Month: April 2016

April Uppercase Box Unboxing
Hey peeps, I’m here with another Uppercase Box unboxing for you! If you don’t know what Uppercase is, as it says on the website, it’s “a young adult book-of-the-month subscription box. Simply put: You sign up and receive a recently published YA book and awesome book-related items every month! Plus you’ll access exclusive book content and a one-of-a-kind reading experience to dive deeper into each story.”

This month’s box had some added extra goodies because a) I had that option to pay for some extra things, and b) because something happened with it and they added a poster as an apology.

Here’s what was inside:
- A signed copy of Scarlett Epstein Hates It Here by Anna Breslaw
- Stickers that reflect the book
- I read YA pin & invite to events from May 2-6
- A Book Addict keychain from Peachy Apricot
- Hagrid and Buckbeak bookmarks from BeeDoo (extra)
- The Book of Magical Things notebook (extra)
- Poster (added extra)
- Letter & bookmark with extra goodies
This month’s box was seriously awesome! I already have the keychain on my keyring – I didn’t waste any time with that! And I hung up the poster next to my shelves (which also covers up a chip in the paint on the wall, shhhhh).

The book itself sounds interesting because it deals with more of the Internet side of relationships and things than other contemporary books do, at least from what I’ve read so far. I’m excited to read it because it also seems like it’s going to be a funny book.

This month’s Uppercase was awesome! I’m still going to continue this subscription box as I like the items in it a lot and still want to get at least something each month.

Let me know if you’ve read the book yet (though it just came out April 19th) and what your thoughts are on it. What did you think of the items inside? Do you get any book subscriptions? Let me know!
April 23, 2016
The Book Drop May Subscription Box
Hey guys! Here’s another unboxing from The Book Drop. As it says on the website:

The Book Drop is our very own monthly subscription box service. What does this mean? This means once a month we hand-select one of our favorite new books based on your reading preferences, package it up all nice and cute in a box and send it your way! Book Drop subscribers get a book delivered to their doorstep (or mailbox) once a month from Bethany Beach Books.

So I’m subscribed to the Jane box which includes:
- Paperback book (usually a contemporary or historical fiction novel, with the occasional literary fiction novel)
- Indie Next list for the upcoming month
- An occasional goodie
For this month there were really awesome goodies that came along with the box, and I’m so excited to have them because: MAKEUP.

It came with:
- Some Women by Emily Liebert
- A signed bookplate
- An Indie Next Best Booklist
- A little note about why this book was chosen for this month
- A recycled bookmark (very appropriate for Earth Day)
- A set of three lip glosses where each color represents the three main characters in the book: Candy Apple for Annabel, Salmon for Piper, and Wild Orchid for Mackenzie
Also, some of the proceeds of that lip gloss go to The Domestic Violence Center of Santa Clarita Valley, which is awesome!

The note for this month’s box says,

Some Women is the perfect book for the beach, pool, or porch… with the most perfect cover! I instantly fell in love with all three women and felt like they were old friends, I hope you’ll feel the same way, too. Included you’ll find a signed bookplate from Emily plus a really fabulous goodie that was made exclusively for the book! Happy reading! Enjoy! Love, AZ

It’s a book about three different women going through three very different marital troubles, and as I am a married woman, this book intrigues me. I hope that it’s more about friendship and such because I love seeing that kind of thing in books.

So, I just wanted to give a heads up that this is my last Book Drop box that I’ll be getting for a while due to financial reasons, but I think it was a great one to end with for now! Maybe when I don’t feel so strapped I’ll join up again.

What do you think of this month’s box? Have you read the book, and if so tell me your thoughts! Isn’t it cool that they gave out lip gloss this month? I think yes!
April 22, 2016
Beautiful Covers: Black

Hey peeps, welcome to another Beautiful Covers! I’m working my way through the rainbow, so check out the rest of the colors when they come out over the next several weeks! This is the second to last week I’ll be doing for colors, so I hope you check back next week for the last color.

Today’s color is: black!

Black is a tricky color because it can mean totally different things to many different people. It can mean darkness and despair, nighttime, mystery and secrets. I think black covers are quite gorgeous in their own ways, especially when combined with accent colors.

1 . Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Can we just appreciate this cover for a moment? LOOK AT IT. That wing! Those hidden buildings! The font! Everything about this cover screams gorgeous and I think that it’s an eye catcher. Plus, the pages are edged in black, too, so bonus points for that.

2. Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman

Okay, I know this is mostly orange/brown/yellow, BUT it has an undertone of black, so I’m including it here. I love how the colors and shapes and font pop against the dark background and how it really holds true to the theme of a Western without being too over the top.

3. This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

I think this one is a very powerful cover because when you know what the content is about you can make the connection of the shattered pieces of chalk alludes to the characters in the book. I think picking the plain black background with the colorful pieces was an awesome design choice.

4. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

I love this cover so much, ahhhhhh. Again, I love how things stand out against the black background and this is no different. The silhouettes of the two main characters looking back at one another, and then the circus in between… lovely!

5. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

I love this cover, I’ll admit it. I think that it’s simple and stands out against the crowd. When it first came out I thought that it was stunning and that it really piqued my interest. I still think it’s lovely and a good design for the first book as it kind of alludes to what’s “forbidden.”

And there you have it for this week! I actually had an easier time picking out black covers than I did any other color. Weird.

Let me know some of your favorite black covers and what you think of my choices. Do you like it when images pop from a black background, or are you more into the subtle side of things? Let me know!

April 21, 2016
Top 5 Wednesday: Intimidating Books

Welcome to another Top 5 Wednesday as hosted by Sam of Thoughts on Tomes. Today’s topic is about five books that intimidate us when it comes to reading them. I actually did the My Intimidating TBR Tag on my channel last week, so I thought that this would be perfect to mention some of the books from that tag, but also talk about a few different ones.

5. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Why is this one on here? Because it’s such a well known and beloved classic that I’m afraid I’m not going to love it as much as others do. I’ve watched a bunch of movie renditions of Austen’s books, and Pride and Prejudice is definitely my favorite, but I’m still worried I won’t enjoy the book as much because I read Sense and Sensibility by her and it was a lot of old language and kind of hard to get into. But I hope that I enjoy it! This is my smallest book on this list coming in at just under 500 pages long.

4. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Again, another well beloved modern classic, I think, and I’m just intimidated by it because soooo many people like this book. And it’s large. I got the special anniversary edition as soon as I saw it and decided I’m finally going to try reading it. The synopsis sounds awesome and I hope that I like it when I get around to reading it. This one’s 592 pages, which isn’t horrible, but I think it’s just because of how well known and loved it is that makes this intimidating.

3. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Can we just talk for a second about how GINORMOUS this book is? It’s as long as A Game of Thrones. And it doesn’t really even fall into any sort of genre because it’s a mix of romance, historical fiction, fantasy… There’s just a lot going on with this series. And I’ve watched the first episode of the TV show, which really made me want to read the book before watching the series, so I want to try to do that, but this is a time commitment piece. The edition I have is 850 pages long, so there’s that, too.

2. A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin

I’m making it my mission this year to finish this first book in this series. I WILL DO IT, DAMMIT. I’ve been reading this for years now, and I’m almost half way through. I’ve watched the first season of the show, and spoilers run free on the Internet, so I know a lot of things that happen, but I still want to read this series because it is really interesting! I find that even though there’s way too much death and a whole lot of sexual things, it’s still a good series for politics and fantasy read. Just… over 800 pages for the first book alone, and the rest are well over 1000 pages each.

1 . The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

Can we just talk about this book for a second? I got this on audiobook because I’ve seen the MONSTER in stores and thought, “Maybe the audiobook will be better.” Well, I’ve started the audiobook a while ago, and it is interesting and I’m enjoying the narrator and the story so far, but it’s over 45 hours long. Forty. Five. HOURS. And if I had bought this in book form is would have been over 1000 pages long – and this is just the first book in this ongoing series. Talk about a time commitment, but I really love Sanderson’s writing and storytelling, so I hope to finish this eventually. It’s just hard when the only times I really listen to my audiobooks are when I’m driving long distances, which isn’t too often.

And there you have it! I didn’t notice until I was writing out the pages for each book that I wrote it in ascension order. Yup, from the smallest to the biggest, this is what I’m intimidated by. But I’m determined to finish all of these at some point in my life, it’ll just take a while to get there.

Accompanying video: Top 5 Wednesday | Intimidating Books

What are some of the books on your TBR that you’re most intimidated by? How many pages are they? Are they well known and beloved? Let me know!

April 20, 2016
Top Ten Tuesday: Books That’ll Make You Laugh

Welcome to another Top Ten Tuesday as hosted by the lovely people over at The Broke & the Bookish. Today’s topic is all about books that’ll make you laugh. Now, I’m going to be honest: I don’t laugh when I read books. I mean, don’t get me wrong! I think plenty of books are funny and I’m often laughing in my head, but I don’t always laugh out loud. Some books I have recently, and I think it’s the best feeling, but otherwise I just kind of sit there and smile and think something’s funny.

So this list was really hard for me to make because I only remember a few in which I physically laughed out loud to. But here is my list of books that will get a chuckle out of you, no matter how it comes about:

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1 . Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli – This book will forever be listed among the “cute” and “funny” categories for me and I think that it really deserves this spot. It’s not only full of cute moments, but lots of moments where I found myself laughing out loud (and I’m pretty sure this is the first book that I did so with). So much sass. So many puns. So many oreos.

2. Night of Cake and Puppets by Laini Taylor – If you love Zuzana and Mik from Daughter of Smoke & Bone then you’re going to love this novella because OMG SO MUCH LAUGHTER WAS HAD. Zuzana is my spirit animal. She is so funny and witty and clever and you just need to read this novella. Go. Now. DO IT.

3. Their Fractured Light by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner – I just remember Gideon trying so hard to be suave and charming, and he’d say something that would dig him into a deeper hole and in his head he’d chastise himself. Too. Funny.

4. The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare – Honestly, Simon is my ultimate book BFF because he just comes out with these awesome lines that make the situation either really awkward or very sarcastic. I love him. Plus Jace and Isabelle and other characters all have their turn at humor and sass and I love them to piecessssss.

5. The Amazing Book is Not on Fire by Dan Howell and Phil Lester – If you haven’t watched these two YouTubers, I suggest you do so. Dan’s sarcastic humor always makes me laugh and feel so relatable, and then Phil is just a weird goofball. Reading their book, and subsequently listening to the audiobooks, really made my day.

6. The Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews – As I continue into this series more and more I find that there are parts where I’m smiling and laughing on the inside or just getting more of the jokes or whatever because Kate is a really sarcastic person, especially on the inside. I love how she always makes side comments to herself and sometimes it seems like the people around her can read her mind. It’s not a funny series overall, but there are bits of humor throughout to lighten the tension of what’s actually going on.

And that’s all I could think of because I’m literally getting a headache trying to remember the books I’ve laughed at while reading. I just… I can’t remember. In the moment, sure, but now? Oh man.

Oh, and because I can, I’m going to HIGHLY recommend this anime that is a romantic comedy and PURE GOLD.

Ore Monogatari (My Love Story!) is about:

The story follows Takeo Gōda, a tall and muscular student who doesn’t have much luck with women, as every girl he likes ends up falling for his best friend, Makoto Sunakawa, who is charming and good-looking. This all changes when he saves Rinko Yamato, a petite shy girl who, above all other expectations, falls in love with Takeo, beginning a unique love story.

You have no clue how much I love this anime. I just finished watching all of the episodes last night and I’m SO SAD because I NEED more.

So I want to ask all of you for recommendations of funny books! Because obviously I need to know some more.

What kinds of books make you laugh? Are you like me and don’t really laugh out loud when it comes to reading? Let me know!

April 19, 2016