Personal posts are some of my favorite posts to read (oh gosh, I’m sorry if that came off stalker-ish) because I get a better sense of who the blogger is and that allows me to connect more with their content. I started this blog late November of 2016 without making any introduction, and although I have an about me page, I feel like you guys can get to know me more. I’ve decided to start making monthly recaps where I highlight things I did/enjoyed/discovered and give a general life update. These posts are nice for me too since it gives me something to look back on. Continue reading “My January 2017”
Book Review: Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson // a charming Regency romance
Title: Edenbrooke
Author: Julianne Donaldson
Published: March 27, 2012
Pages: 264
Genre: Romance, Historical Fiction
Amazon / Barnes and Nobles / Goodreads
Goodreads Description: Marianne Daventry will do anything to escape the boredom of Bath and the amorous attentions of an unwanted suitor. So when an invitation arrives from her twin sister, Cecily, to join her at a sprawling country estate, she jumps at the chance. Thinking she’ll be able to relax and enjoy her beloved English countryside while her sister snags the handsome heir of Edenbrooke, Marianne finds that even the best laid plans can go awry.
From a terrifying run-in with a highwayman to a seemingly harmless flirtation, Marianne finds herself embroiled in an unexpected adventure filled with enough romance and intrigue to keep her mind racing. Will Marianne be able to rein in her traitorous heart, or will a mysterious stranger sweep her off her feet? Fate had something other than a relaxing summer in mind when it sent Marianne to Edenbrooke.
I learned about Edenbrooke through one of Brookie’s posts when she mentioned how she has re-read it four times already.
Being someone who rarely re-reads books, I was curious as to what she saw in it.
Continue reading “Book Review: Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson // a charming Regency romance”5 of my Favorite Underrated Books
I find it easy to get caught up in reading all the newly released or renowned books. But, a lot of times, a book’s popularity is not proportionate to how much I enjoyed it. There are a lot of lesser known/talked about books I adored, so here are five of my favorite underrated books that deserve more attention:
Continue reading “5 of my Favorite Underrated Books”
Book Review: The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani // a surprisingly packed middle-grade story
Title: The School for Good and Evil
Author: Soman Chainani
Published: May 14, 2013
Pages: 488
Genre: Fantasy, Middle Grade
Amazon / Barnes and Nobles / Goodreads
Goodreads Description: This year, best friends Sophie and Agatha are about to discover where all the lost children go: the fabled School for Good & Evil, where ordinary boys and girls are trained to be fairy tale heroes and villains. As the most beautiful girl in Gavaldon, Sophie has dreamed of being kidnapped into an enchanted world her whole life. With her pink dresses, glass slippers, and devotion to good deeds, she knows she’ll earn top marks at the School for Good and graduate a storybook princess. Meanwhile Agatha, with her shapeless black frocks, wicked pet cat, and dislike of nearly everyone, seems a natural fit for the School for Evil.
But when the two girls are swept into the Endless Woods, they find their fortunes reversed—Sophie’s dumped in the School for Evil to take Uglification, Death Curses, and Henchmen Training, while Agatha finds herself in the School For Good, thrust amongst handsome princes and fair maidens for classes in Princess Etiquette and Animal Communication.. But what if the mistake is actually the first clue to discovering who Sophie and Agatha really are…?
I had heard great things about this book since it was published a few years ago, so I was especially excited when a friend lent it to me to read.
I’ll admit that the first fifty pages had me thinking that this was yet another over hyped book, but I was thankfully proved wrong.
Continue reading “Book Review: The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani // a surprisingly packed middle-grade story”3 Things My Favorite Books Have in Common
I recently read a post by Puput from Sparkling Letters about the struggle of writing a coherent positive review. She explained how it’s easier to nitpick things we don’t like in a book than explain why we love another. At one point she wrote:
I mean, why do we love something? We just… do.
It got me thinking about my favorite books and if there was some type of pattern to them that would reveal why exactly I love them. I realized that although they differ greatly in genre, plot, characters, and so forth, there’s three things that they all have in common:
Continue reading “3 Things My Favorite Books Have in Common”
Mini Book Review: A Little Something Different by Sandy Hall // I like different
Title: A Little Something Different
Author: Sandy Hall
Published: August 26, 2014
Pages: 272
Genre: Romance, Contemporary, Young Adult
Amazon / Barnes and Nobles / Goodreads
Goodreads Description: The creative writing teacher, the delivery guy, the local Starbucks baristas, his best friend, her roommate, and the squirrel in the park all have one thing in common—they believe that Gabe and Lea should get together. Lea and Gabe are in the same creative writing class. They get the same pop culture references, order the same Chinese food, and hang out in the same places. Unfortunately, Lea is reserved, Gabe has issues, and despite their initial mutual crush, it looks like they are never going to work things out. But somehow even when nothing is going on, something is happening between them, and everyone can see it. Their creative writing teacher pushes them together. The baristas at Starbucks watch their relationship like a TV show. Their bus driver tells his wife about them. The waitress at the diner automatically seats them together. Even the squirrel who lives on the college green believes in their relationship.
Surely Gabe and Lea will figure out that they are meant to be together….
I was drawn to this book when it was mentioned in this video where it was described as a love story that’s never actually told in the perspective of the love interests.
I adore stories about two people who are obviously perfect for each other but are too shy to admit it, so I knew I would enjoy this book. This book turned out to be a pretty quick read — I was able to finish it in one day — so that’s why this review is on the shorter side 😁. Continue reading “Mini Book Review: A Little Something Different by Sandy Hall // I like different”
Book Traveling Thursdays: My First Read of the Year
Book Traveling Thursday is weekly meme where you pick a book that fits the theme chosen by the Goodread’s group. Then, you share its different book covers from around the world according to several categories.
I’m pretty excited as this is my first Book Traveling Thursday post. I genuinely enjoy reading about other people’s picks, and memes are always nice in that they help me to discover new blogs. The posts are short, so I shouldn’t have trouble keeping up with this meme as my school year progresses.
The theme for this week is your first read of 2017. The first book I started and finished this year was The Thousandth Floor by Katharine McGee (Goodreads / My Review). Continue reading “Book Traveling Thursdays: My First Read of the Year”
Book Review: The Thousandth Floor by Katharine McGee // too much unnecessary drama
Title: The Thousandth Floor
Author: Katharine McGee
Published: August 30, 2016
Pages: 448
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Romance
Amazon / Barnes and Nobles / Goodreads
Goodreads Description: A hundred years in the future, New York is a city of innovation and dreams. Everyone there wants something…and everyone has something to lose.
LEDA COLE’s flawless exterior belies a secret addiction—to a drug she never should have tried and a boy she never should have touched.ERIS DODD-RADSON’s beautiful, carefree life falls to pieces when a heartbreaking betrayal tears her family apart.
RYLIN MYERS’s job on one of the highest floors sweeps her into a world—and a romance—she never imagined…but will this new life cost Rylin her old one?
WATT BAKRADI is a tech genius with a secret: he knows everything about everyone. But when he’s hired to spy for an upper-floor girl, he finds himself caught up in a complicated web of lies.
And living above everyone else on the thousandth floor is AVERY FULLER, the girl genetically designed to be perfect. The girl who seems to have it all—yet is tormented by the one thing she can never have.
One of the reading challenges I’m participating in this year is the Monthly Motif Reading Challenge. Each month, particpators have to pick a book that fits the theme for that month. The theme for the month of January was Diversify Your Reading, so I had to choose a book written by an author or with characters of a different race, religion, or sexual orientation than me (basically a character who isn’t Asian, agnostic, or heterosexual). The Thousandth Floor had numerous characters that fit criteria (ex. Leda was African American, Eris was bisexual, and Mariel was Christian).
This book reminded me of We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. Both books are about rich kids who seriously need more parental guidance. I actually ended up giving The Thousandth Floor two stars for reasons similar to why I gave two stars to We Were Liars.
Continue reading “Book Review: The Thousandth Floor by Katharine McGee // too much unnecessary drama”
Book Review: Highly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley // the start of my era of diverse reading
Title: Highly Illogical Behavior
Author: John Corey Whaley
Published: May 10, 2016
Pages: 256
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, LGBT
Amazon / Barnes and Nobles / Goodreads
Goodreads Description: Sixteen-year-old Solomon is agoraphobic. He hasn’t left the house in three years, which is fine by him.
Ambitious Lisa desperately wants to get into the second-best psychology program for college (she’s being realistic). But is ambition alone enough to get her in?
Enter Lisa.
Determined to “fix” Sol, Lisa steps into his world, along with her charming boyfriend, Clark, and soon the three form an unexpected bond. But, as Lisa learns more about Sol and he and Clark grow closer and closer, the walls they’ve built around themselves start to collapse and their friendships threaten to do the same.
I can count how many books I have read about a protagonist with a mental illness on one hand. For that reason, I decided to pick up this book in order to diversify my reading. I also heard that it does a does a good job of respectfully portraying agoraphobia.
Continue reading “Book Review: Highly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley // the start of my era of diverse reading”Book Review: Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum // a predictable, but cute contemporary
Title: Tell Me Three Things
Author: Julie Buxbaum
Published: April 5, 2016
Pages: 328
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Amazon / Barnes and Nobles / Goodreads
Goodreads Description: Everything about Jessie is wrong. At least, that’s what it feels like during her first week of junior year at her new ultra-intimidating prep school in Los Angeles. Just when she’s thinking about hightailing it back to Chicago, she gets an email from a person calling themselves Somebody/Nobody (SN for short), offering to help her navigate the wilds of Wood Valley High School. Is it an elaborate hoax? Or can she rely on SN for some much-needed help?
It’s been barely two years since her mother’s death, and because her father eloped with a woman he met online, Jessie has been forced to move across the country to live with her stepmonster and her pretentious teenage son.
In a leap of faith—or an act of complete desperation—Jessie begins to rely on SN, and SN quickly becomes her lifeline and closest ally. Jessie can’t help wanting to meet SN in person. But are some mysteries better left unsolved?
I picked this book up because I was in the mood for a light, contemporary read and I heard good things about this particular one. I will say that I figured out who SN was right off the bat, but that didn’t hamper my reading experience. In fact, it only added to my squealing during the falling action.
Continue reading “Book Review: Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum // a predictable, but cute contemporary”
Belle Can Read 