The Pancake Book Tag – Tag Thursday

It is Thursday!! I am so excited, as it is only one more day till the weekend!!! Anyways, time for another book tag my friends! I was tagged by the lovely Kat @ Novels and Waffles to do The Pancake Book Tag. Please do yourself a favor, and check out her absolutely gorgeous blog!!

Let’s get started.

The Rules:

  • Link back to the original creator in your post (Becky @ Blogs of a Bookaholic)
  • Feel free to use any of Becky’s wonderful pancake graphics in your post, or create your own!
  • Tag 5 other people at the end of your post, and let them know you’ve tagged them. 

Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens


This book has a lot of elegant descriptions and prose and I loved it. The descriptions were plenty and the scenery was described eloquently!

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo


Nobody can beat Kaz’s wit and sharpness. He is very calculating, very gloomy, very dark, and is not a guy you want to mess with. He is also super composed, and smart, and I love him so much.

Sammy Keyes and The Hotel Thief by Wendelin Van Draanen


If I had the time, I’d probably re-read all 18 books in this series in one day. I really loved Sammy and all her friends and always had a good laugh while reading her books. Definitely a comforting read that I’ll be re-reading for hopefully many years to come.

I don’t think any book has given me a book hangover?

The Wicked King by Holly Black


I was happy that this book was better. I was excited for Cardan and Jude. I was nervous as the story unfolded. And I was shocked, then in denial by that surprising ending. A lot of different feelings were going through me while reading this book.

Ahahaha, can I put a whole bunch of books? Morally grey characters and anti-heroes are my best friends, so this question has multiple answers.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo: Kaz Brekker and literally all the other MC’s in this book | The Wicked King by Holly Black: Cardan Greenbriar and Jude Duarte | Vicious by V.E. Schwab: Victor Vale | A Spy in the House by Y. S. Lee: James Easton

And I’m going to stop here lol

Into The Water by Paula Hawkins


I was super confused through-out this mystery. A character dies, and we aren’t told if it was suicide or murder, so I was constantly switching back and forth between Theory A in which the character was murdered or Theory B in which it was a suicide. The ending finally explained everything but I was overall underwhelmed and confused by this book.

Hmm, I don’t know for this one. Usually it’s either I love the two characters together, or I don’t like them together at all. So no, I don’t think I’ve come across such a romantic pairing.

First of all, I am completely with Kat and Becky about not liking peanut butter. I really don’t. I had a PB sandwich once (no jam) and was sick all night. So no PB thank you!!

Watching You by Lisa Jewell


Now for a character I found revolting. That honor goes to Tom Fitzgerald. He and his son, and pretty much all the men in this book were repulsive. I still enjoyed it, but they were all nasty and horrible guys.

Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen M. McManus


This book has some amazing diverse characters. There are Asian characters, gay/bisexual characters, and one of the MC’s is also supposedly part Latina.

Tagging/Nominating:

Kay @ Hammock of Books | Meeghan @ Meeghan Reads | Mel @ Mel To The Any | Xandra @ Starry Sky Books | Connie @ Connie Reads | and YOU (if you’d like to do it!)

P.S. No pressure. If you don’t want to do the tag. That’s absolutely fine. If you’ve already done it, please share the link so I can check it out! Also, if you’d like me to stop bombarding you with tags, just let me know 🙂

That’s the end of Tag Thursday! Thank you so much Kat for tagging me!! Have you done The Pancake Book Tag? Who are some character that are super sharp and witty in your opinion? Have you read any of these book? If, so what did you think of them? Let’s chat in the comments below!

Top Ten Tuesday – Favorite Books Released In the Last Ten Years

Hey guys!! It’s time for Top Ten Tuesday!! Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme originally created by The Broke and The Bookish, and is now hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl.

Today’s topic is: Unpopular Bookish Opinions.

I’ve kind of done this before. I did an Unpopular Opinion book tag back in January (check that out here!) and I listed my unpopular opinions regarding books and book related things. Instead of pretty much repeating that post, I’ve decided to do a topic I missed this past month:

Favorite Books Released In the Last Ten Years (one book for each year) (submitted by Anne @ Head Full of Books)

Let’s get started!

*2009:

I don’t have a favorite book that was published in 2009…


*2010:

A Spy in the House by Y.S. Lee


*2011:

I don’t have a favorite book that was published in 2011…


*2012:

I don’t have a favorite book that was published in 2012…


*2013:

Vicious by V. E. Schwab


*2014:

Rivals in the City by Y. S. Lee


*2015:

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo


*2016:

Stalking Jack The Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco


*2017:

Turtles All The Way Down by John Green


*2018:

Watching You by Lisa Jewell


*2019:

No Exit by Taylor Adams

I don’t have any favorite books that were published in the years 2009, 2011, and 2012. This was still very interesting and I’m eager to find out which of your favorite books were published in the past ten years.

What are some of your unpopular bookish opinions? Are any of these books your favorites? Let’s chat in the comments below! (Be sure to link to your TTT’s!)

Monthly Wrap-Up: April 2019

Hi friends! I hope you are having a fantastic Saturday! Today, I’m going to share with you my Monthly Wrap-Up for April 2019.

April has been a great month for me in terms of reading. I’m still ahead on my Goodreads goal, I managed to read a lot more books, and I’ve been catching up with my book tags! I also didn’t take any hiatuses, so that’s also very good! Let’s break everything down!

Books:

Covers are from Goodreads

This month was pretty good for me reading wise. I managed to finish 9 books, which is roughly two books a week which I think is pretty good. Click on the titles to visit my reviews.

Watching You by Lisa Jewell // ★★★★★ One sentence summary: A great mystery with twisted characters and a satisfying end.

Stalking Jack The Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco // ★★★★☆ One sentence summary: An engaging historical mystery with great characters, and an intriguing, yet predictable plot.

Into The Water by Paula Hawkins // ★★★☆☆ One sentence summary: A confusing, yet interesting book with a satisfying ending.

I Found You by Lisa Jewell // ★★★★★ One sentence summary: An intriguing mystery with a slow build-up and a great, yet predictable, ending.

No Exit by Taylor Adams // ★★★★☆ One sentence summary: An action-packed thriller with a determined, and courageous main character.

A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi // ★★★★★ One sentence summary: A cute contemporary romance with an important message.

Turtles All The Way Down by John Green // ★★★★★ One sentence summary: A painful yet amazing read with a great main character. (Review to Come)

I also had, sadly, one DNF. Blanca and Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore. I wasn’t in the mood for it, so I DNF’d. However, I may try to read this some other time.

Total Number of Books Read This Month: 9
Did Not Finish: 1

Tags:

Only two. I did a third one yesterday, but alas, it was already May 2nd. However I’ll sneak it on here anyway…

The Bookish Adventure Tag (Thank you so much Umairah!)

Mystery Blogger Award (Thank you so much Meeghan!)

The Liebster Award (Thank you so much Umairah!)

Great Posts From Around the Blog-O-Sphere:

How To Request ARCs From Publishers, Tips To Succeed & Basic Etiquette – A Guide by Jenn @ Jenniely

let’s whisper // DO YOU GENUINELY LOVE THE CONTENT YOU’RE CREATING AND CONSUMING? by Ilsa @ A Whisper of Ink

#NewBloggersWelcome! Edition #10 + End of Hiatus!!! by Evelina @ Avalinahs Books

Review + Recipe: The Mother-In-Law by Sally Hepworth + Chicken Parm Recipe! by Christina @ Recipe and a Read

Anything Else?

An announcement. Tomorrow’s post is going to be the last one that I’m doing for a while. May is going to be very packed for me, and I’m going to be taking a month long hiatus, starting from tomorrow, till June 10th. On June 10th, I’ll resume my normal blogging schedule! I might still visit blogs and answer comments so feel free to continue sharing!

I did my first discussion post in a looooonnngggg time (I know this discussion was posted on May 3rd aka yesterday, but I had to include it lol). This is my second one ever, and after the amazing positive feedback, I’ve decided to come out of my shell and do more of these! You can check that post out here.

I also reached 100 followers yesterday!!! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!! I’m so happy, thank you all so much, and be sure to check out my mini letter to you guys here ❤❤

That’s A Wrap!

So, April was a lot better for me compared to February and March. I got some more reading done, didn’t take any breaks, and kept up with my blogging schedule (mostly). I think I did more blog hopping as well. Once I’m back from my hiatus, I plan on discovering more new blogs, doing more discussions and interesting posts (because I know doing the same thing every week is boring and that you might be tired of this cause I honestly am), and definitely doing a lot more reading.

And that’s it for this wrap-up! Thank you guys so much for reading, and for helping me reach 100 followers! I’m glad that this was an awesome month, and I’m sad that I can’t be here for May. However, I do hope you have a great month, and I can’t wait to catch up once I’m back!

How was April for you? Did you get as much reading as you wanted done? Anything you’d like to share? Let’s chat in the comments below!

The Liebster Award – Thank You So Much!!

Hey friends! Today, I’m doing The Liebster Award which I was tagged in by the amazing Umairah @ Sereadipity. I’m going to also be shortening the questions/nominees to five, so let’s get started!

Thank you so much Umairah!!

The Rules:

(1) Acknowledge the blog who nominated you and display the award.

(2) Answer the 11 questions the blogger gives you.

(3) Nominate 11 blogs.

(4) Notify those blogs of the nomination.

(5) Give them 11 questions to answer.

P.S. I am reducing the number of nominees / questions to 5.

Questions:

(1) How do you choose which books to read?

Most of the times, I read the summary and if it’s interesting or what I’m look for at the moment, I borrow it from the library. I recently did a Top Ten Tuesday post about what draws me to books which you can check out here. Also, if the book has been recommended to me by a good friend, I’ll definitely read it.

(2) Which three book characters do you wish were real? Why?

Aza Holmes from Turtles All The Way Down by John Green. I want to hug her so much, and tell her that she’s worth the world, to support and help her through all her spirals.

Mary DiNunzio from Accused by Lisa Scottoline. This is part of a series, and I love reading about Mary’s family and legal life. I’d love to meet her, and maybe even be her sidekick during one of her cases!

Josephine March from Little Women by L. M. Montgomery. I loved Jo as a kid. Her adventures, quick temper, and aspirations to be a writer were so much fun for me. I’d love to meet her, and have a chat over a nice cup of tea.

(3) Which themes or tropes do you dislike in a book? Why?

I really really don’t like insta-love because most of the time, it is not used right. The characters are usually flat, the romance even flatter, and it can ruin great books.

I also hate it when the good guys are White and the bad guys are Black. It does NOT sit well with me. Thankfully, I’ve only read one book in which something like that happened.

Another theme that I dislike, is when the MC realizes that the organization that has raised him/her his/her whole life is evil, they decide to get revenge. It’s so overused, and I avoid it, unless it seems like there’ll be a unique story behind it.

(4) Who are your top three favorite authors? Why?

Jennifer Lynn Barnes. She is an amazing author and I love most of her female MC’s. They’re strong, sassy and amazing and I really love her mysteries.

Lisa Scottoline. I love her legal mysteries/thrillers and her Rosato and DiNunzio series in particular.

Lisa Jewell. I’ve read only two books by her and I’m loving her work so far. I’m definitely going to explore the rest of her books and read more.

(5) What do you think is more important in a book, well-developed characters or a gripping plot?

I think a gripping plot is overall more important in a book, but both are needed for a good story. If the plot is very good and very gripping, then I can usually overlook or hate the characters less. If the book has no plot, or a very bad one but with well-developed characters, then it’s just blah, slow, and a waste of time. I’ll probably hate that more because I would feel like the characters didn’t get the story they deserved.

Questions:

1)What’s your favorite pastime when you aren’t reading or blogging?

2)What’s your go to genre?

3)How many books do you plan on reading this year?

4)Which three characters would you love to switch places with for a day? Why?

5)Share a fun fact about yourself.

Tagging/Nominating:

The Reading Chemist | Crystal @ Paper Royalty | Xandra @ Starry Sky Books | Sara @ My Year of Reading Dangerously | Meeghan @ Meeghan Reads and Bakes

P.S. No pressure. If you don’t want to do the tag that’s absolutely fine, and if you’ve already done it, please share the link so I can check it out!

WWW Wednesday #18

Welcome back to WWW Wednesday! I hope you’re having an awesome day! WWW Wednesday is a meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words.

The Three W’s are:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

Let’s get started!

All covers are from Goodreads

What I Just Finished:

I finished I Found You late Wednesday last week and I really enjoyed it. The slow reveal of how the three stories tied together was wonderful and I really liked Alice, one of the main characters. Review

Instead of reading Blanca and Roja over the weekend, I read No Exit by Taylor Adams. This was thrilling, quite graphic (I felt the pain that the characters were in), and I liked the steely resolve of the main character Darby. This was a five star though I might move it down to a four. Review will hopefully be up on Friday!

Last night, I was feeling pretty nostalgic, so I re-read a book from one of my favorite espionage series from when I was younger, Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy by Ally Carter. This is the second book in the series, and I will not be doing a formal review. However, you can read some of my thoughts on Goodreads here.

What I’m Currently Reading:

I am currently trying to get in to Blanca and Roja. I don’t think it’s for me, and if it doesn’t pick up soon, I might have to put this on the side for now.

What I Plan To Read Next:

Next, I’m reading Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. I’ve seen a lot of great reviews about how amazing this is, and I hope I love it!

That’s it for this Wednesday! What are you reading? Do you have any thoughts on any books that I’m reading, just finished, or want to read next? Let’s chat in the comments below! (Be sure to link to your WWW’s!)