January 2020 Wrap-Up + Haul

Well, my January TBR was an ambitious one and I do have to say that I absolutely failed miserably. I thought I was going to smash out of a bunch of books over winter break but that didn't happen, and now it's already February and I read all of two books in January. One was a bit disappointing and the other was a slave narrative for class that hit me really hard in the feels. Hopefully February will be a better month reading wise, but let's just dive into my wrap-up.

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BOOKS READ

1. 

Title: Scavenge the Stars

Author: Tara Sim

Rating: n/a--DNF

2.
Title: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave
Author: Frederick Douglass
Rating: n/a -- read for class

My professor said one day in class that Frederick Douglass was one of the best writers in American history and that his narrative is one of the best novels out there. I'd have to agree. I'm not going to say much on it since I had to read it for class, but it was a very heartbreaking, eye-opening, and inspiring story.

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BOOKS HAULED

Because my wrap-up was so short this month and I didn't get that many books, I thought I'd just briefly list the four books I did get here!

• Windwitch by Susan Dennard
• The hardcovers recently underwent a cover change and I wanted to get the original covers before they got too rare and when I saw this at my local used store I couldn't resist
• Writing Fiction by Janet Burroway
• I had to get this for my Fiction Writing class this semester 
• Say You'll Remember Me by Katie McGarry
• I adore all of Katie's books that I've read so far and this is one of the ones that I need to get reading soon so when I saw a signed copy for cheap I decided to snag it
• Our Nig by Harriet E. Wilson
• This is one that I had to get for my African American Literature class this semester

I didn't get that many, and I don't anticipate getting very many in February either. I've been super busy and haven't had the time to read, and if I'm not reading voraciously I also don't have as big of an urge to buy books. 

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BLOG POSTS

December 2019 Wrap-Up!
Bookish Resolutions for 2020
Book Series I Finished in 2019
Favorite Books of 2019
Blog Tour: "Tweet Cute" by Emma Lord

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Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Lauren

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February 2019 Book Haul!

Okay, so I got more books that I expected this month. Like...a lot more. But it's okay because I'm either excited to read them or they were ones I had to pick up for my classes this semester. In total, I got eleven books in February but I'm hoping that number goes down in March. I think it will since I'm not planning on getting any March releases and I just have a couple school books to get. Let's just dive straight in!

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The first two books I got were from the January Beacon Book Box which arrived a little bit into February. The first book was an advanced copy of A Pack of Blood and Lies by Olivia Wildenstein and the second was Echo North by Joanna Ruth Meyer. I've heard good things about these books from people who've read them and they definitely sound like books 13 year old me would love.

The next book I got was a UK hardcover of Windwitch by Susan Dennard. I started reading the Witchlands series a couple months ago and I fell in love. I'd gotten a UK hardcover of the first book in a subscription box and I realized that I wanted my editions to match, so I scoured the internet for someone who was selling the out-of-print hardcover of Windwitch for a reasonable price. Luckily, I found one and it came in very good condition! It's so beautiful on my shelf, too.

Then I was sent a copy of Thomas Wildus and the Book of Sorrows by J.M. Bergen by Book Publicity Services. This is a middle grade novel that I wasn't sure about but then I read the synopsis and figured that it was right up my alley. It deals with fantasy and bookshops and so much more. I'll be reading and reviewing this book in March and I'm super excited!

The next book I got was The Cerulean by Amy Ewing from the February Beacon Book Box. I've heard a lot of people talking about this book and it was on my radar for the past few months so I'm pretty excited to read it! I'm not quite sure what it's about but the cover is definitely gorgeous.

Next, I received one of my preorders of Bloodwitch by Susan Dennard that I ordered from the Good Choice Reading virtual signing. I was super excited for this because I absolutely loved Bloodwitch when I read the arc and I really wanted a signed book from Susan. Plus, there was a gorgeous art print and a set of pins that were thrown in with our orders that I was not expecting but absolutely love!

The next book I have was a spur-of-the-moment buy, which I've been trying to avoid lately but couldn't help myself on this one. It's the 10th anniversary edition of The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. Not only have I heard many people raving about this series over the past few years but I saw a little quote snippet and knew that I had to read it! This edition was actually one of the cheapest I found and it's so gorgeous.

Then I picked up Sula by Toni Morrison and this was for my Women Writing Women literature class. We're currently reading it and it's interesting and definitely not something I'd usually read. There's been some...interesting scenes in the book so far and I definitely appreciate Toni Morrison's creativity for being able to write something so different.

I also picked up a copy of Macbeth for my English Literature course. I actually read this for the first time in high school but I didn't understand it really. I also realized that the literature courses I took in high school were more about just discussing the basics of what happened and who the characters were versus actually analyzing the themes in the play.

Next, I grabbed a copy of I Hate You, Don't Leave Me by Jerold J. Kreisman, MD, and Hal Straus. I'm always seeking to try and understand different mental illnesses and I'd heard that this is a book that a lot of psychologists recommend to those with borderline personality disorder and those who have friends or family with it.

The last book I picked up in February was The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon, which is a book I've been super excited about since it was announced. Of course, now that it's actually here I am super intimidated by how big it is, but I'm excited to read it nonetheless. I've heard so many people raving about how good this book was and I just know that anything with fantasy and dragons is right up my alley!

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Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Lauren

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You can follow my bookstagram here. A brand new giveaway will be posted soon!

To get more awesome content like this post, click the follow button to the right!

Beacon Book Box: use the code BOOKSHELF5 for a discount on your order or subscription! 

I am a "BookishTextDesign" Influencer! Use my code LAUREN10 for a discount off your bookmark purchases! Check out the shop here

Get free worldwide shipping with Book Depository using my affiliate link

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Let's Talk: "Bloodwitch" by Susan Dennard

Title: Bloodwitch
Author: Susan Dennard

Series: "Witchlands" #3

Genre: YA Fantasy

Page Length: 464 pages

Publication Date: February 12, 2019

Date Started: February 6, 2019

Date Finished: February 11, 2019
Rating: 5 // 5 stars

Goodreads

Book 1 Review

Book 2 Review

Book 2.5 Review
Truthwitch Book Tag

*I was sent a free advanced copy of this book from the publisher through Bookish First in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and comments are entirely my own*

This is by far my favorite book in the Witchlands series. I finished reading it and just kind of sat there trying to absorb all that happened. As much as I liked the previous books, this one raised the bar for this series.

Let me start off by saying that the characters were phenomenal. I loved the different POVs we got and I can't wait to see what happens to them in future books. Just looking back at the character growth from the first book to this one is such an insane journey.

This book seemed even more emotional than previous books, in my opinion. I felt a greater connection to all of the characters, not just Aeduan. My heart hurts at times and I definitely shed a few tears here and there. I can just see how brilliantly Susan has crafted these characters and it makes me so excited to see what she'll do next.

Seeing how all the different plot lines wove together in the end almost made me scream and throw the book across the room. In fact, there were moments where I as just sitting in my bed making incoherent noises and clutching the book. That ending!

Also, Susan is the queen of teasing. I don't want to discuss too in depth but there would be moments we'd been building up to and I'd been anticipating, and then something would interfere to where that moment ended up being pushed back. It was pure torture but another reason why I enjoyed this book so much.

Honestly, I'm not quite sure how to further discuss this without spoiling things accidentally, so I'll leave you with this: I absolutely adored this book. It's my favorite book I've read this year and my personal favorite of the series so far. I cannot wait to see how things play out. Overall, this was just a brilliant book!

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Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Lauren

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You can follow my bookstagram here. A brand new giveaway will be posted soon!

To get more awesome content like this post, click the follow button to the right!

Beacon Book Box: use the code BOOKSHELF5 for a discount on your order or subscription! 

I am a "BookishTextDesign" Influencer! Use my code LAUREN10 for a discount off your bookmark purchases! Check out the shop here

Get free worldwide shipping with Book Depository using my affiliate link

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Truthwitch Book Tag

In honor of Bloodwitch, the third book in the Witchlands, releasing today, I thought I would do something special! I stumbled across this tag a while ago and decided to save it for the release day. This tag was created by Inside My Library Mind and I wasn't tagged by anyone, but I decided I wanted to do it anyway! I'm going to try to pick answers outside of the Witchlands series but I can't promise they won't slip in here or there. 

1. Safiya: A Character That Grew on You

Elide or Lorcan from the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas. Let's be real, when we started getting their POVs I was mostly bored. I didn't want to read new POVs from characters I'd never met or didn't particularly like. I will say that they both grew on me but I'm still not as obsessed with them as some people are. Art by Taratjah

2. Iseult: A Character You Relate to the Most

Willa Knight from the Curse of the Gods series by Jaymin Eve and Jane Washington. Since the day I finished the first book in this series, I knew that if I was a book character, I would be her. She's clumsy, she's got my brand of humor, she's everything. 

3. Nubrevna: Favorite Setting

Honestly, I'm not quite sure for this one. If I'm being honest, I don't really picture vivid settings in my head when I'm reading. But I think I'm going to go with Velaris from the ACOTAR series by Sarah J. Maas just because I've seen so much fanart for it and it's so beautiful. Art by GrinningArtist. 

4. Aeduan: Favorite Anti-Hero

I'm going to go with Kaz Brekker for this one. He's not necessarily a bad guy, but he uses his wits and skills to do heists and run a gang, so he's definitely not a stereotypical good guy. I've only read Six of Crows so I haven't yet moved onto Crooked Kingdom, but I have a feeling I'm going to enjoy reading more of his character. Art by Whimsical Illustration

5. Merik Nihar: A Loyal Character

Ron Weasley from Harry Potter definitely fits this category. Even when things aren't necessarily the best for him, he always sticks by Harry's side or comes back in the end. He's truly the definition of a loyal Gryffindor. 

6. Safi and Iseult: Favorite Female Friendship

I'm going to have to go with Safi and Iseult from Truthwitch by Susan Dennard. I tried thinking of some other friendship that I liked more than theirs but I just couldn't. Everything about these two is amazing. Their loyalty, their selflessness for each other, etc. Their relationship is just the best. Art by alexisc_art

7. Threads that Bind: Favorite Book Relationship

I'm not going to go with a romantic relationship, but rather, another book friendship. (Small spoiler for Lord of Shadows). I just love seeing Kit and Ty's budding friendship. It's such an interesting relationship being formed and I can't wait to see where it goes next. Art by Unknown--please let me know if you know who made it!

8. The Puppeteer: Favorite Villain

The Volturi from the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer. They're definitely not good people, erm...vampires, but they are such interesting characters to read about. The roles they've played in this series have been quite good and I think that they definitely help raise this series up. 

9. The Mountain Bat: Favorite Animal/Creature

I'm going to have to go with Buckbeak for this one from the Harry Potter series. I can't really explain why, but he was the first that popped into my head. 

10. Vaness: An Intimidating Character

Can I just say literally any high fantasy character? I feel like most of the characters I read would intimidate the hell out of me if I ever met them in real life. It would be the part-scared, part-awed feeling of intimidation.

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Truthwitch Review
Windwitch Review
Sightwitch Review
Bloodwitch Review

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Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Lauren

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You can follow my bookstagram here. A brand new giveaway will be posted soon!

To get more awesome content like this post, click the follow button to the right!

Beacon Book Box: use the code BOOKSHELF5 for a discount on your order or subscription! 

I am a "BookishTextDesign" Influencer! Use my code LAUREN10 for a discount off your bookmark purchases! Check out the shop here

Get free worldwide shipping with Book Depository using my affiliate link

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January 2019 Wrap-Up!

January was a pretty good reading month for me, though I wished I had read one more book. Netflix dragged me in and I ended up binging a lot of shows, though I still managed to read 8 books! Some of them were really good and some were meh, but I'm excited to talk about all of them!

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BOOKS READ

1.

Title: The Light We Seek

Author: Katie May

Rating: 3.5 // 5 stars

I really enjoyed this installment in this series. I found that it was both interesting and still maintained quite a bit of the humor that initially drew me to it. I will say that I wish there had been more humor in this one. There was quite a bit more action, though, which was interesting. I didn't find there to be too much character arc development compared to the first book, but if you look you can see where different characters are changing. Overall, I enjoyed this read and it was pretty quick. I'm excited for the next one.

2.
Title: Milk and Honey
Author: Rupi Kaur
Rating: 4 // 5 stars

I thought this was a very moving journey from page one all the way until the end. I'm not big into poetry and this is only the third poetry collection I've ever read, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Some poems I enjoyed more than others but that's just how it goes. I'm left feeling inspired and with the knowledge that you can look for sweetness in any part of life, good or bad.

3.
Title: The Burn Zone
Author: Renee Linnell
Rating: 4 // 5 stars
Review

4.
Title: Windwitch
Author: Susan Dennard
Rating: 5 // 5 stars
Review

5.
Title: Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life
Author: Bryan Lee O'Malley
Rating: 4 // 5 stars

This was super fun to read. I definitely think it was also quicker to read because I've seen the movie so many times. Reading this just made me realize how true to the original story the movie is. Some scenes were taken from this exactly and it was really nice to see! I also loved revisiting this story since it's one of my favorites. Definitely going to try reading the next ones!

6.
Title: Lord of Shadows
Author: Cassandra Clare
Rating: 4.25 // 5 stars
Review

7. 

Title: The Yellow Wallpaper
Author: Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Rating: N/A--Read for class

8.
Title: The Ruin of Kings
Author: Jenn Lyons
Rating: 3.75 // 5 stars
Review TK
Blog Tour Excerpt + Review

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BLOG POSTS

December 2018 Wrap-Up!
Let's Talk: "Internment" by Samira Ahmed
December 2018 Book Haul!
Let's Talk: "The Burn Zone" by Renee Linnell
Favorite Books of 2018!
Top 5 Wednesday: Book Releases You Don't Care About
DIY Sprayed Book Edges
My Book Buying Ban
Top 5 Wednesday: Most Disappointing Books of 2018
"The Gilded Wolves" International Giveaway
Unpopular Opinions Book Tag: 2019 Edition
Let's Talk: "Windwitch" by Susan Dennard
Top 5 Wednesday: Top of TBR
Unboxing: Fairyloot's "Unbreakable Bonds"
Let's Talk: "Lord of Shadows" by Cassandra Clare
Blog Tour Review + Excerpt: "The Ruin of Kings" by Jenn Lyons

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TV/MOVIES

I decided not to talk about each of these individually, but to instead just list all the TV shows and movies I watched this month!

• Ocean's 8
• Jack Ryan, season 1
• The Incredibles 2
• Brooklyn Nine Nine, seasons 1-5
• Big Time Rush, season 3-4
• Hawaii Five-0, season 1

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Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Lauren

---

You can follow my bookstagram here. A brand new giveaway will be posted soon!

To get more awesome content like this post, click the follow button to the right!

Beacon Book Box: use the code BOOKSHELF5 for a discount on your order or subscription! 

I am a "BookishTextDesign" Influencer! Use my code LAUREN10 for a discount off your bookmark purchases! Check out the shop here

Get free worldwide shipping with Book Depository using my affiliate link

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Let's Talk: "Windwitch" by Susan Dennard

Title: Windwitch

Author: Susan Dennard

Series: "Witchlands" #2

Genre: YA Fantasy

Page Length: 384 pages

Publication Date: January 3, 2017

Date Started: January 4, 2019

Date Finished: January 9, 2019

Rating: 4.5 // 5 stars

Goodreads

Y'all...this book was amazing! I was so excited for this book after finishing Truthwitch. I had no idea what was going to happen but definitely not what actually did! I was blown away. So much happened and I'm still trying to process everything we discovered!

So, for starters, the plot development and actual storyline was amazing. The different perspectives we had were all interesting in their own way and I loved how the author wove them together. I was originally a tad hesitant at the beginning about one of the perspectives, but by the end I was hooked and couldn't decide which I wanted to read the most.

The character development you guys! It was so good. I can look at not only the beginning of this book but also at the beginning of the series and see how these characters have changed. And I love that. The characters were all amazing and so real. I'm both super scared and nervous to see what happens to them next. I wish I'd gotten more of Safi and Iseult together but I can only hope we'll get that in the next book.

Overall, I loved this book. I wish I'd been able to sit and binge-read it in a day but, unfortunately, life got in the way. Still, I cannot wait to see what happens next!

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Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Lauren

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You can follow my bookstagram here. A brand new giveaway will be posted soon!

To get more awesome content like this post, click the follow button to the right! 

I am a "BookishTextDesign" Influencer! Use my code LAUREN10 for a discount off your bookmark purchases! Check out the shop here

Get free worldwide shipping with Book Depository using my affiliate link

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