Monthly Wrap-Up: September 2022

Hey, hi, hello! Where did September go? Does anyone have a clue because I literally blinked and the month was somehow over. 👀 I don’t even know where to begin with the happenings this month (mostly because I can’t recall all of it for some reason?) so I’m going to stick to the highlights and keep this life update short and sweet:

  • My 3-months in India came to an end and I flew back to Jakarta at the start of the month.
  • I got to unbox some great book mail from the months I was gone!
  • My cousin got married at the end of the month and it was hella tiring but also wicked fun.
  • Lots of family reunion stuff—it’s been a lot but oh so good to see my aunts, uncles and cousins from the US, Canada and Australia again after years of separation.
  • I got a job as a consultant at the UN—woo for employment! 🥳
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Blog Tour Review: Well, That Was Unexpected by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Hello, friends! I’m excited to share my thoughts and favourite quotes today for Well, That Was Unexpected by Jesse Q. Sutanto on the blog tour hosted by TBR & Beyond Tours.

Thanks to Delacorte Press for providing a digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Click here or on the banner above to check out the rest of the fantastic bloggers on tour!

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Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp [158]

We’re back with another Sundays in Bed With… meme! This meme dares to ask you what book has been in your bed this morning and is hosted by Midnight Book Girl. Come share what book you’ve spent your time curled up reading in bed with or which book you wish you had time to read today!

I’m hoping to spend my Sunday night in bed starting my month-long group buddy read of Babel by R.F. Kuang. I’m super excited to be reading this with a small group of some of my favourites in this community but I’m also intimidated because this one’s a chonkster. Also, what if it just goes completely over my head?! We’ll find out soon enough, I guess! 😂

📖 SYNOPSIS

Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.

1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation — also known as Babel.

Babel is the world’s center of translation and, more importantly, of silver-working: the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation through enchanted silver bars, to magical effect. Silver-working has made the British Empire unparalleled in power, and Babel’s research in foreign languages serves the Empire’s quest to colonize everything it encounters.

Oxford, the city of dreaming spires, is a fairytale for Robin; a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge serves power, and for Robin, a Chinese boy raised in Britain, serving Babel inevitably means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to sabotaging the silver-working that supports imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide: Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence? What is he willing to sacrifice to bring Babel down?

Babel — a thematic response to The Secret History and a tonal response to Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell — grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of translation as a tool of empire.

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Blog Tour Review: Omega Morales and the Legend of La Lechuza by Laekan Zea Kemp

Hello, friends! It’s my stop on the TBR & Beyond Tours for Omega Morales and the Legend of La Lechuza by Laekan Zea Kemp and I’m excited to share my thoughts and favourite quotes with you today!

Thanks to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for providing a digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Click here or on the banner above to check out the rest of the fantastic bloggers on tour!

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Blog Tour Review: Soul of the Deep by Natasha Bowen

Hello, friends! It’s my stop on the TBR & Beyond Tours for Soul of the Deep by Natasha Bowen, the second and final book in the Skin of the Sea duology and I’m excited to share my thoughts and favourite quotes with you today!

Thanks to Random House Books for Young Readers for providing an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Click here or on the banner above to check out the rest of the fantastic bloggers on tour!

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Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp [157]

We’re back with another Sundays in Bed With… meme! This meme dares to ask you what book has been in your bed this morning and is hosted by Midnight Book Girl. Come share what book you’ve spent your time curled up reading in bed with or which book you wish you had time to read today!

I’ll be spending my Sunday evening in bed reading Well, That Was Unexpected by Jesse Q. Sutanto. I’ve been waiting for a long time see a story with Indonesian characters based in Indonesia written by an Indonesian author and HERE SHE IS. I’m so pumped to dive into this one especially since I’m in Bali right now too. 😉

📖 SYNOPSIS

An outrageous, laugh-out-loud YA rom-com about a girl who’s whisked from LA to her mother’s native Indonesia to get back to her roots and finds herself fake-dating the son of one of the wealthiest families there, from the author of Dial A for Aunties.

After Sharlot Citra’s mother catches her in a compromising position, she finds herself whisked away from LA to her mother’s native Indonesia. It’ll be exactly what they both need. Or so her mother thinks.

When George Clooney Tanuwijaya’s father (who is obsessed with American celebrities) fears he no longer understands how to get through to his son, he decides to take matters into his own hands.

To ensure that their children find the right kind of romantic partner, Sharlot’s mother and George’s father do what any good parent would do: they strike up a conversation online, pretending to be their children.

When the kids find out about their parents’ actions, they’re horrified. Not even a trip to one of the most romantic places on earth could possibly make Sharlot and George fall for each other. But as the layers peel back and the person they thought they knew from online is revealed, the truth becomes more complicated. As unlikely as it may seem, did their parents manage to find their true match after all?

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Book Review: Juniper Hill by Devney Perry

Juniper Hill (The Edens #2)
Published: 11 January 2022
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Panda Rating:

(4 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

Memphis Ward arrives in Quincy, Montana, on the fifth worst day of her life. She needs a shower. She needs a snack. She needs some sanity. Because moving across the country with her newborn baby is by far the craziest thing she’s ever done.

But maybe it takes a little crazy to build a good life. If putting the past behind her requires a thousand miles and a new town, she’ll do it if it means a better future for her son. Even if it requires setting aside the glamour of her former life. Even if it requires working as a housekeeper at The Eloise Inn and living in an apartment above a garage.

It’s there, on the fifth worst day of her life, that she meets the handsomest man she’s ever laid eyes on. Knox Eden is a beautiful, sinful dream, a chef and her temporary landlord. With his sharp, stubbled jaw and tattooed arms, he’s raw and rugged and everything she’s never had—and never will. Because after the first worst day of her life, Memphis learned a good life requires giving up on her dreams too. And a man like Knox Eden will only ever be a dream.

⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Child kidnapping, infidelity (not between MCs)

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ARC Review: In a Jam by Kate Canterbary

✨ HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY TO IN A JAM! ✨

Hi friends, I’m so excited to share my review for In a Jam by Kate Canterbary today! When I learned that I was approved for an ARC of In a Jam I literally squealed because I am a big fan of Canterbary’s romances and I’m so happy to say that this one didn’t disappoint!

Special thanks to the author for providing a digital ARC via Grey’s Promo in exchange for an honest review!

In a Jam
Pub Date:
20 September 2022
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Panda Rating:

(4.5 stars)

📖 SYNOPSIS

When Shay Zucconi’s step-grandmother died, she left Shay a tulip farm—under two conditions.

First, Shay has to move home to the small town of Friendship, Rhode Island. Second—and most problematic since her fiancé just called off the wedding—Shay must be married within one year.

Marriage is the last thing in the world Shay wants but she’ll do anything to save the only real home she’s ever known.

Noah Barden loved Shay Zucconi back in high school. Not that he ever told her. He was too shy, too awkward, too painfully uncool to ask out the beautiful, popular girl.

A lifetime later, Noah is a single dad to his niece and has his hands full running the family business. That old crush is the farthest thing from his mind.

Until Shay returns to their hometown.

⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

absentee parent(s), brief mention of parent death, brief mention of parent chronic illness, mention of incarceration, mention of temporary foster care placement, reference to teenage teasing/bullying (not detailed, not explicit), brief incidence of fat-shaming, living with a neurodivergent child

📚 BUY A COPY
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