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!
Today I so badly wished that I was in the comfort of my bed in my flat in Bali instead of spending hours flying while incredibly sick. I *finally* managed to finish my re-read of Thunderhead (Arc of Scythe #2) by Neal Shusterman and finally started on The Toll on the last leg of my journey. I’m *loving* the detail on this cover — I just noticed the jewels on someone’s robe!? 😱
It’s been three years since Rowan and Citra disappeared; since Scythe Goddard came into power; since the Thunderhead closed itself off to everyone but Grayson Tolliver.
In this pulse-pounding conclusion to New York Times bestselling author Neal Shusterman’s Arc of a Scythe trilogy, constitutions are tested and old friends are brought back from the dead.
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!
Today I spent the day in bed re-reading Thunderhead (Arc of Scythe #2) by Neal Shusterman. I’m eager to continue on with this series so that I can finally read The Toll! My memory is so bad but all I remember is feeling heartbroken after I finished this book when I read it a few years back. It was wonderful and painful 😂
Rowan has gone rogue, and has taken it upon himself to put the Scythedom through a trial by fire. Literally. In the year since Winter Conclave, he has gone off-grid, and has been striking out against corrupt scythes—not only in MidMerica, but across the entire continent. He is a dark folk hero now—“Scythe Lucifer”—a vigilante taking down corrupt scythes in flames.
Citra, now a junior scythe under Scythe Curie, sees the corruption and wants to help change it from the inside out, but is thwarted at every turn, and threatened by the “new order” scythes. Realizing she cannot do this alone—or even with the help of Scythe Curie and Faraday, she does the unthinkable, and risks being “deadish” so she can communicate with the Thunderhead—the only being on earth wise enough to solve the dire problems of a perfect world. But will it help solve those problems, or simply watch as perfection goes into decline?
I first discovered this post on BookLoversBlog on NYE and decided it was the perfect way to wrap up my reading and blogging year. The survey was originally created by Jamie @ The Perpetual Page Turner and asks us questions that reflect the last year of books, reading and blogging. I was wondering how I would do my yearly wrap up and I’m so glad I stumbled across this survey because it’s not only fun but also covers all the bookish and blogging bases. And so we’ve come to the third and final part of this comprehensive survey and it’s about Looking Ahead in 2020. If you’re curious, don’t forget to check out Part I (2019 Stats & Best in Books) and Part II (Blogging/Bookish Life)!
1. One book you didn’t get to in 2019 but will be your number 1 priority in 2020?
Well, there’s a disappointing number of books that I was adamant I’d read before 2019 ended and I didn’t end up getting around to… I think that’s perhaps the worst part about being a mood reader and if I force myself to pick it up anyway I’d probably really not enjoy it. But I digress! One book I’m really looking forward to reading is The Toll by Neal Shusterman. I’m starting my re-read of Scythe now, so I’ll hopefully get to The Toll very soon!
I first discovered this post on BookLoversBlog on NYE and decided it was the perfect way to wrap up my reading and blogging year. The survey was originally created by Jamie @ The Perpetual Page Turner and asks us questions that reflect the last year of books, reading and blogging. As the survey was quite lengthy, I decided to break it down into three parts. You can see Part I with my 2019 Stats and Best in Books HERE. Part II will be about my Blogging/Bookish Life in 2019, and stay tuned for Part III, which will be about Looking Ahead to 2020.
1. New favorite book blog/Bookstagram/Youtube channel you discovered in 2019?
Since this was my first year of blogging and intensively bookstagramming, I discovered all the blogs and bookstagram accounts, so I really can’t just pick one because they have all quickly became my favorites. To say that choosing would be difficult is an understatement! I’ve discovered so many new book loving friends in 2019 and it’s not only been fun, but it’s been beyond amazing. I’m especially thankful for those who interact with me on a daily or regular basis on all my platforms, whether it’s the blog, twitter or instagram. I really appreciate all of you 🥰
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:
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!
This Sunday, I’ve been in bed with Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda (Creekywood #1) by Becky Albertalli. I’ve heard a lot about this book and pretty much every review I’ve read is full of so much praise for it! I’ve already read Leah on the Offbeat, which technically comes after Simon’s book, so I kind of already know what’s going to happen at the end of this book. That said, I’m excited to learn more about the characters, especially since Simon was a favorite of mine in Leah’s book! You can read the synopsis for it below.
Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised.With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.
What book are you currently reading?
As mentioned in last week’s wrap-up, I pretty much went completely MIA this week because I just didn’t have the mental or physical capacity to deal with all the work stress and anxiety, as well as writing blogs throughout the week. Thankfully, I survived the week (Ha). I think I got a measly 6 hours of sleep from Mon-Thurs, and due to my already bad sleep issues, I didn’t even sleep in on the weekend because my body wouldn’t let me! Still, I’m so relieved that the nightmare weeks leading up to this is finally over. The stress left my body in a huge rush on Friday and I could’ve wept with relief if I hadn’t been surrounded by my boss(es)! Despite the high anxiety that I faced thinking about giving my presentation, I did end up enjoying myself at the conference; I met a lot of like-minded individuals, people I could even see being friends outside of work, and even an old high school classmate from Bangladesh. It’s such a small world!
Since I didn’t check in on my blog this week, I’ve only made three posts but I’m really looking forward to getting back to blogging from now. Yay! Just in case you missed them:
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!
This Sunday, I’ve been craving to be in bed with my latest read, Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. I started this read a few weeks ago, but put it on hold to get through some ARCs and because work has been absolutely killing me with stress and anxiety, so I haven’t been in much of a mood to read. No, that’s a lie, all I want to do is ignore work and stay home in bed all day and read, but that’s not happening, so I’m trying to not start anything that’ll make the feeling worse for me 🙂 For those who haven’t read the book yet, you can read the synopsis below!
For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. She’s barefoot and wild; unfit for polite society. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark. But Kya is not what they say. Abandoned at age ten, she has survived on her own in the marsh that she calls home. A born naturalist with just one day of school, she takes life lessons from the land, learning from the false signals of fireflies the real way of this world. But while she could have lived in solitude forever, the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. Drawn to two young men from town, who are each intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new and startling world–until the unthinkable happens.
What book are you currently reading?
Friends, this week has been super exhausting and as I mentioned above, full of stress and anxiety. Coming up next week is a huge conference that my office is organizing together with one of our biggest donors and we’re hoping to attract about 300 people for the first day, and about 160 for the second. While organizing these things is always stressful, the reason why I’ve really been feeling the pressure this time is because I’ve been asked to do a presentation on the second day, and the thought of standing up in front of that many people, and setting the tone for a workshop discussion makes me feel sick to my stomach. I’m probably the craziest introverted communication officer the world has ever seen, and just thinking about being put under the spotlight like that is beyond terrifying. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve sunk so far into my introversion the last few years, but while I’ve always been nervous in previous presentations, this is the first time I’ve had such a visceral reaction to even the thought of this. I haven’t been able to sleep, eat, or do the things that normally relax me (such as read or listen to music) because my body just rebels at everything and all it literally wants to do is shut down. The craving to avoid everything in the face of nerves is so real, and while I know that’s not good and I’m fighting my body’s “flight mode” like hell, it’s an insanely exhausting battle. That said, I’m probably not going to find time to post much next week, and I’ve been too stressed to prepare my posts in advance this weekend. So, sorry in advance for going MIA!
That said, here’s my weekly wrap up. It hasn’t been the best blogging week, but considering my current mental state, I thought it was pretty alright! Hope everyone has had a good week and weekend. Catch you on the flip side!
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!
This Sunday I’ve been highly anticipating the moment I get to come home, crawl into bed, and pick up my next read: Mrs. Everything (ARC) by Jennifer Weiner. I’ve never read anything by this author before, but this book has been making small waves on bookstagram for a while now, so when I saw it on NetGalley I thought I’d request it! This book is coming out in two days, and I’m hoping that I can finish it by then. Here’s the synopsis for Mrs. Everything:
Do we change or does the world change us?
Jo and Bethie Kaufman were born into a world full of promise. Growing up in 1950s Detroit, they live in a perfect “Dick and Jane” house, where their roles in the family are clearly defined. Jo is the tomboy, the bookish rebel with a passion to make the world more fair; Bethie is the pretty, feminine good girl, a would-be star who enjoys the power her beauty confers and dreams of a traditional life.
But the truth ends up looking different from what the girls imagined. Jo and Bethie survive traumas and tragedies. As their lives unfold against the background of free love and Vietnam, Woodstock and women’s lib, Bethie becomes an adventure-loving wild child who dives headlong into the counterculture and is up for anything (except settling down). Meanwhile, Jo becomes a proper young mother in Connecticut, a witness to the changing world instead of a participant. Neither woman inhabits the world she dreams of, nor has a life that feels authentic or brings her joy. Is it too late for the women to finally stake a claim on happily ever after?
Can someone please tell me how it’s already Sunday? AGAIN? I mean, obviously I know this is what happens when a week passes, we get to the last day of the week, but how is it that it’s already the end of another week? I’m not ready for my days of lazing around reading to be over. Going into work is getting continuously more difficult after all these holidays/breaks! After finishing my last read, What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about, listening to and singing the songs from Hamilton! I’m so sad that I will never get to see the original cast play their roles, but I’m hoping so much that they’ll come out with a movie version, just like they did with RENT! Watching Hamilton on Broadway would be a dream come true, and it’s quite close to the top of my bucket list. I know all the lyrics by heart, and even after hundreds of listens, it still has the ability to make me laugh and cry as if it was the first time I was listening to it! Ugh, I love the music so much. Any Hamilfans here? 🙋🏻♀️ If you haven’t listened to the music, please do yourselves a favor and listen to it N-O-W! I’ll even make it easier for you and put the Spotify playlist below! 😉
But I digress! I’m here to share my weekly wrap up, so you can find a list of my posts from this week below. Overall, it was a pretty great week 😊 Hope you’ve had a good one too, friends!
It’s that time of the month again! Can you believe we’ve come to the end of yet another month? Three months of 2019 are officially over. Where does the time go?!
If you’ve read my (belatedly posted) February wrap up, you’ll know that it was a pretty mediocre reading month for me. I was hitting struggletown hard! I don’t think I’ve ever had a month-long reading slump before, but I guess there’s a first time for everything? 🤷🏻♀️ In comparison, March was a pretty great book month!
Reading Recap: 15 Books
✓ 13 Fiction (2 ARCs) ✓ 1 Non-Fiction ✓ 1 Comic/Graphic Novel ✓ Goodreads Reading Challenge: 45/75 books ✓ Favorite Read: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo(this book was so crazily hyped, especially on #bookstagram, so it took me a while to pick it up coz I was a little apprehensive; but I have to say that it’s definitely worth all the hype. If I could give it all the stars, I absolutely would!)
★★★★☆
★★★★☆
★★★★☆
★★★★★
★★★★★
★★★★☆
★★★★☆
★★★★☆
★★★★☆
★★★☆☆
★★★★☆
★★★★☆
★★★★☆
★★★★☆
★★★★★
Of these 15, four were paperbacks and the rest were e-books and an online comic strip. The two ARCs were Wolfhunter River by Rachel Caine (23 April 2019) and Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center (13 August 2019) and I enjoyed both immensely! Can’t wait for these to be released so everyone can read them. I read a lot on my Kindle this month. It’s been a while since I’ve gone on an e-book spree, so it felt really good to get into it, especially after the epic slump. I’m super pleased with the new 10th Generation Kindle Paperwhite (2018), which I got in early March when my Kindle Paperwhite of 5 years died an unfortunate and untimely death (RIP 😭). I love that I can pair this one with bluetooth headphones and listen to Audible books directly from there, although the first/last time I tried it, the connection was pretty wonky and the audio kept cutting out and “stuttering”. Also, it drains the battery super fast.
Overall, I’m really pleased with all the books I read. It was definitely a month for Contemporary Fiction and Romance, sprinkled with hint if Fantasy and Thrillers. I was also quite pleased with all the books that I got in March, and I’m wondering if I should do a wrap up haul post for them. I kinda went a little bit wild (heh, what’s new), but I think I’m going to take a break from buying physical books for now. Let’s see how long that lasts! 😂 Leaving March behind, I’m definitely excited to see how I’ll fare in April as work gets a little bit busier.
How did your March reads go? Are you pleased with the books you read? Which was your favorite? Let me know in the comments and let’s chat!
I know, I’m a little late to the party, but I thought I’d share my February wrap-up anyway. February was a pretty tough month for me and my mental health state was the worst it has been in a while. I know when it’s really bad because not only does it affect my daily life more than usual, but I also struggled to read anything. I was trying out 3-4 different books each week, trying to find a story that would pull me in but towards the end of the month, that rarely happened. Anyway, without further ado, these are the books that I got through last month (with mini-reviews for each)!
In total, I read 4 books: 3 Physical books & 1 Audiobook
My February Wrap-Up!
*I just realized that the book reviews that I’ve posted on my blog so far cover the books that I’ve read in February! I’ll link the mini-reviews to the full-length reviews, in case any of you are interested to know more.
This was my first ever audiobook and I was not disappointed. This was a seriously charming book! The characters are endearingly quirky and the situations they find themselves in are emotional and heartfelt, but not without comedy injected here and there to lighten the mood up a little bit. It’s also endlessly quotable! It was a little corny at times, what with all the feel-good love stuff, but I finished this one feeling happy and comforted, and sometimes there’s honestly nothing more you need from a book 😉 I thought the narrators did a wonderful job in reading the story and capturing all the heartbreak and hilarity in it.
This book had my breaking out in crying jags until the very end! This was such a heartbreaking and touching story that explores friendship, love, heartbreak, loss, and grief between four boys. Silvera has written a book that’s filled with such deep sadness and longing, but with enough humorous and lighthearted moments between the characters that it doesn’t bog you down. What I enjoyed most about it was that it’s relatable AF; everyone has had a first love and a heartbreak that completely shatters you. First love is definitely a fragile thing 💔
Honestly, this one was a bit of a let down. When I heard it was similar to The Handmaid’s Tale, I knew I had to read it because that’s one of my all-time favorite novels and I’m always looking to read more science fiction/dystopia! However, while I thought this really had the potential to be great, I felt that the characters were underdeveloped, there was a lot of ‘info dumping’ from the 50% mark onwards, and the final showdown was not only incredibly rushed but unsatisfying too. All the problems were resolved too smoothly and the conflict between the characters were also wiped away so easily. I wanted more, but this didn’t deliver for me. I’d recommend it for those who are curious about sci-fi. IMHO, this is more commercial than it is serious science fiction.
I was a little bit torn with this read. It was a little hyped on bookstagram so I was really excited to dive in — I mean, if we’re just looking at covers and book titles, this one is a tick on both fronts! While the concept of the story was intriguing and Braithwaite did an amazing job exploring a very messed up relationship between sisters, the characters were so incredibly unlikeable (imo) that it made it difficult for me to really enjoy this book… I was surprised with the ending because Braithwaite chose the seemingly predictable conclusion that I wasn’t hoping for, but there was a question left hanging in the last sentence, which I guess left part of the conclusion open to interpretation? Best things about this one was the realness of the sisterly relationship/bond and the satire.
Ongoing February Reads…
I also started reading The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt in February and it’s such a tome of a book, that I haven’t finished it yet… I’m not disliking the character driven plot, but the reason I’m still reading it as I write this is because once I put it down, I don’t feel particularly compelled to pick it up again. I don’t know what it is — Is it the size? Is it my mood? I’m not sure. This is my first Tartt book and while I was warned that it moves at a fairly slow pace, I wasn’t expecting it to be this slow… But since February was such a tough one for me, I’m hoping with my fresh-kick in March, I’ll be able to finish it by the end of the month! 🤞🏽
Another book I started at the end of the month wasBeartown by Fredrik Backman. This one is so well-loved and incredibly hyped on bookstagram, so I was ready for it to hit me with all the feels at the start. But while I found it interesting and I was curious to find out what happened, I also ended up putting it down at some point and not picking it back up again. I’m definitely blaming my fickle February mood for not continuing with it right now and it’s another read that I hope to finish in March — I am not giving up on it! 🤓
Hope you’re having a lovely weekend! How are your March reads coming along? Let’s talk books 🙂
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