Category: Wrap-Ups

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 […]

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, […]

Lauren Lately | May 2017

Posted May 15, 2017 / Features, Lauren Lately, Wrap-Ups / 4 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 ✨ Portland, ME | We went up to Portland to visit Chris’s sister with his cousin and had SO much fun! I have more pictures but didn’t want to spam you. We’re so in love with that city now. Above you can see the Bug Light park/lighthouse area, our seafood lunch, and walk near Back Cove. Everything was awesome. We went to a really fun Mexican restaurant at night with so many pepper-shaped lights on the ceiling and walls – literally like a blanket. We also went to a nice indoor-outdoor bar that will be super fun later on in the summer. I can’t wait to be back up there very soon! 💕 Reading outside | Tis the season, when the weather gets a little nicer and I get to spend my lunch breaks reading in the grass. I also try to utilize our back porch as much as humanly possible. I love being able to enjoy […]

Bookmark Lit Bulletin | April 2017

Posted May 1, 2017 / Bookmark Lit Bulletin, Features, Wrap-Ups / 12 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! Woooof, this reading month started SLOW. Fantasy books have really been tripping me up within the last month. I started one then put it on hold, and had to slog through another one for an ARC tour. Both books kind of de-motivated me for reading in general, so I only read 4 books in the first half of the month. I was able to pick up the pace a bit in the second half so I didn’t do too poorly. Average rating for books read in March: 3.9 stars Highlights & Lowlights This month’s books: Year-Long Contemporary Romance Challenge 7 this month | 25 read total | 152% complete Books read from the pre-planned TBR: 0 this month | 2 total Series Enders Challenge 0 this month | 5 read total | 50% complete None this month! Spring Bingo Challenge All the books: Magic: Zenn Diagram – Brant 2017 debut: What I Lost – Ballard Green cover: What to Say Next – Buxbaum Multi-POV: A Little Something Different – Hall Paranormal: The Best Kind of Magic – Cestari […]

Lauren Lately | April 2017

Posted April 14, 2017 / Features, Lauren Lately, Wrap-Ups / 6 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 ✨ New England weather | I’ve lived in this region my whole life so I’m very familiar with the saying “if you don’t like the weather today, wait until tomorrow.” This past month, it’s been so true! We had one weekend where it snowed and sleeted on Saturday, then was 60* and sunny the next day. We were able to squeak in skiing one more time and then went for a nice walk the next day. It’s crazy! Hiking and other outdoor activities | I already alluded to this but the weather finally stopped being back-and-forth, so now we’ve got some nice weather. Rain was in the forecast a little over the last week but there were some warm and sunny days too. I’ve been taking full advantage of reading on the porch as much as possible. We’ve also gone for a lot of walks around our apartment and on some new hiking trails. TV […]

Bookmark Lit Bulletin | March 2017

Posted April 1, 2017 / Bookmark Lit Bulletin, Features, Wrap-Ups / 8 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 continued being ~in the mood~ to read quite often and didn’t usually push aside reading for TV. I guess there were a few days in February where I straight-up binged books in 1-2 days… and that didn’t really happen in March. I did, however, become addicted to a four book audio series and completed it within the month. Some solid reads overall and I’m excited! Average rating for books read in March: 3.79 stars Highlights & Lowlights All of the books from the month: Year-Long Contemporary Romance Challenge 12 this month | 25 read total | 119% complete Books read from the pre-planned TBR: 0 this month | 2 total Spring Bingo Challenge All the books: Magic: Zenn Diagram – Brant 2017 debut: What I Lost – Ballard Green cover: What to Say Next – Buxbaum Multi-POV: A Little Something Different – Hall Paranormal: The Best Kind of Magic – Cestari Spring release: Done Dirt Cheap – Lemon Just words on cover: Secrets of a Reluctant Princess – Griffin Series finale: Bounce – August Witches: […]

Lauren Lately | March 2017

Posted March 16, 2017 / Features, Lauren Lately, Wrap-Ups / 8 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 ✨ Skiing | As usual, more skiing this month! It’s nearing the end of the season (which is obvious in the last picture, where half of the ground is dirt instead of snow) so we tried to fit in a few more days. The conditions were terrible one weekend at Ski Sundown, then completely perfect the following weekend. We’ve pretty much been able to go weekly since February! New hair | I usually just get highlights done over my roots, but I was sick of how it looked when it grew out (see the before and after above). One of my best friends is my hairdresser and she’s perfect at knowing exactly what I want. I showed her a few pictures and she made this masterpiece! Some of her coworkers said it’s one of the best color jobs she’s done before. This new color combo has me curling my hair with a new curling […]

Bookmark Lit Bulletin | February 2017

Posted March 1, 2017 / Bookmark Lit Bulletin, Features, Wrap-Ups / 7 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 had another great reading month! I was surprised to DNF something, but I wasn’t feeling it. I’m glad I got over that fear! Otherwise, I read SO many four star books in a row at the beginning of the month. I was happy to have some good ones but I kept waiting for something interesting! I wanted a book to wow me… or even disappoint me, just for some variety! 😉 Either way, a good month of reading overall. I’m pleased with 2017 so far! Average rating for books read in February: 3.9 stars Highlights & Lowlights All of the books read this month: Year-Long Contemporary Romance Challenge 8 this month | 14 read total | 67% complete Books read from the pre-planned TBR: 1 this month | 1 total Flights of Fantasy Challenge 5 this month | 11 read total | 37% complete Seasonal Winter Bingo Challenge Completed! // All the books: Green cover • The Names They Gave Us – Lord Banned book • Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – Carroll Not YA • Winter Street – Hilderbrand Crime • […]

Lauren Lately | February 2017

Posted February 16, 2017 / Features, Lauren Lately, Wrap-Ups / 8 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 ✨ More hiking | It was 50 degrees a few weeks ago, so we went on a nice hike in one of our new favorite spots. There are so many different trails throughout, so you can really choose how long you want to be out there. The weather was perfect and I was able to try out my new Vans All-Weather MTEs. So good! Busy weekends… | The last weekend of January was a busy one! We went hiking and had all-you-can-eat sushi for Chris’s dad’s birthday on Saturday. It was a mess at the end of the night because LONG story short: they left the car key at home when we drove an hour and a half away, so Chris’s uncle had to drive us home at the end of the night. Sunday, our LUG and the New England Lego Users Group got together for a display at the Railroad Hobby Show […]

Bookmark Lit Bulletin | January 2017

Posted February 1, 2017 / 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 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 always like to start the year off by getting ahead on my challenge. I don’t read as much as I used to so it kind of feels weird when I’m not seeing the “X books ahead” thing on Goodreads. Luckily reading a few shorter novellas to kick off 2017 helped me get ahead on my challenge. I hit a nice stride in January with some pretty solid reads as well. I’m happy with this year so far, reading-wise! Average rating for books read in January: 3.9 stars Highlights & Lowlights All of the books read this month: Year-Long Contemporary Romance Challenge 7 this month | 7 read total | 29% complete Books read from the pre-planned TBR: 1 this month | 1 total Flights of Fantasy Challenge 6 this month | 6 read total | 20% complete Seasonal Winter Bingo Challenge This month: Green cover The Names They Gave Us – Lord Banned book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – Carroll 2017 debut Geekerella – Ashley Potson Nature on cover Ice Like Fire – Raasch Unreliable narrator Take the Key […]