Month: May 2014

The Art of Arranging Flowers by Lynne Branard- ARC Review

Posted May 29, 2014 in Books, Reviews / 2 Comments

The Art of Arranging Flowers by Lynne Branard My rating: 1/5 Stars Publisher: Berkley Trade (June 2014) Length: 320 pgs Format: E-book, courtesy of NetGalley Goodreads Synopsis: Ruby Jewell knows flowers. In her twenty years as a florist she has stood behind the counter at the Flower Shoppe with her faithful dog, Clementine, resting at her feet. A customer can walk in, and with just a glance or a few words, Ruby can throw together the perfect arrangement for any occasion. Whether intended to rekindle a romance, mark a celebration, offer sympathy, or heal a broken heart, her expressive floral […]

Sunday Funday: Week in Review [2]

Posted May 26, 2014 in Sunday Funday, Weekly Features/Memes / 3 Comments

Sunday Funday is a weekly(ish) post I’ve started to recap the bookish (and sometimes not-so-bookish) happenings in my life the past week! Feel free to participate, just link back! (I know it’s technically Monday today, but this week has been crazy!) Graduation! I did it! I graduated with a double-major B.A. and now am facing the vast world of opportunities that post-grad life has to offer. Moving Along with graduation I’ve moved several hours away from where I’ve been going to school the past four years to start post-grad life, so I’ve been behind on my reading and posting. I’d […]

Top Ten Books that Taught Me About Friendship

Posted May 20, 2014 in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Features/Memes / 10 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly feature hosted by the wonderful blog The Broke and The Bookish! This week’s topic is “Top Ten Books About Friendship” and I decided to break my list down into books that taught me about friendship throughout the various stages of growing up. Early Childhood: 1) Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans- Madeline teaches class, tenacity, and most of all how to make and keep friends, whether it be her classmates or Pepito the bad hat next door, and does it all with poise and grace. 2) Corduroy by Don Freeman- Because was there ever such […]

Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson- Review

Posted May 15, 2014 in Books, Reviews / 5 Comments

I’ve heard so much about Matson over the past few weeks due to her upcoming release of Since You’ve Been Gone, so I was determined to get my hands on one of her books and try out her contemporary style myself! And I was pleasantly surprised, because not only was the book charming, but it’s the best road trip book I’ve ever read. Matson does an incredible job making you really feel like you’re on the road with Amy and Roger, and gives incredible purpose to each stop they make, whether it’s Yosemite or a tiny gas station on highway […]

Discussion: Buy Vs. Borrow

Posted May 13, 2014 in Discussions / 8 Comments

As most voracious readers and book bloggers probably encounter, I’ve recently had to put a lot of thought into how to budget for books the past few years. As much as I’d love to purchase every book on my TBR list, the reality is that textbooks have had to come first for the last few years, and I honestly am starting to run out of room for storage and display of my beloved books despite several book purges over the past few months. So my fellow readers, how do you deal with this dilemma? I’ve definitely been utilizing my local […]

Ten Books I Put Down & Still Need to Finish

Posted May 12, 2014 in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Features/Memes / 21 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly feature hosted by the fantastic blog The Broke and The Bookish. This week’s theme was Top Ten Books You Almost Put Down but Didn’t. I found this topic to be really difficult, as I rarely power through books once I put them down for more than a few days. Therefore, I decided to put my own spin on the topic this week to suit my reading habits and instead compiled Ten Books I Put Down & Still Need (& Want) to Finish. (In No Particular Order) 1) Venom by Fiona Paul- I was […]

Stacking the Shelves [1]

Posted May 10, 2014 in Stacking the Shelves, Weekly Features/Memes / 3 Comments

Today is my first time participating in the weekly meme hosted over at Tynga’s Reviews where bloggers share the books that they’ve added to their shelves this week, whether borrowed, bought, virtual, physical, etc! Borrowed from my Local Library: I started Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour first since I’ve seen so many bloggers freaking out over Morgan Matson’s newest book Second Chance Summer. This is my first read by Matson and I’m finding her style is easy to get into and comfortable, and listening to the narration is like chatting with a good friend. An Abundance of Katherines is my […]

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler- Review

Posted May 10, 2014 in Books, Reviews / 0 Comments

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler My rating: 2.5/5 Stars Publisher: Plume (A division of Penguin) (2013) Length: 320 pgs Format: Paperback, gifted to me Goodreads Synopsis: Meet the Cooke family. Our narrator is Rosemary Cooke. As a child, she never stopped talking; as a young woman, she has wrapped herself in silence: the silence of intentional forgetting, of protective cover. Something happened, something so awful she has buried it in the recesses of her mind. Now her adored older brother is a fugitive, wanted by the FBI for domestic terrorism. And her once lively mother […]

Top Ten Book Covers I’d Frame As Pieces of Art

Posted May 5, 2014 in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Features/Memes / 19 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly feature hosted by the fantastic blog The Broke and the Bookish. This week the topic is Top Ten Book Covers I’d Frame as Pieces of Art. 1) & 2)Cinder and Scarlet by Marissa Meyer- These are actually the Spanish covers for the books, and I absolutely adore them, as they’re delicate and reflect a very dark-fairy-tale-vibe. 3) The Selection by Kiera Cass- Blue is my favorite color, and this series always has the most gorgeous gowns on the cover, and the Tiffany blue is too striking not to love. I wish everything in […]

Sunday Funday: Week in Review [1]

Posted May 4, 2014 in Sunday Funday / 3 Comments

Sunday Funday is a weekly(ish) post I’ve started to recap the bookish (and sometimes not-so-bookish) happenings in my life the past week! Feel free to participate, just link back! Graduation is looming. In roughly three weeks I will be walking across the stage getting my English B.A. and being thrust into the big kid world without a concrete idea of what I want to do. On the bright side, this week was the awards ceremony for my university’s liberal arts college, and I’m honored to say I won honors in both the English Department and the Religious Studies department […]