Book of the Month Formats: [Review] 2 egalleys and 0 physical ARCs 3 hardcover, 1 paperback, 0 ebook, 2 audio, 1 combo Genres: 4 nonfiction, 3 contemporary, 1 mystery/thriller, 1 graphic novel Age Target: 6 adult, 3 young adult, 0 middle grade, 0 new adult Check out my 2020 challenge sign-up post for more details, goals, etc.! Popsugar Reading Challenge 0 read […]

Bookmark Lit Bulletin | April 2020

Posted May 1, 2020 / 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. Good lord, folks – my reading has been so back and forth this month. Chris suggested a few times to just stop forcing myself to read certain things, take a break from the book causing a slump, and read something you’re really excited about. I did this for BEACH READ and DATE ME, BRYSON KELLER and each time I was inspired to keep reading right afterwards. Sometimes certain books are just magical, folks. I knew I would finish the month still behind on my challenge, but I at least wanted to read 10 books to get “back on track” in that way. 9 books read in April 9 new books • 0 rereads • 0 DNF Pages read: 3,094 • Average rating: 4.1 stars Sources: 7 for review, 1 gifted, 1 Book of the Month Formats: [Review] 6 egalleys and 0 physical ARCs 1 hardcover, 1 paperback, 0 ebook, 0 audio, 1 combo Genres: 5 contemporary, 2 mystery/thriller, 1 graphic novel, 1 historical Age Target: 6 adult, 3 young adult, 0 middle grade, 0 new adult Check out my 2020 challenge sign-up […]

May TBR

Posted April 30, 2020 / Book Lists, Features, TBR Lists / 2 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. Last month’s progress: SIGH. WHAT IS READING?! I go through phases where I read a REALLY good book and it inspires me to read 1-2 more in a row, and then I stop reading for like a week. It’s frustrating as hell. I actually didn’t fully stick to my TBR last month either because I kept switching things around for the Magical Readathon, which I did complete! Woohoo! I also managed to read all of the egalleys I listed in my review copy section, except for one. Another score! Non-Review April Leftovers I had this listed last month for the Magical Readathon (and other reasons) but I never got to them. I’m keeping THE DECK OF OMENS, HOUSE OF EARTH AND BLOOD, and THE ART OF LAINEY on my May TBR, but I’m not sure that I’ll read them… as usual. I’m hoping to get to DECK as soon as possible since I have the audio and physical copy to mix in throughout the month. Review Copies Super impressed that I read all of my egalleys last month except one! This month has a lot of new releases but there were quite a few […]

On My List (9)

Posted April 9, 2020 / Features, On My List / 2 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, recipes, crafts, and other things to make it on my to-do list. These are the things I’m hoping to get to in the near future. Currently Available The Jetsetters by Ward | I saw this come up on Scribd and was intrigued by the title, so I went over to Goodreads to check it out. I wasn’t totally sold on the synopsis but I feel like I saw a good review somewhere and decided to go back and add it. Frozen Beauty by Hillyer | It’s kind of funny that I’m adding this after seeing a three-star review (not a raving one) but I was intrigued enough to add it. I’ve been having a lot of success with the kind of mystery/thriller books lately and it’s really what’s getting me through reading lately. Freaky in Fresno by Crompton | I liked Laurie Boyle Crompton’s other book well enough and think her inspiration from 80’s movies is really fun. This is a Freaky Friday kind of premise, so I’m sold. Unreleased Books Head Over Heels by Orenstein | I’m intrigued by this premise because of the gymnastics and Massachusetts hometown return. I don’t think I also need to tell you that these illustrated covers keep sucking me in. I wish this one had a […]

Magical Readathon 2020 – OWLS Tracking

Posted April 6, 2020 / Book Challenges, Features / 0 Comments

As you saw in my sign-up post, I’m joining the OWLS readathon! I’ve decided to become a Hogwarts Professor focusing on Muggle Studies. This career choice allowed me the most flexibility with the prompts, as you’ll see below. Career Choice / Prompts Courses for my career I chose the Hogwarts Professor of Muggle Studies for my career. With this choice, I need to take seven classes total. Defense Against the Dark Arts and the course for my chosen subject (Muggle Studies) are the required classes, and then I can take five more of my choosing! Like I said, this allowed for the most flexibility for me in my reading choices and TBR. We’ll see if I can get all twelve done though! For NEWTS later in the year, I will need to get an O in the subject I’m teaching (Muggle Studies), E in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and at least two A’s in secondary subjects of my choosing. All of the options and TBR Here’s a reminder of the list of potential courses to take and the book-related prompts for them. I’m also including the books I chose as POSSIBLE TBR options for them. As always with my mood reading, this is subject to change! Ancient Runes // Heart rune: heart on the cover or in the title // The Honey-Don’t List Arithmancy // Magical qualities of number two: balance/opposites – read something outside your favorite genre // Deck of Omens Astronomy // Night classes: read majority of this […]

Bookmark Lit Bulletin | March 2020

Posted April 1, 2020 / 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. March was a bit off too still, which is okay. I’m going to give myself some grace during this time. I know I tend to read more when the weather is nice and I can go on the porch, so hopefully that turns out to be true this summer. We’re dealing with a lot right now and, as I discussed HERE, reading can be hard at times. I’m excited to begin the OWLS next month so I can be motivated to read more! 9 books read in March 8 new books • 0 rereads • 1 DNF Pages read: 3,102 • Average rating: 3.7 stars Sources: 6 for review, 1 library book, 1 borrowed, 1 owned Formats: [Review] 3 egalleys and 0 physical ARCs 0 hardcover, 0 paperbacks, 0 ebook, 0 audio, 6 combos Genres: 4 contemporary, 3 mystery/thriller, 1 fantasy, 1 paranormal Age Target: 4 adult, 5 young adult, 0 middle grade Check out my 2020 challenge sign-up post for more details, goals, etc.! Popsugar Reading Challenge 3 read this month | 20/40 read total Prompts read: Published in 2020, about a book […]

April TBR

Posted March 30, 2020 / Book Lists, Features, TBR Lists / 3 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. Last month’s progress: Woof y’all. Yes, I did a good job of sticking directly to my TBR for the most part (especially where it counts, like the review copies and blog tours)… but my reading is still kind of shitty. There are some moments or days where I’m in the mood to read, but the whole COVID-19 thing has not motivated me. I wrote a post on this actually. Anywaysss I’m behind on my reading challenge and just hoping this is a season of poor reading instead of a permanent change in my reading life. We’ll see! Magical Readathon I signed up for the Magical Readathon (OWLS) the other day and listed a whole TBR over there to meet the prompts to become a Professor of Muggle Studies at Hogwarts 🧙🏼‍♀️🧹🤓 These books all fall under various potential prompts for the readathon, which you can read about on that post instead. THE DECK OF OMENS comes out this month and I’m super excited for it. HOUSE OF EARTH AND BLOOD is from last month – more on that later. THE ART OF LAINEY is a super backlist book I have to read […]

Reading Lately /// Isolation

Posted March 26, 2020 / Discussions, Features / 2 Comments

Like a lot of bookish people, I was excited to dive in to a LOT of good books during self-isolation, quarantine, lockdown – whatever you want to call it. I’ve found that my shitty reading habits have continued from February though and I haven’t finished nearly as many books as I normally would. I find myself browsing my phone, wallowing in the news/social media, playing Candy Crush, and watching Chris play Animal Crossing. It’s just so hard to focus for a few reasons, which I’ll get into below. But! I won’t just use this spur-of-the-moment blog post to whine. I’m going to make myself think of a few solutions too. Problems Unmotivated to read in the first place I’ve had a weird reading year so far. It could be general reading burnout from the past handful of years, reading and reading and doing nothing else. It could be King of Crows being the only thing I wanted to read in January and then the only thing I could think about when I finished reading in February. Either way, that book got me, y’all. I just don’t want to read. I’ve been unmotivated BEFORE all of this started and clearly that’s continuing. This situation is just not helping like I thought it might. Mind-numbing games/media > books I get sucked into the news throughout the day, but primarily first thing in the morning when I catch up on things I missed. I just hate it. I’m doing what I personally can by […]

Lauren Lately | March 2020

Posted March 13, 2020 / Features, Lauren Lately, Wrap-Ups / 4 Comments

You can read my monthly Bookmark Lit Bulletin wrap-ups to learn about the bookish and blog-related things I’ve accomplished. Lauren Lately was created 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. What I’ve Been Up To When I last shared some updates, I had just headed to Maine to visit my sister and watch the new TATBILB movie. We’re into mid-March, so here’s what I’ve been doing over the last month! We went to the Sugar Factory in Foxwoods Casino for Valentine’s Day and got some apps and a huuuge drink to share. We roamed the casino afterwards and played a bit of video roulette. Chris had bought me flowers a few days early too! We’ve been trying to get out of the house more, as usual, so we had our Friday date night at Mill on the River and followed it up with our favorite brewery. Chris went to the skatepark one weekend and I read my book at Starbucks nearby for a bit. We’ve been back to our other favorite brewery for a snack and a few beers, ran some errands, and followed it up with milkshakes at a local old-school diner kind of place. We went for a nice walk on the trail near our house on a nice Sunday. We’ve been watching the XFL and some movies, plus I got addicted to Love is Blind – more on those later. We had some breakfast in bed last weekend before heading to the Eric Carle Museum of […]

Simplification

Posted March 12, 2020 / Discussions, Features / 1 Comment

I’ve been thinking about this word a lot lately, both in my reading life and in my personal life. I spoke a bit about it in a recent Five on Fridays post but I’m really trying to find ways to SIMPLIFY. I know I said my word of the year would be SAVE, but I’m adding this one too. (I think I mentioned in that post that saving wasn’t just about money, but also about saving time and frustration. The same thing as simplifying if you ask me!) When it comes to reading, I sometimes enjoy being incredibly organized and scheduled out. But, as my tweets say above, that only helps me when I’m in the mood to read. When I WANT to read. If I’m behind or not in the mood to read, having TBRs and reading schedules absolutely does not motivate me to read. When I’m in a reading rut due to my schedules and TBRs, the only thing that can break me out of it is reading a book I REALLY want to read. When I finished KING OF CROWS, I knew it was going to linger and ruin some other books for me. On top of that, I didn’t finish a book *before* its pub date, so I ended up being quite behind on my monthly numbers by the time I finally finished it. I slogged through a couple of reads afterwards and really struggled to find the desire to read. I started going to the […]