• Books I Read in November
    Books,  Monthly Wrap Ups

    Books I Read in November

    I can’t believe we are in the last month of 2020. November was an overall good month, though it was pretty busy. Things are starting to wind down with the close of the year and the holidays coming up, so I’m hoping to end this year strong with some great books. Let’s get into the books I read in November! one | When They Call You a Terrorist by Patrisse Khan-Cullors and Asha Bandele — Audiobook Patrisse’s memoir chronicling the events in her life that led to the creation of Black Lives Matter is moving and enlightening in so many different ways. From her experiences with her brother who suffered from mental illness…

  • Quarantine Book Recommendations
    Book Lists,  Books

    Top 10 Quarantine Book Recommendations

    I don’t know about all of you, but Nashville is still shut down for the most part. We are reopening in phases and staying at home as much as possible is still highly encouraged, so I figured it was still appropriate to share a list of books to read while stuck social distancing. This list is compiled of books I read in days and got lost in. It’s all stories that spoke to me in different ways and inspired me somehow. Let’s get started! 1// The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo takes place in modern-day New York as Monique writes about the life…

  • Book Reviews,  Books

    The Martian: A Review

    Title: The Martian Author: Andy Weir Genre: Science Fiction Quotation: “Everything went great right up to the explosion.” Rating: 5/5 Stars Who knew so much heart and passion could be conveyed through such scientific thought processes? Andy Weir’s The Martian takes place almost entirely with one character alone on a deserted planet. When Mark Watney and his crew find themselves in the midst of a life-threatening dust storm on day six of their 31 day mission on Mars, they decide to evacuate. Unfortunately, Watney is struck by a satellite that was ripped loose from the storms winds, and the crew is forced to leave without him. To everyone’s dismay, especially Watney’s, he survived being impaled by a…

  • Book Lists,  Books

    Top 5 Daunting Books to Read in 2018

    Do you ever find yourself shying away from books that seem like they’ll take up way too much of your time? No…? Just me? Well, that’s okay. Personally, I get a little book-shy when I know I’m going to have to commit a lot of time to one book (I have commitment issues, are we surprised?). I’m worried it’s going to derail me from my overall  reading goals even though I know the read will be totally worth it. I’m trying to face that fear, and I’ve given myself the task of tackling these five daunting books in 2018 that have lived on my shelf for far too long. Let’s…

  • Book Lists,  Books

    Top 12 Books to Look Forward to in 2018

    A new year means a whole new set of books coming out to read. I’m typically pretty bad about looking forward and figuring out what amazing books are coming out, but this year I decided to add some new releases to my list to look forward to. I’ve compiled a list of books including one release for each month of the year. Genres include fiction, young adult fantasy, non-fiction and more. Let’s get started! Photo from Amazon 1. January — “When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing” by Daniel H. Pink In his new book, Pink strives to prove that timing is a science rather than an art. Using research and…

  • Uncategorized

    Books I Read in 2017

    Every year I make it my goal to read 50 books, and I have yet to reach that goal. But I did read 45 in 2017, and that’s pretty darn close. Keep reading to learn a little bit about the books I liked and disliked in 2017. 1. “Me Being Me is as Exactly as Insane as You Being You” by Todd Hasak-Lowy A young adult-novel I read while ringing in the new year. Hasak-Lowy tells a riveting coming-of-age tale entirely in lists. 2. “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald I know it’s pretty unbelievable that I hadn’t read an American classic before I turned 22, but it’s not…

  • books under the christmas tree
    Book Lists,  Books

    Top 5 Books I Want For Christmas

    Christmas was never a huge deal in my family. Of course we celebrated, but when I was a kid, the importance of the holiday was placed on spending time with family, and as I got older, that didn’t change much. I think as the years go on, we all become a little more aware how important time with our loved ones is, and Christmas is the perfect time to come together and celebrate each other. But alas, people still ask you what you want each year. I like to think I’m pretty easy to buy for because I have so many interests, but my parents still make me tell them…

  • Book Reviews,  Books

    The Circle: A Review

    Title: The Circle Author: Dave Eggers Genre: Science Fiction/Dystopia Quotation: “This was a new skill she’d acquired, the ability to look, to the outside world, utterly serene and even cheerful, while, in her skull, all was chaos.”  Would recommend to: anyone who questions the role social media plays in our lives.   An all knowing, all powerful global corporation with unlimited access to your personal data, running the gauntlet from your fingerprint to your first kiss? To many, this dystopian scenario conjures up thoughts of Google, Amazon, or Facebook gone rouge. In his dystopian novel “The Circle,” Dave Eggers takes us to what many will say is our not-so-distant future. The Circle is a…

  • m t anderson book
    Book Reviews,  Books

    Feed: A Review

    Title: Feed Author: M. T. Anderson Genre: Science Fiction Quotation: “We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck.” Would recommend to: anyone who is weary of the development of technology. Feed‘s book jacket describes it as a science fiction tale of two teenagers who fall in love and choose to fight the “feed”, basically the internet in your head, together. I was expecting a story relatively similar to Divergent or The Hunger Games, both stories that include strong protagonists that challenge the current way of life to find something better. That is not what Feed is. Feed is the story of Titus and Violet and their struggle to overcome socio-economic prejudices they didn’t even…

  • Top 5 Wednesday

    Top 5 Wednesday: Character Tropes

    This weeks Top 5 Wednesday is all about character tropes, which are overused themes in books you can’t help but still love. Here we go! 1. Female protagonists. You have to admit, there are a lot of books, especially YA books, with female leads. And that’s great — I love them (hence why they are on this list) — but I understand how readers can get a little sick of reading about the dorky girl who got the guy. Books included in this: “Anna and the French Kiss”, “Divergent”, and anything by Sarah Dessen. 2. The human best friend to the superhuman/something other than human best friend. This is pretty typical is…