Admission by Julie Buxbaum | ARC Review

Posted November 23, 2020 in Books, Reviews / 0 Comments

I remember exactly where I was the day the news broke about the college bribery scandal. It was all anyone at work could talk about that day, and though I was far removed from my college days, I remember the anger and disappointment I felt remembering how grueling the college application process was back in my day, and I’m sure it’s just become even more competitive. It was a scandal that really highlighted a truth I think many “knew” as an unspoken rule but now had tangible evidence for: the deck is stacked for the wealthy, the admissions process is […]

House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City #1) by Sarah J Maas | Review

Posted November 16, 2020 in Books, Reviews / 1 Comment

I will be the first to admit that Sarah J Maas is one of my favorite authors, but I struggled with this book initially. I put off reading it for several months because I was intimidated by the size and by the change in genre from her previous books, and honestly it was exhausting just thinking about having to learn a whole new world. When I finally did dive into it, I found myself constantly confused, and not having a whole lot of motivation to pick it up between reading sessions. Ultimately, I’m glad I stuck with it because at […]

Rent a Boyfriend by Gloria Chao | ARC Review

Posted November 9, 2020 in Books, Reviews / 0 Comments

It’s no secret that I am a huge fan of YA set in college, so I was eager to dive into Gloria Chao’s newest novel, Rent a Boyfriend. Having adored American Panda, I was eager to experience her witty yet realistic storytelling centered on a first generation American college student. Chao’s latest novel did not disappoint, and at times felt full of more emotional turmoil than her fantastic debut novel. The novel seems to have a surprising plot at first- Chloe hires a fake boyfriend through a service to bring home for the Thanksgiving holiday to get her parents off […]

November 2020 TBR

Posted November 4, 2020 in Features, TBR / 4 Comments

I’ve made a lot of reading resolutions, and one of them is to be better about cultivating a monthly TBR. I know so many bloggers do beginning of the month TBR posts and I always LOVE reading them, so I’ve decided to post my own as well! I will include my physical, e-book, and ARC TBRs as well as a status update of where I am prior to starting my upcoming month’s TBR. Reading Progress Prior To This Month: 65/85* Books Read *RIP, I finally admitted defeat that 100 books was NOT happening this year due to, well, EVERYTHING 2020 […]

Love & Olives by Jenna Evans Welch | ARC Review

Posted November 2, 2020 in Books, Reviews / 1 Comment

First and foremost, I ADORE this companion series. I love how all of the titles are stand-alones but have corresponding titles and covers that are so simple but so effectively capture the magic of these European stories of self discovery and exploration. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: I wish Ms. Welch could be my own personal European tour guide because every single one of these books makes me feel as though I just went on vacation! While I’ve enjoyed each book in this series for different reasons, I think Love & Olives by far had the […]

The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix | Review

Posted October 26, 2020 in Books, Reviews / 3 Comments

I’ll be the first to admit I am NOT usually a horror fan, or a consumer of any type of horror media, really. However, in my quest to try and fully immerse myself in the spooky season this year, I decided to go ahead and give this 90s historical fiction (eep) paranormal/horror novel a try, if for no other reason than I was intrigued by the cheeky title and Southern setting. I am so glad I stepped out of my comfort zone for this one because I was addicted almost from the beginning to this novel full of juxtapositions between […]

What I’m Loving From Trader Joe’s Lately

Posted October 21, 2020 in Features / 5 Comments

Fall is here and that means a plethora of seasonal favorites (both old and new!) have arrived at Trader Joe’s! With COVID, I haven’t eaten out since March and have been exploring a lot more foods I can eat/prepare at home, and I’ve been trying a lot more things, especially from Trader Joe’s. I’ve rounded up my fall favorites in the post below! Apple Blossoms I am absolutely in love with these little, self serve apple pies. I’m more of an apple dessert person than pumpkin (though there are many of pumpkin items on my list today!) and one of […]

Rave Adult Mini Reviews: Such a Fun Age and The Most Fun We Ever Had

Posted October 19, 2020 in Books, Reviews / 2 Comments

It’s not often that I read two 5 star books back to back but I recently had that wonderful experience thanks to some great recommendations from my coworkers with whom I’ve recently founded a virtual book club. These two books are probably in my top five favorites of the entire YEAR and I’m definitely going to be purchasing copies of both! I went into Such a Fun Age thinking it was going to focus mostly on the “incident” mentioned in the synopsis, but was was surprised to find that it was really just a catalyst for a novel that seems […]

National Hispanic Heritage Month Book Recommendations

Posted October 14, 2020 in Book Recommendations & Lists, Features / 0 Comments

Another wonderful element of the autumn season is that it coincides with Hispanic Heritage month, which runs from September 15th-October 15th. In recent years I’ve seen so much for Latinx/Hispanic representation in YA and Adult novels and it’s something that I try to stay on top of, aiming for at least 10% of the books I read each year to feature Latinx protagonists/be written by Latinx authors. As a biracial, Latinx woman (my mother’s side of the family is from El Salvador) I love seeing representation of Latinx culture in the books I’m reading, and wish it had been as […]

In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren | ARC Review

Posted October 12, 2020 in Books, Reviews / 0 Comments

I am a huge CLo fan, and have really loved their past few books that seem to have polarized many readers (The Honey-Don’t List, Twice in a Blue Moon, etc.) When I saw that the duo had a Christmas novel coming out, I was giddy with excitement. I had yet to find a Christmas romance that I adored, and was excited at the prospect of reading one written by my absolute favorite romance writers. What could go wrong? Like protagonist Mae, I was perhaps about to underestimate how my journey was going to go. While there were a lot of […]