Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

I have been wanting to re-read this book for some time, and this year I made it a goal to do so. I am a fan of Rainbow Rowell for a while. I hope to one day read all of her books that she has written and any future books.

Fangirl follows Cath who has been writing Simon Snow fan fiction for a while. We follow her and her twin sister as they start their first year of college.

I relate to Cath a lot. I feel like a lot of the feelings she has in college, I also had in college and like many more will discover and walk through. Cath has a hard time letting go of her old high school habits like writing Simon Snow fan fiction. Simon Snow is similar to Harry Potter in our world. Cath only finds comfort in Simon Snow as her world turns upside down in college. She and her sister find different interests and seem to drift apart. Her dad goes through health issues while she is away/. And college is hard. Getting kicked out of the nest and having to discover yourself again is tough.

I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars. I want to purchase the comics and hopefully be able to update you on how those compare to the book.

The Sunbearer Trails by Aidan Thomas

I think that this book is for fans of The Hunger Games, Percy Jackson, Divergent, and anything dystopian and fantasy.

The Sunbearer Trials is a fast-paced read based off of a competition with Demi-gods. The winner of The Sunbearer Trails gets to travel to all the temples and bring life to the Sun Stones. The loser of the trials is the sacrifice to bring that light to the temples. The Sun Stones use the sacrifice to protect the pole of Rhino del Sol for ten years.

We follow Teo who is a Jade and the son of the Goddess of Birds. He is also transgender. Teo has never worried about the trails. Being a Jade he is the lowest type of demi-god and therefore not looked at to be picked in the trails Only the demi-gods who go to the academy are usually picked.

But for the first time in a century, Sol chooses two Jades, Teo and 13-year-old Xio. Teo feels like he needs to protect Xio as they are taken to the trails to compete.

I found this book hard to put down. This was just the type of book that I like to read. I loved the diversity in it, the world, and the theme. I did not see the ending coming and I NEED the next book soon! I can’t wait to see what is next in this adventure.

I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars.

D’Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding by Chencia C. Higgins

I received an audiobook ARC for an honest review.

“Instant I Do” is a reality TV show where contestants have to convince their family that the strangers they just met have proposed and they are getting married. D’Vaughn Miller is trying to come out of her shell and try something new. She casts for the TV show and doesn’t think she will get very far. She is partnered with Kris Zavala who has recently become a big influencer on social media. Can they convince their family in 6 weeks that they are getting married? If one family member doesn’t believe they are getting married then, they are off the show.

This book caught my eye by the cover. I absolutely fell in love with the cover art. I fell in love with the idea of a wedding-type reality TV show where you have to convince your family and friends that you are getting married. I really enjoyed this book. It is a fluffy rom-com that is sapphic. It is different from many trending rom-coms out there and I hope more people will pick this one up. I loved how diverse it is and that it includes a main character who is plus-sized.

The only thing I wish there was more of was seeing the other competitors on the show paper or in the book. Many can argue that would be more fluff but being a reality TV junkie I think it would have been interesting if another couple was paired at the same venue showing at the same time and there was some drama. You know me and my drama.

This book came out on June 28th of this year.

I gave this book 4.5 out of 5 stars.

August wrap up

Don’t panic but there are only less than 4 months left in 2022.

I feel like I jinxed myself with my last blog post because my work-life balance was non-existent. I have had no personal time to write this month.

But! We are still going strong….ish strongish.

I feel like August-October are always my worst reading month and so far that has come true. I only read 4 books this month which I feel might be my normal average.

I read Verity by Colleen Hoover for book club and I think this was my first 1 star of 2022.

I read Twin Crowns by Catherine Doyle and gave it 4 out of 5 stars.

I finished race for Impact by Gabe Montesanti and absolutely loved it. I gave it 5 out of 5 stars!

I also finished The Sun-bearer Trials by Aidan Thomas and really loved it as well. I gave this 5 out of 5 stars.

Time to make end of the year goals and get the rest of 2022 done!

Avoiding the Mid-Summer Reading Slump.

Annnnd the first week of August is over. I swear we are going to blink and it will be Christmas Day. This year has blown by so fast. I say that every year around this time but really…that’s the way the world works.

This past week I haven’t finished anything. So my reading has started out slumpy for this month. But I am determined to change that. Every August/September I feel like a broken record. These are the months I really start to get slumpy, right before the Holidays. And then during the Holidays I usually want to read all the things but am too busy to do so.

So how do we beat the end of summer slumps? Things I like to do is book shop. It sounds funny but the idea of reading something new can really pull you out of a reading slump. Browsing books in a shop and finding something that you are excited to read can help.

Re-arrange your shelves. Sometimes it’s easier to forget books that you want to read on your TBR. It can also feel good to get rid of some books that are no longer interesting and make more space for new books. Fall clean and get ready for those cozy reads coming out.

Another thing I like to try to do is read something fun, light, comedic, and short. This can be a re-read of sorts or something new. Usually it works best if it something new because then it makes me want to read more books I have never read before, which is all of my TBR.

If that doesn’t feel right then a comfort read may be the right path. Something that you like to read over and over again. For me, this is usually The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

What if none of this works? Then maybe you need a book break completely. I can get this way where I hyper-focus on Animal Crossing or a new craft project, or maybe a new TV show where I would rather be doing anything but reading. If you are burnt out then don’t force it. Take a reading vacation and do something else with your free time. You will read it again. But if you force it then sometimes you make things worse and end up hating books that you might actually enjoy.

Let me know what you like to do during a reading slump. I am always open to trying something new to pull me out of them.

The Music of What Happens by Bill Konigsberg

This was my first book by Bill Konigsberg that I have read. I read this book last summer and still think about it today. It is a cute rom-com read that is fluffy and heartwarming. I want to read more books by this author.

The Music of What Happens follows Max who is running a food truck over the summer. Max is confident, a jock, and popular. He meets Jordan who is looking to earn some extra money to help his family out. Jordan starts to help Max run the food truck. The two become fast friends. Jordan finds out that his family is in need of more money than just a little extra so Max tries to help him earn the money with their food truck by making different dishes and drinks to gain popularity around town.

I would say this book is for fans of Love Simon by Becky Albertalli, or even What if It’s Us by Adam Silvera and Becky Albertalli. It has a smaller feel to these two authors and this book is defiantly more under-hyped.

I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars.

Weekend Reading Update

This past week at work has been crazy! I am training a new store manager for one of our other locations so my lunch breaks haven’t been as long as usual. I usually sit at my local coffee shop to write these blog posts and catch up on my next review I want to do. But that wasn’t possible the last few days. So I missed Wednesday’s Reading update blog post. So instead am I here to present this weeks weekend reading update! Yay!

Because I have been busy at work I also have not read a lot. I am currently reading 3 books. Crazy I know. I have this awful habit of reading multiple books at once. Two of these books are audiobooks.

So far Bear Town by Fredrik Backman, has me hooked. I am half way threw and have so many theories of the ending of this book. It doesn’t help that I have also started to get into a new Neflix show while I am reading this book. I am a Killer on Netflix has me wondering what motives are going to lead us to the end of this book. I am truly a true crime junkie that refuses to get sucked into all the shows and podcasts that are out there.

I am also listening to Twin Crowns by Catherine Doyle. I received this book as a ARC from the publisher after it was released. This book came out last month, I believe so it is still new. I have always wanted to read a book like this. Basically there are twin princesses but one was separated at brith. It’s like the Parent Trap of fantasy YA books.

Lasting I am still working on The Sunbearer Trails by Aidan Thomas. I am getting hunger game vibes from tis book and can’t wait to see where it goes. I want to see how The Hunger Games and this book will match. I have so many questions of what will happen.

What do you plan on doing this weekend? I am working everyday for the next two weeks so I am hoping to get in some reading time. What are you going to read this weekend?

Witchings by Claribel A Ortega

I received Witching’s as a ARC for an honest review.

Witching’s is a book about Seven and her journey to becoming a full witch. She has been studying hard. She and her best friend will be picked together for the same coven at the Black Moon Ceremony, she just knows it.

However, things do not go as planned when her best friend is picked by another coven. On top of that Seven is picked as a Spare witch with the new girl who just moved to town and her school bully. She doesn’t want to be a Spare witch, they have the worst reputation in town and are treated poorly by others. So Seven declares the impossible challenge so she and the other two witching’s can have a new chance to become a full witch.

I loved this book. It is a middle-grade book but honestly kids in elementary school who are advised readers will be able to read this book. The plot flows well and it is well written to make sense. I say advanced readers because some of the usual terminologies like all fantasy/witchy books have I could see being a challenge for young readers.

I also loved this book because it talks about bullying. Seven has to become group partners with her school bully. And seeing how the other girl lives her likes, and that maybe there was some miscommunication and missed opportunities getting to know each other well, could turn into a great friendship.

I think this would be the perfect fall read for young readers, especially around the spooky season. I enjoyed this story a lot and want to read more of Claribel’s books. I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars.

Out of The Blue by Jason June

Jason June has been an author on my “need to read” list since last year. I was super excited to see Jason come out with a new book this year and knew I needed to read it and not let it sit on my shelf as most books do.

I saw Out of the Blue get hyped pretty well on TikTok and instagram. I think it was a good summer read. We follow Crest who has to go on a journey on land to help one human. Crest tumbles into Sean’s life and decides that Sean is the human he will help. However, Crest has never seen or been in the human world before because Crest is a mer-person, or mermaid.

Sean was recently dumped by his boyfriend and the last thing he needs is to babysit Crest. Not knowing Crest is a mer-person, Sean finds himself seeing Crest every day and can’t figure out why this kid keeps following him around. It low key stalkerish.

I liked the idea of mer-people being non-binary. In a way it just made sense. However, I struggled with the narration of the story. It was hard to follow between characters’ ideas and actions. There seemed to be a conflict between the characters’ development and narrative. I personally did not like that almost every chapter all Crest could think of was sex. This is not a smut book and I felt like it was overused and done in an uncomfortable way.It was pretty cringe when Crest would bring up the topic. But that wasn’t the only hard-to-read spot. The characters go back in forth with wanting a relationship to being just fired which I felt was done in a poor way and just needed to be cleaned up to work.

I did enjoy the story that was trying to be told but overall it just needed a little more development to be a really good novel. I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars

June 2022 Month Wrap Up

Here we go agin.. Another Pride month come and gone. The has been a strange month. I don’t know what moo is in retrograde but it needs to knock it off.

I got really slumpy at the start of June. I had plans to read as many queer books as I possibly could for pride month and ended up reading nothing for the first two weeks of June.

I did slowly get out of my slump but all the books that I read this month just didn’t really blow me out of the park. They were good reads but I wanted something mind blowing.

I read Gallent by V.E Schwab. I have been hearing a lot of mixed reviews about this book. For me I got lost a few times with the plot. It was very unclear of what was truly happening and maybe that was the point, to read between the lines. But when you mostly listen to audiobooks you don’t have the chance. I did listen to this one and I think I should have read it. The book is put together beautifully with a lot of great easter eggs in the pages but I did not get it. I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars.

I had high hopes for my next read and that was why I chose it. I read Out of the Blue by Jason June. I liked the idea of this book. The fact that mer-people are non-binary was genius. However it feel a little flat for me. Over halff the book is about a teen with inner thoughts about sex. Which can be important for teens if done well. And in this case, in my opinon it was not done well. I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars.

The last book I read this month was The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. I went into this one blind, like most of the books I read. I realized within the first chapter that this book is meant to be a deep and heavy read. And it starts out this way. But about half way through it forked to another idea of several universes happening all at the same time. This book had a choice, contrite to be heavy or go the weird universe-time traveling way. And it did neither. It all ended abruptly like the author didn’t want to give the book either choices. I gave this book 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Today is July 3rd and I have already finished 1 book this month and am a third of the way threw 2 others. I am hoping that means this month will be a better reading month.

Do you prefer to use a TBR jar/list or are you a mood reader?