Books I Read in December | monthly wrap-up

Happy new year, friends! I hope the first couple days of 2022 have treated you well. I’ve been doing lots of reading and relaxing and it has been GREAT.

Surprisingly, I managed to read enough in December to finish the year with 51 books 🎉 🎉🎉 If you all remember a certain post, I was stressing about not being able to do that but thankfully everything worked out and I did some hardcore reading to reach my goal.

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MY 2021 FAVORITES || Yearly Wrap-Up

YOU GUYS!! Can you believe there’s only a few more days left of 2021 😳 this year felt like the longest ever, but at the same time flew by really quick.

There were a lot of firsts. I moved into an apartment, did my first in-person semester of college, and inevitably, made a lot of new experiences there, some good and some bad. Regardless of how this year turned out, I know it’ll be a memorable one for so many reasons.

All that being said, I’m ready to say bye to 2021.

Books as Songs from Red (Taylor’s Version)

I have been COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS until Taylor Swift drops Red (Taylor’s Version),,, and on November 12th, you can probably catch me laying on the floor of my room with a box of tissues nearby 🥲 most of those tears will probably be shed from listening to the 10 minute version of All Too Well.

Now, whether or not you’re a self proclaimed swiftie, I’ve tried my best to have a book from a variety of genres so hopefully you can find something that fits the vibe! My goal was to have a book for everyone, but it did prove to be quite a challenge. This honestly might have been the hardest post I’ve ever written, and I realized in the process that I really have not read as much romance as I would’ve thought,,,and also I’m a huge fan of second-chance romance, apparently, so expect a lot of that.

NOTE: This list does not include every song from Red. I tried my best to do most of them though!

Books I Read in July | monthly wrap-up

This is coming a little late, but hey, better late than never! July started off as a really slow reading month, but within the last two weeks is when I really picked up the pace and read most of the books for the month. I read a total of 5 books, which is pretty good for me.

That being said, in terms of blogging, I…did not deliver. Lol. I only posted like three times, if that, during the whole month and my only explanation is really that I was in what one may call a ✨ creative slump ✨. It was not fun and I’m still not 100% back to my usual self but I’m hoping it’ll pass soon!

Five Star Book Predictions

It’s been over a week since my last post because I was in a bit of a ~blogging slump~ in the sense that I just had no idea what to write! I’ve also been insanely busy and my life is kind of all over the place right now but hopefully within the next month things will slow down a little 🤞🏽

So today I’m just going to be going over books I haven’t read yet but that I predict will become instant favorites for me. There are so many books on my TBR so I have no idea when I’ll get to any of these but when I do,,,I think I’ll love them. All of these books are already released so you can also check them out at anytime if the synopsis sounds like something up your alley!

All these predictions are based on the synopsis AND other reviews I have seen for the book from my mutuals. This list is pretty random in terms of genre, I’ve just highlighted books from all over the place that I’m interested in. If you’ve read any of them let me know! I’d love to hear your thoughts 😊

Books I Read in May | monthly wrap-up

Is it just me or did May fly by way too fast?! I spent a lot of the month taking classes, having work, and also a little travelling for the first time in over a year 🎉 It has definitely been the best month of the year so far for me in terms of my mental health and just overall, so I take that as a huge win! A big part of that is I decided to step back from social media and putting pressure on myself to post. I archived a lot of old pics from my Bookstagram, and as much as I still occasionally go on there, I try not to spend more than 10 minutes. Everyone has their own limits and its important to know yours, but for me social media was just taking a huge toll so I did what I had to 🤧

Anyways, I also haven’t posted regularly on this blog because I’ve been more busy than usual but I haven’t been too inactive on here. This blog is honestly one of my favorite things to do and it genuinely makes me so happy to talk about books and get recommendations from so many other lovelies on here ✨💙

Getting into what you’re all probably here for lol, I read 6 books in May!! And I honestly enjoyed (almost) all of them, so that made me really happy as well. I was able to physically read a lot more as opposed to having to listen to audiobooks which was amazinggg to be able to do again :))

Books to Read for AAPI Heritage Month

If you didn’t know, May is AAPI (Asian-American and Pacific Islander) Heritage month, which is something I didn’t realize until recently. I’m a first generation Indian-American so this is something I’m really happy to participate in and spread more awareness of books centered around Asian voices and characters.

Diversity in literature is so important for readers everywhere and can introduce you to new cultures, identities, struggles, and more. It’s a great way to learn more about the world and about people whose lives may be different than yours. I think it’s important to highlight these books and encourage everyone to branch out regardless of what they usually read and try something new.

I will be recommending books centered around AAPI characters and/or written by AAPI authors. I’ve read all the books on this list of recommendations and at the end will list books I personally have not read yet but are on my TBR and sounds amazing if you’re interested in reading them 💙

10 Popular Books That are Worth the Hype

We all know the feeling of being excited to read a book because it’s been receiving high praise from everyone you know. Then, you read the book and…it wasn’t what you’d expected. You feel disappointed and start to question if you read the same book everyone else did.

Well, this list is full of books that had the exact opposite effect! These are all popular books that you’ve most definitely heard of if you’ve been a part of the online book community. Some of them I was hesitant about while others I knew before even starting that they would become instant faves. What they all have in common is I absolutely loved them.

A little disclaimer before we start: Obviously not every book is going to be to everyone’s liking. Every book gets its fair share of criticism because we all have our own thoughts! These are just my opinions 💙 ALSO, I’m going to try not to mention popular books I have talked about in previous posts. For example, I often talk about Six of Crows, Crescent City, etc. as being books I love so they won’t be mentioned here.

Anyways, let’s get into it!

Everything I Never Told You | book review

“You never got what you wanted; you just learned to get by without it.”

If I could describe Everything I Never Told You in one sentence, it would be this: a heartbreaking book about a fractured family told in a beautiful way. Luckily, I have more than one sentence to write this review, but frankly, I don’t think anything I write could truly do it justice. 

This book takes place in the suburbs of Ohio during the 1970’s. The Lee’s are a mixed-race family of four who have a seemingly perfect life. However, the story starts with the body of Lydia Lee, the oldest daughter, being found in the local lake. In her wake, Lydia’s mother, father, brother, and sister are all left to deal with their grief and figure out where they stand as a family and as individuals without her. We follow multiple timelines, like when James Lee (the father) and Marilyn (the mother) first met, their romance and struggles as an inter-racial couple in the 60’s/70’s, the lives of their kids growing up, and more.

What I Read in February + My Spring TBR

For those of you have read my earlier posts, you probably know that February was a busy month for me. Because University classes started again, my schedule has been jam-packed. That, unfortunately, means I have close to no time for reading. I tried to pick up a book any chance I got, but it was just not easy this past month. This month I “read” a total of 2 books. And by “read”, I mean I listened to them via audiobook. There are people out there who say “oh, audiobooks don’t count as real reading” 🙄 And to them I say, you do you. In my books, audiobooks 100% count towards your reading goals and let’s not shame people for their method of reading :))) Sorry if that came across as too passive aggressive, but I am very passionate about this subject lol.