TBRs/Wrap-ups – Page 2

March TBR 2020

Published on March 3, 2020March 3, 2020 by Jessica C Writes8 Comments

March is going to be a long month. I can feel it. This semester hasn’t been too bad as of now, but it is finally starting to pick up now that I’m at that halfway mark. I have a lot of work piling up, so I’m definitely a little worried about getting my reading in.

But, I also have spring break this month, so I’ll be home for a week without any obligations! Hopefully, I’ll be able to get a lot of reading done then!

Wicked As You Wish by Rin Chupeco

First up is Wicked As You Wish because I was actually a part of the “street team” that promoted this book! I was able to get an ARC because of this, and I am really looking forward to reading it.

I’ve seen many great reviews for this one, and even though I’m not a big fantasy reader, it caught my attention!

Docile by K.M. Szpara

Next up is another ARC that I am so happy to have received! This is a science fiction novel, which isn’t usually my thing, but this one sounds incredible. I have heard mixed reviews, though, which worries me a bit. I do want to get to it this month either way, as it comes out today actually!

Hearts, Strings, and Other Breakable Things by Jacqueline Firkins

This is my e-book pick from my TBR jar for the month of March! I love contemporaries, so I’m very happy I picked this one to read. It’s been on my Netgalley review list for a while now, so I am probably going to start off with this one so I can get it reviewed ASAP!

It’s about a girl’s last summer before going to college, which is one of my favorite times to read about! I feel like it’ll be a quick read.

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

This month I am finally getting to The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren! This will be my first book from this author duo, and I am so excited! This one has received glowing reviews, and I really feel like I will enjoy it.

Also, please appreciate this cover: It is stunning!

My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan

Finally, I had to make sure I included an audiobook to listen to as well. I chose My Oxford Year because it is fairly short (the audiobook is only about 10 hours long), and I can listen to it while I’m at the gym!

I’ve started this one already, and I’m really enjoying it so far! Hopefully the book continues down this direction :)

That is it for my March TBR! Sticking to a TBR has actually made my life a lot easier, so I’m excited to see if I will be 3/3 this month!

What are you hoping to read in March?

February Wrap-Up 2020

Published on February 27, 2020February 26, 2020 by Jessica C Writes15 Comments

Another month, another wrap-up! This month I only read 5 books so far (with a hopeful 6th almost done). This wrap-up may not be as long as previous ones, but I am proud of myself for reading anything regardless. I’m also trying to focus less on quantity this year, and spend more time with each book and actually enjoy it.

Anyways, let’s look at what I read!

Current Read: The Diviners by Libba Bray

Okay, so I know I haven’t finished this book yet, but I’m 1/2 way through it and I still have until Saturday to finish it, so I think I’ll be able to finish it! Either way, I wanted to include it here anyway because the majority of it will be read this month!

As of now, I’m really enjoying this one, and I can see it becoming a favorite read for me for sure!

5 Stars

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell- Beautiful read. It was heartbreaking but it touched on such a dark topic in a good way. I think it’s an important read for sure.
How to Make Friends with the Dark by Kathleen Glasgow- I wasn’t planning on reading this one this month but I needed an audiobook to listen to, and this one was incredible. Another one that is a bit on the darker side, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

3 Stars

Someday, Someday Maybe by Lauren Graham- Disappointing one for sure because I hyped it up so much in my head. I still really recommend Lauren Graham’s memoir though!
A Girl Like Her by Talia Hibbert- This book fell a little flat for me, which I was sad about because I loved two of her other novels so much. Unfortunately, the characters and their chemistry felt a little forced to me.

2 Stars

Beholding Bee by Kimberly Newton Fusco- This one was on my TBR for so long so I’m happy to have finally checked it off. BUT, I definitely did not connect with the story or the writing style at all.

That’s all for today’s post! I am happy to say I have successfully followed a TBR for two months now. Maybe I’ll be able to do this every month…

February 2020 TBR

Published on February 4, 2020February 1, 2020 by Jessica C Writes8 Comments

A new month means it’s time for a new TBR post! Last month was the first time I successfully created a TBR and fully stuck to it. I was always the type of person who claimed I was a mood reader (and I do still consider myself one). BUT, now I know that I can follow a TBR if I put my mind to it, too.

I’m hoping to be able to stick to my TBR once again, so here are the 5 books I hope to read!

Beholding Bee by Kimberly Newton Fusco

As I’m sure you all know (because I talk about this way too often), I am trying to read as many of my backlist books as possible. Actually, I’m also taking part in the #Pondathon created by CW, and as part of Team Gen, our goal is to read backlist books! That is why almost all of these books are backlist- gotta get those points for my team!

This is a book I bought almost 4 years ago at this point. I’m ashamed that I have not yet read it, but hopefully, this will be the month!

The Diviners by Libba Bray

Oh, I am so excited about this one. I have a fear of big books, which is pretty much the only reason I’ve put this one off. But I just know that I will love it so much. The fourth book in this series came out TODAY, so it would be cool to be able to read this entire series this year. I’m not promising that it will happen, but it is definitely a possibility!

Someday, Someday Maybe by Lauren Graham

Lauren Graham is one of my favorite people on this planet. She’s so funny, down to earth, and a great writer. I’ve read her memoir as well as a speech she made for a high school graduation. Both were phenomenal.

I’m very interested to see how her nonfiction writing translates into a fiction novel.

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

This book was originally supposed to come out in January by publication got pushed back to March. This is good for me because now I actually have time to read it before release. I have seen some early reviews about this one, and almost all were positive.

I have heard that this is a dark book, but that is a genre/category I do like to read. I have pretty high expectations for this one!

A Girl Like Her by Talia Hibbert

Each month I am also reading a book that I pick from my e-book TBR jar. This month’s pick is A Girl Like Her by Talia Hibbert! I have read one other Talia Hibbert book and it was really great! It should be a fairly quick read. Plus, it’ll be the perfect book to read in between classes.

What do you think of the books on my TBR for this month? Let me know in the comments if you’ve read any of them and what your thoughts were!

See you soon!

January 2020 Wrap-Up / Starting Off the Year Strong!

Published on January 30, 2020January 31, 2020 by Jessica C Writes9 Comments

The first month of the year is pretty much OVER. January actually felt like a really long month for me, personally. So many things happened, but, overall, it was a really great month.

Let’s take a look at my month in review!

📚On Books:

I read 8 books this month, which I am very happy with! I read all 5 books that were on my TBR for this month (which I am extremely proud of- I don’t think I’ve ever done this before).

Also, I had a really great reading month in terms of star ratings- most books were 4 or 5-star reads!

🔐On Life:

I wanted to try to get back into some non-reading related hobbies this year. Of course, I will continue reading, blogging, and writing, but I do want to be a more well-rounded person, so I started working out and running again. This has honestly done wonders for my mental health. I feel great every time I get to the gym.
I also started baking more! I’m back at school now, so baking isn’t something I can do unless I’m at home, but I had so much fun trying new recipes and working from scratch to create delicious (and healthy) treats. I posted about the desserts I made on my Instagram stories, so be sure to follow me on there to see more!
I attended a wedding this month with half of my family, and it was so much fun. Some of my family members from Poland even flew in, some of which I haven’t seen in YEARS, so that was so nice.
Finally, I started the Spring semester of my sophomore year of college. It’s crazy to think that I’m almost halfway done with my undergraduate experience.

📝On Goals:

Workout 15 times ✔︎
- I actually worked out EVERY SINGLE DAY of the month! I was not aiming to do this, but I actually wanted to work out every day, so it just sort of… happened. Some days were much lighter (just yoga, a short run, etc.), so I never felt exhausted or overworked. Will I continue to workout daily forever? No. But it was cool to be able to do so for at least one month!
Start writing again ✔︎✘
- I did write a few things. A couple of poems, a few lines of a WIP. But, my goal was really to start writing consistently again, which is something I did not do. Next month I want to figure out a more structured schedule for myself to write, but it’s hard with school and work.
hit 975 blog followers ✔︎
- Thank you so much to everyone who has followed me this past month! I have been working hard on my posts, so it means a lot to see that people actually notice and want to follow. I’m so close to 1000 followers now!! That is so cool!!
read 5 books ✔︎
- As you already know, I read 8 books. YAY!
meditate twice a week ✔︎
- Another one of my 2020 goals is to meditate more. I wanted to start January off with just twice a month, and so far, I have accomplished that! I might increase this goal next month, but I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself with this.

Tell me about your month and how it went for you! Also, let me know if you’ve read any of these books and what your thoughts were on them :) See you soon!

January TBR 2020

Published on January 2, 2020January 1, 2020 by Jessica C Writes11 Comments

Happy New Year, old sports! Welcome to the roaring twenties, the gatsby age, a time for fresh starts. I always love the new year, but this one is even more exciting because we’re entering a whole new decade.

I am so excited about everything I have planned this year, and I can’t wait to use the momentum of this new year to bring me closer to my goals (which I will talk about in a future post).

First, I want to share my January TBR with you guys because this is the year I finally defeat my TBR. I am so excited about all of these books and I can’t wait to dive in. Let’s take a look at what they are!

the ladys guide to petticoats and piracy

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

This book has been on my TBR for quite a while now, and I have a feeling it’s going to be a book I absolutely love. All I know about it is that it’s about a group of actors in college. I want to go in knowing as little as possible since it is a mystery novel.

Queen of Nothing by Holly Black

This is the only book on this list that I don’t own yet, but I’m borrowing the e-book from my library, so I NEED to finish it this month. I enjoyed the first two books of this trilogy, but I didn’t LOVE them. I do want to finish this book, though just so I can know how it all ends. It’s a shorter book, so, hopefully, I will be able to read it quickly.

A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab

I read A Darker Shade of Magic MONTHS ago. I really did mean to read this one in 2019, but I just never got around to it. This year, one of my priorities is to finish the series I’ve started, so as you can see, there are a lot on this list.

The Art of Mindful Relaxation

Another thing I’m trying this year is a TBR jar but only for my e-books. I’m awful at reading the e-books I have, so I want to get through more of them this year. This month I picked out The Art of Mindful Meditation which is a Netgalley title I got a while back. I want to get my Netgalley ratio to 95% this year. I’m currently at 80%, so I’m not too far off!

The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee

Again, I am working through my series, so this is another I want to read. I actually own an ARC of it, so I really do want to get to it. I really enjoyed the first book, though I have heard mixed opinions on this one. Also, the third book in the series comes out this year, so I want to be able to read it!

I am so excited for this year, and I can’t wait to get started on my reading. What do you hope to read this month? What is your first read of a new decade going to be?

December TBR

Published on December 5, 2019December 3, 2019 by Jessica C Writes6 Comments

Hello! Happy December. I did not have a new post up last week because I just wanted to enjoy time at home and not worry about anything going on online.

I am back with a TBR post today, though. I am really excited to share my reading plans with you all because 1. it’s the last month of the year and 2. I’ll be home by the middle of December for winter break so I’ll have a whole lot of time to read!

I’ve luckily already hit my goal for the year, so I’m not stressing myself out to read too much, but there are a couple of books I want to finish!

Let’s just get into what I’ll be reading!

The Turn of the Screw and Other Ghost Stories by Henry James

This is my current read. I’ve actually gotten through 3-4 stories, so I’m almost halfway through it, but November was a slow reading month, and I never got to finish. My goal is to read 2 stories a week, but I don’t know if that’ll actually happen because of finals. I’m going to try, though!

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

It’s the last month of the year. I really need to finish this one because I think I started it in the Spring. I am definitely going to do it. It’s the next book I’m going to pick up, so it will get read! I swear!

I’ve talked about how I’m going to read this one so many times this year, so I’ll just leave it at that.

Tweet Cute by Emma Lord

This one is another that has been on my TBR before (I think October?). I am definitely going to get to it, too, because I am part of a blog tour for it! That post will be up in January, so be on the lookout for that!

I’ve also been in the mood for cute contemporary books to get me out of my mini slump, so I’m hoping this one will do the trick!

Someday, Someday Maybe by Lauren Graham

This is the last book I’m going to try to read this month. The cover is a girl surrounded by snow, so obviously, this would be the perfect time to read it. Plus, I just really love Lauren Graham, and I’ve owned this book for way too long. I think it’s time to read it!

Have you read any of these? Let me know what you thought of them if you did! Also, feel free to share your TBR with me :)

October 2019 Wrap-Up / Blogtober Day 31

Published on October 31, 2019October 30, 2019 by Jessica C Writes4 Comments

Happy Halloween! It’s the last day of Blogtober. I can not believe it. I am incredibly proud of myself for putting up one blog post every single day of the month. This was an incredibly rewarding experience that challenged me in more ways than one. But, with all that being said, I’m very glad it’s over. And I can’t say that I am planning on doing this ever again (but who knows, maybe I’ll be back here again next year).

As it is the end of the month, it is time for a wrap-up! I read a total of 11 books this month! This is a big improvement after September’s 2 books.

I already wrote a post talking about the first half of reads for the month, so you can check out that post to hear more of my thoughts on those.

Here are the rest:

Furyborn by Claire Legrand:

This book surprised me. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it, but I did! I’m actually really looking forward to reading the next book now! The writing felt natural, the pacing was good, and the story was interesting. The one thing I will say is I got a bit confused at times. There were many characters, lots of places to remember, etc. The details got a little fuzzy. However, I really enjoyed the style as a whole, and once I got the two POVs separated, it was fine! I thought the worldbuilding was done really well. I felt like I was right there with the characters; I could picture all of the scenes in my head.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Disconnect Vol. 2 by Michelle Halket:

This book was incredible! I don’t read a lot of short story collections, but now I want to put more of an effort into doing so. The premise of this one was that one poet would write a poem, and then another would write a short story inspired by it, and so on.

I really enjoyed this one, especially because it had short stories written by poets whose work I’ve read before! If you have any recommendations for short story collections, please send them my way!

Rating: 5/5 stars

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert:

I actually wrote a whole blog post reviewing this book! I thought it was so well written, and it was very enjoyable. It has a hate to love trope, plus amazing rep, and fun, relatable characters! It is the perfect recipe for a book honestly.

Rating: 5/5 stars

The Escape Room by Megan Goldin:

I’m technically still reading this one, but I only have about 50 pages left. I’m definitely going to finish it by the end of the day, and so far, it’s at about 3.5 stars. It was really slow to begin with, and it took me a long time to actually get into the story.

At the point that I’m at now, I feel like it’ll either get bumped up or bumped down, depending on the ending! I’ll update this after I finish it to let you know what the final rating is!

How did your reading look like for the month? Did you read any new favorites?

Recent Reads #1 / Blogtober Day 17

Published on October 17, 2019October 16, 2019 by Jessica C Writes1 Comment

Last month, I only successfully read 2 books. I was in a HUGE slump, and I hated it. But with school and other things taking priority, I couldn’t focus on reading. This month has already been so much different. I’ve read quite a few books already, so I thought I would talk about some of them today in an effort to keep my wrap-up at the end of the month a bit shorter :)

Maroon Daydreams by Cheyenne Raine:

This was a really enjoyable poetry collection! I always enjoy Cheyenne’s writing, and this collection definitely showed me why. It’s very relatable, so I could connect with many of the poems in it. I also really loved the pictures that came with this one, they were a nice touch!

Rating: 4/5 stars

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo and Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo:

I did a whole separate review post on this series as a whole, so make sure to check out that blog post to hear my thoughts! I don’t want to repeat myself too much, but this was a really fun series, and I’m so glad I got to mark it off my TBR.

Ratings: 3/5 stars, 5/5 stars

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz:

This is a kids classic book of scary stories that I’ve actually never read. I picked up the bind-up of the three books from this collection for a school club, but I was actually pleasantly surprised! This one was good, but not amazing. There were a couple of creepy stories, but they didn’t really get me. Obviously, they’re aimed at children, so that’s to be expected!

Rating: 3/5 stars

Even More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz:

This was my favorite out of the three. I tabbed the most stories that freaked me out in this one. I think the stories were more original and interesting than the previous book. It was a pleasant surprise.

Rating: 4/5 stars

More Tales to Chill Your Bones by Alvin Schwartz:

This one was good. Nothing too memorable. I enjoyed it, but I was hoping this last one would be the best. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. There were a couple of good stories in this one, but none that really stuck out to me.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley:

This is a classic that I’ve been wanting to read for a long time. We all know the story of Frankenstein and his monster- or at least, we think we do. The original story is so much creepier, and it was actually quite sad, too. I listened to the audiobook which I think added to my enjoyment. I don’t know if I would have bothered to read it anytime soon had it not been for that.

Rating: 4/5 stars

24 Hour Read-a-thon Recap / Blogtober Day 15

Published on October 15, 2019October 14, 2019 by Jessica C Writes5 Comments

Hello everyone! I recently did a 24 hour read-a-thon in order to get the amount of books I had on my TBR under control. I was in the middle of like 5+ books, so I needed to lower that number and work through some! Here’s a look at how it went:

12 am:

I stayed up for about a half an hour to read “More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.” I read the first “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” book a couple days before! I have a bind up of all three books, so my goal was to finish the other two during the read-a-thon. I got about 40 pages in before I called it a night. I am not a night person at all.

8:30 am:

I went for a run in the morning, I showered, and made breakfast. During the run and the making of my food, I listened to the audiobook of Frankenstein! I thought this would be the perfect read for this read-a-thon because it’s only a 7 hour audiobook (3.5 hours at 2x speed), and it is a spooky classic! I’ve never read it before, so I thought why not now? I was able to get about 2 hours into it, and I was enjoying it a lot!

11:00 am:

I finished reading “More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.” It only took about another half hour or 40 minutes or so. The book is only about 100 pages, so it was definitely a quick read. I enjoyed this one a lot, it was better than the first in my opinion. I gave it 4 stars.

5:00 pm:

Then, I went to a few stores with my mom and grandma because I needed to buy some things for school. It took up a few hours, so we didn’t get home until about 3pm. I ate some food, and then I started the final book in the bind up of Scary Stories- More Tales to Chill Your Bones. I finished this one in about an hour as well. My favorite of the three was definitely the second one, but they were all pretty good!

8:00 pm:

I had four hours left to listen to 5 hours of an audiobook (about 2.5 hours on 2x speed). I tried to listen to as much as I could, but I honestly wasn’t in the mood to finish the book that night. I listened on and off until about 10:30 pm, and called it a night.

Final Stats:

Finished two and a half books.
About 300 pages total (I wasn’t keeping track, especially with the audiobook)

I am happy with the amount of reading I did. And I finished Frankenstein the next day! So I definitely did a significant amount of reading over the course of the weekend, which is all that I wanted to do!

I love doing read-a-thons like this because I don’t usually get to spend a lot of time reading each day. This helps me make it a priority :)

October TBR – Slightly Spooky Edition / Blogtober Day 2

Published on October 2, 2019September 30, 2019 by Jessica C Writes5 Comments

October is one of my favorite months of the year (second only to November). I love the atmosphere- cool weather, falling leaves, warm-toned colors. Plus, the cozy feeling you get. You can lay in bed with a warm blanket, read a spooky book, light a pumpkin candle, take a bath. It’s my absolute favorite time of the year.

This month I decided not to participate in any read-a-thons because I feel like they’ve put in me in a bit of a slump recently. I have been doing way too many of them. That being said, I do still want to read some mystery/thrillers and fantasy books to put me in the Autumn vibe.

Here are the books I want to get to:

Currently Reading:

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

I started this one at the beginning of September, and I’m about halfway through, so I know I will finish it soon. Especially because it’s the only book I’m currently reading. I’m reading it on Scribd and my trial is ending soon, so I need to finish it ASAP!

ARCs:

Cursed by Thomas Wheeler

This is an ARC I was really excited about but have heard some mixed things, so I’m a little apprehensive. But, it is an ARC and I do want to give my feedback to the publishers, so that is the goal for this month. This is a fantasy that’s actually going to be turned into a Netflix show very soon, which is super cool! It came out yesterday, but September was just not a good reading month for me, so I didn’t get a chance to read it sooner. All I know is that it involves dark magic- if that doesn’t scream Halloween, I don’t know what does.

The Escape Room by Megan Goldin

I am actually going to be buddy reading this one with Jake (JakeDoesBooks) this month, and I could not be more excited. This is a mystery that involves a bunch of coworkers who get trapped in an elevator and slowly a bunch of secrets get revealed… It sounds incredible!

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert

This one is a romance, and it’s one that I’ve heard nothing but amazing things about. I feel like I haven’t read an adult romance in a while, so I am really looking forward to it. It comes out on November 5th, in case you want to check it out for yourself!

Tweet Cute by Emma Lord

I am going to be doing a full review for this book in January for a blog tour that I am so excited about! I do want to make sure I get a head start on it, though because December is a hectic month both in terms of school (finals) and life (Christmas). So, I hope to at least get halfway through it this month, and finish it in November (unless if I finish all of it this month).

Other:

Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

This is the third book in the Grisha trilogy, and as I mentioned with S&S, I only have 2 weeks left to finish both this and the second book. I think I can manage it, though. The books aren’t too long. So far I’m enjoying the series, and I can’t wait to see how it ends!

Truly, Madly, Deadly by Hannah Jayne

This has been on my TBR for ages. I actually have it marked as read on Goodreads, and I have a feeling that I only read about 1/2 of it. This is a book I got when I was first getting into the book community, so I marked my DNFs as read (I don’t now). Maybe I did finish it, but just don’t remember the story. I don’t know. But, I want to re-read it so that the nagging feeling it gives me can be put to rest!

That is all! Seven books shouldn’t be too bad, but that’s also what I said when I set my last TBR. Who knows how this will go. It all depends on school (and keeping up with Blogtober).

Also, let me know if you’ve read any of these and what your thoughts on them were!