As Many Nows As I Can Get by Shana Youngdahl (review + moodboard)

Synopsis:

“In one impulsive moment the summer before they leave for college, overachievers Scarlett and David plunge into an irresistible swirl of romance, particle physics, and questionable decisions.

Scarlett and David have known each other all their lives in small-town Graceville, Colorado, where David is just another mountain in the background, until, one day, he is suddenly so much more than part of the landscape. Magnetic, spontaneous, wry, eye on the future, welcomes the whirlwind he brings even as she resists it.

Moving between the present and the past, this is the story of a seemingly grounded girl who’s pulled into a lightning-strike romance with an electric-charged boy, and the enormity of the aftermath. Smart, bold, and unconventionally romantic, Shane Youngdahl’s debut explores grief, guilt, and reconciling who you think you need to be with the person you’ve been all along. It’s an aching, transporting reminder that between the past that shapes us and the unknowable future, we have only the present to forgive ourselves and forge ahead.”

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Cujo by Stephen King

Synopsis:

“Outside a peaceful town in central Maine, a monster is waiting. Cujo is a two-hundred-pound Saint Bernard, the best friend Brett Camber has ever had. One day Cujo chases a rabbit into a bolt-hole—a cave inhabited by sick bats. What happens to Cujo, how he becomes a horrifying vortex inexorably drawing in all the people around him makes for one of the most heart-stopping novels Stephen King has written.”

(A Late) August 2019 TBR!

Hey everyone!! Today I am back to tell you about all of the books that I plan on reading in August!! Yes, I know this is late and I apologize.

So August is going to be a little all over the place for me. The first week and a half of the month I have been working like crazy hence why this TBR is going up so late. This upcoming Saturday (August 17th) is when I am on vacation until the 25th. And then as soon as I come back, school is going to be starting up again.

So who really knows what this month is going to be like as far as reading.

With that said, I am doing 2 read-a-thons this month so here are my TBRs for those as well as some of the other books I plan on reading!!

N.E.W.T.S. Magical Read-a-Thon

*Hosted by Book Roast*

• History of Magic:
  • Acceptable: Read a Fantasy: Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao (currently reading)
  • Exceeded Expectations: Read a book with a map: Nevernight by Jay Kristoff
  • Outstanding: Reread a favorite or read a classic: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling (reread)
• Muggle Studies:
  • Acceptable: cover that includes an actual photo element: It Gets Worse by Shane Dawson
  • Exceeded Expectations: book set in our world: Face the Fire by Nora Roberts
  • Outstanding: Book written by a person of color: From Twinkle with Love by Sandhya Menon
• Subject of your choosing: Potions:
  • Acceptable: read your friend’s favorite book: Joyland by Stephen King
  • Exceeded Expectations: read a book with a cover in your house color (green for Slytherin for me): The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi
  • Outstanding: a book that starts with a prologue: The Devils Labyrinth by John Saul

Review-a-Thon

*Hosted by NetGalley*

• Moon Cakes by Wendy Xu and Susan Walker (currently reading)
• The Memory Thief by Lauren Mansy
• The Girl the Sea Gave back by Adrienne Young
• Mirage by Somaiya Daud
• A Hero Born by Jin Yong
• The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
• Watching You by Shannon Greenland

Other Books I Want to Read

• Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas (reread) (already finished!)
• Peace and Turmoil by Eliot Brooks
• The Evil Queen by Gena Showalter (my book club’s book of the month for August)
• Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid (already finished!)
• Sorcery of Thorns by Margret Rogerson

So yeah. Another ambitious TBR for this month. Let’s hope I can read most of these. As always, I will have full reviews for all of these books (except for Mooncakes, Heir of Fire, and The Sorcerer’s Stone) up here on the blog once I finish them and I will try to get at least one video review up on my YouTube channel as well!

What do you plan on reading in August?? Let me know in the comments!!

Happy Reading!!

(A Late) July 2019 Wrap Up!

Hey guys!! Today I am here to FINALLY do my July 2019 wrap up!!

So it is almost the middle of August and I am just now putting this up for you guys. I apologize for that. Work has just been taking over my life. But July was a fantastic reading month. I FINALLY BEAT THE READING SLUMP. Hooray!!

I think the big thing that pushed me to beat the slump this month was the fact that I did 3 read-a-thons. I just felt so much more motivated to pick up books than I had been in the past 13 months since when the slump began.

So with all that said, here are my monthly stats and the books that I read!!

STATS

• Books read: 7
• DNF’s: 0
• Physical: 6
• E-books: 1
• Audiobooks: 0
• ARCs/review books: 0
• read-a-thons 3
• Genres:
  • Fantasy: 3
  • Science Fiction; 2
  • Contemporary: 0
  • Thriller/Mystery/Horror: 2
  • Historical Fiction: 0
  • Other: 0
• Ratings:
  • 1 star: 0
  • 2 stars: 0
  • 3 stars: 3
  • 4 stars: 4
  • 5 stars: 1

Books Read

• Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas (reread): 4/5
• Cujo by Stephen King: 3/5
• Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant: 3/5
• Lumber Janes Volume 1: 4/5
• Aurora Rising by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman: 3/5
• Salem’s Lot by Stephen King: 4/5
• A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (reread): 5/5

I know I have not put them up yet, but I will have full reviews for all of these books (except for Crown of Midnight, ACOTAR, and Lumber Janes) up here on the blog in the coming weeks!! I also have a full review for the entire Throne of Glass series up on my YouTube channel (thoughts on Crown of Midnight are included)!!

What did you read in July?? Let me know in the comments!

July 2019 TBR!

Hey guys!! Today I am here to tell you about all of the books that I plan on reading in July!!

So July is going to be the month of read-a-thons for me. I’m participating in 3 (yes 3) read-a-thons and they are basically happening back to back. I also have a read-a-long that I am helping co-host and have been for the past 3 months.

So those are going to be taking a lot of my time and priority.

With all that said, here are all the books that I plan on reading, plus the TBRs for the read-a-thons!

Book Junkie Trials TBR

*Hosted by Rachael Marie Book Junkie*

Team Mage challenges

• Orc Grove: read a book that is gruesome, gory, or gritty: Cujo by Stephen King (currently reading)
• Ol’ Pirate Grove: Read a book that takes place, at least in part, on the sea: Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant
• Glimmer: Read a beautiful or colorful book: Strange the Dreamer by Lani Taylor
• Draconic Isle: Read a book that features dragons: Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
• The Bookie Grail: read the group book: Stardust by Neil Gaiman

The Final Biannual Bibliothon TBR

*Hosted by The Biannual Bibliothon Crew*

• Read the group book: Aurora Rising by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman
• Read one of the hosts 5-star reads: Scythe by Neal Shusterman
• Read a book based on the cover: Kingdom Cold by Brittni Chenelle
• Read an adult book: An Absolutely Remarkable thing by Hank Green
• Free/Wild Card book: Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas (reread)
• Read a book by a new to you author: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
• Read a book that you were really excited to ready but never had the chance to: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
• Read a predicted 5-star read: The Devil’s Labyrinth by John Saul
• Read a graphic novel: Lumber Janes Volume 1

The Reading Rush TBR

(formally known as BookTube-a-Thon)

*Hosted by The Reading Rush*

Add me on the reading rush website!

• Read a book with purple on the cover: Sorcery of Thorns by Margret Rogerson (my book club’s book of the month for July!)
• Read a book in the same spot the entire time: Salem’s Lot by Stephen King
• Read a book you meant to read last year: Pride by Ibi Zoboi
• Read a book with a non-human main character: The Trials of Apollo Book 1: The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan (reread)
• Read an author’s first book: The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
• Pick a book that has 5 or more words in the title: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (reread)
• Read a book and watch the adaptation: Salem’s Lot by Stephen King

Other Books I Want to Read

• Peace and Turmoil by Elliot Brooks (sent to me for review by the author)
• Kingdom of Ash By Sarah J. Maas
• Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas (already finished rereading!)
• Turtles All the Way Down by John Green (top 10 books I want to read in 2019)

My god that’s a lot of books. Hopefully I will get to the majority of them this month! As always I will have full reviews for all these books (except for Crown of Midnight, Heir of Fire, ACOTAR, and The Hidden Oracle) as soon as I finish them!!

What are you reading in July?? Let me know in the comments!!

Happy Reading!!

June 2019 Wrap Up!!

Hey guys!! Today I am here to tell you about all of the books that I read in June!!

So June didn’t exactly go as planned. I really hoped that it would be the month that I conquered the reading slump and, even though the month started off seeming that it would happen, my reading slowly decreased over time. It has been officially a year since it hit. So hard to believe.

With that said, I did manage to read 2 books. So here are my monthly stats and the books that I read!

Stats

• Books read: 2
• DNFs: 0
• Physical: 2
• Ebooks: 0
• Audiobooks: 0
• ARCs/review books: 0
• Read-a-Thons: 1
• Ratings:
  • 1 star: 0
  • 2 stars: 0
  • 3 stars: 0
  • 4 stars: 0
  • 5 stars: 2
• Genres:
  • Fantasy: 2
  • Science Fiction: 0
  • Historical Fiction: 0
  • Thriller/Mystery/Horror: 0
  • Contemporary: 0
  • Other: 0

Books Read

• Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas (reread): 5/5
• Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas: 5/5

As always I have full reviews for both books up here on the blog. I also have a series review of the first 5 books in the Throne of Glass series (up to Empire of Storms) up on my YouTube channel (which you can find here!) and will have a review on there for Tower of Dawn in the next couple of weeks!

What did you read in June?? Let me know in the comments!!

Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas

Synopsis:

“A glorious empire . . .
A desperate quest . . .

Chaol Westfall and Nesryn Faliq have arrived in the shining city of Antica to forge an alliance with the Khagan of the Southern Continent, whose vast armies are Erilea’s last hope. But they have also come to Antica for another purpose: to seek healing at the famed Torre Cesme for the wounds Chaol received in Rifthold.

After enduring unspeakable horrors as a child, Yrene Towers has no desire to help the young lord from Adarlan, let alone heal him. Yet she has sworn an oath to assist those in need—and will honor it. But Lord Westfall carries shadows from his own past, and Yrene soon comes to realize they could engulf them both.

In this sweeping parallel novel to the New York Times bestselling Empire of Storms, Chaol, Nesryn, and Yrene will have to draw on every scrap of their resilience if they wish to save their friends. But while they become entangled in the political webs of the khaganate, deep in the shadows of mighty mountains where warriors soar on legendary ruks, long-awaited answers slumber. Answers that might offer their world a chance at survivor or doom them all… ”

2019 Mid Year Goals Check In!!

Hey guys!! I hope you are all doing well and having a great month of June!! Today I am here to do a mid year check in on my 2019 goals!!

So at the beginning of the year I set myself a list of about 25-30 goals that I wanted to accomplish in 2019 (you can check out my original blog post here!) It’s hard to believe its time to check in on them.

So, as I have explained in a few blog posts before, 2019 has been an insane year for me. I obviously am busy with school and now I am basically working full time at my job. So I haven’t been able to read that much at all in the first 6 months.

With all that set, here is my update on my goals!

Reading

• Goodreads reading challenge: Read 30 books: So far I have read 15 (I’m 2 books ahead of schedule!)
• Get back on track with my review books: This is a goal that I NEED to make a priority for the second half of the year. I have read 1 review book this entire year.
• Read more local authors: I haven’t read a single book by an author from any of the 6 New England states.
• Read 10 ebooks: I have read 1
• Listen to 10 audiobooks: I have read 1
• Read half of Stephen King’s published work: I haven’t read any by King so far this year.
• Be more selective with the review books that I accept: Going back to getting back on track with my review books, this is why I put that goal on my list. In the 3 years that I have been running this blog, I used to say yes to getting review book 95% of the time. It got to the point where I was getting overwhelmed so I cut down the number of books I was accepting. I’m very happy I did that. I have only received 6 review books (physical and ebook) this year but I am forever gratefully to the authors and publishers who do reach out to me.
• Go to a book signing: I went to the book signing for Nexus by Sasha Alsberg and Lindsay Cummings in Boston last month and May!! I hope to go to at least one more sometime this year.
• Make Boston a more bookish city: A lot of my favorite authors don’t come to Boston on book tours. I want to change that in some way. I just haven’t figured out how to do it.
• Read 5 non-fiction books: I have read 1

Social Media

• Hit 1k subscribers on my YouTube channel: I have been doing BookTube for 3 years. I have never been in it for the money or the subscriber count. But it is fun to see your channel grow. If I did hit 1k by the end of the year that would be amazing if not that’s fine too. I am currently at 132 subs. If you would like to check my channel out, you can find it here!
• Be more active on the blog: I think I am doing a decent job at achieving this goal. At the beginning of the year I was posting a lot consider I was a blogger host for a read-a-thon and a co-host for another. Hopefully that will continue!
• Do 1 review per month on my YouTube channel: I have posted 1 video review this entire year and I highly doubt this will be accomplished by December. 😦
• Be more active on my DIY channel: I have been posting 1 video per month over there.
• Do a stream on Twitch: I will be doing one sometime in either July or August

Writing

• Work on my fantasy novel: I haven’t touched it since last November
• Start on my contemporary project: Hope to start sometime this summer
• Post more writing related blog post and YouTube videos: I haven’t posted any so far this year.

Life

• Lose 50 pounds: I have lost 15 so far!
• Learn a language: I unfortunately haven’t had the time to sit down and work on this but I hope to at least start by the end of the year!

And that is my update on my goals!! I could be doing better but at least its something!!

How are you guys doing on your goals?? Let me know in the comments!!

June 2019 TBR!!

Hey guys!! Today I am here to tell you about all of the books that I plan on reading in June!!

June will not be to much of a busy month. I don’t have my online summer course starting until the end of the month and the only thing that will keep me busy during this month will be work.

So I REALLY hope I will be able to beat this reading slump this month.

As of the end of the month, it will have been exactly a year since the slump hit so I think its about time it ended.

With all that said, here are all the books that I want to read (or reread)!

• Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas (reread)
• Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas (currently rereading)
• Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas
• Zenith by Sasha Alsberg and Lindsay Cummings (reread)
• Nevernight by Jay Kristoff
• Renegades by Marissa Myer (top 10 to read in 2019)
• I Wish You All The Best by Mason Deaver (my book club’s book of the month for June!)
• The Devil’s Labyrinth by John Saul (5 star prediction)
• Again, But Better by Christine Riccio

As always I will have full reviews for all of these books (except for Crown of Midnight, Empire of Storms, and Zenith) up here on the blog as soon as I finish them. I also have a full series review of the first 5 Throne of Glass books up on my YouTube channel!!

What do you plan on reading this month?? Let me know in the comments!!

Happy Reading!!

May 2019 Wrap Up!!

Hey guys!! Today I am here to tell you about all of the books that I read in the month of May!!

May was a great reading month. In fact, my best reading month so far this year. Despite my bust schedule with school wrapping up and work keeping me busy, I read 4 books!! I think (knock on wood) that this stupid reading slump I’ve been in for the past 11 months is finally coming to an end.

With all that said, here are my monthly stats and all the books that I read!!

Stats

• Books read: 4
• DNF’s: 0
• Physical books: 3
• E-books: 1
• Audiobooks: 0
• Ratings:
  • 1 star: 0
  • 2 stars: 0
  • 3 stars: 1
  • 4 stars: 3
  • 5 stars: 0
• Read-a-Thons: 1
• Genres:
  • Fantasy: 4
  • Science Fiction: 0
  • Historical Fiction: 0
  • Thriller/Mystery/Horror: 0
  • Contemporary: 0
  • Other: 0

Books Read

• Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas (reread): 4/5
• Crown of Feathers by Nicki Pau Preto: 3/5
• The Assassin’s Blade by Sarah J. Maas (reread): 4/5
• The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O’ Neal: 4/5

As always I have full reviews for all of these books (except for the tea dragon society) up here on the blog!! I also have a full series review for the first 5 books in the Throne of Glass series up on my YouTube channel!!

What did you guys read in may?? Let me know in the comments!!