Review: Lying Out Loud

Posted July 18, 2015 / Book Reviews / 8 Comments

I am definitely a Kody Keplinger fangirl. I’ve now read three of her books, with just one more YA one to go, and they’re all superb. She uses the formula of flawed character + hate-to-love romance like a goddamn pro. I love the way she takes these extremely REAL teenagers and gives them some opportunities to grow and learn. They’re not perfect by the end, but they’ve been changed in some way and learn to be better people. Lying Out Loud is definitely no exception. Compared to the other two I’ve read, the main character is probably the most flawed of all. Sonny is a liar. She has a terrible “home” life and uses lying as a defense mechanism for just about everything in her life. Her best friend Amy, the younger sister of Wesley from The DUFF, is pretty much a saint. These two are definitely in a codependent relationship, but in the best possible way. (I shipped them even more than the romance, which is saying a lot!) When her and Amy get mixed up in this lie with the new boy in school, Ryder, Sonny risks destroying her relationship with both of them because of her lies. What I Loved The chemistry and banter: As Debby calls it, the banterfluff in this book was perfection. Ryder and Sonny hate each other at the beginning, but then feelings start to grow. (At least, they do for Sonny!) I loved it. Keplinger’s hate-to-love romance is always the best because it’s […]

Review: Where the Stars Still Shine

Posted July 17, 2015 / Book Reviews / 8 Comments

This was definitely the kind of story that grabs you and doesn’t let go while you’re reading. I finished it within a few hours. I really loved so many elements of the book, but I didn’t get to the same level of “oh my god I love this book” like MANY other readers. I’m not sure why, to be honest, because it’s hard to even think of flaws. Callie was kidnapped by her mother when her parents got divorced, and they were on the run ever since. When her mom gets pulled over because of a broken taillight and finds out who they are, Callie is immediately brought to live with the father she doesn’t remember. She’s suddenly a part of a huge Greek family that has been missing her for years. She meets a cute boy and makes friends right away, which I thought was a little crazy… but I still loved it. Kat, Alex, and Greg (her father) were such great characters. I wanted them to be my friends. The romance was a bit quick, in my opinion, but that doesn’t mean I don’t ship the shit out of it. Callie’s struggles between her loyalty to her mom and the love she feels from her new family were so heartbreaking. I feel like most characters would have acted out much more or made much worse decisions, but Callie felt REAL and believable. I’m so glad for that. She was willing to try new things, make friends, join her family, etc. […]

Bookmark Lit is ONE! (Giveaway)

Posted July 16, 2015 / Personal / Information / Etc. / 28 Comments

Can you believe it? I definitely can’t. You’ll see down below that I’m a huge quitter. I have a tendency of taking up hobbies or sports and quickly abandoning them – sometimes even before I start. (I have a closet with blank canvases and unopened paint from about a year ago…) The fact that blogging has stuck with me for a year is a pretty big deal for me. I feel like I’ve totally found myself a home on the internet. (I’ve also had countless blogs that I abandoned after a few posts.) The community here is so amazing and it makes me so happy to speak with you guys every day! I’ve met a few people IRL thanks to my excellent time at BEA, and I hope that number only grows with time. I’m beyond thankful for so many people (all of you listed below, because apparently I can’t help myself and wrote the longest shoutout section ever). There are some other great bloggers who started up in July 2014 as well, so this celebration post will also be sharing some love with them! I started my blog after reading Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. I checked Goodreads, which I had been using since 2010, and saw a bunch of reviews with links to book blogs. I had made and abandoned plenty of blogs in the past because I didn’t really have enough information to share on them. I liked makeup and clothes, but not enough to talk about them all the […]

Read-a-Thon Sign-Up: Make Me Read It

Posted July 15, 2015 / Book Challenges, Features / 20 Comments

Starts at 8:00am on July 20th and ends at 12:00am on July 27th #MakeMeRead tag on Twitter/Instagram Check out the intro pages (Val’s or Ely’s) and the rules below: Look at the books you own, either physical, e-book or ones you’ve borrowed from the library and pick out a few you really want to read, or feel like you should read. It’s up to you how many you pick, personally I’d pick a few more than you expect to be able to read in a week. Example: if you think you’ll only read two, pick out five books or if you think you can read seven, pick out ten. Make a list of these books on your blog, or make a video, or a Goodreads shelf or post a picture on Instagram—whatever is easiest for you. Then get friends, other bloggers/booktubers etc. to vote on which books you HAVE to read. When the read-a-thon comes along, you read the books in the order of most votes. For example, if one book gets 10 votes—you read that first, then the one that got 7 and so on. If there’s a tie, then it’s your preference. The goal is to read as many as possible. Now help me choose the books! I have quite a few books I’ve been saying that I NEED to read – primarily the three library books sitting in my living room – and just never get around to it. I have soooo many of them. During this […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #47: Stacking the Shelves

Posted July 14, 2015 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 5 Comments

Last Ten Books That Came Into My Possession 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. I love that this is basically the TTT version of Stacking the Shelves, a meme I love creeping on but don’t participate in… Here are the last ten books that came into my possession and how I acquired them! I love these easy topics. From Around the World ARC Tours I sent Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy back already, but I read it and it was fantastic. I also finished The Lies About Truth by Courtney C. Stevens, which was awesome. I’m currently reading The Heartbreakers by Ali Novak but am not completely sold. I can’t lie, I’ve been skimming a little bit… And up next is Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon. From the Library I requested Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli and The Queen of Bright and Shiny Things by Ann Aguire and they came in last week. I hope I get to them before they’re due back, but no promises. I also checked out This Shattered World by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner, but haven’t gotten around to it either. I’m so bad with library books but it doesn’t stop my addiction! (Also pictured is my current audiobook series binge-read…) From Amazon I preordered […]

Inside & Out #10: Dahlia from Daily Dahlia (and YA/NA Author!)

Posted July 13, 2015 / Features, Inside and Out / 7 Comments

Admiring book covers and bookmarks, shared by you! Welcome to INSIDE AND OUT. This feature includes two of my absolute favorite book-related things: bookmarks (inside) and book covers (out)! I’ve invited guest posters to share their favorite book covers and bookmarks here on the second and fourth Mondays of each month. Sign-ups are always open (see bottom of post)! Check out past posts here. Dahlia Adler from The Daily Dahlia and Author of YA & NA Books! Twitter: @MissDahlELama| Instagram: @MissDahlELama| Facebook Tell me a little about yourself: I’m a YA (Behind the Scenes, Under the Lights, Just Visiting) and NA (Last Will and Testament) author, a blogger for the B&N Teen Blog, and a macaron aficionado. Talk about your blog (what you blog about/kinds of books, features, etc.): My personal blog is mostly about publishing–tips on querying, subbing, debut tips, agent red flags, etc. but I kinda feel like I’ve covered all I know by now, so now I mostly use it to post Top Ten Tuesdays (thanks, The Broke and the Bookish!) and host the occasional cover reveal or blog tour stop for a friend. But I also blog for the B&N Teen Blog, and that’s a lot of fun–I mostly do themed posts and the occasional author spotlight or cover reveal, and I’ve gotten to interview a lot of my favorite authors, which is so cool. Favorite genre: Contemporary! Three books you recommend most often and why: Hmm, I rec books a lot, but okay, if I must stick to three… Probably Black Iris by Leah Raeder, […]

Review: Full Frontal Feminism

Posted July 10, 2015 / Book Reviews / 4 Comments

I don’t know if I can adequately express how important I think this book is. I started reading it on International Women’s Day back in March, and have sloooowly been picking away at it since. I’m not good with nonfiction usually, so I wanted to space it out. It’s the kind of book that’s simultaneously funny and informative; it’s not like I was bored or dreaded reading it. I think maybe I just wanted to savor it a little bit? Anyways, I would highly recommend this book to any woman in general. If you don’t consider yourself a feminist, this book explains exactly why that needs to change. If you’re already a feminist, this book helps summarize some great points, if you’re ever in a situation where you need to tell misogynists to fuck off. I haven’t done a lot of women’s studies reading since college, so it was great to get a “refresher” about why I fell into the feminist category a few years ago. This book will be absolutely eye-opening for some people, but for others it will just confirm a lot of things you already know. Regardless of which category you fall into, you should read this book. Valenti’s casual, humorous writing style makes the book engaging and easy to understand. It’s not an academic feminist textbook that will confuse the shit out of you.

Currently – 7/9/15

Posted July 9, 2015 / Personal / Information / Etc. / 8 Comments

Lots of lifestyle bloggers share posts about things they’re currently up to: things they’re feeling, stuff they’re working on, and even what music they’re listening to at the moment. (I also love the “what I’m doing now” tag on Instagram!) I’m taking a cue from them and giving you a slice of my life. my pedicure after work. It’s not exactly NEEDED or anything, because my previous one from a few months ago is actually in good shape… But I just really need the massage chair. I won’t lie, I would literally sit in that chair all day instead of even get anything done to my toes/legs. not any work, that’s for sure. We have so many things in process right now and it’s not leaving me with a lot of actual THINGS to do at work. Since I’m a recruiter, we do a lot of waiting around for people to respond to us, companies to give us feedback, and interviews to happen. I’m definitely in a spot right now where I can do nothing but wait. raspberry lemonade. I love this shit. Simply Lemonade makes the best drinks and their raspberry kind is the absolute best. I bought a container to leave in the fridge at work for the next week or two! Chinese food. My friend and I met up for lunch at the Chinese restaurant down the road. We had to discuss some Jack & Jill plans for my friend’s wedding coming up! We surprisingly don’t have a […]

Burrito Bowl Book Tag

Posted July 9, 2015 / Personal / Information / Etc. / 10 Comments

I’m a dummy and didn’t realize Cristina had tagged me for this… like, months ago. Without further ado, here’s the delicious tag that’s making me tempted to get Chipotle for dinner tonight.. Created by Girl in the Pages and Thoughts and Afterthoughts Links go to my review or Goodreads, depending! RICE | The Foundation – The book that got you into book blogging or reading Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver was the book I read that got me into book blogging. I was googling it after I finished and wanted to see what other people thought of it. I had been using Goodreads on and off since 2010 (since my reading was really spotty from 2009-2013), but never realized that peple actually blog about books. When I saw a few blogs about the book, I thought it would be a really cool idea. I had no idea what it would lead me into! BEANS| The Filler – The book with a whole lot of nothing going on The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton was the worst. It didn’t work for me at all and I was so bored throughout. The story followed a few generations in this family and Ava Lavender wasn’t even introduced until about halfway through. A lot of awful things happen to this family, but I felt like there was really nothing actually happening plotwise. It was a sad history, just listed out in chronological order. UGH. I cannot believe I didn’t just DNF this […]

Review & ARC Review: Daylight Falls Series

Posted July 8, 2015 / Book Reviews / 7 Comments

I bought this book a loooong time ago and totally forgot about it. When I got approved for the second book, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that I already owned the first one! I was a big fan of Jen Calonita’s series about a girl in Hollywood, so this one seemed to be right up my alley. I was right that the Hollywood setting is kind of like book crack for me. I definitely want to read more books like this and will be rereading Calonita’s series again at some point! It was interesting to get the perspective of the best friend to the Hollywood star, who doesn’t want anything to do with it. Honestly I wasn’t the biggest fan of Ally, compared to the other characters. She had a lot of moments that made me want to punch her. Like, A LOT of moments. She was super self-conscious and self-loathing, no matter what Liam said to her. She was incredibly jealous and let her emotions get in the way of any sound decision-making. Aside from all that, I really loved her friendship with Vanessa though; I could see that they had a solid foundation that Hollywood couldn’t fuck up for them. I’m SO EXCITED to read the next book for more Van. The relationship with Ally and Liam happened kind of quickly and was pretty cheesy in the beginning. I definitely rooted for them throughout though. I didn’t really see what Liam saw in her, because of her […]