Instagram Best 9 from 2018

Posted February 12, 2018 / Personal / Information / Etc. / 0 Comments
Instagram Best 9 from 2018

I saw this post on The Nesting Nomad and thought it would be a fun addition to the blog! I know we’re over a month into the year already (I say “already” but honestly January felt about a million years long) and this is a bit delayed, but why not keep the recap going? I’m going to share my top 9 and tell some stories about each picture (which most likely includes a book). I’m also going to show off my best 9 from my personal Instagram, even though I barely even posted that many pictures last year. Bookstagram Row 1, L-R: I sat outside on an uncharacteristically warm day in Connecticut and completely binged Confessions of a High School Disaster for a blog tour. The book reminded me of myself back in ninth grade (not all of it – some parts she was a bit questionable). I’m also wearing some of my favorite Lularoe leggings with elephants! You’ll see pretty quickly how much I love reading outside. This was during a lunch break at work when I was finishing up Roar. I didn’t love the book, but this skirt (also Lularoe) is one of my faaaavorites). I stopped for a smoothie during lunch as well, clearly. Before we moved to Portland, we spent around 2 weeks living at Chris’s parents’ house after our lease ended. I love their outdoor area, with the pool and comfy seating everywhere. I spent a good amount of time hanging out back there (this […]

How My 2018 Bookish Planner is Impacting my Reading & Blogging Habits

Posted February 9, 2018 / Discussions, Features / 12 Comments
How My 2018 Bookish Planner is Impacting my Reading & Blogging Habits

I did a post about my new 2018 planners earlier this year because yet again, I’m trying something new for them. The bookish planner from Little Inklings has already wormed its way into my heart and impacted my reading, blogging, and book-related organizing this year. It’s only been a month, but I can already see how it’s helping streamline my blogging and reading habits.    Planner Breakdown I’m going to write about each section in “chronological” order, which means in the order the section appears in the planner from front to back (or beginning of the monthly section to end). I took pictures of my January pages for this example because it was all I had so far, obviously. TBR Planning Knowing what book to pick up next without having to find my blog post The first section for each month is where you track your TBR plans. I have a blog post feature for this each month so you guys can see what I’m reading, but this is really beneficial to me. I usually have to check my blog whenever I ask myself “wait, what book did I want to read next?” and it’s a pain. I don’t use my computer after work hours usually, so it’s A LOT easier to reference my TBR page of my planner, as it just sits open on my desk. I just fill this page out each month after I write my blog post and can easily find what book I’m looking to […]

Review Round Up | Surprise Me and Gone Rogue

Posted February 8, 2018 / Book Reviews, Review Roundup / 2 Comments
Review Round Up | Surprise Me and Gone Rogue

In an effort to cut down on posts and burnout, my Review Roundups will feature 2-4 books I’ve read or listened to recently. Sometimes they’re newer releases and sometimes they’re all backlist titles. My ARC reviews usually get the solo treatment. Enjoy the mini reviews! I’ve been a fan of Sophie Kinsella since wayy before these books were “appropriate” for me. I read some of the SHOPAHOLIC series back before high school. I read a few more in 2014 and loved her latest release before this one, so clearly I was jazzed up for SURPRISE ME. I liked Sylvie and Dan as a couple, with them finishing each other’s sentences and managing to have a really solid relationship. When the whole “you have 65 years left together because you’re super healthy and will live LONG lives” thing comes up, they’re both thrown. How are they going to survive THAT many years together? It’s a reality check for them and even though there’s really not much wrong with their relationship necessarily, they second-guess everything. Sylvie develops this plan where they surprise each other with little things to keep everything interesting. Naturally, the surprises go awry and Sylvie learns that surprises aren’t the only key to a long and healthy marriage. The whole situation about Sylvie’s father that died and her weird mother was… interesting. She had the opposite of the traditional “daddy issues” thing – she was obsessed with her dad and thought he was a perfect hero. She had a very odd […]

Three Things (2)

Posted February 7, 2018 / Personal / Information / Etc. / 7 Comments
Three Things (2)

I wrote my first Three Things post a while back and was inspired to do a follow-up when I saw a version on Grace’s blog. I stole some of the questions and included some of the previous ones (about recently read/watched/etc. because obviously those are different from last time). I originally got the first post idea from a couple of places (this post on a new blog I started following and she grabbed it from someone else) and I ended up adding a few more of my own as well to make it a longer. Feel free to join in but share the credit around 🙂 Three wardrobe staples | Black shirt, leggings, dresses You’ll most likely find me in some kind of flowy black short sleeve shirt, with a sweater of some kind over it, leggings, and boots. It’s definitely my go-to, casual outfit when we’re running errands or out and about on the weekends. I just ordered another short sleeve black shirt because I wear them so often. I have a lot of patterned leggings, so it’s easiest to have plain tops. I also loooove dresses all year – with leggings and boots in the winter or solo in the summer. It’s the easiest way to look put together even if you’re not. Three foods I hate and refuse to eat | Ketchup, mushrooms, peas Not going to lie, I’m one of the least picky eaters out there. There are some foods I really dislike and won’t eat, but most foods […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #169: Old TBR

Posted February 6, 2018 / TBR Lists, Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 6 Comments
Top Ten Tuesdays #169: Old TBR

Books from Way Back on my Goodreads TBR that I STILL Haven’t Read Somehow 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 sure I’ve discussed this a few times in the past, but it’s always good to come back and remind myself! I think about the books I couldn’t wait for and HAD to buy but didn’t read right away ALL THE TIME. I’m not including purchased books because I have definitely purged a lot recently; I’ll just be using my Goodreads TBR today. I started my Goodreads account in 2010, so some of the earliest books are from back then.          The Secret by Rhonda Byrne | Added to Goodreads: September 2010 My friend’s mom told me about this book back in the day and if I’m being honest, I think it’s the reason I even made a Goodreads account?? I remember that I didn’t want to forget the title so I was looking up book tracking sites, and Goodreads popped up. It’s the first book I ever added to my TBR on there. I own a copy, I think, but I haven’t read the whole thing. Perfect Mistake & Ominous by Kate Brian | Added to Goodreads: September 2010 Kate […]

Seasonal Book Club (Part Two)

Posted February 5, 2018 / Book Lists, Features / 2 Comments
Seasonal Book Club (Part Two)

I wrote a TTT a while back where I created a book club that read specific books based on the season or month. I thought it’d be a fun post to revisit now with newer books! I also wanted to add in more details, like the setting for the book club meeting and/or if there’s a specific theme to the month that can go beyond the story itself. I haven’t read any of these books yet because this is my fictional book club where I’m reading everything for the first time with my friends! I also thought it would be fun to do this in December because who knows – maybe I can use some of these as inspiration for my real-life book club in 2018? 😉 Monthly theme: “New Year, New Beginning” Book: People Like Us by Donna Mele Location or activity: Trying a new restaurant for the meeting I wanted to focus on the New Years aspect without actually reading a book about the holiday. I chose PEOPLE LIKE US because it’s about a girl who reinvents herself at a new school in order to cover up some secrets of her past. I love books set at prep schools, plus the murder mystery element. (Let’s pretend this book comes out in January instead of February, okay?) I think this would be a fun way to kick off the year by thinking of reinvention and how it doesn’t always work. For the meeting location, we’d keep it simple by […]

Review Round Up | A Taxonomy of Love, Together at Midnight, and The Upside to Falling Down

Posted February 2, 2018 / Book Reviews, Review Roundup / 3 Comments
Review Round Up | A Taxonomy of Love, Together at Midnight, and The Upside to Falling Down

In an effort to cut down on posts and burnout, my Review Roundups will feature 2-4 books I’ve read or listened to recently. Sometimes they’re newer releases and sometimes they’re all backlist titles. My ARC reviews usually get the solo treatment. Enjoy the mini reviews! I finally read it, guys!! I’ve had this book in my clutches for months and finally made myself read it. I was really excited for it because I love Rachael Allen, but I just couldn’t get myself in the mood for it. I knew it might be a sadder, harder to read contemporary, so I think I was just avoiding that part. Spencer and Hope have been friends and neighbors since middle school, with countless ups and downs in between. It’s a neverending cycle of one of them wanting something more at the wrong time, and going back and forth for years. I love neighbors/friends-to-more stories so I was definitely hoping for a happy ending. I thought the two of them were a good pair, but it was a LITTLE hard to get the feels because of how up and down their relationship was. On top of that, the story is broken into sections for different ages, starting with 7th grade and working up until they’re 19 years old. I liked seeing the development over time, but it was also a little hard to keep up with their relationship developing in a linear way? Not sure how to describe it. The story has little taxonomies, online chat […]

Bookmark Lit Bulletin | January 2018

Posted February 1, 2018 / Bookmark Lit Bulletin, Features, Wrap-Ups / 2 Comments
Bookmark Lit Bulletin | January 2018

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 love kicking off the year with a solid reading month because it just gives me some breathing room. Even though my goal is much lower this year, I still have been in the mood to read like a crazy person. I did read a few books in one day or over the course of two sittings. Snow days and skiing lead to a lot of audiobook listening and/or reading, depending. I’m starting to get a littleee stir crazy though, so hopefully we can pull together some activities for the rest of the winter. Average rating for books read this month: 3.8 stars Highlights & Lowlights This month’s books: Year-Long Netgalley/Edelweiss Challenge 4 this month | 4 read total | Current NG ratio: 73% Popsugar Reading Challenge 10 this month | 10 read total | 25% complete   Prompts from L-R: Next book in started series, book set in fascinating country, book with a time of day in the title, book with an LGBTQ+ protagonist, book is also a stage play/musical, book with […]

February TBR

Posted January 31, 2018 / Book Lists, Features, TBR Lists / 4 Comments
February TBR

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. January Progress         GUYS THIS IS UNPRECEDENTED – for the first time ever, I read every single book on my TBR list from the previous month! I can’t believe it. So yes, I managed to read seven books out of the seven I picked out for January. I started the Hope’s Crossing series with BLACKBERRY SUMMER, read all three of my January egalleys, started my reading year with FOOLISH HEARTS, and read other books I’d been meaning to get to. I’m going to pat myself on the back all month. I also read a handful of books I picked out from my winter bingo TBR ideas! So that’s another two books, plus some of the ones up here that double-counted. YES. On Deck for February Finishing Bingo      Black author: Dear Martin by Nic Stone Science fiction: Wires and Nerve by Marissa Meyer Buddy read: TBD if Cristina and I do Book Buddies 2018 debut: Nice Try, Jane Sinner by Lianne Oelke Music themes: Noteworthy by Riley Redgate Library Books   Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire Book from my library holds list on the left, if something comes in! I picked up DATSAB the other […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #168: Can’t Believe I Read

Posted January 30, 2018 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 3 Comments
Top Ten Tuesdays #168: Can’t Believe I Read

Books I Can’t Believe I Read 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 wish I was better about reading books outside of my comfort zone. I stick to a heavy rotation of contemporary YA fiction, with a bit of fantasy, paranormal, “adult” fiction, and mystery/thriller thrown in. But, as you can tell from my chart here, I read more than 50% contemporary books. This list is going to consist of some of the books I “can’t believe I read” because they’re so far out of my comfort zone. I would consider those books to be adult mystery/thriller (or really anything adult non-contemporary), mystery/thriller books that are horror-ish, historical fiction without a lot of magic, dystopias (underhyped ones at least), and some paranormal-y romance books. So, you’ll see below that most of the books featured today fall under those categories.    I can’t believe I read A Madness So Discreet because it’s a little more psychological/horror-almost? And it was historical fiction?? There’s almost nothing about this book that screams Lauren but I ended up totally loving it. This book was the ultimate random read that lead to a pleasant surprise. I can’t believe I read (and loved) The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue for somewhat similar […]