Category: Weekly Memes

Top Ten Tuesdays #198: Back to (Boarding) School

Posted August 28, 2018 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 9 Comments
Top Ten Tuesdays #198: Back to (Boarding) School

Boarding School Books 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 always a fan of these back to school-oriented freebies because there are endless possibilities. (This time around, Jana suggested: In honor of school starting back up soon, come up with your own topic that fits the theme of school or learning! Books that take place at school/boarding school/during study abroad, books you read in school, textbooks you liked/didn’t like, non-fiction books you loved or want to read, etc.) Some topics that I’ve done in the past are here in case you’re curious: books & backpacks and required reading at the BL High School. This time around, I decided to feature some books about boarding school or fancy private schools. This was inspired by Nick asking me if I’d read any good ones lately, since people are pretty well-aware of how much I love this book setting! I’ve featured private school books as read-bait and other boarding school books in various posts. Without further ado, here are some boarding school books! On the TBR    The Deceivers by Kristen Simmons | Welcome to Vale Hall, the school for aspiring con artists… When Brynn Hilder is recruited to Vale, it seems like the elite academy is […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #197: Reading Slump-Busters

Posted August 21, 2018 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 4 Comments
Top Ten Tuesdays #197: Reading Slump-Busters

Books That Have Pulled Me Out of a Reading Slump 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. The topic for this week is books that will pull you out of a reading slump, but I honestly feel like slumps come in too many varieties! Sometimes I personally get burned out of a genre that then causes a reading slump. Other times I just don’t have any motivation to read anything. I thought I would share instead some of the books that have personally gotten ME out of a reading slump – see if they may help you too! Go-To Slump-Breaking Series The Program series by Suzanne Young (Not pictured: The Complication) I think this has to be the number one slump-buster for me. I have counted on every book in this series to break me out of a slump… and it’s worked each time. I love her writing style because it’s easy to read and so addicting. The stories had me turning pages SO quickly; I could not stop reading any of these installments. I have to show them all here because there aren’t words to describe how helpful all of these were to my reading life. Specific Books that Broke Slumps    […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #196: Bookish Features

Posted August 14, 2018 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 15 Comments
Top Ten Tuesdays #196: Bookish Features

Favorite Book Blog Features 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 feel like we’ve done this before (aside from the favorite bookstagram one) but I can’t seem to find it. I don’t follow a lot of non-blog-related book sites because I don’t think they’re niche enough. I follow blogs and friends because they read widely but similarly to me… and I trust their recs more than Buzzfeed! I decided to do a slightly different spin on the topic of “favorite bookish websites or blogs” and do my favorite FEATURES on some of my favorite blogs. Like, whenever they come up in my Feedly, I get all excited to see them. There are plenty of fave bloggers but sometimes certain posts just scream my name when they’re in my feed. Here are some of them! (1) Bookish Bingo @ Pretty Deadly Reviews I get excited for a new bingo card each season like nobody’s business. They post wrap-ups from the previous season and then the new card the following day. There’s just something about a fresh challenge, bingo card, planner page, month… I love so much! I’ve filled cards before, which is a huge accomplishment IMO. (2) I’ve Got You Covered @ A […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #195: Combining Books

Posted August 7, 2018 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 5 Comments
Top Ten Tuesdays #195: Combining Books

Mashing Books/Characters Together 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 was a little concerned about this topic when I first saw it because I am so bad at things like this lol. I like the idea though! This week we’re talking about books we would mash together or combine into one big epic book. I went the literal route for some of these, where I squished some characters and stories together, but I also did a few other iterations. Juniper Lemon meets The Unlikelies I loved both of these quirky books! The group called The Unlikelies was a group of, yes, unlikely friends coming together to act as low-key superheros in their town. They were all different (Breakfast Club style) and I just get a feeling that Juniper Lemon would fit in well with their crew. She could use some light and to spread kindness after everything she dealt with. Young Widows Club meets Young Wives Club Yes, this is probably a very obvious mash-up given the titles and premises, but I’m going for it. I’m all about the low-hanging fruit for today’s post. I didn’t love either one of these books, so maybe if the annoying MC from the Widows […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #194: Hype

Posted July 31, 2018 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 9 Comments
Top Ten Tuesdays #194: Hype

Popular Books that Lived Up to the Hype 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. There’s one book that immediately comes to mind for me, which you’ll see below (and I’ve talked about so often – sorry not sorry). I often get caught up in the hype machine and wrote a whole post about it. I’m going to include a lot of the books from that post because I clearly don’t focus on hype as much as I used to. Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli | I loved this book so much and the movie was JUST AS CUTE. I listened to the audio of this one a little bit after it was released, when the hype was super strong and scary. So glad I listened to everyone’s advice and went for it! My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick | I’ve now read two out of her three books and I really loved this one. I didn’t like the companion/sequel to this and have yet to read her second release. This was the one story, so far, that lived up to the hype. Very cute and enjoyable, with some heavy moments. The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang | Okay yes […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #193: Sensory Memories

Posted July 24, 2018 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 0 Comments
Top Ten Tuesdays #193: Sensory Memories

Books with Sensory Reading Memories 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. This is such a fun topic! I actually wrote a post about bookish memories back in 2017, where I spoke about certain books evoking memories. This topic is about sensory reading memories, which is similar. This TTT will be about specific settings, smells, sights, foods, etc. that I specifically remember when I think of a book I’ve read. (Yes, there will be duplication from my old post.) By the Pool and Outside    I read a lot of books by the pool (especially at Chris’s parents house), but the first two here are the ones that I most vividly remember. Chris’s mom made me a cute smoothie (which was delicious) while reading the Three Day Summer. Caraval was another one because I read it while laying on a towel, when I usually am in a chair or in the water. I know, that’s weird to remember, but I just do. I had the bound manuscript and remember reading it in July when the book was released in the following January. Confessions of a High School Disaster was read in one sitting at our old apartment before we moved to Maine. Chris was skateboarding outside our […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #192: Favorite Short Books

Posted July 17, 2018 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 5 Comments
Top Ten Tuesdays #192: Favorite Short Books

Favorite Books Under 200 pages 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. The topic for this one is technically favorite novellas or short stories. I decided to go with favorite short books in general, all under 200 pages. I read a lot of short contemps but they usually will end up over 200, so this list will likely be “novella” books or short companion stories that I loved. Just One Night by Gayle Forman | I loved this duo, so the follow-up novella that shows some kind of “epilogue” about the couple really tied things together for me. I’m someone who loves follow-ups like that. It seriously gives you the ending you want and deserve. We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | We did a Book Buddies post on this and both agreed that it’s a nice refresher for those who already know why we should all be feminists, and it could be a nice introduction to people who don’t currently understand why. Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide by JK Rowling | I enjoyed all three of these Pottermore novellas, but this was my favorite for some reason. Learning about the random objects, rooms, etc. around the school was more fascinating for me […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #191: Best Books of 2018

Posted July 10, 2018 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 5 Comments
Top Ten Tuesdays #191: Best Books of 2018

Best Books of 2018 So Far 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 love this topic! I haven’t read a LOT of books that sincerely blew me away this year, if I’m being 100% honest, but here’s the breakdown of some amazing ones in the top star ratings. As always, I’m not including rereads. I also skipped on adding GONE ROGUE by Marissa Meyer because it’s hard for me to rate graphic novels and I think I gave it 4.5 stars because of the overall series feels instead of the book itself.   9 Days and 9 Nights by Cotugno | Foolish Hearts by Mills | Dear Martin by Stone All in Pieces by Young | Save the Date by Matson | The Leading Edge of Now by Curtis Nice Try, Jane Sinner by Oelke | Starry Eyes by Bennett | Obsidio by Kaufman/Kristoff Love & Luck by Welch | The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls by Spotswood

Top Ten Tuesdays #190: 4th of July

Posted July 3, 2018 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 6 Comments
Top Ten Tuesdays #190: 4th of July

Red, White, and Blue 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. Any time I can feature book covers, you know I will do it. Today’s post is around the 4th of July holiday happening tomorrow. I prepared this post weeks in advance so I don’t have to worry about it when my life is crazy at the moment! I decided to attempt an actual flag image too because I’m fancy 😉 All of these books have been read by me sometime in the last two years. Yes, I scrolled through my “read” shelf to get all of these covers.

Top Ten Tuesdays #189: Quitting Series

Posted June 26, 2018 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 9 Comments
Top Ten Tuesdays #189: Quitting Series

Series I’ve Started and Will Probably Quit 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 tend to be a finisher, even if it takes me FOREVER to do it. There are so many book series that I’ve started and I pretty much plan to finish all of them… someday. I have a tendency of reading new books as they’re released instead of binging, even though I LOVE a good series binge… Whoops. In any case, I do have a few book series I’ve started and am currently on the fence about finishing. What do you guys think? Series I’ll Most Likely Quit    DC Icons Series by Various Authors Book read: Wonder Woman Warbringer | Reasons to quit: I did genuinely enjoy this book… but I’m pretty sure that’s just because it was (a) my girl Wonder Woman and (b) written by Leigh Bardugo. The rest of the installments in this series are by other authors that aren’t necessarily on my auto-buy list (aside from SJM’s upcoming CATWOMAN book). I don’t care a lot about DC characters in general, so I don’t see myself ready many more. I might pick and choose, like the one I just mentioned. Stormheart Series by Cora Carmack […]