My Favorite Instagram Pictures

Posted May 24, 2017 / Book Lists, Features / 9 Comments
My Favorite Instagram Pictures

I don’t do a lot of fancy bookstagram things. I usually use ~action shots~ to show what I’m currently doing, where I’m currently reading, and especially what I’m currently reading! I like to share my book hauls, the food I’m eating while I read, and other related objects/locations. I don’t do much with props. So, in other words, my bookstagram is actually kind of boring. However! I decided to toot my own horn a little and share my personal favorite Instragram pictures from my account. (I’ve previously shared my favorite other bookstagrammers also, FYI.)   A post shared by Lauren • Bookmark Lit (@bookmark_lit) on May 17, 2017 at 10:12am PDT A post shared by Lauren • Bookmark Lit (@bookmark_lit) on Apr 14, 2017 at 12:35pm PDT A post shared by Lauren • Bookmark Lit (@bookmark_lit) on Nov 14, 2016 at 4:38am PST A post shared by Lauren • Bookmark Lit (@bookmark_lit) on Apr 13, 2016 at 4:25am PDT A post shared by Lauren • Bookmark Lit (@bookmark_lit) on Feb 16, 2016 at 4:27am PST A post shared by Lauren • Bookmark Lit (@bookmark_lit) on Oct 16, 2015 at 6:31pm PDT A post shared by Lauren • Bookmark Lit (@bookmark_lit) on Jul 5, 2015 at 12:05pm PDT A post shared by Lauren • Bookmark Lit (@bookmark_lit) on Jul 1, 2015 at 11:52am PDT A post shared by Lauren • Bookmark Lit (@bookmark_lit) on Oct 31, 2014 at 7:58pm PDT

Top Ten Tuesdays #140: Beachy

Posted May 23, 2017 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 11 Comments
Top Ten Tuesdays #140: Beachy

Beachy Book Vibes 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 Summer Reads Freebie (books to go in your beach bag, best books set in summer, books with summer-y covers, best beach reads for people who don’t enjoy contemporary/realistic reads, best beach reads for fans of X genre, etc.). I LOOOOVE summer reads – anything I can read on the beach, anything about the beach, books set at the beach… the list goes on. I decided to do something based on the book covers and beachy settings, kind of like my Cover Colors feature. Nantucket Blue and Red by bookmarklit featuring turkish cotton beach towels The Names They Gave Us by bookmarklit featuring cotton beach towels Wanderlost by bookmarklit featuring a stripe beach towel Islanders / Alex by bookmarklit featuring Missoni   Summer Days & Nights by bookmarklit featuring striped beach towels Summer Series by bookmarklit featuring turkish cotton beach towels

ARC Review: Dark Breaks the Dawn

Posted May 22, 2017 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments
ARC Review: Dark Breaks the Dawn

Initial Excitement I haven’t read Larson’s other series (yet) but this one really intrigued me. I do have a tendency of requesting books or signing up for ARC tours even when they’re not exactly in my wheelhouse. Regardless, I started this one pretty quickly once I received it to see how it would work for me. It was nice that there were almost no reviews to go on so I could form my own opinion. I didn’t even realize it was a Swan Lake retelling either, so that added to my excitement when I noticed! Quick Summary The Light and Dark kingdoms have been at war because the King of the dark kingdom wants to rule them both. Evelayn is the Princess of Eadrolan, the Light kingdom, and suddenly has a lot of power thrust into her lap. The goal is to get to King Bain of Dorjhalon and make sure peace is achieved in any way necessary. I don’t really want to say anything else because honestly this book could be summed up in three sentences and be over. All the Things So… yeah. I’m struggling to remember much about this one and I finished it a day ago. I think it’s kind of a mixed bag for me. There wasn’t a lot of plot at all but it was incredibly easy and quick to read. I usually find fantasy books with complex magic systems to be very slow-going for me, but this one was fast. There were LOTS of elements involved […]

Seriously, How Have I Not Read This Yet?

Posted May 19, 2017 / Discussions, Features / 25 Comments
Seriously, How Have I Not Read This Yet?

A lot of books end up on my “jazzed up for this” shelf on Goodreads. I made a whole 2015 challenge about the books I MUST read because I was previously so excited for them. So why do I never read them?! This happens way way way too often. Here are some of the books I’m ashamed to admit I haven’t read even though I’ve been ~so excited~ about them for years.    Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour | This was one of those books I added to my TBR riiiiight before I started blogging. I loved the cover and the Hollywood-centered premise. The Catastrophic History of You & Me by Jess Rothenberg | I love books where people are stuck in between life and death, in that kind of ghost-y afterlife watching their friends and family move on. The Art of Lainey by Paula Stokes | This synopsis has me written all over it, but for some reason I haven’t opened it up yet. I even own this book like an asshole, as usual.    17 First Kisses by Rachael Allen | I loooooved the other Rachael Allen book I read and have had this one sitting around for quite some time. I don’t have excuses because this seems perfect for me. Before I Go by Colleen Oakley | Much like the previous one, I read another Colleen Oakley first. BEFORE I GO has been on my shelf for years and the concept sounds great, but I’m not prepared for the sads. My Heart […]

ARC Review: When Dimple Met Rishi

Posted May 18, 2017 / Book Reviews / 14 Comments
ARC Review: When Dimple Met Rishi

Initial Excitement I was excited for this book for so many reasons. I saw it a long time ago when it was added to Goodreads and discussed it with my friend Natasha, who is Indian and always reads books about white people. She was so excited to hear about the premise and added it to her non-book-blogger-TBR-in-her-head. When Nick offered it up for me to borrow, I jumped on it immediately. Quick Summary WHEN DIMPLE MET RISHI is set up to bring together classic rom-coms like When Harry Met Sally and some classic Bollywood movies and plot points. I’ve seen a good amount of these movies (Bollywood and US-based rom-coms) and have to say it was a great combination. Dimple’s family is pressuring her to wear makeup, find a serious Indian boyfriend, etc. and she is not a fan of the idea. Rishi’s family is doing the same thing, but his attitude is very different from hers. The two meet at a summer coding camp called Insomnia Con. Little does Dimple know, Rishi is there because their parents are all pushing for an arranged marriage. This sets off a funny chain of events where Rishi comes on too strong… and the relationship grows from there <3 Storytelling, Setting, and Feels Plot: I adored the premise for this story. Dimple and Rishi head to a coding summer camp-type of thing and end up working together on the project. The setting and competition of who can develop the best app was a lot of fun […]

#ReadADessen: Along for the Ride

Posted May 17, 2017 / Book Reviews / 6 Comments
#ReadADessen: Along for the Ride

I was sent a finished copy of this book for review as a part of the Penguin Random House Partner program. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Click the photo below to view the original source on the Penguin Read a Dessen campaign website! When Penguin invited some bloggers to join in with the #ReadaDessen campaign in honor of her new book ONCE AND FOR ALL (out June 6th), I hopped on board real quick. I’d been planning a Dessen-filled summer with Cristina already, but figured I’d give myself even more motivation to get rereading. True story: everyone has a favorite Sarah Dessen book. And if you ask them about it, they’ll be more than happy to gush about it for as long as possible. That’s why this summer we’re asking readers to spread the love by sharing their favorite Sarah Dessen novel with the world. Whether it’s because your favorite Sarah Dessen book gave you a love for reading, got you through a tough time, or changed the way you see the world – we want to know. [Source] Why Along for the Ride? In 2009 when this book initially came out, I was turning 18 years old and moving away to college in mere months. I was with my dad and family in Maine for one of the two weeks we’d spend there each summer, when we went to this little bookstore in Wells. The shop owner asked me what kind of books […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #139: Mother’s Day

Posted May 16, 2017 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 8 Comments
Top Ten Tuesdays #139: Mother’s Day

My Mom, 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 Mother’s Day Freebie (favorite moms in literature, books about motherhood, best mother/daughter or son relationships, books to buy your mom, worst moms in literature, etc.). This is a tough one! I’m a huuuuge sucker for father-daughter relationships in literature so I don’t keep tabs on the mom-related ones as much for some reason. However, both of my parents are huge readers of various genres. I decided to go with a mom-related reading post – the books she likes to read, maybe some recommendations, and her reading go-tos. Seriously though. My mom has said this before a lot. She doesn’t care about romance or happily ever afters. She wants murder and mystery and intrigue. Nothing true crime though – all fiction.   On a float in the pool (or next to the pool on the deck, or walking in the pool with the book held up above the water – does this sound familiar?) | My mom and I love being in or around the pool while we read. I’ve spent my whole life doing it thanks to her. She has her float that she calls the “throne.” On her swinging chair in the yard | […]

Lauren Lately | May 2017

Posted May 15, 2017 / Features, Lauren Lately, Wrap-Ups / 4 Comments
Lauren Lately | May 2017

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 […]

ContRom Challenge Topic: Sports Romances

Posted May 12, 2017 / Book Lists, Features / 6 Comments
ContRom Challenge Topic: Sports Romances

Each month, Andi poses a monthly topic for the Contemporary Romance challenge. I try to participate in my wrap-up posts if it’s a quick, short list, but I like to have a full post about it when I have A LOT to discuss. The topic of sporty romances certainly leaves me a lot of room to talk about some of my FAVE books and series. Rusk University (Football) This is the first sporty romance series I think of! I loved all three of these books in different ways – All Lined Up, All Broke Down, and All Played Out. The fourth book, All Closed Off, is coming later on this summer. It’s been delayed because Carmack wants to make sure she gets the story perfectly right, as it deals with a super sensitive and important subject. NA sports romance books are my FAVORITE. I have to also note that this series (a) will apparently also have a fifth book coming out and (b) is about FOOTBALL, aka the best sport in the world. Off-Campus (Hockey) Aaaand this is the second series I think of. I LOVE these boys so much and am incredibly happy there’s a spin-off series in the works! I admit that I didn’t love the final book (The Goal) as much as the other three, but it’s still an incredibly steamy and nearly perfect series to read. My order of favorites otherwise goes: The Score, The Deal, and then The Mistake. These focus on some hot hockey boys. […]

ARC Review: The Best Kind of Magic

Posted May 11, 2017 / Book Reviews / 6 Comments
ARC Review: The Best Kind of Magic

Initial Excitement I love heading into books with zero expectations. I saw this on Goodreads and added it a long time ago, then randomly hopped on the ARC tour for the book. The premise seemed like it was more magical realism than paranormal, so I was eager to see how matchmaking and witchcraft were related in this particular world. When I got the book, it sat around my apartment for a week while I ignored it for Netflix. I finally picked it up and got reading… and really couldn’t stop myself! Quick Summary Amber and her mom, a witch, own a magic shop in Chicago. The whole witch thing skipped a generation because Amber is just a “lowly” matchmaker. She can look into someone’s eyes and see glimpses of their future with their true love. She’s never had luck in her own love life though, as she can’t see her own romantic future. The Mayor’s son, Charlie, comes to Amber with a problem. She finds herself falling for him even though she knows who his match will be (aka not her). She, Charlie, and her best friend Amani (who can see the future) band together to find a missing person and deal with many other magical people along the way. Storytelling, Setting, and Feels This was super cute and so fun to read! I loved reading about all the different kind of magical beings and their ancestors. I thought this was magical realism at first, but I think with ALL […]