December 2022 Wrap-Up

The final wrap-up of 2022 is here! December was an interesting reading month for me. I read more books than in previous months and I loved everything I read but there were also long portions of the month where I didn't read anything (due to holidays and work). It was an overall good month, but still full of the stress of life. 

I read five books in December, two of which were rereads of some favorites. I also discovered a new favorite series that I'm currently continuing in the new year. I was tempted to try and binge a bunch at the end but I figured I'd rather start 2023 off on a strong start and relax in the last few days. Anyway, without further ado, here's the five books I read in December! 

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1.

Title: A Court of Mist and Fury

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Rating: 5 // 5 stars

Original Review

-reread-

2. 

Title: A Court of Wings and Ruin
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Rating: 5 // 5 stars 

Original Review

-reread-

3. 

Title: Broken Bonds

Author: J. Bree

Rating: 4.5 // 5 stars

Series Review

4.

Title: Savage Bonds

Author: J. Bree

Rating: 4 // 5 stars

Series Review

5. 

Title: Blood Bonds

Author: J. Bree

Rating: 4.5 // 5 stars

Series Review

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November 2022 Wrap-Up

November 2022 Book Haul

End of the Year Book Tag: 2022 Edition

Most Anticipated Book Releases of 2023

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Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Lauren

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August 2020 Book Haul

Okay so where I didn't read very many books in August, I did haul a bunch of them. I got 16 books in August, which is one of my bigger hauls of the past year. However, considering last summer I had a haul with over 30 books in it, I'm not too ashamed at this number.

This month was a big book haul month for me for a few different reasons. The first was that it was my birthday and I got a few books and gift cards (that I then spent on books). Additionally, I had a few books that I had to buy for my classes this semester since I don't have access to the school library right now. Lastly, I was sent a couple of these for various promotional reasons. There's quite a few to talk about so let's just dive right in!

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The first book that I got this month was Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer. Twelve-year-old Lauren was dying when this book was announced earlier this year. There were a few chapters of this leaked many years ago but I didn't actually read them because it wasn't something I was interested in. However, I was so excited when this was announced. I'm a little over halfway through at the moment and it's not quite as great as I'd hoped, but I'm still enjoying it overall.

Up next I have a physical copy of Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall. I listened to this book on audio early in August and absolutely fell in love with the characters and story. While listening, I knew that I needed a copy for my shelves. I'm absolutely in love with this story and the paperback is so floppy and just nice to hold and look at. If you want to know my thoughts on this book, you can find my review here.

Then I got the entire Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jemisin from my grandmother for my birthday. I was so excited that she got these for me because this trilogy has actually been on my list for a while now and I've heard nothing but amazing things. I would ideally like to read it this year but with school and my internship I don't see that happening, but I know I'm going to make it a priority in 2021!

My grandma also got me the new hardcover edition of A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas. This is my favorite book from the ACOTAR series and I'm really excited to have this new edition in my collection. While I do still prefer the original covers and don't think the new ones match the story very well, I do think that the new covers are pretty. Hopefully I can collect the rest of these over the next few months in time for the fourth book's release!

Then I picked up a copy of the Vampire Academy: Ultimate Guide by Michelle Rowan with Richelle Mead. This is a companion guide to the Vampire Academy series which is one of my favorite series I read when I was younger. I really want to do a reread of the entire series next year but in the meantime I'm excited to learn more about the characters and world from this guide.

The next book I got was sent to me by Random House Kids and Storygram Kids for a tour I did on Instagram a few days ago. The book I got was Millionaires for the Month by Stacy McAnulty and it sounds so cute! It's a middle grade story about two boys who find a billionaire's wallet and are challenged to spend over $5 million in just 30 days. This just sounds like such a fun story and I'm really glad I was able to be on this tour.

Then I snagged a copy of the Archenemies Barnes & Noble Exclusive edition by Marissa Meyer. This is the second book in the Renegades trilogy which is one of my new all-time favorites. I discovered that the B&N edition had an exclusive bonus scene included and I knew that I had to get my hands on it! I saw it on eBay for cheaper than it had originally been sold for and jumped at the chance to add it to my collection.

Up next I got a copy of Jackpot by Nic Stone from my dad for my birthday. You may know Nic Stone from her debut, Dear Martin, but she has a host of other published books that I have on my wishlist. I'm so excited to have Jackpot in my hands because it sounds so good. In just one sentence it's about a girl working at a gas station who has to team up with a guy to find the person who bought a winning lottery ticket so that hopefully she can get a reward.  Hopefully I can read it soon!

 I then was sent hardcover copies of A Fallen Hero and Phantom's Mask by Sara A. Noë. These are the first two books in the Chronicles of Avilseor and I'm so excited to have them! A Fallen Hero was one of my favorite books of 2019 and I am so excited to read Phantom's Mask now that it's finally out! I'm hoping to get reread A Fallen Hero and then dive into Phantom's Mask this month.

Lastly, I got a few other books for school and whatnot: Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy, the Norton Anthology of English Literature Volume 2, News: The Politics of Illusion, and The Intelligent Investor. Nothing too exciting here, but these are books that I'll be reading soon-ish!

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Thanks for reading! Did you get any exciting books this month? Let me know in the comments!

xx

Lauren

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Top 5 Wednesday: Favorite Jokesters

We're back on another Wednesday with my Top 5 Favorite Jokesters! I'll be honest, this was a tad difficult but, in the end, I managed to pull together a list. I think the thing with reading mostly high fantasy is that it's more about war than joking around so I did pull in some TV show characters that I absolutely adore. So, without further ado, here are my top 5 favorite jokesters: 

Of course, at number one we have Fred and George Weasley from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. They immediately popped into my head for this prompt because they are the epitome of jokesters. They even opened up a magic joke shop. 

Second, I have Fenrys from the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas. He's not as much of an outright jokester as Fred and George, but in Empire of Storms especially he is always cracking jokes and making quips. It doesn't hurt that he's one of my favorite characters.

Next I have Cassian from the A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas. Oh lordy my baby Cassian. He's definitely one of the funniest characters I've read. He's making quips and jokes all the time, and sometimes at inappropriate times. But he's just an all around funny character.

Fourth we have Stiles Stilinski from Teen Wolf, aka my favorite show of all time. From the very beginning Stiles is a comedic relief through all of the supernatural aspects and drama of the show. There are so many amazing quotes of his that I continue to use to this day. 

Lastly, I decided to go with Kitty from the Lara Jean trilogy by Jenny Han. I absolutely adore this books and Kitty is such a great character. She's the epitome of a little sister and has so many comedic lines and actions. I can't wait to see how she's played in the Netflix sequel to To All the Boys I've Loved Before. 

Well, those are my top 5 favorite jokesters! Honestly this list was a bit hard to form but I'm happy with all the characters I've chosen. Let me know in the comments who your favorite jokesters are! 

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Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Lauren

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Let's Talk: "A Court of Frost and Starlight" by Sarah J. Maas Book Review

Title: A Court of Frost and Starlight

Author: Sarah J. Maas 

Series: "A Court of Thorns and Roses" #3.1

Genre: YA High Fantasy
Page Length: 229 pages

Publication Date: May 1, 2018

Date Started: May 4, 2018
Date Finished: May 10, 2018

Rating: 5/5 stars

Goodreads

I loved this book. I know that I start off a lot of my reviews with that, but I'm doing it again because I genuinely loved this book. I went in with very little expectations and emerged with such happiness and many tears. I've been seeing a lot of negative reviews for this book and I understand why those people rated this book that way. They had different expectations of how this book was going to be and those expectations weren't met. I didn't hold those expectations. I knew that this book was only going to be a novella that bridges the gap between the first trilogy and the second. I think it did a good job at doing that.

We got more of a conclusion to the first trilogy. The way that the last book wrapped up was obviously very nice and I couldn't have asked for anything better, but I think we all knew, deep down, that it wasn't going to be as perfect as that. This book showed a lot of the healing process and I was thrilled to be able to see more from Rhys and Feyre's perspectives.

There was some political talk to set up the upcoming books, but this book was also just about the solstice and family and everything good. I absolutely adored it. I didn't want a long fleshed out political novel, I wanted this cute book where my babies were going to be together and having fun.

Feyre and Rhys, once again, were just so cute. I love their romance and, while I'm sad to see our time from their perspective coming to an end, I'm just glad that we got this bonus book in there. That being said, I am absolutely ready for the next one.

The sneak peek that we got at the end was phenomenal. I was very much hoping that it would be these characters that the next book's POV was told from. The ending line to the sneak peek almost made me jump out of my bed because I'm so excited. I can't wait to see how that all plays out because I can bet there will be drama and action and so much more.

Overall, this book was exactly how I wanted it to be. It was cute and lovely yet also showed that not everything is perfect like we'd expect. I implore readers, however, to not go into this book thinking it will be as action-packed or intense as the other books in the series. Because, at the end of the day, it's a novella. It's not a full-fledged installment.

I'll just leave it on this note: I loved it and I'm so excited to see how future events play out. 

SERIES REVIEWS
A Court of Thorns and Roses
A Court of Mist and Fury
A Court of Wings and Ruin

BUY LINKS

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Books-A-Million (Special Edition)

Target

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Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Lauren

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