It’s that time of the week again, friends! We’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt is: character traits I love to see in book characters/things that make me love a book character (submitted by Hannah @ Books Life and Other Oddities). and the minute I read the prompt, my mind drew a straight blank. Had I actually read any books with numbers in the title? Thankfully I have my awesome buddy that’s known as Goodreads to help me figure this out! I found a few titles but I’m not sure if there are enough to amount to ten, so let’s see how it goes!
Book Lover/Reader. This one doesn’t really need explaining right? I’m a sucker for someone who loves all thing bookish on the page, as much as I love finding them in real life too!
Not afraid to show their nerd. This might sound similar to the bookish trait, but it goes beyond just books. I love when a character isn’t afraid to nerd out about something they’re really passionate about, especially when I least expect it of a character!
Sassy/Sarcastic/Humorous. Give me all the sass, sarcasm and humor. Any character who can make me laugh already has me halfway to rooting for them — whether they’re main characters, side characters or even on the rare occasion, the villain!
Cinnamon rolls. When I think of characters who are cinnamon rolls, I always immediately think of Tanner from Autoboyography first. He’s such a pure sweetheart of a character who deserves so much and I love characters who make me want to scoop them up, hug them forever and keep them in my pocket wherever I go!
Grumpy/gruff exterior but a softy at heart. For the most part I’m thinking about the male leads of my favorite romances for this trait. I’m a total sucker for that grumpy bear of a lead whose walls slowly come down the more we get to know them, and who end up being total softies. Swoon! ๐
Sticks to their guns. I love a character who will basically stick to their convictions. Practice what they preach. Whatever you wanna call it. Wishy-washy characters give me a headache and drive me absolutely insane!
Acknowledging past mistakes and proving their maturity. I often read about characters who have ‘changed/grown up’ but their actions never speak to that growth. Give me a character who actively acknowledges what a spoiled, immature idiot they’ve been when they were younger, and who actually shows that they’ve matured through their actions!
Loyalty. Maybe it’s a little cliche but it’s such an important trait to me in real life and adds an incredible amount to the respect and attraction I feel for a person, so it obviously makes sense that I’d find this attractive in a fictional character too.
Kind. Plain, simple, kindness. I feel like being kind is underrated in a lot of books but give me a character who shows genuine kindness to others and I’ll be a definite fan.
What are some traits that make you love a character? If you’ve done a TTT for today, please leave your links in the comments so I can mosey over to your blog and check it out! ๐
We’re back with another episode of Down the TBR Hole! Last week I mentioned how I went up to 1,022 books and after removing a few, and then adding some more, this week I’m at a solid 1,020. Still a lot but at least it’s not more than last week, right?! ๐I didn’t do so well with removing books last week, but let’s see how we do with this week’s 10! I’m trying out a new format that I saw someone else do on their blog, which will make the whole process much quicker.
Down the TBR Hole is a weekly book meme created by the wonderful Lia @ Lost in a Storythat attempts to organize our ridiculously long Goodreads TBR list by choosing either to keep or eliminate the books weโve saved on there. Here’s how it works:
Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
Order on ascending date added.
Take the first 5 (or 10 (or even more!) if youโre feeling adventurous) books. Of course, if you do this weekly, you start where you left off the last time.
Read the synopsesย of the books
Decide: keep itย or should it go
Verdict: Keep
Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah. Seeing as how I only read my first Kristin Hannah books this year, I’m surprised to find that I added this one to my list in 2012! Both her books are candidates for my favorites of the year, so I’m quite excited to see if I feel the same about her others!
Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah. Wow, another Hannah I added in 2012! I’m keeping this on for the same reason as the above. The premise of this sounds eerily similar to Where the Forest Meets the Stars which I read (and loved!) earlier this year…
Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa. All I needed to read was this, and I knew I’d have to keep this because I love The Kite Runner: “A heart-wrenching, powerfully written novel that could do for Palestine whatย The Kite Runnerย did for Afghanistan.”
Verdict: Bye-Bye-Bye
Me & Emma by Elizabeth Flock. I’m actually really intrigued by the so-called ‘big twist’ that’s mentioned in the synopsis, but if I’m honest, I don’t know if I’ll ever pick this up…!
Loving by Henry Green. I think I added this book around the time that I was watching (and loving!) Downton Abbey because reading the synopsis gives me major downstairs-of-the-house DA vibes. I’m a little intimidated but I’m keen to try it.
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. This has been on my bookshelf for so long and I know there is so much controversy around it but I think I definitely will read this book. I’m very curious to see what it’s like and what I’ll think of it. I’m terrified!
1984 by George Orwell. I’m honestly not even sure why I haven’t read this yet. I think I’m just worried I won’t like it even though I do usually enjoy the genre. I will read it though! *determined face*
Damn, people… I’m really sucking at removing books from my TBR! I’m keeping 6/10 books from this week’s round and I’m really hoping that I’ll read the ones that I’ve decided to keep ๐
Have you read any of these books? How easy is it to cull your TBR list?Leave me a comment and let’s chat!
It’s the first Monday of September and we’re back with another Goodreads Monday, a weekly meme started by @Laurenโs Page Turners. This meme invites you to pick a book from your TBR and explain why you want to read it. Easy enough, right? Feel free to join in if you want to! I’ll be using a random number generator to pick my books from my insanely long GR Want-to-read list.
This week’s book is Enchantรฉe (Enchantรฉe #1) by Gita Trelease. I added this to my list in January 2019. I remember seeing the cover for the first time and thinking WOW, must have! This book has a rating of 3.74 stars with almost 4k ratings and 1,183 reviews.
Paris in 1789 is a labyrinth of twisted streets, filled with beggars, thieves, revolutionariesโand magicians…
When smallpox kills her parents, Camille Durbonne must find a way to provide for her frail, naive sister while managing her volatile brother. Relying on petty magicโla magie ordinaireโCamille painstakingly transforms scraps of metal into money to buy the food and medicine they need. But when the coins wonโt hold their shape and her brother disappears with the familyโs savings, Camille must pursue a richer, more dangerous mark: the glittering court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.
With dark magic forbidden by her mother, Camille transforms herself into the โBaroness de la Fontaineโ and is swept up into life at the Palace of Versailles, where aristocrats both fear and hunger for la magie. There, she gambles at cards, desperate to have enough to keep herself and her sister safe. Yet the longer she stays at court, the more difficult it becomes to reconcile her resentment of the nobles with the enchantments of Versailles. And when she returns to Paris, Camille meets a handsome young balloonistโwho dares her to hope that love and liberty may both be possible.
But la magie has its costs. And when Camille loses control of her secrets, the game she’s playing turns deadly. Then revolution erupts, and she must chooseโlove or loyalty, democracy or aristocracy, freedom or magicโbefore Paris burnsโฆ
Why do I want to read it?
I’ve already mentioned it but honestly, this was 80% a cover buy for me ๐I have no shame! Not surprising that I didn’t know it was a series beforehand haha But I love historical fiction and I don’t often read ones that are also a mix of fantasy, so this combination already has me even more intrigued! The whole thing sounds like a proper magical adventure, with a little bit of mystery and I’m always on board for those kinds of stories. I’ve heard some pretty mixed reviews about it though and I have a feeling that it’s either love or hate, but I’m still looking forward to reading it.
Have you read Enchantรฉe? Is it on your TBR too? Leave me a comment and let’s chat!
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 been you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed with, or which book you wish you had time to read today!
Vanessa Mazur knows she’s doing the right thing. She shouldn’t feel bad for quitting. Being an assistant/housekeeper/fairy godmother to the top defensive end in the National Football Organization was always supposed to be temporary. She has plans and none of them include washing extra-large underwear longer than necessary.
But when Aiden Graves shows up at her door wanting her to come back, she’s beyond shocked. For two years, the man known as The Wall of Winnipeg couldn’t find it in him to tell her good morning or congratulate her on her birthday. Now? He’s asking for the unthinkable. What do you say to the man who is used to getting everything he wants?
Meet Nina Hill: A young woman supremely confident in her own…shell. The only child of a single mother, Nina has her life just as she wants it: a job in a bookstore, a kick-butt trivia team, a world-class planner and a cat named Phil. If she sometimes suspects there might be more to life than reading, she just shrugs and picks up a new book.
When the father Nina never knew existed suddenly dies, leaving behind innumerable sisters, brothers, nieces, and nephews, Nina is horrified. They all live close by! They’re all–or mostly all–excited to meet her! She’ll have to Speak. To. Strangers. It’s a disaster! And as if that wasn’t enough, Tom, her trivia nemesis, has turned out to be cute, funny, and deeply interested in getting to know her. Doesn’t he realize what a terrible idea that is?
Nina considers her options. 1. Completely change her name and appearance. (Too drastic, plus she likes her hair.) 2. Flee to a deserted island. (Hard pass, see: coffee). 3. Hide in a corner of her apartment and rock back and forth. (Already doing it.)
It’s time for Nina to come out of her comfortable shell, but she isn’t convinced real life could ever live up to fiction. It’s going to take a brand new family, a persistent suitor, and the combined effects of ice cream and trivia to make her turn her own fresh page.
What are you currently reading?
This last week was ridiculously busy. Mum was over and left Saturday morning at the butt crack of dawn and I drove her to the airport and then I came home and fell asleep for way too long. Oops? After that I went out to the cinema for the first time in ages and watched Abominable with my bestie. It was ADORABLE! I had no clue what it was about other than it looked cute and exactly what I needed! I loved that it was set in Asia (China) because it’s still so rare to see diverse mainstream movies, especially cartoons. DreamWorks definitely delivered all the cuteness and laughs that I was looking for and I left the theater feeling giggly and buoyant!
This week was (unsurprisingly) super busy with lots of family things because mum was around. We also had some old family friends visiting, which meant more late nights with dinners and socializing after work. It left me completely drained of energy at the end of every night, so I think I really needed a weekend doing as little as possible. I just realized that October is going to be a really busy month with next week being the only one I have to myself until the end of the month. I have some besties coming to visit me for a little over a week and I’m planning to take a few days off from work to spend time with them. After that the office is having the second round of annual meetings and then the month will be over. I’m finding it ridiculous how quickly time is flying!
Reading & Blogging Recap
It was a pretty meh week on the reading and blogging front. Most nights I would normally spend reading was spent out socializing and when we got home, it was spent chatting with mum. It’s moments like these that I miss living closer to my parents (even though only live a short flight over). As it usually is with mothers and daughters, it got a bit rocky sometimes (especially with mum staying over with me in my tiny flat), but it was nice having her around even if it meant I was reading less. The only books I managed to finish this week are the ones I mentioned above. I’m still going on with House of Salt and Sorrows but I haven’t read anymore since Friday night because it’s a lot spookier than I expected and now I’m alone at home and not sure if I can tuck my chicken away and continue reading at night? I’ll bring the book to work and see if I can finish it over my lunch breaks in the coming week!
Despite how hectic the week was I’m impressed that I still managed to post every day, even if it was only one post per day, this week though! Here’s a quick recap of what I posted, in case you missed it:
I’m leaving you with one of my favorite (if not my favorite) tracks from TS’s latest album, Lover. I’m still obsessed with this album and it’s kept me company in the background as I read all day today!
How has your week been? Hope everyone has/had a great weekend! Let me know how you’re doing in the comments and let’s chat, friends ๐
It’s time for another Top 5 Saturday, a weekly meme created by Mandy @ Devouring Books and this week’s topic is: books with the scariest covers. If you don’t know me by now I’m letting you in on a not-so-big-secret: I’m a BIG chicken. Like, all the ghosty-spooky things are really not my jam! So it should come as no surprise that I have few to no books with scary covers on my shelf. I actually just acquired one today and since figuring out what’s on the cover, I’ve been sufficiently freaked out ๐Just to be clear, I had to look up some scary covers for this one and I think it’s safe to say that I’ll be sleeping with the lights on tonight ๐Also, I totes realize that what’s scary for me probably won’t be that scary for others; I’m really that much of a wuss! LOL (and of course a dog starts barking loudly and abruptly while I’m writing this post, shattering the complete silence of the evening. How am I getting to sleep tonight?!)
Rules for Vanishing by Katie Alice Marshall I honestly didn’t figure out what was on this cover until I saw it about six times. When it clicked I just went: OMFG and closed the tab. Of course when I saw it at the bookstore today I went ahead and picked it up anyway — my excuse is that I’m challenging myself to read outside of my comfort zone this month? I’m really just a masochist who loves to torture herself by getting even less sleep than usual!
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson I haven’t read this book but I’ve seen the movie and all I can remember from it are the dogs that die and that absolutely broke my heart ๐ญThis cover is sufficiently creepy though! Especially with that red background!?
Unwind (Unwind Dystology #1) by Neal Shusterman The whole silhouette of the hand pressed up against a barrier is one of those ‘iconic’ creepy pictures that never fails to have goosebumps breaking out over my skin. It’s just CREEPY AF.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Graham-Greene and Jane Austen I remember how shook I was the first time I saw this cover. I almost dropped the book in shock and immediately looked away. I came back to it after mustering some guts and found myself oddly repelled and fascinated by the zombie half of such an iconic image ๐
Night of the Living Dummy (Goosebumps #7) by R.L. Stine Look, I know this is kids book, but can you tell me you don’t get at least a little bit freaked out when looking at that cover? I mean… DUMMIES. CREEPY DUMMIES. I honestly can’t believe I ever checked this book out of the library as a kid (let alone the countless other Goosebumps tales I devoured). Pretty sure that I already hated dolls/dummies by the time I picked this one up LOL
Alright, that’s it folks. I’m now off to read something HAPPY AND FLUFFY to get these images out of my head! We’re totally fine. What are some of the scariest covers you can think of? Are you a lover of things that go bump? Maybe come let me know in the comments and let’s chat? ๐
This week’s answer is gonna be hella short because my Friday at work has been a helluva Friday and I’m not gonna be making it home until much later tonight due to some family stuff (all is fine, just have people visiting). I’ve been so exhausted over the last few days and I think I finally had it today when I basically started crying (literally) over I thought I had lost a design file I’d been working on all day when my application crashed? It was a little embarrassing ๐ So I’m sorry in advance for the mediocre-ness of my post today!
It’s time for another Friday Favorites hosted by Kibby @ Something of the Book! This weekly meme is where you get to share a list of all your favourites based on the list of prompts on Kibby’s page. Sounds fun, right? This week’s prompt is: favorite characters that other people hate! Wow, I’m blanking really hard on this one. I cannot for the life of me recall one character that I love and other people hate because most of the time I’m in agreement with the people who hate these same characters? And I’m over here hating on the characters that other people love so… ๐คท๐ปโโ๏ธI’m going to really try to pick my brain here but I’ll probably only end up with one or two characters. Bear with me! LOL
The first two characters that come to mind after some digging in my brain are Marianne and Connell from Normal People by Sally Rooney. This book isn’t for everyone and I totally get why. Marianne and Connell are so bad at communicating that it sometimes made me want to throw my book at the wall out of frustration with how much they seriously sucked at it. That said, oh man, I totally loved both of their characters and felt so much for them in this story. What they thought, felt and experienced was so relatable to me and made me love their characters all the more. They’re completely imperfect and sometimes there are just no happy endings, but that’s life.
Another character that comes to mind is Penny Lee from Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi. I’ve heard many people say how they found her character annoying and immature, and it lost the book points because they couldn’t get into it because of her. Honestly? I agreed at the start but Penny very quickly grew on me because there was so much more behind her attitude and her actions that really made me feel for her. She’s a complex character, especially because of her upbringing and particularly her mother, and she suffers from a lot of insecurities and anxiety which I can absolutely relate to. I loved Penny by the end of the book!
What character do you love that others hate? Please come tell me in the comments below and let’s chat!
Yayaya, HAPPY FRIYAY, book lovers and friends ๐We’re back with another First Lines Friday! This is a weekly featurefor book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?Here areTHE RULES:
Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
Copy the first few lines, but donโt give anything else about the book away just yet โ you need to hook the reader first
Finallyโฆ reveal the book!
First lines:
Candlelight reflected off the silver anchor etched onto my sisterโs necklace. It was an ugly piece of jewelry and something Eulalie would never have picked out for herself. She loved simple strands of gold, extravagant collars of diamonds. Notโฆthat.
Do you recognize the book these first lines come from?
Annaleigh lives a sheltered life at Highmoor, a manor by the sea, with her sisters, their father, and stepmother. Once they were twelve, but loneliness fills the grand halls now that four of the girls’ lives have been cut short. Each death was more tragic than the lastโthe plague, a plummeting fall, a drowning, a slippery plungeโand there are whispers throughout the surrounding villages that the family is cursed by the gods.
Disturbed by a series of ghostly visions, Annaleigh becomes increasingly suspicious that the deaths were no accidents. Her sisters have been sneaking out every night to attend glittering balls, dancing until dawn in silk gowns and shimmering slippers, and Annaleigh isn’t sure whether to try to stop them or to join their forbidden trysts. Because whoโor whatโare they really dancing with?
When Annaleigh’s involvement with a mysterious stranger who has secrets of his own intensifies, it’s a race to unravel the darkness that has fallen over her familyโbefore it claims her next.
Have you read House of Salt and Sorrows or is it on your TBR? Leave me a comment and let’s chat ๐
It’s time for another WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be answering these questions:
What did you read last?
What are you currently reading?
What will you read next?
What did you read last?
๐I FINALLY FINISHED PRIORY OF THE ORANGE TREE LAST WEEK! ๐
Excuse the all caps because I was SO excited that I managed to finish that hunk of a tome before the end of September. I was so certain that I’d be reading it straight through to October. I still haven’t written my review for it because I’m still not really sure how I feel about it. I enjoyed reading it and when I had it in my hands I would be speeding(ish) through the pages; but when I put it down I didn’t feel compelled to pick it back up again. I knew that I couldn’t have set it down to just read any other book too as I’d probably never come back to it ๐But I still enjoyed it. I think? Anyway, my review will hopefully be coming soon! I binged The Perfect Moment(review coming soon) and Two Weeks Notice (my review for Two Weeks Notice). on Friday night/Saturday morning (yes, both in one night lol) because my soul was craving something super light and fluffy after Priory, and I had no regrets staying up all night reading!
What are you currently reading?
I was feeling restless not knowing what I wanted to read after binging on two contemporary romances after finishing Priory last week, but I ended up choosing The Bookish Life of Nina Hill on a whim the other day and I’ve been speeding through it! The style is not at all what I expected and I wasn’t sure how I felt about Nina at the start, but the style and characters have grown on me. There’s a lot of quirkiness going on in this book and I’m actually really here for it! I’ve laughed aloud countless times since I started and it’s giving me some lightness that I need right now.
What will you read next?
Okay y’all, I have TONS of books outside of my ‘possibility pile’ that I need to get to this October before even turning to look at the ones I want to read! These definitely fall in the ‘must read’ category because they’re eARCs. I’m gonna give priority to several eARCs that are well overdue (I’m sorry pls don’t judge me) and ones whose pub dates are very quickly approaching! I’m actually pretty annoyed at myself for thinking the Shadow Frost pub date was later this month when it was actually yesterday! ๐คฆ๐ปโโ๏ธEpic fail, Dini! I’ve had this e-ARC for a while so I’m annoyed at my ability to push things off until they’re overdue. Someone tell me, why isn’t this a skill we actually need in life?! Lol
What are you currently reading? How’s your week going? Leave me a comment and let’s chat ๐
Sooo… You know how last week I started with a “Want-to-Read” list of 1,010 books? Well, this week, my list sits at 1,022 books? ๐It’s freaking sorcery I tell ya! I mean, the ‘Want-to-Read’ button is like a siren to me, I just can’t resist it, and the next thing I know I’m clicking away through lists wanting to read ALL THE BOOKS. Last week I started off with a review of 5 books and managed to remove 3. Now I’m stepping up my game and reviewing 10 books–let’s see how I do!
Down the TBR Hole is a weekly book meme created by the wonderful Lia @ Lost in a Storythat attempts to organize our ridiculously long Goodreads TBR list by choosing either to keep or eliminate the books weโve saved on there. Here’s how it works:
Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
Order on ascending date added.
Take the first 5 (or 10 (or even more!) if youโre feeling adventurous) books. Of course, if you do this weekly, you start where you left off the last time.
Read the synopsesย of the books
Decide: keep itย or should it go
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. I’m 90% sure that I’ve read this book before in middle or high school? If my memory serves me right, the book had recipes in it and it was awesome? I think this would still be a story that I enjoy so I think I’d like to reread it.
Verdict: Keep
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I just… I enjoyed the movie well enough but I’ve tried to read the book a few times but I just couldn’t get into it? I know it’s a classic that I’d like to maybe read eventually, but for now I think I’m going to have to say…
Verdict: Bye-Bye-Bye
Beloved by Toni Morrison. This is a classic that terrifies me a little bit but I’m more determined than ever to read it now!
Verdict: Keep
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. I’ve never read this book but its opening lines are a classic. I would read this for the opening lines alone, but I’ve always been very curious about it and I’m kind of sad we didn’t read this at school? Lol
Verdict: Keep
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. I’ve been meaning to read this forever and I was even supposed to join a buddy read for this earlier this year, but I was in an epic reading slump so I bailed. But I really want to read this!
Verdict: Keep
A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Shakespeare. This has one of my favorite quotes that I even want to have tattooed on me somewhere, but I still haven’t read it. I MUST!
Verdict: Keep
The Pianist by Wลadysลaw Szpilman. I love historical fictions, I loved this movie, and I think I still want to read this. Adrien Brody made me bawl like a freaking baby in this movie.
Verdict: Keep
The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende. I’ve only read one Allende book and I loved it, but then I found out that it was completely different to what she normally writes! I think for now I’m going to kick this off my list because the blurb doesn’t pull me in anymore.
Verdict: Bye-bye-bye
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. I mean… This is a classic, right? I feel like this isn’t something I’m going to read anytime soon, even though I’ve got the book on my shelf, but I’ll keep it on my list.
Alright, so this round was a lot harder than the first because most of these I’m interested in reading, but I don’t know when I’ll get to them. Still, it counts that I wanna read them, right? ๐ This week I removed 3/10 books.
Have you read any of these books? Do you find it easy to cull your TBR list?Leave me a comment and let’s chat!
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 been you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed with, or which book you wish you had time to read today!
It’s the last Sunday of September! I’m gonna say it again because my brain is still like WHAT, but I can’t believe we’re already walking into the tenth month of the year. 2019 is flying! I’ve been out and about today and have been thinking about what book I want to move forward with now. I (finally) finished Priory on Thursday and I was determined to read some romance this weekend, and thanks to staying up reading ’til the early hours of Saturday, I finished not one but TWO books! It just felt so good to read something that I knew would end soon? Haha
I also started House of Salt and Sorrows because mum has been staying with me but now that she’s gone until tomorrow, I don’t know if I want to keep reading it because I’M CHICKEN AF ๐ I’m sure y’all have heard by now how much I can’t handle the ghosty stuff, right? I’m really hesitating, which means I don’t know what I want to read now? I think I might pick up another ARC since I have two that need reading before the end of October, and I don’t want to add anymore to my backlist ARC list, so the following two books might be my main contenders:
Ailsa Rae is learning how to live. Sheโs only a few months past the heart transplant thatโjust in timeโsaved her life. Now, finally, she can be a normal twenty-eight-year-old. She can climb a mountain. Dance. Wait in line all day for tickets to Wimbledon.
But first, she has to put one foot in front of the other. So far, things are as bloody complicated as ever. Her relationship with her mother is at a breaking point and she wants to find her father. Then there’s Lennox, whom Ailsa loved and lost. Will she ever find love again? Her new heart is a bold heart. She just needs to learn to listen to it. From the hospital to her childhood home, on social media and IRL, Ailsa will embark on a journey about what it means to be, and feel, alive. How do we learn to be brave, to accept defeat, to dare to dream?
Former Little League champion Kimitake โClydeโ Koba finds strength in the belief that he is the reincarnation of Marilyn Monroe as he struggles to escape the ghost of his brother and his alcoholic father.
Born on Yom Kippur, teen prodigy Raphael Dweck has been told his whole life that he has a special purpose in Godโs plan. The only problem is, he canโt shake off his doubts, his urges, or the trail of trouble and ruin that follow in his wake.
A decade later, Raphael and โMarilynโ find each other wandering the plastic-bright streets of Hollywood and set out to make a documentary about the transmigration of souls. But when the roleplaying goes too far, they find themselves past the point of no return in their quest to prove who and what they are to their families, God, the world, and themselves.
Which do you think I should read next? What are you currently reading?
Much the same as last week, I pretty much did nothing this weekend. As I mentioned above, mum flew over from Jakarta and has been staying with me. It was her birthday on Wednesday and us kids got her an iPad Mini that she’s been wanting for ages so that she could download an app to watch her Korean dramas on ๐ Since she unwrapped it, the iPad has been GLUED to her hands and she’s been staying up pretty late despite having early mornings, and getting headaches from staring at the screen for too long. She’s so cute?
Today saw me moving a little bit more, i.e. I left my house! I met my cousin for brunch at one of my favorite spots! I decided to try a different meal today and unfortunately, that was a hella regrettable decision ๐ญ Sometimes it pays to not stray from what you already know is good! Also, for the first time in a very long time, I’m not exactly dreading that Monday is around the corner. It’s a good feeling and I’m hoping that the anxiety that has taken up residence inside me lately continues to loosen its grip. Little by little, day by day. Progress!
Reading & Blogging Recap
This weekend alone I managed to finish THREE books, so I’m pretty chuffed. To be fair, I was already 65% through one and it was an easy Middle Grade read too, while the other two were fast and easy contemporaries to satisfy my need for something fluffy after finishing Priory! I’m legit SO PROUD OF MYSELF for finishing this book before September ended. It was seriously a journey. I was 80% convinced that I might’ve DNF’d this book (okay, I don’t DNF but I would’ve put it on indefinite hold) when I started it, but I’m glad I kept on. I need to write my review before every thought I had about the book disappears from my head but I’m still not sure how to review it?! I’m hoping that my discussion with my buddy readers will help me figure it out! ๐
I’m still working on catching up on my blog hopping and responding to comments! I’ve been doing okay with keeping up with the comments in the last week, but the day(s) after catching up always see me scrambling to catch up AGAIN! *So I’m Sorry if I only respond to your comments 3-4 days after you write them!* Other than that it’s been a pretty decent blogging week; I’ve been blogging fairly consistently lately and thanks to WordPress who’ve been sending me reminders whenever I post, I know that I’m now on a 41-day streak! ๐๐ฝ It helps that I’ve also added one more weekly post to my schedule. This actually makes me feel so productive ๐ On that note, you can find a list of all the posts I made this week, in case you missed it:
dinipandareads 