Lauren Lately | June 2017

Posted June 16, 2017 / Features, Lauren Lately, Wrap-Ups / 13 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 […]

ARC Review: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Posted June 15, 2017 / Book Reviews / 11 Comments

Initial Excitement & Summary I’ve obviously loved Taylor Jenkins Reid’s books over the past couple of years, but I always like to leave one hanging around to read if I REALLY need it. (Looking at you Forever, Interrupted!) I was a bit concerned and intrigued at the same time, because this book really isn’t like her others! It seemed like a unique blend of historical fiction and contemporary (hence me choosing both for genre) and definitely different from the rest of her books. There were similar elements overall, like the concepts of marriage, divorce, relationships… but the actual setup was quite different. I wasn’t sure what to expect! Evelyn Hugo, a Hollywood enigma, picks Monique, a fairly random writer, to write her biography. The story flows between Monique’s personal life and Evelyn’s life story, as she dictates her tell-all to Monique. It spans Evelyn’s entire history from the 1950’s through present day. Monique’s life recently changed when her marriage fell apart quickly, so she is simultaneously using some of Evelyn’s story and “advice” to figure out what she truly wants. Storytelling & Characters Even though this was different from her other stories, I found a lot of similarities with the characters and how you sometimes just want to punch them. TJR’s stories are about relationships, marriage, love, and what happens when those things fall apart. This book was similar in that regard, but took us through a wild historical ride through Hollywood. I never cared much about Marilyn Monroe and other starlets […]

(Re)Reading Sarah Dessen | Dessen Recs & More

Posted June 14, 2017 / Features / 7 Comments

Everyone knows that Sarah Dessen is the queen of contemporary romance and adorable (and often darker or more complex), coming-of-age summer stories. I have read and loved most of her books already, but I made it a point recently to read (or in a lot of cases, reread) all of her books. Her books are important to so many people and really are what got many of us into reading contemporary romance books. This summer, Cristina from Girl in the Pages and I have teamed up to talk alllllll about Sarah Dessen – when we started reading her books, our experiences with rereading, and other fun discussions, recommendations, and personal stories. Our feature will take place over 4 weeks this June on Wednesdays (here) and Thursdays (there). Schedule Introduction, Our Sarah Stories, and Discussion of Someone Like You June 7th on Bookmark Lit – June 8th on Girl in the Pages Dessen Recommendations and Similar Stories June 14th on Bookmark Lit – June 15th on Girl in the Pages Blog Features: Cover Colors and I Will Go Down with My Ship June 21st on Bookmark Lit – June 22nd on Girl in the Pages Once and For All, Dessen Favorites, and Wrap-Up June 28th on Bookmark Lit – June 29th on Girl in the Pages This week we came up with the broad category of making some recommendations! This could include recommendations for specific Dessen books based on favorite topics or other authors/books, OR it could be recommendations for other books based on your favorite Dessen. Cristina […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #143: Father’s Day

Posted June 13, 2017 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 8 Comments

My Dad, the Reader 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. This week’s topic is a Father’s Day Freebie (favorite dads in literature, best father/daughter or son relationships, books to buy your dad, worst dads in literature, etc.). I wasn’t sure which direction to use last month for the Mother’s Day freebie, but this week was even harder. I’m a huge sucker for father-daughter relationships in books because mine has been very important to me. I ended up going with the same theme I did for Mother’s Day, except about my father this time. He’s a big reader too! In his recliner | Every night after dinner and before bed, my dad will read and/or watch TV in his recliner. My stepmom has a matching one next to his and does the same thing. They’re fairly busy some nights and weekends because they’re heavily involved with my sister’s school/band stuff, but they always come home to chill in those recliners. On the breezeway in Maine | They go to Maine multiple times a year for vacation and to see my grammie. My dad always sits in the same chair on the breezeway (three season room) with his book. There are some days where we could spend alllll of our time out there reading together. […]

Once and For All – Sarah Dessen Event

Posted June 12, 2017 / Personal / Information / Etc. / 10 Comments

When I saw that Sarah Dessen was coming to Connecticut, I really couldn’t believe it. I had just forced Along for the Ride onto my sixteen year old sister, so I was determined to make her into a Dessen reader (that was easy) and then get her to take a mini road trip with me. Connecticut is a VERY small state, as you probably know. I live at the top (a few minutes from the Massachussets border) and it would take me only an hour from my work (around the middle of the state) to get to the bottom of the state (Fairfield). I made arrangements to leave work early, pick my sister up a few minutes away, and head straight down for the 7:00 PM event. I wanted to have plenty of time to get a good seat and hopefully have some dinner down there. Here’s my recap for the event, plus some fun pictures of Dessen, my sister Jordyn, and me. Pre-Event Happenings I grabbed my sister after leaving work early and luckily we didn’t hit much traffic on the way down! We got there, parked, and made it inside by 5:45 PM. There was a Starbucks inside the bookstore so we were able to have a quick dinner after picking up the books. The cover (and interior!) of this book was even cuter than expected. I wish I got a better picture or Boomerang with my Pink Drink, since the inside of the book has pink endpapers! […]

On My List (1)

Posted June 9, 2017 / Features, On My List / 4 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, and other things to make it on my list. Unreleased Hello, Sunshine by Laura Dave | I’ve owned a copy of this author’s debut but haven’t sat down to read it yet, for whatever reason. I saw this one and requested it immediately from Netgalley, so we’ll see how I feel! I love books about celebrities and big secrets being revealed, plus this cover is so summery! Another Place by Matthew Crow | I’ve been on a mystery/thriller kick lately. I love the idea of someone returning home to a not-so-quiet-anymore small town. I don’t often read male authors in YA for a few reasons, so it’ll be interesting to see the “lost girls” premise written by one… RIP Eliza Hart by Alyssa Sheinmel | So again, the mystery thing comes into play. Add in old friends being reunited (one of them being the one who dies), plus boarding school? Totally in. I can’t wait to see what the hell happened to Eliza! Published Happens in the Hamptons by Holly Peterson | Any book involving the Hamptons will probably make it on my TBR. Have I even been there before? No. I just love the idea of beachy/island towns. The Forbidden Garden by Ellen Herrick | First of all, perfect cover. […]

Review Round Up | My Not So Perfect Life, Literally, ACOWAR, and Always & Forever, Lara Jean

Posted June 8, 2017 / Book Reviews, Review Roundup / 4 Comments

In an effort to cut down on posts and burnout, my Review Roundups will feature 2-4 reviews of already published books (either older/backlist or newer releases) that I’ve read or listened to recently. My ARC reviews usually get the solo treatment. Enjoy the mini reviews! Man, this was cute. Seriously… so good, guys. If you like early Kinsella like Can You Keep A Secret, Remember Me, and I’ve Got Your Number, give this one a shot. I read all of those – plus a few more – back in the day and had been craving her style again. This book did not disappoint. The story starts in London, where Katie/Cat is struggling to achieve the city life of her dreams. She’s soon let go from her job and returns home to her dad’s house in the country, where her stepmom and father have started a glamping business on their farm. She quickly settles back into life there and her scatter-brained ex-boss suddenly appears with her family on vacation. The book was pretty long and covered a lot more time than I expected, but it was nice to see all the different “phases” of her life to see how things progressed. I loved learning more about her boss, Demeter, who was not who she seemed. I loved Katie trying to find herself, fit in, and/or put her talents to good use on the farm’s business. I loved Alex. I loved her parents. I loved Steve. Seriously, everyone was fantastic. I really liked seeing secrets get […]

(Re)Reading Sarah Dessen | Introduction and Someone Like You Discussion

Posted June 7, 2017 / Book Lists, Book Reviews, Features / 10 Comments

Everyone knows that Sarah Dessen is the queen of contemporary romance and adorable (and often darker or more complex), coming-of-age summer stories. I have read and loved most of her books already, but I made it a point recently to read (or in a lot of cases, reread) all of her books. Her books are important to so many people and really are what got many of us into reading contemporary romance books. This summer, Cristina from Girl in the Pages and I have teamed up to talk alllllll about Sarah Dessen – when we started reading her books, our experiences with rereading, and other fun discussions, recommendations, and personal stories. Our feature will take place over 4 weeks this June on Wednesdays (here) and Thursdays (there). Schedule Introduction, Our Sarah Stories, and Discussion of Someone Like You June 7th on Bookmark Lit – June 8th on Girl in the Pages Dessen Recommendations and Similar Stories June 14th on Bookmark Lit – June 15th on Girl in the Pages Blog Features: Cover Colors and I Will Go Down with My Ship June 21st on Bookmark Lit – June 22nd on Girl in the Pages Once and For All, Dessen Favorites, and Wrap-Up June 28th on Bookmark Lit – June 29th on Girl in the Pages As I mentioned in my intro paragraph, Sarah Dessen has been my go-to favorite for years and years. I don’t remember the first time I picked up one of her books, but I’m fairly sure it was This Lullaby or The Truth About […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #142: New Contemps

Posted June 6, 2017 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 7 Comments

Ten Contemporary Books Recently Added to my 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. This week’s topic is about ten books (from a genre of your choosing) that recently made it onto your TBR. I usually read a lot of contemporary romance and add waaaaay more of those than anything else, so I had two options – go with my norm or break out of it. I decided to be lazy and count down the ten contemporary reads I recently added to my TBR. As I sometimes do, I’ll include a brief quote from the synopsis of the book that led me to click the add button. Upcoming Releases Here, There, Everywhere by Julia Durango & Tyler Terrones | “As the afternoons spent going on local adventures pass into nights discussing their deepest hopes, Zeus knows that he doesn’t have long to convince Rose that what they have is more than a summer fling…” The Date to Save by Stephanie Kate Strohm | “The word is out… BROOKS MANDEVILLE, quarterback: Friday is the homecoming game and dance. It is a very big deal… This is what happens on the wildest day in the history of high school!” (Paraphrased but it shows multiple points of view) I Hate Everyone But You by Gaby Dunn & Allison Raskin […]

ARC Review: Juniper Lemon’s Happiness Index

Posted June 5, 2017 / Book Reviews / 8 Comments

Initial Excitement & Summary It was pretty obvious how excited I was for this book when I first heard of it. (I talked about it multiple times on here.) I can’t believe I waited until release week to read the ARC I was so pumped to receive. ? I always do this to myself because I get nervous that it won’t live up to my expectations, since they’re so high. I love books involving lists, letters, and other ~quests~ so this was right up my alley. When Juniper finds a letter addressed to YOU shortly after her sister, Cammie, passes away, she is determined to figure out who YOU is. In the meantime, she loses one of her own index cards with a secret on it that she doesn’t want people to find. Along the way, she develops relationships/friendships with others who are in need of a little something. Storytelling, Setting, and Feels Like I said, I had a great feeling I’d love this book from the moment I saw the synopsis (and, to be honest, the cover!). It’s pretty amazing when a book you hyped up like CRAZY for yourself ends up completely hitting the nail on the head. I’d say JUNIPER LEMON ended up even exceeding those expectations. I’ll talk more in the next section, but I loved all of the characters and the friend group Juniper pulled together. Juniper wasn’t alone on her quest to figure out who YOU was because these people helped her constantly. I don’t read many […]