Last Ten Books Tag

I saw this tag on megsmagicalmusings’s blog and thought I would give it a try. It seemed like a very straightforward tag, which is always what I look for in a tag.

Last Book I Gave Up On – I think the last book I truly gave up on is Anna K: A Love Story by Jenny Lee. I tried listening to the audiobook because it is narrated by Jenna Ushkowitz, who was in the tv show Glee, but I am not a fan of books about rich socialites. Jenna’s narration was great and I can appreciate the fact that these characters are Asian, but I’ve realized that regardless of race, if the characters are acting like rich, spoiled people I cannot read that.

Last Book I Re-Read – The last book that I re-read is The Hate U Give (THUG) by Angie Thomas. I read this book in 2017 and loved it. The prequel novel Concrete Rose just came out last month, and after reading it I immediately picked up THUG. I’m actually planning on rewatching the movie adaptation soon.

Last Book I Bought – The last book I bought was The Lost Love Song by Minnie Darke. I actually bought the Once Upon a Book Club subscription box that included this book because they did a live unboxing of it and I really liked the gifts they included.

Last Book I Said I Read, But I Didn’t – I read the first two books of the Harry Potter series. Sometimes I will say that I read the series because I did read those two books and watched all of the movies. But other times I say that I haven’t read the series.

Last Book I Wrote in the Margins Of – I don’t usually write in the margins of books, but sometimes I do highlight/underline and add sticky notes to books. The last book I did that for was Stamped From the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi. I’m still reading this book since it is so big, but I am annotating as I go.

Last Book That I Had Signed – The last book signing I went to was for Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks in August 2019. Since authors are not able to do book tours anymore I have gotten a few signed bookplates and pre-signed but not personalized books, so the last signed bookplate I got was for Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender (I bought the book in November 2020).

Last Book I Lost – I constantly misplace books around the house when I am reading them. I always end up finding them, but the one I lost for the longest time was Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire. I eventually found it, but it went missing for over a year.

Last Book I Had to Replace – I don’t usually replace books, even if they do get damaged. I do own multiple copies of books, but it’s not like I bought one to replace the other.

Last Book I Argued Over – I don’t usually argue over books. I try to listen to criticism and decide if I agree with them. The last book I had a differing opinion with the majority, including my best friend, was Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner. I enjoyed this book, but I now many people who were disappointed by it.

Last Book You Couldn’t Find – So for this one I am saying it is a book that I can’t find available from the library, and that is Because of Miss Bridgerton by Julia Quinn. This is the first book of the prequel series to the Bridgertons, and I have actually read 2 of the now 4 books released so far, but I cannot find a library copy of this book available. I’ll probably end up buying it eventually, but I’d like to borrow it from a library of possible.

If you would like to do this tag, I would love to read your responses. Until next time!

~Anneliese

Top 5 Wednesday: Judging Books by their Covers

Hello everyone! It has been a few months since I’ve done a Top 5 Wednesday post, but I really liked this prompt. They always say not to judge a book by its cover, but if you are like me then you definitely have picked up books based solely on their gorgeous covers (although I do read the synopsis just because I want to make sure it’s a book that at least sounds interesting). Here are 5 books on my TBR that I purchased because of their covers.

Under a Painted Sky by Stacy Lee

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older

The Life Intended by Kristin Harmel

Walking on Trampolines by Frances Whiting

There is a second part to this prompt, which is to add these books to your March TBR. I am not good with reading off of my monthly TBR, so I make no promises about reading these. I’ll just say that they are tentatively on my March TBR, but I won’t be mad if I don’t read them next month.

What are some books you have purchased because they have beautiful covers? Let me know in the comments below. Until next time!

~Anneliese

I Should Have Read That Tag

I found this tag over at mphtheatregirl’s blog and decided to do it. Tags are some of my favorite things to write, especially ones that focus on books that I have (or haven’t) read.

A Book that a Certain Friend is Always Telling You to Read? – My best friend is always telling me to read Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire. I attempted it a few times, but I have yet to finish it despite how short it is. One day I will finish it (hopefully).

A Book That’s Been on Your TBR List Forever and Yet You Still Haven’t Read It? – When I first started watching Booktube in 2014 I found a bunch of people who read literary fiction. One of the authors they mentioned a lot was Sarah Waters. She has written several novels that have LGBTQIA+ rep, specifically relationships between two women, which I love reading about. I own several of her novels that I bought in 2015 but still have not read them.

A Book in a Series You’ve Started But Haven’t Gotten Around to Finishing? – I started the Winner’s Trilogy by Marie Rutkoski in 2016 and read the first two books, but I have yet to finish The Winner’s Kiss, the final book in the series, despite having started it and getting a quarter of the way through. I intend on rereading the first two books again this year and finally finishing it.

A Classic You’ve Always Liked the Sound Of But Have Never Actually Read? – I’ve mentioned a few times in previous posts that I really want to read Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë because it sounds like a classic I will actually enjoy. Classics tend to intimidate me, but I do want to read some of the ones I did not get a chance to read in school.

A Popular Book That It Seems Everyone But You Has Read? – I feel like everyone has read books like Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments series and all the other books in the Shadowhunters world. I am constantly hearing about these books. Even when I was in high school (over 10 years ago now) people were talking about the first few books in the original series. I have not read it, and I am honestly not planning on picking it up anytime soon if not at all.

A Book That Inspired a Film/TV Adaptation that You Really Love But Just Haven’t Picked Up Yet? – This was actually pretty difficult for me. Even though there are so many tv and movie adaptations of books, I have either read the book before or haven’t seen the film/tv show. I am not really a big movie fan. But I will say, I enjoyed season one of You. I tried watching the second season but I don’t think I was in the mood for it. I also liked the first few seasons 13 Reasons Why and Orange is the New Black, but didn’t finish the series even though they are completed.

A Book You See All Over Instagram But Haven’t Picked Up Yet? – I feel like the new book all over social media is The House on the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune. I’ve seen it more on Booktube than on Instagram, but it really has been everywhere. My best friend even purchased it last month. I’m not sure yet if I will be adding this to my TBR. I might wait to see what my friend thinks of it.

I feel like everyone has many books on their TBR and can do this tag. If you end up doing the tag, I would love to read your responses. Have you read any of the books I still haven’t read yet? If so, let me know your thoughts on them. Until next time!

~Anneliese

Top Ten Tuesday: Mardi Gras Colors

Happy Tuesday, and Happy Mardi Gras! I don’t celebrate Mardi Gras, but I do celebrate Lent and Easter. Regardless, I am excited for this week’s Top Ten Tuesday post. Top Ten Tuesday was originally created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now run by Jana from That Artsy Reader Girl. Today’s prompt is purple, green, and yellow colored book covers in honor of Mardi Gras. I’ve collected a bunch of book covers from my owned books to share with you.

• Anything But Okay by Sarah Darer Littman
• The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys
• The Gift by Richard Paul Evans
• Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley
• All We Have Left by Wendy Mills
• The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
• City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
• Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard
• Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman
• Early Departures by Justin A. Reynolds

If you celebrate Mardi Gras I hope you enjoy the day and eat a lot of King Cake! Until next time!

~Anneliese

Two Mini Book Reviews – Love in English by Maria E. Andreu and Some Other Now by Sarah Everett

I am always looking for new YA releases and I often request advanced copies through Netgalley. This fall I was able to read two that I really enjoyed. Below are my reviews for these books in order of publication date.

Love In English by Maria E. Andreu (published on February 2, 2021 by Balzer + Bray): This story is about a teenaged girl from Argentina named Ana, who has just moved to the United States and does not speak English. She must navigate a new country and new language. She also has to navigate the idea of assimilating while still holding on to her culture. The very first page is written in Spanish, and although I have a pretty decent understanding of Spanish there were still some words and phases that I didn’t understand. I loved that the first page was in a different language because it puts the reader into Ana’s shoes and makes the reader understand what it must be like for Ana to not know the language being spoken around her. I really loved the poetry in this book. For someone who didn’t know much English, Ana was able to use poetry to really capture life in a new country and navigating feelings for a boy. The friendship between Neo and Ana was so sweet and I loved how they were able to connect despite not having a strong command of the English language and not sharing a common native language. The end of this book made me tear up and I love how much growth Ana undergoes throughout the story. 

Some Other Now by Sarah Everett (published on February 23, 2021 by HMH Books for Young Readers): This book was pitched as This Is Us for teens, and it definitely delivers. The Cohens are like Jessi’s found family. She grew up with Mel and her sons Rowan and Luke since she was seven years old. But one summer everything changed and now she is a senior and it has been a year since she has even spoken to the Cohens. But when Luke comes home from college and asks Jessi to pretend to be his girlfriend because his mother only has months to live, she needs to confront the events from the past year. This book was so good. The characters are messy and there is so much depth to them. I think one of the biggest things about This Is Us is that the characters are good, but flawed and make mistakes. Jessi and the Cohens are the same exact way. From the way Jessi defends Mel through anything, to the way the fake dating brings up old feelings even though those feelings are stained with regret and hurt, this book is painfully beautiful. I am a huge fan of books that pack an emotional punch and Some Other Me is exactly that kind of book. I think this story is one that many readers will be moved by, and I really enjoyed it.

There are two adult romance novels coming out this month that I am also really excited about. One is The Ex Factor by Rachel Lynn Solomon. I read her 2020 release Today Tonight Tomorrow and really enjoyed it, so I am excited to read more from her. Another is Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers. All I know is that this book has a lesbian protagonist and that is honestly all I need to know in order to be interested. I’m always looking for new releases, so if you’ve come across any fairly recent ones or upcoming ones that sound good, let me know. Thanks for reading and until next time!

~Anneliese

Top Ten Tuesday: Books that Have Romances in Them

Welcome to another Top Ten Tuesday post. Top Ten Tuesday was originally created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now run by Jana from That Artsy Reader Girl. Today’s prompt is a Valentine’s Day/Love freebie. I love the freebie prompts because everyone interprets them differently. I decided to list books that have a romance in them.

One of my favorite book tropes is that the book is set in one day. The bulk of this story takes place in one day in New York City. Natasha has one day left in NYC before her family is deported. On the subway she meets Daniel, and they spend the day together. I remember really enjoying these two characters a lot.

I feel like any Kasie West contemporary book can fit this list. Kasie always creates a story that is unique to her characters. With this one specifically I love the exploration of socioeconomic class and how the characters’ opinions of each other change.

This is the companion to When Dimple Met Rishi, but I loved this one so much more. Sweetie is such a great character who is confident with herself. She and Ashish, the love interest in this story, are sort of thrust together by family, but I love how their relationship develops as they begin to know each other better.

I feel like everyone’s talking about the Bridgerton series, so I wanted to include my favorite book from that series. This is Benedict’s book, and it is a Cinderella retelling. I enjoyed the discussion of the class system and rules of society. I loved how Sophie and Benedict’s fondness for each other was instantaneous and how it developed over the course of the story. I am aware that there are many different opinions on this book, but I really enjoyed it.

This book has 2 romances in them, the current day relationship between Abby and Linh and the 1950’s love story between Marie and Janet. I really loved Marie and Janet’s love story. I loved learning about the 1950s queer culture and how Janet grapples with understanding her feelings and trying to live in a society where this is not open or accepted. I didn’t care too much for Abby and Linh, but Marie and Janet’s story made up for that.

I could have added more books, but I tried not to include books I have already discussed on my blog. What are some of your favorite books that include a romance as part of the plot? Until next time!

~Anneliese

January Wrap Up

Hi everyone! It’s the first week of a new month so I figured it is a good time to discuss the books that I read in January. I read a total of eight books, which is the most I have ever read in January. Even more impressive was that most of the books were over 3 star reads. I’ll leave a picture of the cover with a brief description of my thoughts.

This was the first book I read this year and it was definitely one of my favorites of the month. It follows two characters we met in the first book, Justyce and Quan. It is about Quan, who is locked up for a crime he did not commit, and Justyce, who tries to help Quan when he reveals in a letter to Justyce that he did not shoot and kill the cop like the police think. I loved how we got even more of Quan’s story and how he got into the gang/drug dealing lifestyle verses Justyce, who was his childhood friend and is now a freshman at an Ivy League college. I know that the ending is not realistic for all people who go through this, but I do like that it gives you hope.

I read this book mostly because I am still so hyped over the Bridgerton series. I’ve read the original series and am slowly making my way through the prequel series. This was a pretty decent historical romance book. The basic premise is that Cecilia is travels to New York to find out more information about her brother, who she learned was hurt while fighting in the American Revolution. When she arrives in New York no one gives her any information but she notices her brother’s friend, Edward, in a coma. Desperate to stay and find out more answers about her brother, she lies and says she is Edward’s wife. When Edward finally wakes up, he suffers from amnesia and doesn’t remember anything from the past three months. I loved Edward’s character and reading about his friendship with Cecilia’s brother. I didn’t mind Cecilia, but I definitely think she should have been more honest with Edward, especially as they both got to know each other better. Still, I really did enjoy the book.

Kasie West is my go-to author for lighthearted reads. This book was no different. I loved the structure of this book, with it broken up by special events and with the flower theme. I liked that Sophie was able to grow throughout the story, and I enjoyed Andrew as a character and potential love interest as well. This book was quick and easy to read and was a solid contemporary romance book. 

In this story Miriam Kendrick is the granddaughter of one of the co-creators of the TomorrowMen comics. However, after losing his rights to the comics, her family doesn’t have much money. Mir has dreams of going to college and leaving her small town in Nova Scotia, but with no money this seems like just a dream that will not happen. Then she meets Weldon Warrick, the grandson of the other co-creator of the comics and whose publishing company screwed Mir’s grandfather from the success of the comic series. Things get complicated as Mir begins to like this guy whose family has seemingly ruined her family’s finances. This book started off fine. I liked the idea of a Romeo and Juliet retelling but with comics. I also did like the concept of the TomorrowMen and didn’t mind all the backstory we got. But I did not like the relationship between Mir and Walden. I felt that Mir was very childish with all of her complaining about her family’s lost rights to the TomorrowMen success. I also did not like the side plot of Raleigh taking her boyfriend’s side when he was acting like a jerk to Mir. Anyone with eyes could see that her boyfriend was being obnoxiously rude to Mir at every interaction and Raleigh just let it happen. I found that even though this book is not too long (340 seems like a good length for a novel), it felt like it was dragging. By the 60% mark I lost a lot of interest.

This was another one of my favorite books that I read in January. Felix is a trans boy who is grappling with identity and love. I almost don’t want to tell you much about this book because I think you need to experience it without knowing much about it. I thought Felix was so relatable, and I found myself rooting for him. I also love that this was set in New York City during Pride month. I love NYC (I mean, it would be odd if I didn’t love my city), and I hope to one day attend NYC Pride.

This book follows five teens, Nari, Keagan, Reese, Santiago, and Bellamy. All five are seniors in high school. When Bellamy gets into MIT but doesn’t get financial aid due to her absent father’s wealth, Nari decides to take matters into her own hands and hack into Bellamy’s father’s business to steal the money. When Nari can’t hack into the system remotely, all five plan a road trip and scheme to break into his office and plant a virus into his computer to get the money for tuition. I liked how this book plays with morality, as Keagan, Nari’s boyfriend, is very against the idea of stealing the money. I also love that Reese is aro/ace and how present that discussion is on the page. I love reading all the LGBTQIA+ rep. My only complaint is that I wish the actual heist was longer, because that was one of the best parts of the story.

I really enjoyed this book. I love books about grief and loss, and I think this book was so interesting. Lydia is grieving the sudden loss of her fiancé, Freddie. Her doctor prescribes her medicine to help her sleep, and when she takes it, she ends up in an alternate where Freddie is still alive. She ends up living two lives, one in which she is dealing with her loss, and one where she gets her second chance with Freddie. I love the conversations that were in this book and found myself really invested in Lydia’s journey as she navigates through her life without Freddie.

The Hate U Give is one of my favorite books ever, and I loved Maverick in that book. He was such a good dad and you could tell that even though he’s been through some stuff (drug dealing, prison, two babies at age 17) he matured and bettered his life and is focused on his family. So I was really excited to see how he became the person that he was in THUG. This book was excellent. I loved that enough time has passed that all of the specifics from THUG have left me but I was still able to get my memory jogged from events in the book. I’m currently rereading THUG and I think Angie Thomas did a great job connecting events and details from THUG and further exploring them in Concrete Rose.

What were some of your favorite books that you read in January? Have you read any of the eight books that I read in January? I hope February brings us all a great reading month despite how short it is. Until next time!

~Anneliese

Top Ten Tuesday: Books Written Before I Was Born (That Are On My TBR)

Welcome to another Top Ten Tuesday post. Top Ten Tuesday was originally created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now run by Jana from That Artsy Reader Girl. Today’s prompt is books that were written before I was born. I was born in 1991, so all of the books on my list will be from before the ’90s. These are also books that are on my TBR, although they aren’t necessarily a priority for me. I’d just like to read them eventually.

How pretty is this cover? I love books that have sapphic romance and this is supposed to be a classic for YA sapphic literature, so I would like to read it soon.

My former boss loved reading. We worked at a religious education office and the office was filled with bookcases stuffed with books, most of them religious. When he announced he was resigning from his position he allowed me to keep one book from the office. I chose this one because it was one of the only nonreligious ones there. Plus I feel like many people have read it, and I had seen it before. I don’t know what it is about, but I do still own the book even though it has been over 4 years since I received it.

I did not have to read Jane Eyre in high school, but I have since read a few Jane Eyre retellings and I have really enjoyed them. I want to read Jane Eyre to see if I will like it as much as I liked the retellings.

I have a few unread Toni Morrison books on my bookshelves that I would like to get to. Beloved is one of them. I read The Bluest Eye back in 2011 and did like it (although I think I am due for a reread, since I don’t recall many specific details), so I would like to read more from her.

I tried to read The Secret Garden in January because I was taking a class where we analyzed the book and score of The Secret Garden musical, but had less than a week’s notice to read it and I don’t do well with that kind of quick deadline when it comes to reading (I am a big mood reader). But I loved what I did read and I definitely want to continue with it. I also read A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett and loved it (check out the 1995 movie adaptation. It is to this day my favorite movie, although I don’t really watch movies often).

Out of all the classics, George Orwell’s books are the ones I am most interested in. I really like dystopian/utopian books, so I’m pretty sure this book will be up my alley.

I was taking the GRE exam (in the U.S. you take this exam to get into graduate school) and an excerpt from this novel came up. I really liked what I read of it and made sure to memorize the title so that I could look it up after the exam. I have no idea what it’s about, but I did like what I read of it from the exam.

According to a plaque that is in my neighborhood, Betty Smith stayed in a house a few blocks away from where I live while she wrote this book. I couldn’t verify that when I googled it, but I trust my town isn’t memorializing lies. My sister read this book in high school, and she gave me her copy of the book to read.

I got this book from a Gilmore Girls subscription box. In the show, Jess Mariano takes this book from Rory Gilmore to write notes in the margins for her to read. It’s the beginning of their love story. I don’t read much poetry, but since I have it I will one day give it a go.

I am that person that did not read any of your favorite children’s books when I was a child. No Harry Potter, no Percy Jackson, and yes, no Narnia. I do own the entire series (thanks to my sister again. She’s not the biggest reader) so one day I will get around to reading it.

There you have it. My list is pretty mixed in terms of age range. There’s a book for almost every age demographic. What are some books that were published before you were born that are on your TBR or that you enjoyed reading? Until next time!

~Anneliese