Category: Features

Organization Part Six: Goodreads II

Posted March 28, 2016 / Discussions, Features / 14 Comments

Inspired by my recent organizational acquisitions (and posts by Hannah), I wanted to share some information about how I keep myself organized – primarily for blogging and reading, but also a little about my personal organization, too. Part Six: Organizing My Goodreads Shelves (II) Yeah. My most recent organizational post was about Goodreads too. I’m already ready for a little update because I’ve made some GREAT changes to help me further organize my TBR. I talked on Friday about how many problems I have with actually creating and sticking with a TBR, so today will show a couple ways I’ve worked towards fixing that issue. It’s not a perfect system because I’ll never have a strict TBR, but it helps a lot. In the previous Goodreads organization post I also shared links for more Goodreads organization posts by some other bloggers, so I’ll do that here for your reference again: Brittany’s, Bekka’s, Hannah’s. This one is specifically about two new shelves I recently created that help me manage my TBR and keep track of books I’m excited to read. TBR-Next | an exclusive shelf Do you want to hear something really stupid? When I first saw people like Danielle creating exclusive shelves on Goodreads to mark what books they’re planning to read next, I thought it was a great idea to keep your TBR ideas in one place. I made a shelf and it lasted like a day or to. The reason? I hated having to scroll down on my Goodreads app to click to access […]

TBR Planning Issues and Required Reading

Posted March 25, 2016 / Discussions, Features / 23 Comments

I always have a very, very general idea of what books I want to read within the upcoming weeks. There are definitely times where I’m like “wait… what the hell should I read next?!” … but those times are few and far between lately. And usually, when those moments happen, it’s just because I can’t decide which books out of a certain ~group~ of books I want to read NEXT. I always have some idea. This is especially true for the different “required reading” books I have each month. My problem though is spacing out books correctly and WHEN to read certain things. Each month, there are a few bookish events that I take part in. They always require reading a book by a certain time or within a certain timeframe. These ones are usually able to be planned for with my TBR but sometimes things get in the way (like ARC tour books – they always surprise me…) The books I know I will have to read by certain dates include: Last Wednesday of the month: Book Buddies Review book selection Mid-to-late-month (dates often change): Book club (IRL) book selection Whenever they come in, within a week: ARC tour books Whenever I have them planned: Blog tour review books / posts So each month, by the middle or end of the month, I have 2 books to read – one for book club and one for Book Buddies. My issue is that I usually don’t start reading them until the week before (or a […]

Cover Colors: Meant to Be

Posted March 24, 2016 / Cover Colors, Features / 12 Comments

It’s no secret that I’m obsessed with book covers. I love the colors, the typography, the different designs that cover artists can create. I even have a guest post feature where people share their favorite book covers and bookmarks! I decided to start up this random feature where I draw color inspiration from my favorite book covers. I may create an outfit, pick out some nail polish, or design a quote graphic. Today’s cover is… Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill This cover is so adorable and colorful – I had to keep the outfit really bright. Honestly I would probably wear this on Easter because of all the pastels! I love the necklace and how the backpack ties everything together. You definitely need a bag like this if you were trekking around London, as well as comfy flats instead of heels. Meant to Be by bookmarklit featuring pink tops What do you think? Perfect for this upcoming Easter weekend, no?

Clean Sweep ARC Challenge and Bookish Bingo Readathon Sign-Ups

Posted March 19, 2016 / Book Challenges, Features / 3 Comments

Here today signing up for two challenges/readathons for April and May! Clean Sweep ARC Challenge This is something I am in desperate need of. I told myself I would be picky with challenges this year, and the Clean Sweep ARC Challenge is making the cut for sure. I have so many ARCs still leftover from ALA Midwinter, some that have already been published (both from ALA and eARCs), and some blog tour books coming up. At the time of posting this, my ARC TBR is a bit huge. I’m sure I’ll knock some off by the time May comes around, but I am so in for this challenge to finish up the rest. Hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer and Kristin @ Addicted to Happily Ever After For the fourth year in a row during the month of May we will be challenging you to get those advanced reading copies read! These can be e-arc’s, finished copies, audio and physical arcs. (regardless of release date) As an added bonus you will be able to schedule advanced reviews and free up your time to enjoy the warmer weather. To make things fun there will be 24 hour readathon and a grand prize for a 2016 release. So roll up your sleeves grab your brooms and check your NetGalley stats, Edelweiss haul and those books you’ve meant to review in your ARC TBR pile..because it’s time to make a CLEAN SWEEP! Some rules I’m highlighting so I don’t forget the big ones: ARC’s must be read between May 1st, […]

New & Upcoming Books I’m Super Excited For

Posted March 18, 2016 / Discussions, Features / 14 Comments

I never highlight new or upcoming releases (unless it’s a TTT topic!) because I just didn’t give myself enough time on my blogging calendar for fun posts like this. I always love adding new books to my TBR and creeping on other people’s posts like this, so here’s my own! This list will include 2016 books that have already been released, as well as plenty that still need to come into the world. A few related posts that may be of interest to you: Anticipated Books in the First Half of 2016 • Anticipated Debut Books in 2016 • Anticipated Romances in the First Half of 2016 The Bucket List to Mend a Broken Heart by Anna Bell // From what I can gather, this one is published in the UK but I’m able to get a Kindle copy… so that’s cool! It just came out this month and sounds adorable. I’ve been recently attracted to “bucket list” kinds of books, so this was quick to join my TBR. I also have to admit the absolutely adorable cover helped my decision, too. Right of First Refusal by Dahlia Adler // Dahlia is an absolute auto-buy author for me. I have loved all of the books I’ve read from her within the last few months. (I can’t believe I’ve only started reading her books that recently!) Her Radleigh University NA series kicked off perfectly, so this second book was a no-brainer preorder for me. Now I just need to find the time to read it… […]

Recent Read-Bait: Reunions, Memories, and Boarding School

Posted March 16, 2016 / Book Lists, Features / 15 Comments

You may remember my read-bait series from a long time ago, where I talked about certain keywords, phrases, and tropes that call my name. I planned to keep going with these posts because there are many, many topics that suck me right in. I kind of abandoned it but never fear! Here I am today to talk about recent words that have grabbed me…Please note that the “boarding school” category has kind of morphed into also including secret societies/prep schools/etc. Things like that. You know what I mean. Anyways! I’ve been adding books to my TBR that feature these three topics because of the above books. I read What Alice Forgot with Cristina for Book Buddies. I ended up enjoying it more than she did in general, but the whole memory loss issue made me really interested in finding more of these amnesia books. Second Time Around was a book I VERY randomly found somewhere and decided to check out from the library. Very glad I did! It was a cute story featuring a reunion of old friends, revealing of secrets – you know the drill. Tons of fun. Last but not least, I checked out the Hex Hall series from the library recently and wanted to binge. I love the boarding school topic! I ended up getting sidetracked and having to return books 2 and 3, but I totally plan to finish sometime soon. Recent TBR Additions From What I Remember by Stacy Kramer and Valerie Thomas /// piecing together the night before It’s All Your […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #81: Spring TBR

Posted March 15, 2016 / TBR Lists, Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 23 Comments

Top Books on my Spring TBR Top Ten Tuesdays are hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, 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 love planning out my TBRs for Top Ten Tuesday because it’s something I rarely do. I’ve already given a glimpse at the books I planned to read in March [at the very bottom of the post] and later this week, I’ll be sharing some other books I’m really excited for. This TTT helps me think of what I’ll be reading between the end of March and probably end of May. (I start my summery reads ASAP in June! I can’t resist a beachy story once the weather warms up.) Wow, I digress. HERE WE GO: So my TBR this spring is a mix of a few things. I want to focus on reading a few books that are being published this spring, because they sound super cute. (I couldn’t resist sneaking Morgan Matson’s new book on here even though I feel like it’s been on every list I’ve made for 2016 so far!) I’m also definitely planning on cranking through a few ARCs I got from ALA Midwinter, because their pub dates are coming soon (if they haven’t happened already) and I’m SO BAD about reading books I get from conferences. Can we talk about the […]

Top 10 Romance Tropes and Themes

Posted March 10, 2016 / Book Challenges, Book Lists, Features / 14 Comments

As you (probably don’t) know, one goal I had when starting this blog was to feature recommendation lists for people seeking new books to read within different topics. Top Ten Tuesday kind of took over for this area for me, which is perfect, but sometimes I like to create my own. The Contemporary Romance Challenge hosts a monthly topic to partake in. Sometimes I’ll be posting these in my Bookmark Lit Bulletin posts and sometimes they’ll get their own post, depending on my blog calendar. Here’s March’s topic: Favorite Romance Tropes/Themes Books featuring some of my favorite tropes Warning! If you don’t want to be “spoiled” about what kind of romance takes place in each book, don’t read on. I only say this because there are a few below that may not be IN the synopsis, as far as the romance goes. Nantucket Blue /// summer love with the best friend’s brother The Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy /// summer love with a childhood friend/beach house neighbor On the Fence /// summer love with a neighbor (also brother’s friend) Two-Way Street /// second chance while on a road trip Princess of Thorns /// slow-burn and hate-to-love while on a journey First & Then /// slow-burn and somewhat hate-to-love The One that Got Away /// second chance with a slow-ish burn Emmy & Oliver /// childhood best friend second chance when returning to hometown Second Chance Summer /// second chance during the summertime with a neighbor The Deal /// fake dating with a playing Cyrano/matchmaker situation Faking It /// fake dating with hate-to-love-ish To All […]

Adjusting My Blog Post Schedule

Posted March 9, 2016 / Discussions, Features / 22 Comments

Many moons ago, I wrote a post about my blogging schedule. At that point, I had just started up the blog and had maybe a little too much time on my hands. I was incredibly specific about when I posted certain things and making sure I had 15 book reviews up per month. This was in addition to participating in 4 memes per week and posting 2 “random” things (like recommendation lists or discussions). I’d also post sign-ups for readathons and both mid-month AND end-of-month wrap-ups. You can do the math: that means that most days of the month had 2 posts. I even said, “I really try not to bombard people with any more than 2 posts per day!” SO EXCESSIVE. I mean, I’m glad I dove into this hobby headfirst… but good lord, woman. I can’t lie though, I definitely blog a bit too much still. I love signing up for readathons, participating in tags, and writing so many posts that I’m scheduled out until next year. (Slight exaggeration, but not that much. I’m insane.) I LOVE making lists and TBRs even if I know I’m never going to follow them. I love making graphics and messing around with layouts for my posts. I CAN’T STOP. I’ve changed my organization methods SO many times and I feel like I’m finally getting used to my latest plan. Today I’ll share my new blog schedule and talk about how I organize and plan… everything.Do you have a planned schedule for your […]

Bookmark Lit Bulletin – February 2016

Posted February 29, 2016 / Bookmark Lit Bulletin, Features, Wrap-Ups / 11 Comments

The Bookmark Lit Bulletin was created to wrap up each month and prepare for the next. I share my life happenings, 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 and learn more about the feature here. I had a busy end of the month and had to read a bunch of ARCs in a row. (I love ARC tours but man, they add up quickly! Back to back to back.) I made some good progress on my reading challenges as well. Overall, enjoyed pretty much every book I read! Love when that happens. Average rating for books read in February: 4.0 stars Highlights of the best and worst… Best of the Best | Pleasantly Surprised | Disappointed All of the books read this month: Average rating for books reviewed in February: 4.07 stars Secret Sister Project My new Secret Sister sent me her first package! She chose the theme of things I love, to represent Valentine’s Day… and she nailed it! I got some Star Wars stuff (calendar and keychain), as well as some of my favorite candies (chocolate covered cherries, chocolate + raspberry truffles, and gummies). She also sent along How to Kill a Rock Star by Tiffany Debartolo, which is one of her favorites. I’ve been really looking forward to that one! I also ate so much candy immediately. Books Acquired From […]