Month: January 2019

Josh & Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren | Review

Posted January 28, 2019 in Books, Reviews / 2 Comments

2018 was the year I discovered Christina Lauren, and I absolutely fell in love with my first two reads by the duo, Roomies and My Favorite Half Night Stand. When my library hold of Josh & Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating became available, I was eager to dive in, sure I was in for a treat given I had rated my two previous Christina Lauren reads 5 stars. Josh & Hazel still had all of the elements of a Christina Lauren novel that I love- an unlikely romance, a fun cover, and hilarious moments that had me flying through the […]

How Do You Decide Which Books to Buy?

Posted January 23, 2019 in Discussions, Features / 18 Comments

We’re at the beginning of a new year, and if you’re anything like me you’re going into 2019 with the best intentions of tracking all of the books you buy through bookish spreadsheets your planner, etc. I always start the year with the best intentions to track book purchases, however I always seem to lose steam around May or so because it can just become too overwhelming to track online purchases, in store purchases, gifts, pre-orders, etc. However, I have noticed that my book buying habits have changed quite a bit over the course of the past 5 years that […]

The Au Pair by Emma Rous | ARC Review

Posted January 21, 2019 in Books, Reviews / 3 Comments

*Many thanks to Berkely and NetGalley for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review!* In today’s over saturated world of mediocre thrillers, it can be hard to find one that simultaneously manages to surprise me and that’s well written. So many thriller novels I actually find work better for me in a movie format, so I’m always on a hunt for a solidly written mystery/thriller that manages to create an unsettling, atmospheric world on the page. That’s exactly what I experienced with The Au Pair to my delight, and found myself completely immersed in a mystery that not […]

Event Recap | Slayer Tour with Kiersten White!

Posted January 18, 2019 in Book and Author Events, Features / 9 Comments

I kicked off 2019 by attending a book event within the first full week of January, and it was a blast! It felt so good to start the new year with the author and blogger community and attend the blog tour for one of the most anticipated books of 2019, Slayer by Kiersten White! In conversation with Adrienne Young (author of Sky in the Deep), Kiersten visited Books Inc. in Palo Alto to share her journey writing her Buffy-inspired novel with YA and Buffy fans alike (although I may or may not have been called out for being one of […]

Staying Current with YA Series

Posted January 16, 2019 in Discussions / 10 Comments

One thing that is becoming increasingly obvious is that YA series are becoming longer. Whether it’s an originally planned trilogy that turns into seven book saga or a series that sets off a million spin offs, very rarely these days do we truly have to say goodbye to characters and stories we love. Which is a great thing! I’ve written about how I don’t understand all of the hate that authors get for expanding and playing in these universes they’ve created, but as a reader I do find it hard to keep up sometimes! In 2018 especially we saw the […]

Blanca Y Roja by Anna- Marie McLemore | Review

Posted January 14, 2019 in Books, Reviews / 2 Comments

Anna-Marie McLemore is no doubt known as one of the best Latinx magical realism voice in YA literature. Her prose is always beautifully crafted, her stories otherworldly, and her writing able to take readers into different worlds with a turn of phrase or small action. Her debut The Weight of Feathers was beautifully crafted and reading it was a transcendent experience. Unfortunately, though there were many elements of Blanca & Roja that I liked, I didn’t find it as immersive as the prior work I read by the author. Blanca & Roja is a triple fairy tale retelling, pulling from […]

2019 Bookish Organizational Plans

Posted January 9, 2019 in Blog Tips, Features / 10 Comments

I have to admit, as a book blogger the beginning of a new year is so exciting. I love setting up my new planners, setting up my new spreadsheets, getting my TBR ready for the year ahead, and just overall feeling fresh and rejuvenated and ready to tackle another year full of books! Over the years I’ve tried several different organizational methods and feel like I’ve finally found a good combination that works for me. See below for more information on the resources I’ll be using to keep my reading and blogging organized in 2019! (If you want to check […]

2019 Releases On My Radar: Contemporary/Historical Fiction Releases Part 1 (A TTT Post)

Posted January 8, 2019 in Book Recommendations & Lists, Features, Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Features/Memes / 15 Comments

One of my FAVORITE posts to write and read are posts highlighting new upcoming releases! I know I say this EVERY YEAR but this upcoming year looks like it’s going to have some phenomenal new releases- which is amazing and a testament to how large and diverse the YA community is becoming! This December I decided to split up my “most anticipated reads” lists into a few separate posts by genre and also by release date, since there are quite a few highly anticipated titles that do not yet have publication dates, covers, etc. Also, I’m trying to include titles […]

My Favorite Half-Night Stand | Christina Lauren Does It Again

Posted January 7, 2019 in Books, Reviews / 6 Comments

I’m a bit new to the Christina Lauren bandwagon as I just recently read my first novel by them, Roomies, this past summer and absolutely fell in love with it. I haven’t had a chance to explore their back list yet, but when I went on a pre-ordering spree this fall I decided to add their newest romance novel, My Favorite Half Night Stand, to my cart. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a rare case of an impulse buy being so, so worth it because My Favorite Half-Night Stand was just so fun! Set at UC Santa Barbara (a gorgeous […]

Monthly TBR Plan: January 2019

Posted January 2, 2019 in Features, TBR / 14 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: 0/60 Books Read A fresh new year! I have to say, I’m pretty proud of myself that I managed to post […]