Just a YA book reader sharing her thoughts with the world

Six Goodbyes We Never Said || An ARC review

“But the thing is, Naima Rodriguez has been grieving as long as she can remember, because she’s never gotten over being left in the first place.”

Borrowed, Bought or ARC: This was an ARC granted to me through NetGalley and the publishers. I am very thankful for this opportunity. All thoughts published below are my honest and true opinion.

Where did I get it?: As stated above, I got this from NetGalley.

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Genres: Teens & YA

Number of pages: My Arc was 280 pages but Goodreads says the hardcover is 320.

Release date: Comes out September 24th 2019

Two teens meet after tragedy and learn about love, loss, and letting go

Naima Rodriguez doesn’t want your patronizing sympathy as she grieves her father, her hero—a fallen Marine. She’ll hate you forever if you ask her to open up and remember him “as he was,” though that’s all her loving family wants her to do in order to manage her complex OCD and GAD. She’d rather everyone back the-eff off while she separates her Lucky Charms marshmallows into six, always six, Ziploc bags, while she avoids friends and people and living the life her father so desperately wanted for her.

Dew respectfully requests a little more time to process the sudden loss of his parents. It’s causing an avalanche of secret anxieties, so he counts on his trusty voice recorder to convey the things he can’t otherwise say aloud. He could really use a friend to navigate a life swimming with pain and loss and all the lovely moments in between. And then he meets Naima and everything’s changed—just not in the way he, or she, expects.

Candace Ganger’s Six Goodbyes We Never Said is no love story. If you ask Naima, it’s not even a like story. But it is a story about love and fear and how sometimes you need a little help to be brave enough to say goodbye

First things first I loved the cover of this book so much, it was the first thing that pulled me in. The bright red with the contrast of the little airplanes flying around above Naima is just so beautiful.

This book for me was good when it was focused on Naima. I could see myself in her and could understand her actions and why she did what she did. I could understand her strained relationship with her stepmother and her grief at losing her father, especially as we got further into the book. I loved her relationship with her grandparents and how we were shown her relationship with her dad through emails.

The one thing that really dropped my rating on this book was Dew in general. I thought he was sort of stalker-ish. Once he gets his recorder, I agreed with Naima, he was being so creepy. Even if he wasn’t recording anyone, the thought of him talking about them in front of them into his recorder made me so comfortable. He also overstepped a lot of boundaries trying to “help” and didn’t seem to understand why it wasn’t wanted. I didn’t see how they could relate other than that they had parents who died so I didn’t understand their friendship either.

All in all, I was disappointed in this book even though I was looking forward to it.

Have you heard of this book? Do you think you will give it a chance? Let me know!

Lost Girl Book Tag || By Leelynn

Hey guys! I’m pretty bummed because I was supposed to meet Leelynn today but something came up and we weren’t able to make it work. SO I thought a great idea would be to do Leelynn’s OG tag! I’ve never heard of or watched Lost Girl but that’s okay!

The Rules:

Tag the person who tagged you, the original post (this one!) and paste these rules.

~~Watch Lost Girl on Netflix.~~ If you have watched it, tell me if you’re #TeamDyson , #TeamLauren or #TeamTamsin or neither!

You can use my graphics, or make your own, or not. Totally up to you. ~~Just tried to be fancy and failed.~~

Feel free to tag as many people as you want. Spread the love.

Emoni from With the Fire on High or June from the Legend trilogy,

Sirius Black! ‘THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED!’ roared Black. ‘DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS, AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!’

I have no clue of any book I’ve read with a hidden identity which I feel really bad about!

Henry from Red, White and Royal Blue.

hamilton talk less GIF — LMAO Aaron Burr counts right?

Leelynn, thank you for making this tag. I’m sorry I rushed to get this up so it’s not as good as it could be. I hope you do amazing today and that you feel better soon!!!

Red, White and Royal Blue || A Review

I didn’t plan on reading Red, White and Royal Blue in September. It wasn’t on my TBR and I had planned to wait until the hype died down since I had seen so many people talk about it. And then, I wandered into a unfamiliar library to waste time before work and there it was. I knew before I even read this book that I was going to love it. I mean… it’s about the First Son of the United States and his boyfriend who is a Prince of England.

“History, huh?”

Author: Casey McQuiston

Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin

Borrowed or bought? Borrowed

Number of Pages: 423

Where can you get it? I do not make any money off of these links. This is simply to make it easier for you to find the book and compare prices. I normally buy my books at Books-A-Million since I have a membership with them.

Amazon: 9.99

Books A Million: 11.01

Book Depository: 11.65

Barnes and Noble: 13.59

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?

There were so many things I loved about this book. I love the president being a woman, I loved the relationship between June, Alex and Nora. I loved how Ellen became a different person when she had the time to take off the president role and be with her kids. I loved how Alex and Henry sneaking around and how it went from forced friendship and misunderstanding to lovers (a favorite trope of mine). I am also so weak for anything involving royalty or any LGBT themes so I knew before I even read this book, that I would be a goner. There are so many other things I loved about this book but I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who hasn’t read it.

So really, I could only think of one bad thing that really tripped me up with this book. Since it is set in recent times, making mentions of the Obama’s and the 2016 and 2020 elections, it was hard for me to create an entirely new royal family in my mind. The first family was easy since it changes every 4-8 years anyway but the royals have always been the royals. So for a bit in the beginning I was trying to make characters fit to the royal family I am familiar with.

Not sure if this is a “Bad” thing or not but I wanted to share this other review by: Katrina Reads since I think she brought up a lot of good points that did not pop out to me since I am American.

I personally adored this book and I really want to add it to my collection.

Have you read this book? What did you think?

Reader Problems Tag in Gifs

I was tagged by LaRonda over at Flyingpaperbacks!

You have 20,000 books on your TBR. How in the world do you decide what to read next?

I literally just walk up to the bookshelf/TBR list and pick what sounds best that day.

You’re halfway through a book and you’re just not loving it. Do you quit or are you committed?

It totally depends on the book. How long is it? Is it an ARC, my own, borrowed? Did someone recommend it to me? What genre? There are too many variables.

The end of the year is coming and you’re so close, but so far away on your Goodreads reading challenge. Do you try to catch up and how?

The covers of a series you love do not match. How do you cope?

Every one and their mother loves a book you really don’t like. Who do you bond with over shared feelings?

You’re reading a book and you are about to start crying in public. How do you deal?

I’m a person who cries a lot anyway so I just cry.

A sequel of a book you loved just came out, but you’ve forgotten a lot from the prior novel. Will you re-read the book? Skip the sequel? Try to find a synopsis on Goodreads? Cry in frustration?

Re-read all the way!!!

You do not want anyone. ANYONE. borrowing your books. How do you politely tell people nope when they ask?

Honestly once I read my books and have had them for a while, unless it’s a favorite, I will let people borrow them.

You’ve picked up and put down 5 books in the last month. How do you get over your reading slump?

If I ever get stuck or can’t read, I pick up a favorite book. There is something about the familiarity and the comfort it brings that opens me back up to other books.

There are so many new books coming out that you’re dying to read! How many do you actually buy?

After you’ve bought the new books you can’t wait to get to, how long do they sit on your shelf before you get to them?

*Actively avoids looking at Wicked which has been on my shelf since December* Uh, ya know, a few weeks, no longer than 2 month for sure.

Thank you again, LaRonda for the tag. I’m going to tag….

Top 10 Tuesday: Books On My TBR I’m Avoiding Reading

Full disclosure y’all, I skipped last week because my mind was a hot mess and I couldn’t focus, had a stomach ache all week and was basically feeling some kind of way. Also I had no clue how to answer the prompt. But! I’m super excited for this week’s topic.

How it works

Jana assigns each Tuesday a topic and then we all post our top ten list that fits that topic. Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information.

You’ll find the schedule of upcoming TTT topics here you can plan ahead.If you don’t have a blog, post your picks in the comment section below! Have tons of fun talking books and getting to know your fellow bloggers!

Honestly, I’m avoiding this book because I have no idea about the content inside and I just think she’s perfect and I don’t want to lose that.

It’s the cover. I promise you, if this cover was not so dark and scary, I would probably be more inclined to read this. Also Peter Pan (the story) has like a special place in my heart that I don’t want to mess with. Sometimes you’ve got those few things left from someone and they need to be protected.

Everyone seems to be reading this but like I don’t really like enemies to lovers? Maybe it’s because I hold insane grudges and once I don’t like you, that’s that. Or maybe it’s because sometimes you don’t like someone and that doesn’t mean you’re in love. IDK man.

I own this book. It’s mine, I went to a store and got it and I carried it around for a week and still have not read it. Why? I thought it was about something else and it is not and I have zero context for what it is really about so I got nervous. Thanks for asking.

I’m avoiding this because I have no recollection of adding it to my Goodreads list and I’m not pulled in by the blurb but I can’t let it go.

Hello. I begged for this series. I begged my aunt to find it, it was all I wanted for christmas (and PJs but I lost the shirt to those so like….) Anyway, I wanted it so bad because I thought I was going to NYC that year to finally, finally fulfill my lifelong dream of seeing Wicked on Broadway. Once I realized that wasn’t happening, an overdramatic me ignored the perfect books I had begged for other than to glance away from them in shame.

I’m avoiding this because I saw the movie first. I basically know what happens I guess? So like why read it? No seriously, I know why but my brain keeps saying “We know that story. Let’s read another!”

This book has been on my Goodreads list the longest. It’s been there since before I graduated high school!!! I graduated 4 years ago!!!! Why can’t I either let it go or just read it already? I see the series at the book store and always whisper,one day as I walk right by them.

Hi again. I love Jodi Picoult, I love her writing. I think I’ve read most if not all of her books. But I don’t think I’ve read this one. Why? I feel like it’s too late. This book came out 18 years ago!!!!!!! I was four!!!!! I know that’s not how books work but I’m so anxious about keeping up with what’s in that I can’t convince myself to pick up this book.

As the cover snob I am, I will say a big part of this is because the first cover I saw (not this one), looked so boring that I just couldn’t get into it. Also, this book sounds so heavy and I just really need some light books right now.

That’s ten! It was interesting to go through my Goodreads to find these. I focused ones added longest ago because most of Goodreads is stuff added from June of this year on so I haven’t really had a chance to read them.

What do you think of my ten? Are there any here you think I need to make it priority to read? What was on your TTT this week? Let me know!

Somewhere Along the Way || An Arc Review

Borrowed, Bought or ARC: This was an ARC granted to me through NetGalley and the publishers. I am very thankful for this opportunity. All thoughts published below are my honest and true opinion.

Where did I get it?: As stated above, I got this from NetGalley.

Publisher: Bold Strokes Books, Inc. (I think I’m going to start looking at Publisher pages before I request books,)

Genre/s: LGBTQIA , Women’s Fiction

Number of pages: The ARC I read was 248 pages (I could have sworn it was at least 300)

Release date: Comes out September 10rd 2019

In the summer of 1980, Maxine Cooper moves from the Midwest to San Francisco with her gay best friend, Chris, where she hopes to find love and community. But gay life in a big city is much more complicated than either of them ever expected. Life becomes a constant party, and Max slides deep into alcohol and drugs. She and Chris become estranged, and when he contracts AIDS, Max doesn’t know how to bridge the gap between them. Shattered by Chris’s death, Max must decide how she is going to live her life. Can she forgive herself for abandoning him, or will her guilt lead her down a path that guarantees destruction?

I’m going to put this right out there. I have nothing good to say about this book. I had to create a new graphic that just said thoughts because I didn’t have anything good to share. This book was hard y’all.

I received this book a few days before my grandfather got into a car accident while drinking and driving. When I started reading this book, I knew it was about alcohol abuse but I did not know how it would affect me as I read it. This book was uncomfortable for me. As a child of the late ’90’s, I personally did not relate to the era so I felt confused and out of place reading it. I did not get attached to any of the characters, especially Chris, since his character (like others) seemed only focused on getting laid, so I had a hard time empathizing with Max when she struggled with his death. Also while I understand AIDS is an STD, I was not prepared for how sex focused both MC’s were going to be. Lastly, this book became repetitive in the last third.

All in all, this book just wasn’t for me. Maybe it was because of my personal life, maybe because I’m not the target audience, I’m not sure. I don’t really want to give it a star rating because I am worried my bias makes this book worse to me than it actually is but since I technically had to for Netgalley, I will share what I rated it there.

Honestly y’all I’m not even sure how to end this post. So I guess leave me some happy, positive news or encouragement below. I love y’all immensely and hope I can shake this funk soon.

Down the TBR hole #3

Go to your Goodreads to-read shelf.

Order on ascending date added.

Take the first 5 (or 10 (or even more!) if you’re feeling adventurous) books. Of course, if you do this weekly, you start where you left off the last time. I picked 10.

Read the synopses of the books

Decide: keep it or should it go?

A girl thought to be a boy steals her sister’s skirt, while a boy thought to be a girl refuses to wear a cornflower blue dress. One boy’s love of a soldier leads to the death of a stranger. The present takes a bittersweet journey into the past when a man revisits the summer school where he had “an accidental romance.” And a forgotten mother writes a poignant letter to the teenage daughter she hasn’t seen for fourteen years.

Poised between the past and the future are the stories of now. In nontraditional narratives, short stories, and brief graphics, tales of anticipation and regret, eagerness and confusion present distinctively modern views of love, sexuality, and gender identification. Together, they reflect the vibrant possibilities available for young people learning to love others—and themselves—in today’s multifaceted and quickly changing world.

Addie has always known what she was running toward. In cross-country, in life, in love. Until she and her boyfriend—her sensitive, good-guy boyfriend—are careless one night and she ends up pregnant. Addie makes the difficult choice to have an abortion. And after that—even though she knows it was the right decision for her—nothing is the same anymore. She doesn’t want anyone besides her parents and her boyfriend to know what happened; she doesn’t want to run cross-country; she can’t bring herself to be excited about anything. Until she reconnects with Juliana, a former teammate who’s going through her own dark places.

I was going to get rid of this one but I read the preview on Goodreads and it seems like it will be a fast moving book so I’ll keep it.

An accomplished concert pianist, Richard received standing ovations from audiences all over the world in awe of his rare combination of emotional resonance and flawless technique. Every finger of his hands was a finely calibrated instrument, dancing across the keys and striking each note with exacting precision. That was eight months ago.

Richard now has ALS, and his entire right arm is paralyzed. His fingers are impotent, still, devoid of possibility. The loss of his hand feels like a death, a loss of true love, a divorce—his divorce.

He knows his left arm will go next.

Three years ago, Karina removed their framed wedding picture from the living room wall and hung a mirror there instead. But she still hasn’t moved on. Karina is paralyzed by excuses and fear, stuck in an unfulfilling life as a piano teacher, afraid to pursue the path she abandoned as a young woman, blaming Richard and their failed marriage for all of it.

When Richard becomes increasingly paralyzed and is no longer able to live on his own, Karina becomes his reluctant caretaker. As Richard’s muscles, voice, and breath fade, both he and Karina try to reconcile their past before it’s too late.

Poignant and powerful, Every Note Played is a masterful exploration of redemption and what it means to find peace inside of forgiveness.

If Skylar Evans were a typical Creek View girl, her future would involve a double-wide trailer, a baby, and the graveyard shift at Taco Bell. But after graduation, the only thing separating straightedge Skylar from art school is three months of summer… until Skylar’s mother loses her job, and Skylar realizes her dreams may be slipping out of reach.
Josh had a different escape route: the Marines. But after losing his leg in Afghanistan, he returned home, a shell of the cocksure boy he used to be.
What brings Skylar and Josh together is working at the Paradise—a quirky motel off California’s Highway 99. Despite their differences, their shared isolation turns into a friendship and soon, something deeper.

Compelling and ultimately hopeful, I’ll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios is a powerful examination of love, loss, and resilience.

When Quinn Sullivan meets the recipient of her boyfriend’s donated heart, the two form an unexpected connection.

After Quinn loses her boyfriend, Trent, in an accident their junior year, she reaches out to the recipients of his donated organs in hopes of picking up the pieces of her now-unrecognizable life. She hears back from some of them, but the person who received Trent’s heart has remained silent. The essence of a person, she has always believed, is in the heart. If she finds Trent’s, then maybe she can have peace once and for all.

Risking everything in order to finally lay her memories to rest, Quinn goes outside the system to track down nineteen-year-old Colton Thomas—a guy whose life has been forever changed by this priceless gift. But what starts as an accidental run-in quickly develops into more, sparking an undeniable attraction. She doesn’t want to give in to it—especially since he has no idea how they’re connected—but their time together has made Quinn feel alive again. No matter how hard she’s falling for Colton, each beat of his heart reminds her of all she’s lost…and all that remains at stake.

Reagan Forrester wants out—out of her trailer park, out of reach of her freeloading mother, and out of the shadow of the relationship that made her the pariah of Charytan, Kansas.

Victoria Reyes wants in—in to a fashion design program, in to the arms of a cute guy who doesn’t go to Charytan High, and in to a city where she won’t stand out for being Mexican.

One thing the polar-opposite best friends do agree on is that wherever they go, they’re staying together. But when they set off on a series of college visits at the start of their senior year, they quickly see that the future doesn’t look quite like they expected. After two years of near-solitude following the betrayal of the ex-boyfriend who broke her heart, Reagan falls hard and fast for a Battlestar Galactica-loving, brilliant smile-sporting pre-med prospective…only to learn she’s set herself up for heartbreak all over again. Meanwhile, Victoria runs full-speed toward all the things she thinks she wants…only to realize everything she’s looking for might be in the very place they’ve sworn to leave.

As both Reagan and Victoria struggle to learn who they are and what they want in the present, they discover just how much they don’t know about each other’s pasts. And when each learns what the other’s been hiding, they’ll have to decide whether their friendship has a future.

It’s senior year of high school, and Annabeth is ready—ready for everything she and her best friend, Noe, have been planning and dreaming. But there are some things Annabeth isn’t prepared for, like the constant presence of Noe’s new boyfriend. Like how her relationship with her mom is wearing and fraying. And like the way the secret she’s been keeping hidden deep inside her for years has started clawing at her insides, making it hard to eat or even breathe.

But most especially, she isn’t prepared to lose Noe.

For years, Noe has anchored Annabeth and set their joint path. Now Noe is drifting in another direction, making new plans and dreams that don’t involve Annabeth. Without Noe’s constant companionship, Annabeth’s world begins to crumble. But as a chain of events pulls Annabeth further and further away from Noe, she finds herself closer and closer to discovering who she’s really meant to be—with her best friend or without.

Seventeen-year-old Lauren Lennox is a city girl at heart. Being born and raised in Los Angeles, California by her movie star mom and ex-child-star father sounds like an ideal childhood, but with a mother who’s always busy and a father who suffers from alcoholism, Lauren’s already parentless childhood and her resulting rebellious streak are made worse when her mother passes away and she’s left alone with her father, who doesn’t care how little school she attends, how much alcohol she drinks, or how many girls she sleeps with.

When she puts too many toes out of line and a judge deems her father unfit to be her guardian, she’s shipped across the country to the rural mountains of northern Georgia, where a personal friend of the judge lives with his wife and two kids on a farm. David Marshall is a professional counselor known for “reforming unruly youth”, and as part of David’s program, Lauren will be required to work with farm animals, go to church once a week, attend counseling sessions with David, and go to a new school, all for seven months until her graduation. So naturally, her plan is simple: to have her best friend come pick her up two months early on the day she turns eighteen, and to be as difficult as possible in the meantime.

Her plan doesn’t account for David Marshall’s daughter.

An arresting story about starting over after a friend’s suicide, from a breakthrough new voice in YA fictiondear caitlin, there are so many things that i want so badly to tell you but i just can’t.

Devastating, hopeful, hopeless, playful . . . in words and illustrations, Ingrid left behind a painful farewell in her journal for Caitlin. Now Caitlin is left alone, by loss and by choice, struggling to find renewed hope in the wake of her best friend’s suicide. With the help of family and newfound friends, Caitlin will encounter first love, broaden her horizons, and start to realize that true friendship didn’t die with Ingrid. And the journal which once seemed only to chronicle Ingrid’s descent into depression, becomes the tool by which Caitlin once again reaches out to all those who loved Ingrid–and Caitlin herself.

12-year-old Veronica Swan’s idyllic life in a close-knit Mormon community is shattered when her two younger sisters are brutally murdered. Although her parents find the strength to forgive the deranged killer, Scott Early, Veronica cannot do the same. Years later, she sets out alone to avenge her sisters’ deaths, dropping her identity and severing ties in the process. As she closes in on Early, Veronica will discover the true meaning of sin and compassion, before she makes a decision that will change her and her family’s lives forever.

Getting rid of 5/10 is really great. Especially since I also have 2 that are undecided and I might get rid of as well. I really love doing this and it makes me feel good to get rid of old books that I don’t remember.

Books I bought in August

Here’s a little thing you need to know about me. For years, unless I was given a gift card, I didn’t buy books. This was because when I was younger, I bought a book, read it and went back to exchange it. Until I was told that the book store is not a library and you can’t do that. From then on, I rarely bought books other than as gifts, going to the library instead.

Starting a few years ago, when I moved to where I live now, I started going to the bookstore again, normally around holidays and I always ended up in the bargain section with at least one book in my hand for me. Then Alice and I started talking about joining one of the bookstore memberships. Would we use it enough? Was it really worth it? A few weeks ago, I finally convinced her. I had just started this blog and even if we didn’t use it, it was only 25 dollars and we didn’t have to renew. So we signed up and apparently, that was all we needed to buy more books.

Here are all 16 books we bought in August, three that were gifted and one that was returned.

We bought The Turn Of The Key for Alice’s 25th birthday gift! She loves Ruth Ware so we both at least read all of the books. We are also planning on buying all of them at some point.

Honestly, I only bought The Hamilton Affair because I was at the dollar store buying pens and I saw this. It was a dollar so I figure no harm done if it doesn’t turn out to be a good read. It has a rating of 3.8 on Goodreads though so I’m hopeful! This is on my September TBR.

I’ve seen Between Shades of Gray around a lot so when I was allowed to buy a book to celebrate getting my job, I picked this one. Honestly, I thought it was about something else but I’ve never read any historical fiction focusing on the Soviet Union so I’m excited to see how it turns out.

I bought The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett because it was on sale. This was the last book I read this month and it wasn’t the best.

I think I’ve talked about Emergency Contact at least twice now? I bought it because I think the idea is super sweet and gosh, would you just look at the cover? So cute!!! I love the idea of close online friends but I haven’t read any reviews so I’m slightly nervous about how it plays out nicely or if the friendships becomes toxic. It is on my September TBR as well.

Tell Me Three Things, another coming of age book with online friends, a little bit of heartache and a super cute cover. I clearly have a type. I saw this book a few times at BAM for around 10 bucks and thought it looked nice but when we went to another BAM, I saw it for 4 and finally pulled the trigger.

The Girl in the Ice was also on sale!! Do you see a theme here? I’m going to be honest with y’all, we hate paying more than ten dollars for almost any book so we are constantly buying payback or going through the bargain section at BAM. This one was Alice’s pick since she loves murder mystery/suspense novels.

The Way I Used to Be... I thought the blurb on the back sounded like a book I would read. I tend to be pulled toward angsty books.

I’ve actually already read Prince Charming since my aunt and uncle got it for me. I loved it a lot and can’t wait to share a review with y’all. (Gifted by my Aunt and Uncle)

13 Little Blue Envelopes really stood out to me at the bookstore too. I love the cover and the blurb sounds amazing. (Gifted by my Aunt and Uncle)

Save The Date was bought because it sounded good, it was part of a sale and it is going to help me with a post about books with weddings in a few months. (Gifted by my Aunt and Uncle)

A few days ago, I realized the author of one of my favorite books had released a new book in June, This Time Will Be Different. I had requested it at the library but I had a bad day at work and stopped at Target and there it was. So I got it!

All of the following books were bought from our local library book sale where one bag of books is only a dollar and tax. Meaning each and every one of them was an impulse buy and I won’t be explaining them at this point.

Nor will they be linked

And lastly, the one book we bought and ended up taking back

The Truth About Us was a one star read from me and while I try not to return books (or even buy if I’m not 80% sure I will like them), I did end up taking this one back.

This is the most books we’ve bought in a while so I’m now on a book ban until the 14th of September. I’m pretty pleased with our haul and will be reading most of these in September or October.

What books did you buy in August? Share your favorite with me!

Stuck With You || An ARC Review

This book was an ARC gifted to me by the publisher and author through NetGalley. All thoughts are my own honest thoughts and do not reflect the author or publisher in any way.

Publisher: Entangled Publishing

Author: Christina Mandelski

Genre/s: Teen & YA

Release date: September 2nd 2019

Pages: 200

When Caleb Gray heads to the Texas coast to mentally prepare for a future he isn’t sure he wants, the last person he expects to see is Catie Dixon. Yeah, their mothers have been planning their wedding since they were born, but he and Catie are most definitely not friends. He can’t see her as anything but the annoying kid who followed him everywhere. Except, it’s really bothering him that everyone is staring at her in that bikini…

Catie got over her crush on Caleb ages ago. So why can’t she see past his ripped body or how unsettled he seems? She’s got her own problems, though. Her future has been set for years and now she’s dreaming of pulling the plug. A week at their families’ beach house is just what she needs to pull herself together, and she has no intention of letting Caleb back into her heart…which would be a whole lot easier if he’d put on a shirt.

But a forced week of togetherness full of beach parties, waterslide mishaps, bonfires, and roller coasters sparks more than an understanding. What do you do when the person standing in the way of your future is the one person you grew up hating…but now don’t?

I am always a big fan of teens who are being forced to in one educational/job direction to “suddenly” realize that isn’t what they want to be doing and stand up to their parents. There is something so honest about it. The feeling of I should do what my parents think I should Vs. I should do what I want to do, is something I feel we can all relate to in one way or another.

I didn’t ship the main couple and that really made it hard to get through the book. While I supported them separately, but mostly Caleb because Catie lied to her parents, I wasn’t a fan of them together. It went very quickly from old friends who hate each other to jealously to lovers. I’m almost never a fan of hate to lovers though so that is probably why.

Also, for whatever reason, this book didn’t leave any sort of impression on me. I spent 3 days trying to come up with something to say about it and this was all I was able to come up with. I just felt nothing for it, negative or positive.

The Liebster Award

Thank you to Ally and to Kitty for both taking the time to tag me in this! If you don’t follow them, you absolutely should. They are both so sweet and kind.

Rules

Rules:

Say thank you to the person who has nominated you for the Award.
Answer the 11 questions the person has asked you (I combined their questions so mine is longer!)
Nominate 11 people
Ask the people who you have nominated 11 questions

Ally’s questions

What’s your favorite movie?

Most of the movies I watch are technically kid movies. You’ll catch me at almost every Disney movie. If I had to pick one movie, it would be The Parent Trap (1997). That movie never fails to make me happy.

Who
was your favorite childhood author?

Oof. I guess Laura Ingalls
Wilder?

So listen, I was terrible about keeping up with authors then and I still am now. I am very much that person who, picks up a book, looks at the title and doesn’t even glance at the author. I don’t care who wrote it as long as it’s good. That being said, since starting my blog I’ve tried to get better about this.

What’s the best book you’ve read this year?

So far it would be either The Hate U Give or Once Upon a Time. They are very different but they were both great.

What is your favorite
breakfast?

Oh
I love breakfast food. Breakfast time is the worst because I hate
getting up and then I feel sick if I even think about food for the
first hour of being awake. But I love breakfast food. My favorite
would probably be either pancakes or waffles.

Do
you have pets?

I live with my in laws right now and they have a dog named Sammy who we help take care of. But after we move out we would like to get a kitty and possibly a small dog.

What
did you want to be when you grew up?

I
wanted to be a teacher from the age of 9 to the age of 19. I’m not
sure what changed or what I want to do now.

What’s
the most random purchase you ever made?

I once impulse bought about 30 dollars worth of stamps. I didn’t need them because I hardly sent mail but they were sharks and Disney so I bought them. Needless to say, I started sending mail after that.

What are some of your current favorite book covers?

What’s the worst book
you ever read?

So I’m not sure about worst ever but I picked two of my one star rated books from Goodreads. They are Bumped by Megan McCafferty and Did You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg.

Are
there any books you’ll never read?

Maybe?
But there isn’t any book I won’t read the back of before making a
decision.

If
you could have one superpower, what would it be?

I would want the power to freeze time so that I can catch up or have a break when I’m overwhelmed.

Kitty’s questions

What is your favorite book-to-movie adaptation?

Oh gosh. Honestly I’m not sure. I guess right now it would be Dumplin’.

If you had to be stranded on a desert island with one book character, who would you choose?

Hermione Granger. She’s smart and resourceful. Also a little magic wouldn’t hurt.

If you wrote a book, what would its genre be?

Contemporary/ realistic fiction.

What is your favorite book?

If I had to choose one, it would probably be It’s Not Like It’s a Secret.

What is your least favorite book?

The Truth About Us or Bumped.

Is there any book coming out this year that you’re looking forward to reading?

Six Goodbyes We Never Said by Candace Ganger. It comes out September 24th! I actually have this on NetGalley to read and review!

What completed book series would you like to see one more new volume for?

I don’t normally read series and if this question had been asked five years ago, I would have said Harry Potter. But now I think, it is best to just let a series end and move on.

What is your favorite coffee flavor? (Or another type of drink, if you don’t drink coffee.)

If I do drink coffee, it has to be super sweet and I normally add french vanilla creamer. But I really prefer drinking tea.

What genre do you read the most?

Contemporary/ realistic fiction.

Your favorite author approaches you to name the character of their new book! What name would you choose?

Lulu or Clara.

What do you like most about blogging?

Interacting with others!! My favorite part of this blog is that I get to meet amazing people (Like Ally and Kitty) and I get to talk books with them!!

There we have it 22 questions with answers about me! I’m not sure who to tag but my 11 questions will be below this so if you want to do this, just answer those! Thanks!!

What is a book you’ve read more than twice?

Do you lend your books to others?

What made you start a blog?

What is one piece of advice you would give a new blogger?

Do you have a favorite coffee cup/mug?

When do you get most of your reading done?

Do you have a favorite Disney character?

What’s your dream vacation?

Tell us one character you felt deeply connected to.

What is one book everyone should avoid?

What book are you most excited to read next?