Friends, it’s August tomorrow. We’re eight months into the year and… I don’t even know what I’ve done with my year besides read! I think it’s kind of scary how quickly time is going. Don’t you think? Or is it really just me? Lol It’s time for another WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be talking about:
What did you read last?
What are you currently reading?
What will you read next?
What did you read last?
My recent ‘big finish’ was Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Daisy Jones is probably one of the most hyped up books in 2019 and I admit to a great load of wariness in picking it up because even though I’ve loved everything that I’ve read by TJR so far, I was worried this one would let me down. Let me put those shameful thoughts to rest right now because wow, I really had nothing to worry about. I absolutely LOVED it. I will be posting a longer review on my blog soon (because I really can’t stop gushing about it) but for now, you can read my review up on Goodreads! After finishing Daisy Jones on Monday, I was a little worried about having an epic book hangover so I decided to read a fluffy romance (or two). I finished That Second Chance (Getting Lucky #1) by Meghan Quinn and The Consequence of Falling by Claire Contreras. Reviews coming soon!
What are you currently reading?
I’m kind of not reading anything at the moment? I really can’t decide what to pick up next after finishing The Consequences of Falling earlier today. I feel like I’m still in that ‘book hangover zone’ from Daisy, so I’m wondering if I should stick to romance (The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker), move on to some thrilling YA (Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson) or if I should just pick up a fantasy that I’ve been wanting to read for a while (We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal)? I might be reading all three of these before the night is over 😬
What will you read next?
I have a feeling that my buddy read for A Spark of Light has fallen through because nobody is saying anything in the group chat (lol) but if I’m in the mood for it, I think I’ll still pick it up. There are also some ARCs that I want to get to and I’m considering participating in ARC August(?) that I’ve seen a few people mention. I’ve got a few that are fairly overdue and my guilt is kind of eating away at me but I’m also so good at ignoring it? This is why being a mood reader can be so frustrating sometimes!
What are you currently reading? How do you avoid a book hangover?! Leave me a comment and let’s chat 🙂
We’re back with another Sundays in Bed With… meme, and this time it’s actually Sunday when I write this! 😉 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 been you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed with, or which book you wish you had time to read today!
I’m pretty sure that we’ve all heard about one of the most hyped books of the year: Daisy Jones & The Sixby Taylor Jenkins Reid. I’ve read a few of TJR’s books this year and I’ve loved every single one of them, so I don’t know why I kept putting off reading Daisy for so long. Then I woke up this morning and I started to listen to the audiobook on a whim. It’s read by a full cast and I felt myself immediately hooked into the story. My attention span is pretty crap though and I’m still trying to find the best way to listen to audiobooks without getting distracted, so I decided to pick up the physical book to follow along. The audiobook is pretty amazing but I ended up focusing too much on wondering who was reading which character’s part and I might have ended up on a bit of a Google spree trying to figure out the who’s who. I think the narrators are perfectly cast and I love how it’s bringing the story to life even more than reading the physical book already does. I’ve found myself constantly wanting to put down the book to bring up Spotify on my phone so I can play some of their songs, only to remember that this is a fictional band! WELP. TJR doing her thing yet again! In case you don’t know about it, the synopsis is below:
Everyone knows DAISY JONES & THE SIX, but nobody knows the reason behind their split at the absolute height of their popularity…until now.
Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock ’n’ roll she loves most. By the time she’s twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things.
Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she’s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road.
Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend. The making of that legend is chronicled in this riveting and unforgettable novel, written as an oral history of one of the biggest bands of the seventies.
What are you currently reading?
Well, it’s been a pretty funky week for me. I made a note on my late Friday Favorites post about how I had to take a break from the blog (and social media) because life and my anxiety has been particularly crippling this week. I think I really reached a ‘breaking point’ on Friday and I couldn’t muster up the energy to re-open my laptop after I got done with work, let alone finish writing my Friday post. I’ve always had issues with sleeping and it suddenly got worse two years ago, so I started to take melatonin to help me sleep. However, my metabolism is so slow that if I don’t take it at least a good 2-3 hours before I want to sleep (i.e. midnight-ish) then I won’t fall asleep until well past midnight and I’ll wake up feeling even more tired than before. Over the last two weeks I’ve not been taking melatonin because whenever I remember that I should have taken it, I find that it’s already 11PM, and because of that I’ve been running on 2-3 hours of sleep every night. For two weeks. I think my body finally gave up on me on Friday so I’ve been feeling pretty lousy and unmotivated this weekend. That said, I got a good lie in (6 hours!) on Saturday and today, so I’ feeling a bit better now. Obviously this means that my blogging has been pretty much on the ‘meh’ front this week, but thanks to the reading rush I did manage to read quite a few books this week. You’ll find a recap of what I read for the rush after my post recap below!
If you read my post last week, you’d know that I was thinking about joining The Reading Rush (formerly known as the Booktubeathon) but wasn’t sure because of time and life etc. But then I caved pretty quickly and jumped on the challenge wagon and I’m glad that I did! Considering my state-of-mind this last week, I’m actually quite proud that I managed to read four books for the challenge (on top of other ARC reads) and that I also earned quite a few badges (more than I actually thought I would)! I did end up reading everyone’s a aliebn to fulfill three prompts, but hey, that’s okay 🤷🏻♀️While I’m happy that I took part in the challenge, it made me realize just how much of a mood reader I really am. I was fighting the urge to pick up any random book by the time I finished my second book, so I’m proud that I managed to finish four. Sticking to TBR lists just isn’t my jam! Since today’s the last day of the challenge, I thought I’d call it in and I’m glad that I did.
Here are the books that I managed to read for the #ReadingRush:
Here are the badges that I earned:
How has your reading and blogging week been? Did you also join the Reading Rush Challenge? Are you happy with what you’ve read/achieved? Come let me know in the comments and let’s have a chat 🙂
Omg, is it only Wednesday?! Welp, my brain keeps tricking me into believing it’s Thursday and that there’s only one more day standing between me and my beloved weekend. Well, on that note, it’s time for another WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be talking about:
What did you read last?
What are you currently reading?
What will you read next?
What did you read last?
This weekend I finished reading The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah (solid 5 stars!) and in the very early hours of this morning, I finished my first read for The Reading Rush: Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. Y’all, I’m really sorry to say this, but I didn’t love it as much as everyone else seemed to and trust me, no one is more disappointed about it than me. While the last 30% of the book really shifted my feelings about it and I did leave the book feeling, lifted, warm and happy, it still wasn’t enough for me to give it more than 3½ stars. I’ll be posting my review for both these books in the coming days, so keep your eyes out for it! Finishing RW&RB means I can tick my first prompt for the RR challenge: ☑️Read an author’s first book!
What are you currently reading?
I’m putting all my other reads aside for now and I’m focusing on these next three reads, which are also for The Reading Rush this week, not to mention my buddy read for TIHIAI is coming up this Sunday so I really gotta get going with this read! Here’s the list of challenges that I’m reading these books for:
After my current reads, I still have two other books (three if you count reading seven books for the challenge), plus my buddy read for A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult. The other books and prompts for the RR challenge are:
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo: Read a book you meant to read last year The Green Mile by Stephen King: Read and watch a book to movie adaptation The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein: Bonus/ Read 7 books
What are you currently reading? Have you made good progress on your Reading Rush TBR? Leave me a comment and let’s chat 🙂
We’re back with another Sundays in Bed With… meme, and this time it’s actually Sunday when I write this! 😉 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 been you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed with, or which book you wish you had time to read today!
Today has been a bit of a long day. I’m in Jakarta visiting my family as my sister has just moved back from the US last week. I haven’t seen her in about a year so it was nice to spend time with her. Unfortunately though, she fell prey to the infamous stomach bug and so she’s been in bed all day and it’s just been an awful time. I didn’t get as much reading done as I hoped to, but last night I finished The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah (which left me a blubbering hot mess, thanks Kristin Hannah) and so today I finally started my second buddy read for the month: Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. I can’t really say much about it so far since I just started, however, shit just hit the fan (in the book, not IRL lol). I’m sure everyone has heard about this book by now, but just in case you haven’t, you can read the blurb below!
First Son Alex Claremont-Diaz is the closest thing to a prince this side of the Atlantic. With his intrepid sister and the Veep’s genius granddaughter, they’re the White House Trio, a beautiful millennial marketing strategy for his mother, President Ellen Claremont. International socialite duties do have downsides—namely, when photos of a confrontation with his longtime nemesis Prince Henry at a royal wedding leak to the tabloids and threaten American/British relations.
The plan for damage control: staging a fake friendship between the First Son and the Prince. Alex is busy enough handling his mother’s bloodthirsty opponents and his own political ambitions without an uptight royal slowing him down. But beneath Henry’s Prince Charming veneer, there’s a soft-hearted eccentric with a dry sense of humor and more than one ghost haunting him.
As President Claremont kicks off her reelection bid, Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret relationship with Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations. And Henry throws everything into question for Alex, an impulsive, charming guy who thought he knew everything: What is worth the sacrifice? How do you do all the good you can do? And, most importantly, how will history remember you?
What are you currently reading?
So we’re pretty much almost to the end of July. Another month gone and really, where does the time go? My reading month has continued to be great, and I think my blogging has been pretty constant as well. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my journey into and with the book community via blogging, bookstagram and Twitter (just a bit) and I feel so grateful for all the people that I’ve met who share a passion and love for the same things as me, and who just get it. I hope that the friendships, bookships and everything else continue to flourish and stay strong as my blog gets “older”. Wow, that wasn’t meant to be as weepy as it sounded? I hope that wasn’t awkward! Haha 😂Anyway, back to the blogging bit, just in case you missed it, below are the posts I’ve made this week. Its been a pretty great blogging week, if I do say so myself 🙂
Omg, is it only Wednesday?! Welp, my brain keeps tricking me into believing it’s Thursday and that there’s only one more day standing between me and my beloved weekend. Well, on that note, it’s time for another WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be talking about:
What did you read last?
What are you currently reading?
What will you read next?
What did you read last?
Yaaas, I finally finished Aurora Rising (Aurora Cycle #1) by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff and I kind of hate myself for not reading it right away, but also for not waiting even longer to read it because now book two feels even further away. #bookwormproblems or is it just me? Anyway, I absolutely loved and adored this book and Squad 312, and I wrote a super gushing review about it stuffed full of artwork taken from Jay Kristoff’s website. So if you want to read my review, follow this link! I also recently finished The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James (review coming) and e-ARC for The Tea Dragon Festival by Katie O’Neill, which was a really cute prequel to The Tea Dragon Society! You can read my review of it here.
A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult and This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel are two other buddy reads that I totally forgot I said I would join this month so after I finish my two current buddy reads, these will take priority because I wanna get them read! I’ve been looking forward to both and I’m hoping the buddy reads will give me motivation to finally pick them up.
What are you currently reading? Have you read any of these books? Leave me a comment and let’s chat 🙂
We’re back with another Sundays in Bed With… meme, and this time it’s actually Sunday when I write this! 😉 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 been you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed with, or which book you wish you had time to read today!
Today I’ve spent half the day in my reading nook with The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James. I actually ended up finishing this book today and let me tell you, it was not at all what I expected! It’s YA science fiction but the author keeps the scientific details of space travel simple and to a minimum (as much as it’s possible in a book set in space), which I was really thankful for! This story was full of thrilling twists that kept me on the edge of my seat and had me quickly flipping through the pages to find out just what the hell was going on! You’ll definitely want to go into this one knowing as little as possible, but let me just say that whatever you think will happen after reading the blurb/ synopsis (below!), chances are you won’t anticipate what actually comes your way. Keep an eye out for my full review in the coming days!
The daughter of two astronauts, Romy Silvers is no stranger to life in space. But she never knew how isolating the universe could be until her parents’ tragic deaths left her alone on theInfinity, a spaceship speeding away from Earth. Romy tries to make the best of her lonely situation, but with only brief messages from her therapist on Earth to keep her company, she can’t help but feel like something is missing. It seems like a dream come true when NASA alerts her that another ship, the Eternity, will be joining the Infinity. Romy begins exchanging messages with J, the captain of theEternity, and their friendship breathes new life into her world. But as the Eternity gets closer, Romy learns there’s more to J’s mission than she could have imagined. And suddenly, there are worse things than being alone….
What book are you currently reading?
Who here can believe we’re already pretty much hitting the middle of July?! I know I can’t and I’m honestly still trying to figure out what I do with all my days! Although I haven’t been very productive this weekend, it was a pretty great reading weekend! Actually, this whole month so far has been pretty great for my reading, especially considering that I spend my weekdays at the office wishing I was in bed with a book! I think I’ve read 10 books so far and I hope to keep this streak going! I’ve struggled the past few months to really jump from one book to the other without taking at least a one-day break in between, so the fact that I’ve been able to consistently finish a book and pick up a new one right away, makes me feel good! But it also means that I’ve been slacking off a bit with writing my reviews… Oops? I’m working on it though!
That said, here’s a list of the posts I’ve done this week, just in case you missed it!
It’s time for another WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be talking about:
What did you read last?
What are you currently reading?
What will you read next?
What did you read last?
I just finished reading The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary last night and I absolutely LOVED IT. Reading this book was like receiving all the warm hugs. I honestly loved Tiffy and Leon so much and I really enjoyed the way their relationship grew. Tiffy’s character went through a significantly bigger development/change in the story, but I liked how Leon’s character opened up too, yet still remained true to himself. I still have to write my review for this book, which I thought I could squeeze in today, but no. Why is it always so hard to write reviews? I also finished I Hate Fairyland, Vol. 1: Madly Ever After by Skottie Young last night. Read my mini-review!
What are you currently reading?
IT’S HAPPENING, FOLKS. Yes, I know I’ve said it one or twice before, but this time, it’s really happening. I’m finally picking up Aurora Rising (Aurora Cycle #1) by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff! I started reading at the tail end of my lunch break and I’ve already laughed out loud several times, enjoyed imagining the first cheeky character we’re introduced to and I can’t wait to find out what else is in store! Is it too soon to claim that I’m invested after only reading the first chapter? I’ve still going with The Good Kill: A Killian Lebon Novel by Kurt Brindley. Really hoping to finish it soon! 🤞🏽
What will you read next?
Next up are three books that I’ve been looking forward to reading with some buddies over on bookstagram. I might actually pick up Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston before the other two, seeing as I know I will speed through this one. I think I’ve only read one not-so-shining review of RW&RB, but all the others have been positively glowing, so I’m excited to see if this lives up to the hype! I’m looking forward to reading The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah. This’ll be my second book by her, but if it’s anything like The Nightingale, it’s going to slaughter me 😂 I haven’t heard that much about A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult, but Picoult has been a long time favorite of mine since high school. She has a wonderful way of telling stories that always immediately sucks me in. The topic she covers in the book is also very relevant to today’s sociopolitical climate too, so it should be an interesting read!
What are you currently reading? Have you read any of these books? Leave me a comment and let’s chat 🙂
I know that it’s Monday, but my Sunday ended on a really awful work-related disaster (for which I got a call at 9pm for), which absolutely drowned my mood with anxiety and anger, so I didn’t end up writing and posting my wrap up. But I still wanted to share my weekly recap. So, here we go with another Sundays Mondays In Bed With… meme, which dares to ask you what book has been in your bed this morning! This meme is hosted by Midnight Book Girl. Come share what book you’ve been you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed with, or which book you wish you had time to read today!
It’s Monday, I’m moody AF because of last night’s news combined with sleep deprivation, and I wish I was still at home reading the book that I started this morning: The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary. I finished my last read (The Bear and The Nightingale (Winternight Trilogy #1) by Katherine Arden–review coming soon!) in the wee hours of the morning today, and I felt like reading something ‘lighter’ before I have to start on some upcoming buddy reads of ‘heavier’ books. I’ve heard so many good things about the book that I’m giving myself a pat on the back for picking it up so soon after adding it to my physical shelf! 😂 I have a feeling it’s going to be a read that I’ll really love; I’m just a hopeless romantic like that. Curious to know what it’s about? Read the synopsis below:
Tiffy Moore and Leon Twomey each have a problem and need a quick fix. Tiffy’s been dumped by her cheating boyfriend and urgently needs a new flat. But earning minimum wage at a quirky publishing house means that her choices are limited in London. Leon, a palliative care nurse, is more concerned with other people’s welfare than his own. Along with working night shifts looking after the terminally ill, his sole focus is on raising money to fight his brother’s unfair imprisonment. Leon has a flat that he only uses 9 to 5. Tiffy works 9 to 5 and needs a place to sleep. The solution to their problems? To share a bed of course… As Leon and Tiffy’s unusual arrangement becomes a reality, they start to connect through Post-It notes left for each other around the flat. Can true love blossom even in the unlikeliest of situations? Can true love blossom even if you never see one another? Or does true love blossom when you are least expecting it?
What book are you currently reading?
Despite the annoying ending to my Sunday, I had a pretty decent week. I traveled to Jakarta for work, got to visit my favorite bookstore (Kinokuniya) and brought home a small haul of books that I’m very pleased with! Most are recent releases that I’ve been wanting to read, but I also found In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, which I’ve been wanting to add to my shelf forever, I just couldn’t find any copies on this crazy little island! I also had a pretty decent reading week. I finished four books, but considering that I work full time, and I had a big workshop that I was preparing to facilitate last week, I’m quite happy with my reads. That said, I was pretty quiet on the blogging front but I hope to get back into the grind this week; especially since I have a few book reviews that I need to post!
It’s time for another WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be talking about:
What did you read last?
What are you currently reading?
What will you read next?
What did you read last?
I recently finished Field Notes on Love by Jennifer E. Smith and I really enjoyed it. I loved the idea of a book set on a train, two strangers coming together, and with ‘love’ in `the title of the book, you know romance plays a big part of this story. Sure, it sounded cheesy and maybe improbable in real life (kids, don’t try this at home), but it was enough to get my hopeless romantic heart thumping in excitement at the thought. What are books for if not to let your imagination run a little free? Surprisingly, this was more than just a fluffy love story; it was about family, friendship, vulnerability and ultimately finding out who you are, what you want and what you’re willing to do to get it. You can read my review up on Goodreads and I’ll be posting it up on my blog with a few other mini-reviews later this week!
What are you currently reading?
Oops, I did it again… I’ve currently got four reads going! I’ve gotten through big chunks on three of them: Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson, I Hate Fairyland, Vol. 1: Madly Ever After by Skottie Young, and Fix Her Up (Hot & Hammered #1) by Tessa Bailey. I couldn’t wait to pick up Sorcery because I’ve heard lots of great things (what’s not to love about magical libraries and books that come to life?!) and I’m 1,000% loving it so far. Fairyland is absolutely bizarre and the contrast between the gorey content and the bright colors and mostly innocent characters oddly really works? I’ve heard a lot about Fix Her Up–both the problematic things but also about the steamy scenes that are apparently really… steamy? Haven’t come up to those scenes yet, but I’m not sure I’m loving any of the men in this book. I’ve just started reading The Good Kill: A Killian Lebon Novel by Kurt Brindley just the other day. This was an ARC that released 01 July, but due to life in June being completely insane that slipped through the cracks but I’m hoping to finish reading it by this weekend! 🤞🏽
What will you read next?
So these have been on my list since the previous WWW because I’ve pushed them back (SORRY AURORA RISING) but I really want to get to them after I finish my current reads. I’m enjoying mixing up graphic novels with my other reads and I want to continue doing that! The graphic novels are Sparrowhawk (Sparrowhawk #1) by Delilah S. Dawson and The Magicians: Alice’s Story by Lev Grossman & Lilah Sturges. I’m really going to prioritize reading Aurora Rising (Aurora Cycle #1) by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff soon too!
What are you currently reading? Have you read any of these books? Leave me a comment and let’s chat 🙂
We’re back with another Sundays In Bed With… meme, which dares to ask you what book has been in your bed this morning! This meme is hosted by Midnight Book Girl. Come share what book you’ve been you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed with, or which book you wish you had time to read today!
I’ve spent my Sunday in bed with The Written by Ben Galley. I read this for the #UltimateBlogTour for Ben Galley, organized by Dave @TheWriteReads on Twitter. I’ve never been part of a blog tour before, so when I got asked if I wanted to join earlier this year, I obviously said yes. I’m so glad that I did! As life really got in the way this month, I didn’t have time to read it before this weekend though. It took some time for me to get into it when I picked it up yesterday and that had me worried that I wouldn’t be able to finish it before today, but it was for nothing. I sped through this book and basically didn’t leave me house (*cough* or bed *cough*) all day! You can read the synopsis below and you can read my full review here.
His name is Farden. They whisper that he’s dangerous. Dangerous is only the half of it. A spellbook has gone missing from the libraries of Arfell – a very old and extremely powerful spellbook from the time of dark elves and demons. Five scholars are dead, the magick council is running out of time and options, and the Arka is once again on the brink of war with the Siren dragon-riders. It falls to Farden the Written mage to keep the world from falling into chaos. Entangled in a web of lies and politics, Farden must recover the spellbook before an ancient enemy rises, even if it takes journeying halfway across icy Emaneska and back. In his fight for answers, Farden will unearth a secret that not only shakes the foundations of his world, but threaten the entire future of Emaneska. Sorcery, death, drugs and the deepest of betrayals await. Welcome to Emaneska.
What book are you currently reading?
We’ve come to the end of another month, friends! How are the months going by so quickly? I don’t even understand where time goes. Outside of my reading life, this week has been pretty okay. It’s a whole lot more relaxed than last week, and I have a feeling that this last week is going to set the tone for much of the rest of the year! In terms of blogging, it’s been a pretty decent week. Here’s what I posted this week, in case you missed it:
