#Emojiathon Plans | Spring 2018 Round

YOU GUYS.

I am super pumped because EmojiAThon comes back next month! 

I've always been intrigued to join but it's always fallen on times when I was either way too busy or had already committed to another readathon so I wasn't able to join. This time around I'm free and I can't wait to hop in on the fun! EmojiAThon takes place during the entire month of March and the aim of the readathon is to complete as many challenges that correlate to each emoji as possible. 

The hosts have created a fun BINGO board this round (above!) so you can also try to make as many BINGOs with your reading as possible throughout the month. I love when readathons are game-ified so of course I will be attempting to get as many as possible! I've picked a book to correspond to each of the 25 challenges. Of course, there's no way I'm going to get through 25 books in the month of March, but in order to make this experience a fun challenge I decided to pick a 25 book TBR to see just how many BINGOs I can get! 

A few things about how my TBR will work for EmojiAThon:

• You might notice that a couple of books are already checked off on the board. There are four titles that the hosts are asking you to read because they are their favorite books. In Dylan's announcement video, he mentioned that if you have already read these books, you can just check them off. I've surprisingly already read 3 of those titles already so I'm starting with 3 books already checked off of my TBR. WOO! 

• I do have a couple of books that I'm DEFINITELY planning on getting to in the month of March, either because they're a buddy read, a part of my 10 Book TBRs, or a part of my series read throughs. These books are going to be prioritized. I have noted the books that I'm DEFINITELY going to read by highlighting them in yellow.

• Once my priority books are done, I'm going to look at my board to see how I can fit in as many BINGOs as possible before the month is over. My priority books didn't land in a row anywhere on the board, so I'll have to read at least one extra book in order to make at least one BINGO!

Now that all of that is out of the way, here's my TBR BINGO board!

TACO - Dylan's favorite book - We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson (already read)

SHRUG - A book you haven't gotten to and you don't know why - Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

BRAIN - A mental illness book - Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia

BALL - A book involving sports - The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic

CAR - A book involving travel - Eat Only When You're Hungry by Lindsay Hunger

TWO DANCERS - A buddy read - Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Steifvater (buddy read with Michael)

AVOCADO - Brittany's favorite book - The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls (already read)

CAUTION - A book you're cautious to start - Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (buddy read with Anita)

GRAD CAP - A nonfiction book - The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace by Jeff Hobbs

PEACE SIGN - A diverse book - A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

HEADPHONES - An audiobook - Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

CAMERA - A book that has been adapted - Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

BOOKS - Free space! Read whatever you want - Church of Marvels by Leslie Parry

WIZARD - A fantasy book - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling (buddy read with Michael)

PHONE - An eBook - The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes

TALKING HEAD - A book everyone is telling you to read - Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

HOURGLASS - A book you're in the middle of - Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

GRANDMA - A book that's older than you - The Long Walk by Stephen King

PURPLE HEART - Jay's favorite book - Keep Her Safe by K.A. Tucker

SUNGLASSES - A book by an indie/unknown author - The Kitchen Daughter by J.A. McHenry

ALIEN - A science fiction book - Obsidio by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff (buddy read with Michael)

DETECTIVE - A mystery or a thriller - The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin by Josh Berk

PAINT PALETTE - A book with your favorite color on the cover - The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

18 - A smutty/new adult book - The 8 Mistakes of Amy Maxwell by Heather Balog

POOP - Chelsea's favorite book - The Hating Game by Sally Thorne (already read)

I'm planning to vlog throughout the month (as I always do with readathons), but instead of my normal vlog where I take you around everywhere, it will be more of a vlog-style monthly reading wrap up. So you'll get one big vlog at the end of the month! I also am planning to do blog updates on my progress each week (similar to how I updated for The Reading Quest back in the summer) so stay tuned here to see how I'm doing! I hope you all join in on this amazing readathon because I think it's going to be a lot of fun. :)

#EmojiAThon Plans Video:

#EmojiAThon on Twitter

HOSTS:

Chelsea

Dylan

Jay

Brittany

Vlog: #ViewAThon Round 2

Last week was the second round of the #ViewAThon! ViewAThon is a super-casual week of watching TV and movies that fulfill certain challenges that I host over on Twitter, and while I didn't have the most successful week of watching TV and movies, keeping up with the participants, and vlogging my experience, I definitely keep learning new things about what might be best for this little project of mine and how I could potentially improve it for the future. I've taken lots of mental notes and I hope to do another round in the future that is bigger, better, and much more fun! Be on the look out in a few months for the return of ViewAThon becuase your girl HAS SOME IDEAS! For now, here's my vlog from last week. I hope you enjoy! :)

10 Book TBR #2

I'm coming to the end of my first 10 Book TBR, so it's time to compile another! I am really liking this new system of picking out which books I want to read in the future. It is extremely low-pressure, which is what I wanted this year, and I'm having fun taking my time with each book! This next stack has a LOT of books that I've been meaning to get to for a very long time, so I'm definitely looking forward to getting through this stack! Here's what I picked out for 10 Book TBR #2:

1. Kindle eBook: Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

2. TBR Jar Book: 2 AM at the Cat's Pajamas by Marie-Helene Bertino

3. Book of the Month Book: Eat Only When You're Hungry by Lindsay Hunter

4. Re-read: The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

5. The Rosie Project by Grahame Simsion

6. Church of Marvels by Leslie Parry

7. More Than This by Patrick Ness

8. Eliza and Her Monsters by Fancesca Zappia

9. A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

10. My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows, and Brodi Ashton

Book Review: With Malice

It's been a while since I've done a written book review here on my blog! I don't have a set system on how I decide which books to review. It's usually a gut feeling on when I feel like I have more to say about a book than I could fit into a monthly reading wrap up. I got this feeling when I read With Malice by Eileen Cook last weekend, so it's time for my first written book review since September!

With Malice is a young adult mystery thriller about Jill who goes on a trip to Italy but wakes up in the hospital back in the United States without any memory of the trip and is accused of murdering her best friend, Simone, by intentionally causing a car accident. Jill, who is the narrator of this story, has severe memory loss, making her extremely unreliable. She has no idea what actually happened, and when she starts to regain memory, she's unsure if they are her actual memories or if they are images of what people are telling her could have happened. A lot of readers really dislike the trope of the unreliable narrator, but I personally love it and thought it really worked for this story.

You can really tell that Eileen Cook was extremely inspired by the Amanda Knox case for this story. I'm fairly familiar with the ins and outs of Amanda Knox's story and the parallels between that case and With Malice are glaringly obvious. With Malice features a media frenzy around the case, a story line of Jill falling in love with an Italian local, the criticism of how the police in the story are mishandling evidence.... There's even a reference to the international school in Perugia that Knox attended at the time of the murder of her roommate. If you're familiar with the Knox case, the parallels are extremely hard to ignore. While these parallels did bring me out of the story a bit, they did not annoy me as much as I thought they might. I can see how if I didn't know Amanda Knox's story I would be much more invested in the story. I think that's my only major criticism of this book.

I really enjoyed how throughout the book the reader is in the shoes of Jill and you don't really know what's the truth and what is fabricated. Every other chapter contains police interviews, testimonies from people who were around Jill and Simone on their trip to Italy, television reports of the accident, and excerpts from a blog called "Justice for Simone". There is quite a bit of he said/she said throughout the story which really keeps the reader guessing throughout which I really enjoyed. Even though I guessed about every possible theory, I don't think I was ever sure what the answer was until it was finally revealed to us.

AND THAT ENDING THOUGH. Eileen Cook did something really interesting with the ending that is really hard to describe. It really did take me by surprise even though the ending turned out to be something that isn't totally shocking and the reader would probably guess the correct outcome at some point during their reading experience. I guess I was just impressed by the fact that I was never actually what the outcome would actually be until the very last second. Cook keeps you on the hook the entire time and because of that, the outcome just kind of turns your stomach. I really appreciated that Cook was able to do that to me as a reader because that's fairly difficult to pull off in a thriller.

Overall, I've rated With Malice...

4/5 Stars!

Have you read With Malice? If so, what did you think?

Let me know in the comments!

Vlog: #ContemporaryAThon Round 2

Last week I took part in the second round of the #ContemporaryAThon! I absolutely love this readathon. It's super laid back and it gives you the opportunity to read some really fun and light books which is always a great time! I had a really successful week of reading and actually got my whole TBR completed! I also complained a lot about the cold and watched a lot of the Olympics. Basically staying true to my brand. 

Thanks to Chelsea, Julie, and Natasha for another wonderful round of ContemporaryAThon! 

Cannot wait for another one. :)

#ViewAThon Round 2 To Be Watched

Next week kicks off the second round of #ViewAThon! I'm excited to cuddle up with my blankets and a warm drink and catch up on some of the TV & movies that I've been meaning to get to recently! Here are the things that I'm hoping to carve out some time to watch next week and the challenges that they correspond with:
1. A TV show or movie made in the 90's Cool Runnings (1993)
2. A TV show or movie set in a different country The Propaganda Game (2015)
3. A film with magical elements Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
4. A live event PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics
5. A TV show or movie you haven't watched in 5+ years Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
6. Let a friend pick something for you to watch Supernatural (2005)
7. A TV show or movie featuring one of your favorite actors Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016)
8. A book to movie or TV adaptation The Handmaid's Tale (2017)
9. Buddy watch a TV show or movie The Challenge: Vendettas (2018)
10. Catch up on a TV series that you're currently in the middle of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017)

Book Unhaul #1

I've seen Book Unhauls floating around BookTube since I started making BookTube videos, but I never really wanted to make one of my own. For some reason, it kind of feels like you need to sit there and justify why you're getting rid of certain books and defend yourself and your decisions which just doesn't sound fun to me. I do like to share what I'm doing with my book collection, though, so I thought maybe doing a periodic blog post talking about the books I'm clearing off of my shelf would be the best venue to do so! These are the books that I'm getting rid of for this round, and I'm breaking these into 3 categories: 

1. Books I've read that I won't likely re-read

2. Books that I'm no longer interested in reading

3. Other (which will include an explanation of why I'm getting rid of it)

BOOKS I'VE READ BUT WON'T LIKELY RE-READ

5 to 1 by Holly Bodger

Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois

Stitches by David Small

Swing Time by Zadie Smith

BOOK I'M NO LONGER INTERESTED IN READING

The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
Not that Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham
The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
Blueprints for Building Better Girls by Elissa Schappel
2095 by Jon Scieszka
The Good, the Bad, and the Goofy by Jon Scieszka

The Not-So-Jolly Roger by Jon Scieszka

OTHER

Choose Your Own Autobiography by Neil Patrick Harris
I'll likely get this on audiobook and listen to it instead!

Harry Potter Re-Read & Re-Watch Reviews #1: Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone

I'm SUPER excited to kick off this new video series Brett and I are working on - Harry Potter Re-Read and Re-Watch Reviews! As you might know, I'm rereading the Harry Potter series all the way through in 2018, the first time I've done this since the books were released. I'm reading one book a month until I get through them, and Brett and I are re-watching the movies after I finish each book!

In the month of January I re-read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Brett and I re-watched Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. We talk about our reactions to the book and the movie and also chat a bit about our excitement to continue this project of ours. We're both looking forward to revisiting the story of Harry Potter in it's entirety, and we will be back next month with a review of Chamber of Secrets for you all! :)

#ContemporaryAThon Round 2 TBR!

HOORAY FOR THE RETURN OF #CONTEMPORARYATHON! :D
One of the most fun and laid-back readathons that I've participated in is coming back next week and I am thrilled that I'll be able to participate! This round will be taking place between February 12th and February 18th and is hosted by the lovely Julie, Chelsea, and Natasha. ContemporaryAThon does have reading challenges to help you build your TBR, but they're completely optional. The only rule is to just read contemporary! :) Let me know if you plan to participate in the comments - I highly recommend that you do!
ContemporaryAThon Round 2 TBR (& the challenges they fulfill)
The Hating Game by Sally Thorne 1. Newest contemporary to your shelf 2. A contemporary that was recommended to you
With Malice by Eileen Cook 3. A dark/taboo contemporary
The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon 4. A diverse contemporary 5. A hyped contemporary 6. A contemporary with pink on the cover
Honor Girl by Maggie Thrash 7. A contemporary graphic novel

Recent Favorites ♥ Fall 2017 & Winter 2018

I used to make seasonal favorites posts, but here's the thing: my favorite things don't tend to change all that often. I rend to stick to the things I like and those tend to stay the same for a long period of time. That makes it hard to do favorites posts on a regular basis, unless you like seeing the same things over and over again, which I'm guessing most people don't. ANYWAY. It's been quite a bit since I've made a post talking about my favorite things, so I thought it would be good to talk about the things I've been loving over the past 6 months or so!

1. MONSTER JUICE (specifically Pipeline Punch & Mango Loco)

Brett and I are absolutely obsessed with these. While energy drinks are pretty terrible for you, and generally speaking, I don't really like the taste of them, these energy drinks are BOMB. They're basically soda but the flavors are SO GOOD and are honestly so satisfying. They are quite sugary, but that's okay in my book because I have such a huge sweet tooth. If you're in the market for a new energy drink, I highly recommend giving these a try.

2. SAILOR J

HANDS DOWN ABSOLUTE FAVORITE NEW YOUTUBER. Sailor J makes 2 minute trolly videos and I am OBSESSED. My favorites that she's put out so far are her zodiac videos and her Hogwarts house videos. I'm just waiting for her to drag Tauruses and Gryffindors! Highly recommend her videos. Here's a couple to get you started:

3. CROCKPOT COOKING

Over the past few months I've been getting really into using the crock pot. I just really love the ability to prep, start cooking, then go about my day for hours until it's dinner time. We've been doing some really easy chicken and veggie recipes, but we've also been a big fan of this honey garlic chicken recipe and this creamy chicken recipe as well. Soooo delicious!

4. LAST MINUTE TRIPS

This is one of the coolest webseries that I've ever stumbled across. I love Julien Solomita's vlogs and when I found out that he and his friend started a project where they literally throw a dart at a map of the United States then travel to that location in THE SAME DAY, I was instantly fascinated. I get so excited when they release a new episode and I cannot wait for them to make more. Here's a look into one of their trips:

 

5. AMERICAN CRIME STORY: THE PEOPLE VS. OJ SIMPSON

HOLY SHIT is this a good show! I'm a big fan of True Crime stories and the way this series is done is just so compelling. I was a really small child when this case was going on, so while I do remember this being talked about a LOT in the media, I of course didn't understand most of what was happening. I'm learning so much about this case and the way that this series is done just HOOKS you. I'm almost done (I've been watching it on the treadmill at the gym) and I can't wait to see how they wrap everything up.

6. AMERICAN VANDAL

Speaking of True Crime, this is probably one of the best parodies of it that I've ever seen. American Vandal pokes fun at a few of the more recent True Crime media sensations (Serial, Making a Murderer, etc.) and it had me in giggle fits the whole time. I really hope they continue the series because honestly, it's genius. If you like dumb humor like me, you'll really appreciate this show.

7. DARK MATTER BY BLAKE CROUCH

This is one of the only books in a LONG time where I've thought "Wow, this is a good book" while I've been reading. This book was fantastic and I had a blast while reading it. It has to do with the multiverse theory and it kept me flipping the pages as fast as I can while keeping me on the edge of my seat. This is the rare occurrence where I wish a stand alone novel was a series, which is saying a lot for me because usually series tend to frustrate me if I don't think they're necessary. Totally recommend if you're looking for a fast-paced read.

8. CINDY GUENTERT-BALDO

Cindy is SUCH A BREATH OF FRESH AIR in the planner video community. She is hilarious, raw, and 100% herself and I just absolutely love it. A lot of planner people try to give off this ~perfect life~ vibe or get so frustrated if their planner doesn't look perfect and Cindy just embraces the mess which I absolutely love. I also really admire her artistic and lettering skills. Her bullet journal is just so fun to look at and binging her planner videos while I'm working on my own bujo is so much fun!

9. RTIC TUMBLER

My parents got this tumbler for me at Christmas and I am obsessed. It's one of those cups that keeps your drink hot or cold for an extended period of time and I've been absolutely loving using it for my coffee because I always drink it SO SLOW. I love that I have something that will keep my drinks at the right temperature so I'm not sipping on a luke warm beverage.

10. AT-HOME ICED COFFEE

Kind of going along the beverage theme, I've been really loving making my own iced coffee at home! It saves me some extra time in the morning so I don't need to stop at Dunks, and when I throw it in my tumbler it stays cold FOREVER! It's the best and I'm kicking myself a bit for not starting to use this system of iced coffee in the morning a bit sooner.

#ViewAThon Round 2 Announcement!

#ViewAThon is returning for a second round! HOORAY! 

Join me for a week of watching all the TV and movies that you've been *meaning* to get to but haven't been able to make the time for. Round 2 will be taking place February 19-25, 2018. This event is super low-key and is aimed at folks who, like me, don't prioritize watching TV & movies outside of their comfort zone. There's challenges you can fulfill and a great community on Twitter to chat with during the week. I highly recommend you join in because it's going to be a ton of fun! :)

CHALLENGES FOR ROUND 2

1. A TV show or movie made in the '90s

2. A TV show or movie set in a different country

3. A film with magical elements

4. A live event

5. A TV show or movie you haven't watched in 5+ years

6. Let a friend pick something for you to watch

7. A TV show or movie featuring one of your favorite actors

8. A book to movie or TV adaptation

9. Buddy watch a TV show or movie

10. Catch up on a TV series that you're currently in the middle of

Let me know in the comments if you'll be joining in! :)

January 2018 Reading Wrap Up!

Is it me or did January feel like it lasted an entire year? It seems like SO MUCH HAPPENED in January. Either way, I got a ton of reading done this month and have already found some new favorite books! As a heads up, I'm not giving half- and quarter-star ratings anymore this year. I've been finding that I've been splitting hairs too much when it comes to my rating and at the end of the day, ratings really don't mean that much to me. I'm looking forward to stressing less about ratings and enjoying my books a bit more! :D

*VIDEO CORRECTION: I misspoke when I was talking about 5 to 1 and mentioned that is was written in prose. I MEANT to say that it is written in verse! Sorry for the confusion. :)

READING STATS FOR JANUARY

Participated in 2 readathons (#ReadYourFaceOff, #24in48)

Completed 4/10 books from 10 Book TBR #1 (4/10 total)

Started 4 series

5,192 pages read

16 books completed

BOOKS COMPLETED

The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson
Physical copy, 3/5

March, Book Two by John Lewis
Library book, 4/5

March, Book Three by John Lewis
Library book, 4/5

The Raven Boys by Maggie Steifvater
Physical copy, 4/5
Book 1 of 4 of The Raven Cycle
Buddy read with Michael

Stitches by David Small
Physical copy, 3/5

El Deafo by Cece Bell
Library book, 5/5

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Physical copy, 4/5

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
Physical copy (re-read), 4/5
Book 1 of 3 of The Illuminae Files
Buddy read with Michael

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
Physical copy, 5/5
Buddy read with Michael

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
Physical copy, 3/5

Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Library book, 5/5

The Only Child by Guojing
Library book, 4/5

5 to 1 by Holly Bodger
Physical copy, 3/5

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
Physical copy (re-read), 5/5
Book 1 of 7 of the Harry Potter Series
Buddy read with Michael

Artemis by Andy Weir
Physical copy, 3/5
Book of the Month Pick from 10 Book TBR #1
Buddy read with Anita

This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab
Physical copy, 4/5
Book 1 of 2 of the Monsters of Verity Duology
Buddy read with Michael