LATEST POSTS
Funny Story by Emily Henry | Book Review
Book 3 of 2024 Funny Story by Emily Henry I have been an Emily Henry fan since I first read Beach Read back in 2020, I’ve read every single book she’s released since then – all of them great, but only two have come close to the masterpiece that is Beach Read. Happy Place and…
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
Book 11 of 2024 The God of the Woods by Liz Moore I’m a sucker for summer camp mysteries, and Liz Moore absolutely delivered, not with one intriguing mystery to solve, but two! This is a beautifully written epic, the perfect balance between literary suspense and intense character study, with thoughts on class, gender, wealth,…
Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid | Book Review
Book 2 of 2024 Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid I was hesitant to pick this one up because I had such a terrible experience with TJR’s Evelyn Hugo, but somewhere someone who had a similar experience with Hugo raved about this one, so I figured I owed it to myself to at…
Dark Corners by Megan Goldin | Book Review
Book 1 of 2024 Dark Corners by Megan Goldin First book of 2024 and it was a bust! After thoroughly enjoying Night Swim, Dark Corners was one I had high expectations for. We follow Rachel Krall as she is summoned to Florida by the FBI to assist in extracting information from Terence Bailey, a notorious…
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt | Book Review
Book 26 of 2022 Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt From the very first chapter I could tell this was going to be a fantastic book and it has quickly become my favorite read of 2022 as of yet. I never knew I could love a fictional giant Pacific octopus so much, but I’LL…
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens | Book Review
Book 23 of 2022 Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens I have to be about the last person on planet Earth to have finally read Where the Crawdads Sing. Ever since I first opened my bookstagram I have been seeing this book floating around my feed. Well, two years and two tries later I…
One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle | Book Review
Book 17 of 2022 One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle This book came to me at the perfect time — I picked it up on a whim at Barnes & Noble while I was on my way to checkout. It caught the corner of my eye and I said “f*@# it, what’s one more book?”…
Writers & Lovers by Lily King | Book Review
Book 24 of 2022 Writers & Lovers Writers & Lovers instantly hooked me and within the first couple of pages I was already texting my best friend (we buddy read this one) that I was already loving it. I think my exact words were, “okay this is so good,” to which she answered, “not them…
Ramón and Julieta by Alana Quintana Albertson | Book Review
Book 16 of 2022 Ramón and Julieta by Alana Quintana Albertson Ay, Dios mío… that did not go well. I thought I was going to like this more than I did, but unfortunately it was very underwhelming.I was so excited to finally pick this up because after having spent an amazing week in Mexico earlier…
People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry | Book Review
Book 12 of 2021 People We Meet on Vacation One of my most anticipated books of 2021 and it did not disappoint. Emily Henry’s The People We Meet on Vacation opens the only way an Emily Henry novel can ever really begin: fun, witty, and smart. She has a way with words that just sucks…
June Book Haul
I added 23 (!!) books to my shelves this month… and it’s only the 16th of June! I think what happened is that I hadn’t really bought a book in a while, and after the largest, most excruciating reading slump of my entire life, I decided I needed some new books. Some fresh material. And…
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas | Book Review
Book 11 of 2021 The Hate U Give I don’t know that I can really add anything that hasn’t already been said about Angie Thomas’ The Hate U Give – it’s important, moving, relevant, and eye-opening. A real powerful story with a powerful message, and the world is better with this book in it. Sixteen-year-old…
February 2021 Roundup
Book 5 of 2021 Undercover Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams Adams really is a master of her craft – she writes romance, intimacy, and steam really well, but she really shines when she weaves all of those things with much heavier themes. This book is fun and light and steamy, but the heavier topic of sexual harassment in…
The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory | Book Review
Book 10 of 2021 The Wedding Date This was my second Jasmine Guillory novel and I have to say I enjoyed The Royal Holiday more, I’m just such a sucker for anything Christmas and I did have a few problems with her debut. Guillory is guaranteed to provide fun, lighthearted reads, but I like my romances with…
My Favorite Half-Night Stand by Christina Lauren | Book Review
Book 9 of 2021 My Favorite Half-Night Stand “I wonder whether I’m single not because I haven’t met the right person yet, but because I’m not the right person yet.” This is my second Christina Lauren book ever and I realized that I just need to buy all of their books because I am running…
Feb 2021 Book Haul
Of three things I am certain: (1) I don’t know where else to stack my books, (2) my shelves are sure to collapse eventually, and (3) I will not stop. Here are the five books I added to my home library this month: The Song of Achillesby Madeline Miller I finished this book on Valentine’s…
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller | Book Review
Book 8 of 2021 The Song of Achilles “I could recognize him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world.” Once in a while a book comes along that…
The Roommate by Rosie Danan | Book Review
Book 7 of 2021 The Roommate I was very interested when I read the premise of this book – a socialite moves across the country to follow a boy only to find out said boy rented out his room to a Craigslist stranger that is in the adult entertainment industry. I mean, it sounds so…
Crazy Stupid Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams | Book Review
Book 6 of 2021 Crazy Stupid Bromance *opens Crazy Stupid Bromance and reads for 7 hours* What an absolute DELIGHT! How do these books just keep getting better and better? Is that allowed? Ugh, I devoured this book, and it has earned 5 stars and a place in my heart forever. A swoonworthy friends-to-lovers (the…
Undercover Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams | Book Review
Book 5 of 2021 Undercover Bromance Lyssa Kay Adams could keep writing these books forever, each one of a different bro, and I would spend all my money. I love this series so much and Braden-fucking-Mack! Ugh, the bromance book club is back and I’m loving them even more than before. This was so fun!…
January 2021 Roundup
Book 1 of 2021 Ties That Tether by Jane Igharo Five brilliant stars for this super addicting, raw and heartbreaking contemporary romance and first read of 2021. I could not put this book down and essentially read it in one sitting. I was captivated by Jane Igharo’s storytelling with dramatic twist after twist, and I…
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo | Book Review
Book 4 of 2021 Last Night at the Telegraph Club When I first saw the cover of this book on a ‘Most Anticipated Releases of 2021’ list somewhere on the Internet, I was instantly pulled in; and when I later read ‘queer Chinese historical fiction in 1950’s San Francisco’ I was absolutely sold and quickly…
Outlawed by Anna North | Book Review
Book 3 of 2021 Outlawed From the uber-memorable opening line – In the year of our Lord 1894, I became an outlaw – to the closing paragraph, I was enthralled by Anna North’s Western about a gang of outlaw robbers made up *scandalous* barren women. Outlawed is set in an alternate America in the late…
Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple | Book Review
Where’d You Go, Bernadette Happy Saturday and cheers to a FLASHBACK review! My first flashback review of 2021 and I revisited a true gem. My first epistolary novel and I loved it – smart, sharp, witty, and totally hilarious. A modern-day genius epistolary novel, Where’d You Go, Bernadette’s first three-fourths are in the form of…
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng | Book Review
Book 2 of 2021 Everything I Never Told You This book. This book was like a dark vortex that sucked me in and didn’t let me go until I read the last page; and even days after finishing it and placing it back on my shelf, I still feel the gravitational pull of this novel.…
13 Most Anticipated Books of 2021
Do you ever just look at your physical to-be-read books or your Goodreads to-read list and get overwhelmingly content? Like an over the moon, euphoric sense of happiness? Well, I do (!!) and I can’t wait to crack open these books and dive into these wonderful authors’ stories. *All blurbs have been taken from Goodreads…
Ties That Tether by Jane Igharo | Book Review
Book 1 of 2021 Ties That Tether Five brilliant stars for this super addicting, raw and heartbreaking contemporary romance and first read of 2021. I could not put this book down and essentially read it in one sitting. I was captivated by Jane Igharo’s storytelling with dramatic twist after twist, and I couldn’t stop until…
December 2020 Roundup
5 Books 1,178 Pages 18 Hours Read Closed out 2020 with a bang. I was able to squeeze in 3 books in the last week of 2020 and I managed to read 50 books. December is always a tough reading month just because I get so distracted with baking cookies or watching holiday movies or…
Dec & Jan 2021 Book Haul
My family found my Amazon book wishlist this holiday season and they did SO. GOOD. I am the only one in my family that likes to read *a true tragedy, I know* My mother hates going to Barnes & Noble and my sisters really only like to go because I buy them Starbucks. Just the…
What Kind of Woman: Poems by Kate Baer | Review
“You can be a mother and a poet. A wife and a lover. You can dance on the graves you dug on Tuesday, pulling out the bones of yourself you began to miss.” Wow! Absolutely beautiful and inspiring poems about being a woman, a mother, a feminist, a wife, and a friend. It was so…
The Twelve Dates of Christmas by Jenny Bayliss | Book Review
“She smiled to herself; the first coffee of the day was a joy unlike any other.” Sweet, festive, and predictable — everything you need from a holiday read. I really loved the premise of this book and I’m glad I was able to go on this adventure with Kate Turner — twelve dates with twelve…
2020: Another Year in the Books
2020, wow. 365 days, 292 of which were spent at home and working remotely. 10 months of pandemic and masks and uncertainty, but also 10 months of much needed family and reading time. I managed to read (!!) 50 BOOKS (!!) this year… I mean, what?! My initial goal this year was to read 20…
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens | Book Review
“If I had my way, every idiot who goes around with Merry Christmas on his lips, would be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. Merry Christmas? Bah humbug!” Almost everyone knows the classic tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, to whom Christmas is just another date on the…
Heartstopper: Volume One by Alice Oseman | Book Review
Boy meets boy. Boys become friends. Boys fall in love. Simple, beautiful, heartfelt, and gay! I loved this story with my whole heart. I devoured it way too fast (36 minutes, to be exact) and I made the mistake of not having Volume Two ready to read right after this one. That cliffhanger!!! I can’t…
We Met in December by Rosie Curtis | Book Review
“The trouble with me is I’ve always been a daydreamer. Always been a sucker for a romantic film, always loved a book with a good old-fashioned happy ever after ending.” I almost gave this book 3 stars, but after I sat with it I realized that I didn’t like it very much and so I…
November 2020 Roundup
6 Books 1,633 Pages 31.5 Hours Read I did so good in November! I read a total of 6 books, which is usually more than the average I read in one month. I listened along with two audiobooks as well — The Witches and Greenlights. I loved listening to McConaughey’s honeyed voice, I fell in…
What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera | Book Review
“I barely know him. I guess that is every relationship. You start with nothing and maybe end with everything.” What If It’s Us is a young-adult romance set in New York City about two boys, Ben and Arthur, who meet at a post office. Talk about a meet-cute! I enjoyed some moments in this one, and considering the length, I…
I Got Nominated | The Outstanding Blogger Award Tag
The Outstanding Blogger Award Tag Rules: Have the link to the creator’s original award post. Answer the questions provided. Create 7 unique questions. Nominate 10 other bloggers. Neither the award’s creator nor the blogger that nominated you can be nominated. At the end of 2020, every blog that ping-backs the creator’s original post will be entered…
A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow by Laura Taylor Namey | Book Review
“But I remember we are both stars. Estrellita and Orion, a fierce little star and a warrior constellation. We sit close on this tree a bit longer, golden warm but silent, like one sun in the cooling shade.” Um, wow. I am smitten — with this story, these characters, these life lessons, and the FOOD.…
Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson | Book Review
“Look how beautifully black we are. And as we dance, I am not Melody who is sixteen, I am not my parents’ once illegitimate daughter—I am a narrative, someone’s almost forgotten story. Remembered.” Jacqueline Woodson is a master of lyrical prose. The writing in this novel was just so beautiful. The characters were raw and…
Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory | Book Review
“Hey, Mom, I need an answer fast—do you want to spend Christmas with me in England?” Where do I sign up to ensure my future daughter asks me this question? I need to know asap. This was just the sweetest holiday romance — the absolute perfect book to snuggle by the Christmas tree with a…
Oct & Nov Book Haul
I think I’ve added about 60-70 new books to my home library this year. I tried counting them, but I really can’t be sure because there are SO many. Quarantine was supposed to be good for my wallet… but at least my bookshelf has been well taken care of these past couple months. She cannot…
Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey | Book Review
“We all step in shit from time to time. We hit roadblocks, we fuck up, we get fucked, we get sick, we don’t get what we want, we cross thousands of “could have done better”s and “wish that wouldn’t have happened”s in life. Stepping in shit is inevitable, so let’s either see it as good…
The Witches by Roald Dahl | Book Review
“A REAL WITCH hates children with a red-hot sizzling hatred that is more sizzling and red-hot than any hatred you could possibly imagine.” Oh, I tried really hard to squeeze this one in for October, but I got really busy prepping for Halloween night and couldn’t get much reading done the last couple days on…
October 2020 Roundup
You guys! I cannot believe we are in November! Like, what?! Going on month 9 of quarantine/working from home — I work for the court system and so we have been working remotely *and successfully* for a few months now. There is no rush to actually get back into the office physically, which I am…
The Whisper Man by Alex North | Book Review
“If you’re lonely, sad, and blue, the Whisper Man will come for you” This is one helluva creepy book ya’ll, and I will neither confirm nor deny that I had trouble sleeping after some of these chapters… It honestly reads like a Criminal Minds episode and I even pictured Pete as Jason Gideon (any…
The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe | Review
“It was a low, dull, quick sound — much such a sound as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton.” Cheers to another FLASHBACK REVIEW and a happy Sunday, you guys! Today I revisited an Edgar Allan Poe classic. I was first introduced to Poe in high school and I believe it was with this…
Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman | Book Review
“There are some things, after all, that Sally Owens knows for certain: Always throw spilled salt over your left shoulder. Keep rosemary by your garden gate. Add pepper to your mashed potatoes. Plant roses and lavender, for luck. Fall in love whenever you can.” A fun, beautiful read about two sisters facing the challenges of…
Final Girls by Riley Sager | Book Review
“Final Girl is film-geek speak for the last woman standing at the end of a horror movie.” Cheers to a FLASHBACK REVIEW and happy Wednesday, you guys! If anyone knows me, they know I am a fan of the slashers. And because it’s October and it’s slasher season I thought it would be great to…
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia | Book Review
“The truth was she was afraid of going to bed, of what nightmares might uncoil in the dark. What did people do after witnessing the horrors they had seen? Was it possible to slip back into normality, to play pretend and go on? She wanted to think this was exactly the case, but she was…
September 2020 Roundup
Oh, September! You were so good to me ❤ I felt all the cozy fall vibes this month and it was the perfect way to start the holiday season. Posting this roundup a little late because I have been consumed by October and all my spooky halloween decor/vibes/movies/tv shows. I am closer to month number…
Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell | Book Review
“Like every autumn smell at once” This is the sweetest, most comforting book ever *and my first ever graphic novel! * Just perfect if you want to get into the fall spirit! Two friends – Deja and Josiah – are working their last shift together at the pumpkin patch where they’ve worked every autumn of…
You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria | Book Review
Let me start by saying that I love reading books about people like me. There is something powerful that happens when one can see themselves in the pages of a book. Loved the Latinx vibes… and oh, the drama! The romance! THE STEAM! Alexis Daria brings the heat in You Had Me at Hola and…
My Time Among the Whites: Notes from an Unfinished Education by Jennine Capó Crucet | Book Review
“…as a light-skinned Latinx woman, I often accidentally trespass into moments that are essentially displays of white power intended only for other whites. … White people who misread me as also white sometimes display the kind of pervasive racism usually reserved for whites-only spaces. They inadvertently include me in these white power moments, ones that…
5 Latinx Books I’m Dying to Read
HAPPY LATINX HERITAGE MONTH! September 15 marked the first day of Latinx Heritage Month and I couldn’t be more excited! As a first-generation Cuban-American, I grew up on stories of my family’s immigration, the Cuban Revolution, and everything it took. And even though I was born in America, I’ve always felt more Cuban than anything…
How the García Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez | Book Review
The radio is all static—like the sound of the crunching metal of a car; the faint, blurry voice on the airwaves her own, trapped inside a wreck, calling for help. In English or Spanish? she wonders. Cheers to a FLASHBACK REVIEW and happy Sunday, you guys! Since it’s Latinx Heritage Month, I decided to revisit…
Anxious People by Fredrik Backman | Book Review
The truth of course is that if people really were as happy as they look on the Internet, they wouldn’t spend so much damn time on the Internet, because no one who’s having a really good day spends half of it taking pictures of themselves. Anyone can nurture a myth about their life if they…
10 Books to Read This Autumn
Autumn is my favorite season. It’s a time to put the bikinis away and bring out all the decor! It’s a time in which I feel relaxed, happy, and nostalgic. Living in Miami, the Fall season is basically nonexistent so I have to try extra hard to make it feel like Fall. The weather here…
The Night Swim by Megan Goldin | Book Review
“Yes, I have been a victim of a sexual assault. Well, probably several really. Funny how we were conditioned to accept these situations as unpleasant instead of outrageous.” This was an intense read, ya’ll! The Night Swim is a disturbing psychological thriller about a rape trial in a small beach town and it was NOT…
August 2020 Roundup
August was a lot, you guys! I did very minimal reading… like the bare minimum. I was on such a good streak, but I’m not even upset about it because I filled my time with embroidery, a new hobby, and so I’ve been embroidering everything from hoops, to backpacks, to clothes. It is very therapeutic…
The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams | Book Review
“Romance novels are primarily written by women for women, and they’re entirely about how they want to be treated and what they want out of life and in a relationship. We read them to be more comfortable expressing ourselves and to look at things from their perspective.” First rule of book club? You don’t talk…
There There by Tommy Orange | Book Review
“‘Don’t ever let anyone tell you what being Indian means. Too many of us died to get just a little bit of us here, right now, right in this kitchen,’ Opal tells Orvil. ‘You, me. Every part of our people that made it is precious. You’re Indian because you’re Indian because you’re Indian.’” Tommy Orange’s wondrous and…
5 Fictional Characters I’d Want to Be Friends With
I’ve been brainstorming some bookish list ideas for a while now and I gotta say this one is probably the most fun. I mean, what avid reader hasn’t felt some kind of connection with the characters from their favorite books?! Sometimes I envision myself as these characters — seeing the world through their eyes. But…
July 2020 Roundup
I still remember when I thought I was going to be in quarantine for two weeks… HA (!!) I am now on month 4.5 of quarantine and still thriving, ya’ll. July was a good month — I read four books, three of which were phenomenal. I wish I would’ve read more, but oh well. I…
Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman | Book Review
And each time I witness a cruel act by a corrupt scythe, I seed the clouds somewhere in the world, and bring a lamentation of rain. Because rain is the closest thing I have to tears. The Thunderhead Everyone needs to stop what they’re doing and read this series. I IMPLORE YOU! If you have…
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie | Book Review
The impossible could not have happened, therefore the impossible must be possible in spite of appearances. Cheers to a FLASHBACK review and a happy Monday, you guys! I’m starting the week off with another Agatha Christie murder-mystery: Murder on the Orient Express. This was my second Christie book ever and I was O B S…
12 Childhood Favorites
I just took a much need trip down memory lane and I. HAD. SO. MUCH. FUN! Books made such a large part of my elementary years in school and even though I did not read as much later on, the 3rd grade was where my love for reading took root. I would go to the…
Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan | Book Review
And so this exotic strain of gossip spread rapidly through the Levantine networks of the Asian jet set, and within a few hours, almost everyone in this exclusive circle knew that Nicholas Young was bringing a girl home to Singapore. And, alamak! This was big news. Cheers to a FLASHBACK review and the weekend, you…
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie | Book Review
When the sea goes down, there will come from the mainland boats and men. And they will find ten dead bodies and an unsolved problem on Soldier Island. Cheers to a FLASHBACK review and a happy Thursday, you guys! This week I revisited the first murder-mystery-whodunnit book I ever read, Agatha Christie’s 1939 classic And Then…
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn | Book Review
I have a meanness inside me, real as an organ. Slit me at my belly and it might slide out, meaty and dark, drop on the floor so you could stomp on it. Cheers to a FLASHBACK review and half-way to the weekend, you guys! This week I revisited Gillian Flynn’s Dark Places. This was…
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn | Book Review
Sometimes I think illness sits inside every woman, waiting for the right moment to bloom. I have known so many sick women all my life. Women with chronic pain, with ever-gestating diseases. Women with conditions. Men, sure, they have bone snaps, they have backaches, they have a surgery or two, yank out a tonsil, insert…
8 Favorite Book Covers
I have a confession to make, you guys — I’m the biggest sucker for a pretty book cover. I can’t help myself okay! I am more likely to buy a book if it has a pretty cover and I hate that I’m wired that way (I’ve read so many good books with meh covers and…
Scythe by Neal Shusterman | Book Review
My greatest wish for humanity is not for peace or comfort or joy. It is that we all still die a little inside every time we witness the death of another. For only the pain of empathy will keep us human. There’s no version of God that can help us if we ever lose that.…
John Green Books: 4 Mini Reviews
Cheers to a FLASHBACK review and the weekend, you guys! This week I took a deep trip down memory lane and revisited all the John Green books I own (and read in high school 2014-2015). I had originally picked The Fault in Our Stars alone, but I decided to mesh them all together and write…
Let’s Talk DNF!
I was inspired to write a post about this because of the comments I’ve been getting on my recent instagram post about the same topic. I love hearing feedback from people and, in this case, it was just so cool to see how people react differently (or similarly) to a book they’re just not enjoying.…
With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo | Book Review
This stuff is complicated. But it’s like I’m some long-division problem folks keep wanting to parcel into pieces, and they don’t hear me when I say: I don’t reduce, homies. The whole of me is Black. The whole of me is whole. FIVE BEAUTIFUL, MAGICAL, WELL-DESERVED STARS! You guys, this is it! This is what…
Fierce Kingdom by Gin Phillips | Book Review
That is what you do when you have a child, isn’t it, open yourself up to unimaginable pain and then try to pretend away the possibilities. Cheers to another FLASHBACK review and the weekend, you guys! Two in one day because I have been writing these reviews like its my job. Fierce Kingdom by Gin…
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros | Book Review
She looked out the window her whole life, the way so many women sit their sadness on an elbow. Cheers to another FLASHBACK review and the weekend, you guys! This week I revisited Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street. The story of Esperanza Cordero, a young Latina growing up in Chicago, is told through…
Renewing My Library Card
So, I did a thing! I hadn’t used my library card in years — I’m not even being extra, no lie the only time I think I actually used my MDPLS library card was to rent out CSI: Miami DVD’s when I was like 12… don’t judge me! The only time I can remember actually…
Waiting for Tom Hanks by Kerry Winfrey | Book Review
Tom Hanks isn’t a person so much as he is a representation of the kind of man I deserve… A book about rom-com movies, Tom Hanks, and Nora Ephron? YES PLEASE! Waiting for Tom Hanks was cute and sweet and cheesy in a the right places. I really liked and related to the protagonist, Annie…
Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family by Nicholas Pileggi | Book Review
By birth, certainly, they were not prepared in any way to achieve their desires. They were not the smartest kids in the neighborhood. They were not born the richest. They weren’t even the toughest. In fact, they lacked almost all the necessary talents that might have helped them satisfy the appetites of their dreams, except…
June 2020 | Mid-Year Roundup
7 Books 2,418 Pages 50 Hours Read Fav book this month: The Vanishing Half What 👏 A 👏 Month 👏 I started off June with something new: e-books! Instead of holding up a physical book right before bed, I much rather read on my phone + so my first two e-books this year (and in…
The Last Flight by Julie Clark | Book Review
If we don’t tell our own stories, we’ll never take control of the narrative. I was reading so many thrillers back-to-back at one point that it led to a burnout and I stopped reading them altogether. The Last Flight by Julie Clark was the first one in a long time and I thoroughly enjoyed it – the…
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo | Book Review
I only know that learning to believe in the power of my own words has been the most freeing experience of my life. It has brought me the most light. And isn’t that what a poem is? A lantern glowing in the dark. I hadn’t really heard much about The Poet X until it popped…
Pet Sematary by Stephen King | Book Review
Cheers to a FLASHBACK review and the weekend, you guys! It has been a month since I first started doing this. Although it’s been challenging, I love revisiting and reviewing books I’ve read in the past. This week I chose to review Pet Sematary by the incredible Stephen King. This was my first King book…
June Book Haul | BIPOC Authors
I made a promise this month to read more books written by BIPOC authors + support the Black community, specifically Black authors. I gladly broke my book buying ban + purchased these books (except The Girl Who Smiled Beads, which I already owned + The Vanishing Half, which I chose as my June BOTM). I…
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix | Book Review
He thinks we’re what we look like on the outside: nice Southern ladies. Let me tell you something…there’s nothing nice about Southern ladies. I wanted to read this book ever since I laid eyes on that title (a mouthful, I know) and that cover! From the premise I knew it was going to be the…
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman | Book Review
If someone asks you how you are, you are meant to say FINE. You are not meant to say that you cried yourself to sleep last night because you hadn’t spoken to another person for two consecutive days. FINE is what you say. Cheers to a FLASHBACK review and the weekend, you guys! I’m finding…
One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London |Book Review
I celebrated the commencement of summer vacation with Kate Stayman-London’s One to Watch and I don’t think I could’ve chosen a better book to read at the beach. It was a fast, enjoyable, feel-good book and the motivational body positivity oozing from the pages was refreshing. I feel like I should start by saying that the reality…
One Day in December by Josie Silver | Book Review
“Sometimes you just meet the right person at the wrong time.” Cheers to a FLASHBACK review and the weekend, you guys! This was my first Josie Silver book back in December 2019 and I was totally hooked, which is why I did not hesitate to snatch The Two Lives of Lydia Bird when it was a BOTM option…
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett | Book Review
“She’d always felt like the older sister, even though she only was by a matter of minutes. But maybe in those seven minutes they’d first been apart, they’d each lived a lifetime, setting out on their separate paths. Each discovering who she might be.” Wow. Where do I even begin?! How do I even go…
Introducing Something New — Flashback Reviews!
Happy Friday everyone! I dedicated time this week to change a few things on the blog – look-wise and content-wise as well. You should check it out right here! While I was creating/altering the Years in Books tab I realized that I’ve read some really great books in the past that I did not write reviews for…
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand | Book Review
Cheers to my first FLASHBACK review and the weekend, you guys! I read this book the summer going into my sophomore year of high school… ugh feels like forever ago *cries* My English professor, Mr. Walpole (favorite/greatest teacher of all time) assigned it as summer reading. I obviously was dreading it so badly – a…
All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson | Book Review
“Unfortunately, my life story is proof that no amount of money, love, or support can protect you from a society intent on killing you for your Blackness.” You guys, I absolutely loved reading All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson and I recommend it to literally anyone. I usually prefer reading fiction over non-fiction, but this…
This Won’t End Well by Camille Pagán | Book Review
“Why would I open myself up to new problems? By problems, of course, I mean people.” This Won’t End Well by Camille Pagán was my first e-book in a really long time. I had *still do, but I lost the charger* a Kindle years ago but stopped using it as I realized I enjoy reading physical…
May 2020 Roundup
3 Books 844 Pages 25.5 Hours Read Fav book this month: Nothing To See Here I can’t believe we are done with May already and heading into June 2020. Just wow. So firstly, I would like to say that I surpassed my read-one-more-book-than-last-year goal this month! I read 17 books in total last year and…
The Knockout Queen by Rufi Thorpe | Book Review
“That was the thing that was turning out to be most difficult about being a person. The people I had the most sympathy for were almost never the ones everyone else felt sympathy for.” You guys, I finished by The Knockout Queen Rufi Thorpe last night and I absolutely loved it. I thought I was going to…
Nothing To See Here by Kevin Wilson | Book Review
“Maybe raising children was just giving them the things you loved most in the world and hoping that they loved them too.” Disclaimer: This did not turn out to be a review. It’s just me telling you how much I love this book. If I could give it all the stars I would (oh wait,…
Memorial Day Beach Getaway
After 3 months of Quarantine… I was finally *FINALLY* able to get out of Miami for a short, but oh so sweet, getaway. There was a 100% of rain, but wHoCaReS! The beaches here in Miami are set to open up at the beginning of June, but everyone here is dying to go to the…
Dominicana by Angie Cruz | Book Review
“César picks it up and pulls out a chicken by its neck. Welcome to America, he says. He hands it to me. I look into its glassed-over eyes… I’ve held plenty of chickens before, plucked, chopped, and cooked them too. But here, I want to save the chicken from its fate.” Well, that took me…
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April 2020 Roundup
3 Books 924 Pages 23 Hours Read Fav book this month: Beach Read Considering I was in a reading slump the majority of the month I am kind of surprised that I even read three books. I started off quarantine strong reading 6 books last month. The monthly reading goal that I set up for…
The Paris Hours by Alex George | Book Review
“The pace of life feels a little slower here. People linger a little longer at café tables as they watch the rest of the world amble by. One more sip of coffee, one more story in the newspaper.” Ah! To be living in Paris in the 20’s rubbing elbows with Ernest Hemingway, Josephine Baker, and…
April Book Haul | Quarantine Update
Good morning + happy Monday ya’ll! I’ve lost track of exactly how many days I’ve been in quarantine, but its definitely been over a month + a half now. I’ve only been outside a few times because I was in dire need of some sunshine, but I’ve been doing a lot of reading, a lot…
Beach Read by Emily Henry | Book Review
“People were complicated. They weren’t math problems; they were collections of feelings and decisions and dumb luck. The world was complicated too, not a beautifully hazy French film, but a disastrous, horrible mess, speckled with brilliance and love and meaning.” You guys! This was just what I needed to read right now and I am…
The Guest List by Lucy Foley | Book Review
I was really excited about reading this one. The premise sounded interesting – a high profile wedding on an island off the coast of Ireland that ends in murder – but unfortunately, I was let down a little bit. I’ve been in a reading slump lately *cries* and although it took me forever, I did finish…
March 2020 Roundup
6 Books 2,192 Pages 39 Hours Read March 2020 will be a month to remember. It started off pretty normal and then from one day to the next I found myself in quarantine (at first just two weeks, but has now been extended until late April). I used the extra free time at home to…
A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum | Book Review
“I was born without a voice, one cold, overcast day in Brooklyn, New York. No one ever spoke of my condition. I did not know I was mute until years later, when I opened my mouth to ask for what I wanted and realized no one could hear me.” This story touched my heart. I…
When We Left Cuba by Chanel Cleeton | Book Review
“I thought my love for Cuba would be the hardest thing for me to reconcile, but in truth, it’s the anger that’s the hardest to dispense of.” You guys! From the very beginning, quite literally from the prologue, I was in all the feels! Instantly upon reading the date – November 26, 2016 – I…
The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren | Book Review
“I can treat this trip like an actual vacation on a tropical island. Yes, it’s with my nemesis, but still, I’ll take it.” I’m sitting on the floor of my bedroom trying to write this review, but I can’t help thinking back on the hilarity that ensued between Olive Torres and Ethan Thomas (naked Twister…
Red, White, & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston | Book Review
“Thinking about history makes me wonder how I’ll fit into it one day, I guess. And you too. I kinda wish people still wrote like that. History, huh? Bet we could make some.” Let me just say that my heart literally fluttered (and I swear I am not exaggerating) while reading some parts of this…
The Silver Lining of Quarantine
Last night my boss sent a text saying “do not come into work for the next two weeks” and so despite the scary times the world and its people are going through, there is a silver lining — two weeks of reading through my TBR pile. Hopefully, during these two weeks I can read 5…
The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver | Book Review
“You don’t get over losing someone you love in six months or two years or twenty, but you do have to find a way to carry on living without feeling as if everything that comes afterwards is second best.” Josie Silver has done it again! I devoured her debut One Day in December and I couldn’t…
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng | Book Review
“Sometimes you need to scorch everything to the ground, and start over. After the burning the soil is richer, and new things can grow. People are like that, too.” I had this on my shelf for the longest time and for some reason I was putting it off (maybe because I had heard that it…
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell | Book Review
“Eleanor was right. She never looked nice. She looked like art, and art wasn’t supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something.” Let me just say that I loved loved loved the warmth that radiated from this book and all the feelings of first love that rushed back in. For Christmas,…
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides | Book Review
“As you will see, it’s an incredible story — of that there is no doubt. Whether you believe it or not is up to you.” The opening line of this book is: “Alicia Berenson was thirty-three years old when she killed her husband.” I have no words. After I realized what was going on and…
The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn | Book Review
“Who knows what goes on in a family?” When I read the premise of this story my mind went straight to the only agoraphobic woman I know: Sheila from Shameless! I could not peel my eyes from these pages. The chapters were so short that I found myself saying “ok, this is the last chapter”…
Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton | Book Review
“We carry our home with us in our hearts, laden with hope. So much hope.” A vivid story told in two timelines by two different woman — Elisa, living in 1958 Havana and her granddaughter Marisol, living in 2017 Miami. Elisa’s father is a sugar baron and has provided a privileged life for all his…
Find Me by Andre Aciman | Book Review
Let’s start by saying that the cover of this book made me gasp. I walked into Barnes & Noble, it was the first thing I saw, and I literally gasped. I knew going into this sequel that it was never going to amount to the O.G. CMBYN and I knew it was not entirely about…
Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman | Book Review
“We looked the other way. We spoke about everything but. But we’ve always known, and not saying anything now confirmed it all the more. We had found the stars, you and I. And this is given once only.” It’s hard for me to sit down and write this review because I know nothing I say…
February 2020 Roundup
3 Books 1,075 Pages 25 Hours Read The Woman in the Window, Eleanor & Park, and the Silent Patient — so different, yet so great. I read all of these in one week… yup. So typical of me. I stayed up late reading, woke up reading, and even found myself at work reading (two fantastic…
January 2020 Roundup
3 Books 864 Pages 23 Hours Read Fav this month: Call Me By Your Name, duh 2020 started strong with a re-read of Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman in prep for his sequel, Find Me (which was my 2020 book no. dos) CMBYN is always a good idea and I am glad…
Shelf Things 