A Weekly Reading Log | July 2020

July 27, 2020July 26, 2020 meltotheanyAside30 Comments

Hey, friends! Okay, this post you’re about to read brought me a lot of joy to make (and a lot of time and effort)! Basically, before I went to bed each night last week, I updated all about my reading for the day! Honestly? I found it so therapeutic feeling that if I find more free time in my life, I might try to do it each night and not just for a week long blog update! But if you were curious what I was up to last week, and you want to see my maybe strange attempt at not getting fomo for not daily vlogging a certain readathon, then I have a long-winded treat for you!

TOBICgi

➽ Day One
Pages Read: 161
Books Finished: 0
Currently Reading: Where Dreams Descend (20%) & Girl, Serpent, Thorn (20%)

I started both of my buddy read books on the first day of the week! I’m actually enjoying both of them, but I’m not instantly in love with either of them! We truly read the first act of WDD and it felt like the perfect setting up of a story, and I genuinely believe tomorrow I will be able to know what I’m feeling a bit better, but I have some really high hopes for a magical competition in a brand new city! As for GST, I’m really enjoying how it feels like a whimsical fairytale, and the writing is very lush and beautiful, but I just want to know everything about the girl in the dungeons! 💕

➽ Day Two
Pages Read: 357
Books Finished: 1 (Fence, Vol. 3 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)
Currently Reading: Where Dreams Descend (40%), Girl, Serpent, Thorn (40%), The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics (25%)

I was able to read so much today, it was a bit wild! Basically, after work me and Maëlys watched the newest Run BTS episode, and then we just read for hours! I am not loving GST as much as I was yesterday, but I think I’m just really antsy for the sapphics to win, you know? We TLGTCM is truly everything and the sapphics were winning right from the start! Also, just love all the social commentary about women in STEM all throughout history! I also love the discovery of sexuality and the angst that is already brewing! Then I spent too much money on BTS’ Memories 2019, but it made me so very happy! WDD still feels very much like it is setting up the story and introducing us to all the characters, but I won’t lie, I didn’t really love what I read today, so I’m a little scared! Then I finished my reread of Fence, Vol. 3 right before bed, so I could feel all happy and refreshed with this world and these character that I love before I start Vol. 4! Lastly, before bed, I worked on some blog posts for August! Today was a really good day and a really good reading day! 🎶

➽ Day Three
Pages Read: 217
Books Finished: 0
Currently Reading: Where Dreams Descend (60%), Girl, Serpent, Thorn (60%), The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics (25%)

Today was such an exciting mail day because I got a Sephora order AND some BTS books! I did an unboxing on my BTS channel for the books, too, so it was just happy times all around with my favorite combination (books and BTS)! We also announced the Dragons & Tea August book club pick! GST is for sure taking many, many twists and I hope to fall even more in love with it tomorrow! WDD was more intriguing today, but I still feel like the set up of everything is so loud and noticeable to me, and it’s really messing with my enjoyment a bit. I truly feel like I should be so in love with this, and it’s making me sad that I’m not. But I finished my reading night with a read in with Isabella and it was really fun and I hope we are able to do it more during this week! 📚

➽ Day Four
Pages Read: 287
Books Finished: 0
Currently Reading: Where Dreams Descend (80%), Girl, Serpent, Thorn (80%), The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics (66%)

The cover reveal for Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi dropped and it is the most perfect and beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life! Also, new Halo and Fable trailers from Xbox? My personality traits are quaking right now! I also did an ASMR room read in with Lea and it was everything! I’ll be honest, the reading today was a little questionable. Both, WDD & GST are letting me down, and it makes me heart a little sad. I’m not disliking either, but oh my gosh I wanted so much more. I’m praying tomorrow really wows me and I can finish them both on a happy note! But what me and Maëlys read today of TLGTCM was everything and I am so in love! My June Fairyloot arrived this afternoon, so I spent an hour setting up and filming a IGTV ASMR unboxing! And, as always, Thursdays are Critical Role night, so I watched that with my friend while we played some video games! 👾

➽ Day Five
Pages Read: 186
Books Finished: 2 (Girl, Serpent, Thorn ⭐⭐ & Where Dreams Descend ⭐⭐⭐)
Currently Reading: The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics (75%)

Me and Maëlys finished GST first thing this afternoon, but sadly neither of us loved it. I was really hoping the ending would win us both over, but most the characters just felt so insufferable and their actions felt so questionable. Later in the night, I finished WDD, and it also let me down a bit and I feel bad. It was for sure more enjoyable than GST for me, but I just couldn’t really get invested with the story and characters, even though I loved the setting and descriptions! But in happier news, officially peaches season here, so I ate too many yummy peaches today! And I ended the night exfoliating my face like I haven’t all month, and then using sheet masks and truly treating my skin how it deserves to be treated! 🍑

➽ Day Six
Pages Read: 244
Books Finished: 2 (The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics ⭐⭐⭐⭐ & Fence, Vol. 4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐)
Currently Reading: Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire (50%)

Woke up and watched Fake Love compilations with Lea, and then I started reading the new Wayward Children book with Maëlys and Destiny! I’m really enjoying it, and it stars an intersex main character, which is representation I feel like I never read about and it made me so very happy! I am very excited to finish the last half tomorrow! Also, horse girls are extra going to love this one! After reading that in the early afternoon, I watched lots of League of Legends, which always makes me feel so much joy. A bit later, I finished TLGTCM, which I really loved and I really loved the themes of reclaiming things, finding safety and comfort, and figuring out the person you want to be at any age! And I really loved the f/f romance, obviously, too! Maybe I do like historical stories…. sometimes! And then, once it got a bit darker and a lot cooler, I went outside and finished Fence, Vol. 4! ☀️

➽ Day Seven
Pages Read: 356
Books Finished: 2 (Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire ⭐⭐⭐⭐ & Witchy by Ariel Slamet Ries ⭐⭐⭐⭐)
Currently Reading: The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang (50% – bby, i missed you)

Oh, what a wild ending to this readathon! I feel like this week went by so very quickly, but I feel like they always do (especially quarantine weeks, let’s be real)! I ended up finishing ATGGF pretty quickly in the morning, and I really enjoyed it and really enjoyed the portal world of this book, too! I was a little scared after not loving Come Tumbling Down, but now I’m even more excited to see what comes next in the series! Lastly, I decided I did want to try to get the seven books badge (before a certain live show happened, zzz)! So, I picked up the graphic novel Witchy, because I just received it in an OwlCrate box! And oh my word, I really enjoyed it and it was such a perfect way to end the week! I’m also very proud that I was able to read everything on my TBR! 💗

(we love a visual representation, from a poorly made website)

Lastly (and in case you couldn’t tell what this daily reading update was for), I want to say that this will probably be the last Reading Rush I take part in, because I want to use my voice and platforms to boost voices and people who prove they care about marginalized voices and the Reading Rush just constantly proves they don’t. But anygays, whew! 1,800 pages and 7 books? I’ll take it, truly! hehe! I hope you all enjoyed seeing daily glimpses of this wild week! I just hope you were kind to yourselves and had happy reading this week! I love you, friends! 💖

The Reading Rush TBR | 2020

July 20, 2020July 19, 2020 meltotheanyAside34 Comments

Hosted by: Ariel Bissett & Raeleen Lemay
During: July 20th – 26th

Hey, friends! 💗 I’ve been debating back and forth for the last couple weeks about doing this readathon or not, just because I’m still so unsure of so much about my place in the book community. But I also thought that maybe this would be a good step in finding that place again. I will not be vlogging because I am 100% not ready to make bookish videos again, but I’ve been so happy on bookstagram lately, and I truly think I’ve found my hunger and love for reading again, so I think I’m just going to lowkey participate on insta (while also trying to read all the books!) But all this long-winded-ness being said, this is my tentative TBR that is 100% not set in stone (besides the buddy reads), but I am excited to hopefully read many things this week, while maybe doing a little more healing, too!

➽ 1/ Read a book with a cover that matches the color of your birth stone:
Across the Green Grass Fields (Wayward Children, #6) by Seanan McGuire
My birthday is actually next month, and August’s birth stone is peridot! And with this range on green on the cover? It has to be there, somewhere! 💚

➽ 2/ Read a book that starts with the word “The”:
The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics (Feminine Pursuits #1) by Olivia Waite

This has been calling to me more and more and I really need to work on my “must read of 2020” list, too! This just seems like the perfect pick right now for me! Plus, if I fall in love? Book two comes out on the 28th! ❤️

➽ 3/ Read a book that inspired a movie you’ve already seen:
Where Dreams Descend (Kingdom of Cards #1) by Janella Angeles

This might be a tiny bit of a reach, but so many early reviewers have compared this and the inspiration to Phantom of the Opera meets Moulin Rouge, which I’ve seen both, so… excuse me while I make this reach. (Also, extra excited to read this one with May & Lea!) 💕

➽ 4/ Read the first book you touch:
I am highkey unsure what to think of this question. Am I supposed to put out different options for this challenge? Or am I just going to put out my current TBR and whichever one I touch first will be the one I start first? Much to think about.

➽ 5/ Read a book completely outside of your house:
Fence, Vol. 3 & Rivals (4) by C.S. Pacat & Johanna the Mad

First off, we are still under quarantine (especially my tri-state Nevada, Arizona, California self, whew) AND it is 120F/49C out most days! But I do really still try to go outside and hang out in my yard for at least 15 mins a day, so I’m going to risk it all and try to read these two installments during the week! I have already read volume 3, but I never go around to reviewing it! Plus, I just want a recap anyways! I just purchased Rivals and I’m so excited to be back inside one of my favorite graphic novel worlds!

➽ 6/ Read a book in a genre that you’ve always wanted to read more of:
Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust

We are just gonna say that this pick is because I always want to read more sapphic lit & stories inspired by different mythologies! But I’m mostly picking this one just because I need a queer buddy read with Romie! 💝

➽ 7/ Read a book that takes place on a different continent than where you live:
Am I going to cheat and pick one of these fantasy books that are not only only different continents, but also different worlds and/or planes of existences? Perhaps. (I honestly do think The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics is set in England, but I’m not positive!)

Oh, and extra cute news: Maëlys is the best and going to also be buddy reading all of these with me this week! And… I’m really hoping that we enjoy them all! Are you participating the the 2020 Reading Rush? If so, let me know, and link me to your TBRS! I would love to read and watch and see them, and to wish you luck! And I’m always wishing you all happy reading! Oh and here is my profile, if you’d like to connect during this readathon, too! Okay friends, I love you! Good luck! 💗

The Reading Rush TBR | 2019

Starry Eyes by Jenn Bennett

September 16, 2019September 11, 2019 meltotheanyAside10 Comments

Goodreads | Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

“A map of us. It’s years in the making, and it’s messy and convoluted, some of it even tragic. But I wouldn’t change the route, because we walked it together, even when we were apart. And the best part about it is that it’s unfinished. Uncertainty isn’t always a bad thing. Sometimes it can even be filled with extraordinary potential.”

Best YA Contemporary I’ve read all year? Yes. Best YA Contemporary I’ve read ever? Perhaps. From the beautiful romance, to the masterful different family dynamic depictions, to just having a story that made me smile on almost every page. Friends, this made my heart so very happy, and now I just want to read any and everything that Jenn Bennett has written and will write.

Basically, this is a story about two families, who live right next to each other, who also have places of business right next to each other. One family is two sapphic women and their son, who own a sex shop, unapologetically. And the other family owns some sort of health medical practice, where the father is embarrassed to be so close to a sex shop, while the mother and daughter do not care in the slightest. The families used to be close with one another, but a secret falling out has led to them not speaking at all. But, friends, I promise you, this is the best boy next door story I’ve read maybe ever.

➽ Zorie – Obsessed with all things astronomy, and even though she has been isolating herself from her old friends, when she gets the opportunity to go glamping with them, she takes it as an opportunity to shoot the stars and accepts. Zorie is also dealing with a probable secret that her father has been harboring, when she unexpectedly gets some of his mail.

➽ Lennon – Biracial, nerdy, and so very into hiking and camping. And because of a sudden unexpected turn of events, he is also going on the glamping trip, even though him and Zorie haven’t spoken as friends in a long while.

You all probably see where this is going, but what I didn’t see coming is them getting lost in the woods and becoming somewhat dependent on one another to survive. I for sure wouldn’t say this is a survival story, but there are some high risks that really kept me on the edge of my seat.

But obviously romance blooms and I couldn’t get enough of this story. I was honestly swooning, and the chemistry between these two characters was utter perfection while also being so damn believable. Also, this book was so sex positive! And I was completely living for it! Normalize healthy and consensual sex in YA, thank you! And thank you Jen Bennett, because she totally delivered in Starry Eyes.

I also want to touch upon Zorie’s relationship with her stepmother, because it was truly the best adoption relationship I’ve ever read in all my years. Joy was honestly the best side character; she’s Korean, she’s kind, and she’s the mother of my dreams, honestly. No spoilers, but when she told Zorie that she was the reason…. I cried so hard. Blood will only ever just be blood, and blood has nothing to do with who you claim as your parent, and this book honestly is five stars alone because of Joy and Zorie’s relationship. Again, my heart is so very full.

Overall, this book really just brought me so much bliss. It touched upon so many hard-hitting topics, the relationship dynamics were so expertly done, the family (both blood and found) was beyond words perfect, and the romance still has me weak in the knees. Seriously, I know I made this joke 102 times on Booktube, but I want to buy a tent and a rainstorm with Park Jimin. Okay. Pick up this book. Love you all, bye.

Content and Trigger Warnings: Ophidiophobia (fear of snakes), loss of a parents in the past, infidelity of a side character, talk of suicide, homophobia (always in a negative light), and grief depiction.

July 2019 Wrap Up

August 5, 2019 meltotheanyAside27 Comments

WrapUp7
Holy moly, friends, the Reading Rush really came through and boosted my books read stat for the year! I was able to read nine things last week, which was half of everything I read for the entire month! And, way more importantly, I read so many four and five star reads and I feel so very blessed with all the amazing stories I consumed this month!

➽ Lock Every Door by Riley Sager ⭐⭐⭐

➽ Darkdawn (The Nevernight Chronicle #3) by Jay Kristoff ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

➽ The Black Veins (Dead Magic #1) by Ashia Monet ⭐⭐⭐⭐

➽ Love From A to Z by S.K. Ali ⭐⭐⭐⭐

➽ Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie (Modern Faerie Tales #2) by Holly Black ⭐⭐

➽ Her Royal Highness (Royals #2) by Rachel Hawkins ⭐⭐⭐

➽ Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren ⭐⭐

➽ Say You Still Love Me by K.A. Tucker ⭐⭐⭐

➽ The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

➽ Normal People by Sally Rooney ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

➽ Beauty and the Beast Girl by neji ⭐⭐⭐

➽ Starry Eyes by Jenn Bennett ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

➽ Save Me – BTS Webtoon (The Most Beautiful Moment in Life 0) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

➽ All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells ⭐⭐⭐⭐

➽ 10 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston ⭐⭐⭐⭐

➽ River of Teeth (River of Teeth #1) by Sarah Gailey ⭐⭐⭐⭐

➽ Foolish Hearts by Emma Mills ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

➽ The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow ⭐⭐⭐⭐

➽ The Tea Dragon Festival (Tea Dragon #2) by Katie O’Neill ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Okay, loves! I think that is everything! I promise to get so many of these reviews out soon! I didn’t even open Word during last week’s madness, but I promise to tackle my outstanding reviews-to-write list very soon! I love you all, and I hope you’re having the happiest of reading!