Month: January 2017

Truthwitch by Susan Dennard | Review

Posted January 30, 2017 in Reviews / 7 Comments
Truthwitch by Susan Dennard | Review

I finished Truthwitch just in the nick of time, about 4 hours before I saw Susan on tour for Windwitch’s release. I am so happy to report that despite procrastinating reading Truthwitch for a literal year (due to hesitation regarding how much insane hype surrounded its release and not wanting to forget everything before its sequel came out) I really enjoyed Truthwitch and love Susan’s writing just as much as I hoped I would. Truthwitch is a high fantasy YA series starter that yes, you guessed it, focuses on main characters who are witches. At the forefront of the novel […]


The Secret of a Heart Note by Stacey Lee | Review

Posted January 25, 2017 in Reviews / 14 Comments
The Secret of a Heart Note by Stacey Lee | Review

Many thanks to the wonderful Lauren @ Bookmark Lit for this book! Stacey Lee has built herself a reputation of writing strong YA female protagonists with very distinct personalities, and The Secret of a Heart Note is no exception. The story follows Mimosa, one of the last living aromateurs, and her mother as they mix elixirs to help their clients win the affections of their crushes. The entire novel has a bit of a magical realism feel, with the beautiful and wild garden Mimosa and her mother cultivate, their rambling cottage they live in, and their seemingly magical sense of […]


Bloggers and Authors and Brunch, Oh My!

Posted January 23, 2017 in Book and Author Events / 6 Comments
Bloggers and Authors and Brunch, Oh My!

Earlier this month I had the amazing opportunity to meet up with several other Bay Area book bloggers and Bay Area authors at the first ever Bay Area Book Blogger & Author Brunch! An amazing event organized and hosted by Christy and Nancy from Tales of the Ravenous Reader and Not Your Mother’s Book Club (NYMBC), bloggers had the opportunity to network with each other and local authors, as well as have a one on one interview with an author at Santa Clara Books Inc! Now let me tell you, friends, when I started blogging I always assumed that these […]


WayWitch Tour Recap: A January Tradition

Posted January 19, 2017 in Book and Author Events / 5 Comments
WayWitch Tour Recap: A January Tradition

For the second year in a row I’ve been lucky enough to kick off January by seeing Alex Bracken and Susan Dennard on tour promoting their newest books! This year’s WayWitch Tour came on the heels of the release of Wayfarer and Windwitch, the final installment in Alex’s Passenger duology and the second installment in Susan’s Witchlands fantasy series. Seeing these two again was such a pleasure, especially since their energy and friendship is palpable to everyone in the audience. Max and I arrived at Kepler’s around 6:25pm and there was already quite the turnout…we ended up with 4th row […]


This is Where the World Ends by Amy Zhang | Review

Posted January 18, 2017 in Reviews / 4 Comments
This is Where the World Ends by Amy Zhang | Review

  “Miracles do not belong to religions. Miracles belong to the desperate, which is why every religion, every philosophy, and most importantly, every fairy tale always has a moment of salvation, a eureka, an enlightenment.” It’s rare that I don’t really know what I’m getting myself into with a book, but This is Where the World Ends can’t really be explained in any other way for me. Like everyone else, I had heard a lot of people rave about the author’s debut, Falling Into Place, so when I saw her second novel available immediately on Overdrive I thought it would […]


Looking Back on 2016’s Bookish Events

Posted January 16, 2017 in Book and Author Events / 6 Comments
Looking Back on 2016’s Bookish Events

2016 may have been a flaming garbage pile of a year in many ways, but it had some bomb author events and book releases! I was so lucky to attend SO many author events over the course of the past year and I thought I’d put a post together to give a quick recap of each! This was my first bookish event of 2016, and it was AMAZING. There was such a good turn out, and Alex and Susan have a really great natural chemistry! I can’t wait to see them again this month! You can read my entire recap […]


Carry On by Rainbow Rowell | Review

Posted January 11, 2017 in Reviews / 6 Comments
Carry On by Rainbow Rowell | Review

I love love love Rainbow Rowell, and Carry On was the last novel of hers I had left to read. I put it off for quite some time, I think mostly because I was a bit wary of one of my favorite contemporary authors writing in a completely different genre. I was scared I wouldn’t love it as much, and I’ll admit I did some skimming during the Simon Snow portions of Fangirl. While my feelings about Carry On aren’t as vast and burning as my love for Rainbow’s other novels such as Fangirl and Eleanor & Park, I’m so […]


Top Ten 2016 Releases I Meant to Read But Didn’t Get To

Posted January 10, 2017 in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Features/Memes / 28 Comments
Top Ten 2016 Releases I Meant to Read But Didn’t Get To

This week’s TTT post is all about those coveted 2016 releases that we had every intention of getting to…but for some reason didn’t. This is perfect timing for me, as I am in the process of completely restructuring my Goodreads system and committed to making and sticking to a more regulated TBR schedule in 2017. Below are the ten 2016 releases I most regret not getting to, and I’m aiming to read all of them before 2017 is over! Did any of the above books end up on your list of 2016 reads you didn’t get to? Would you recommend […]


Building My Hawaiian Vacation TBR Plan

Posted January 5, 2017 in Features, Travel / 14 Comments
Building My Hawaiian Vacation TBR Plan

Having a winter birthday means I have a lifelong complex about the cold. It always limited the birthday activities I could have (I’m still longing for all the pool parties I missed out on having), limited who could come (many people were away visiting family or on vacation), and my parties and celebrations were overshadowed by the holidays. I vowed to myself that ONE YEAR I would finally spend my birthday somewhere tropical, where I could lounge on the beach and enjoy the outdoors and perhaps have a cute birthday outfit that wasn’t obscured by a winter coat. Well my […]


Pre-Order Priorities [3]: First Picks of 2017!

Posted January 4, 2017 in Features, Pre-Order Priorities / 12 Comments
Pre-Order Priorities [3]: First Picks of 2017!

Pre-Order Priorities is a feature that highlights all of the books that I’ve recently pre-ordered and am anxiously awaiting to arrive at my door! This post I’m highlighting all of the 2017 releases that I’ve pre-ordered so far! I’m tyring to be more responsible about my book buying this year, so having some of my most anticipated reads already ordered (and knowing they’ll be en route to me ASAP) keeps me (somewhat) satisfied! Release Date: January 10th, 2017 I’m currently reading Windwitch and loving it, so I knew I’d want it’s sequel in my hands ASAP! I’m also seeing Susan […]