T5W: Books for My Younger Self

I’ve always been a reader. Well, duh, you might be thinking, but the thing is I never gave much of a thought to what I read. I picked up whatever sounded interesting. Now that I’m older, with the boom of social media and me following more bookish accounts on both Twitter and Instagram, I have become a bit…choosier with what I read. I don’t mean that in a bad way, but I often time do follow the bandwagon and read the “popular” books.

But I’ve come across some books that I really wish had been around when I was a teenager. Maybe I would have felt less awkward or…whatever if I had read them. But I’m glad I get the chance to talk about them today.

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly blog meme that started as a group on Goodreads. You can check out the rest of this month’s topics and join the group here.

Advertisements

Top Ten Tuesday: K-Dramas to Binge!

I thought I’d do my own little spin on today’s Top Ten Tuesday post. The topic for today is Bingeworthy TV Shows or Movies, but I wanted to highlight some K-dramas (Korean dramas) I’ve had my eyes on and ones I’ve already watched and loved. You can check out the rest of September’s topics by clicking here.

Review: “The Kiss Quotient” by Helen Hoang

Guys.

How little I knew how much I would enjoy this book! I can’t believe it. I’m not one for reading chick lit or women’s fiction, but I’ve seen this book around often, and its film, TV, and media rights were recently acquired by Pilgrim Media Group. Since I’m so into Young Adult literature and immersed in its world, it’s a rare thing for me to pick up a non-YA book. I’ve made a vow to myself to look outside of my circle, and this was just the perfect book to do so.

Review: “The Girl of Fire and Thorns” by Rae Carson

My goal is to actually keep with my blog despite the whirlwind of returning to work, but… I don’t think that’s going to happen, unfortunately. However, I’ll try my hardest!

I had a few friends via Instagram tell me to read this book. While I initially liked Carson’s latest series, the books did slowly decrease in star rating with each book I read. My best friend is nearly done with this series and says she enjoys them, so I thought I’d give it a go, too. 🙂

T5W: Favorites I’d Like to Revisit

This is such a fun topic! There are so many books I’d like to reread, and to name just 5… Whew! 😅

Top 5 Wednesday is hosted over on Goodreads. You can check out August topics and stay up-to-date here.

T5W: Summer Vacation Books

Technically, today’s Top 5 Wednesday post is supposed to be about books that feature road trips, but to be honest, I can’t really think of a lot that fit the topic. Instead I decided to feature books that take place during summer vacation in general.

Today’s my last week of summer vacation. Next week I hit the ground running at work after 4 weeks off! I figured it’s a good way to reminisce about my own time off. 🙂

You can join the Top 5 Wednesday group over on Goodreads, check out others’ posts, and wait for August’s topics!

ARC Review: “Smoke in the Sun” by Renée Ahdieh

I was thrilled to pick up an ARC of this book while at NTTBF back in April. Funny enough, I picked up an ARC of Flame in the Mist just the year before, too. What a coincidence!

Anyway, I reread FitM before diving into its sequel, and I’m really glad I did. I’ve been rereading a lot of books this year due to sequels (*coughReaperattheGatescough*) or finales releasing (*coughWarStormcough*). I’ve quite enjoyed it because I’ve seriously forgotten so much! And since I never did read a finished copy of Flame in the Mist, I really felt like I was going into the book like it were brand new.

Goodreads Reading Challenge: Jan – June ’18

Last week in a Top 5 Wednesday post, I talked about some of my top-rated books of the year so far. With the year officially being half-way over, I figured I’d give an update of how my Goodreads reading challenge is going so far.

I started off with the goal to read 90 books, but with the way I was feeling mentally and creatively, coupled with the desire to reread some books since sequels and finales were releasing, I cut my goal down to 80. Goodreads says one thing, but because I have DNFed one book and read a short novella that I don’t really count as a “book,” I’ve actually read 2 less than my current stat of 49.

ARC Review: “I Really Didn’t Think This Through” by Beth Evans

I’m going to give myself a pat on the back for blogging consecutively for the past few days. 🙂 *pat pat, pat pat* I have a small stack of ARCs that I had planned to read a while… Alas, that didn’t happen. But since I’m on summer break, I hope to catch up.

This book was sent to me by the author. Thank you, Beth! All quotes are taken directly from the ARC and may change in the final copy.

ARC Review: “A Reaper at the Gates” by Sabaa Tahir

I don’t know what to say, or how to even write the right words to convey how I feel. A Repear at the Gates was one of my most anticipated releases of 2018. When luck swung my way a few weeks ago and I managed to get an ARC, my heart burst with joy.

If you’ve been eagerly awaiting this third installment of the Ember Quartet, you won’t be disappointed. My heart has been equally stomped on, burst from pure happiness, swooning with absolute emotion. I know Sabaa is a great writer–there’s simply no question–and she’s been one of my favorite authors since I first read An Ember in the Ashes. But A Reaper at the Gates has sealed Sabaa as a master storyteller and destroyer of my heart.