“Reading isn‘t the only thing in the world, Nina.”
“It‘s one of only five perfect things in the world.”
“And the other four are?”
“Cats, dogs, Honeycrisp apples and coffee.”
—The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, pg 180

What are your five perfect things? I think I agree with Nina, though replace apples with pineapple 🍍

I‘m only part of the way through this book but I love it so far! I totally identify with the heroine Nina. She‘s an introverted, bookish, socially awkward woman who finds out she has the boisterous family she never knew and now wants to be a part of her life. Apparently there‘s a romantic plot as well, though I‘m not quite to that point as well. So far it‘s hilarious - and v relatable.

Slowly plugging away at this book during the #24in48 readathon!

I know I‘m not going to complete it, but I‘m trying my hand at #24in48 again! First up - Fun Home by Alison Bechdel 👍

I moved into my first house! It‘s been incredibly exciting but also a bit stressful at the same time... so I slowed down this week and finally got back to reading a bit! I‘ve been sucked in to this book and had the hardest time putting it down for stuff like work, showering, making food... 😂. I loved it. This was the fluffy happy read I needed.

This is the book that finally showed me the appeal of audiobooks. Everyone always raves about them but I‘ve always had a hard time paying attention to them in the past. Between the wonderful narrator and the beautiful, vivid writing, I look forward to my commute now, just so I can continue this book. I‘m slightly more than halfway through but highly recommend!

Took advantage of the discounted price and snagged this on Amazon before the next book comes out! 🙌

I LOVED this book so much that I actually hugged it when I was done! This is one of those books that I wish existed when I was younger and first hitting nerdy scenes. It‘s a great story of first loves, discovering new interests, misogyny in geek culture, friendship, family, and the complicated feelings involved when you find out someone isn‘t the person you thought they were. 4/5 highly recommend (for middle grades readers, I believe?)

It‘s a day that was just made for reading and cat-snuggling

My next book adventure!

This book is heart-wrenchingly honest story of self-image, food, and trauma. The author opens up about a horrific act of violence in her past and her subsequent troubles (particularly weight/food issues) as she tried to deal with that. It was brutal at times but very well-written. 4/5.

I was really disappointed in this book. The blurb sounded like an amazing story of Julia Pastrana but the book fell short. Every time I thought we were moving past "OMG her face is so horrible," it went right back to it. The more modern parts seemed forced and unnecessary, like an after-thought to the book just to lengthen the story. 1/5

*Review based on an ARC/uncorrected proof.

I left the house with the plan of getting ONE BOOK from the library and that was it. ONE. Instead, I checked out FOUR and bought a fifth at Target. I can't leave the House unsupervised apparently 🙄

I've been waiting on this book from the library forever and it finally came in! ...and now I don't have time to read. 😭

It was a long day with not enough sleep. I pulled an old book for a light, quick, comfortable re-read to put me to sleep. Anyone else do that when they're stressed?

The Harry Potter life includes unique bookmarks sometimes 😂 (Don't worry - it's clean. I just forgot to snag a bookmark before I went to a pool party yesterday and found this buried in my bag.)

My bookish literary dinner guests:

Hermione Granger
Mia Thermopolis
Katniss Everdean
Jo March
Willowdean Dickson

Because I'm feeling the YA love tonight. #24in48

I held strong on day one of #24in48, but real life interrupted on Day 2. I'm nowhere near 24 hours of reading but am pretty happy with what I accomplished! I took out four books, discovered a new app for tracking my reading, AND pulled myself out of my mini reading slump. Hooray!

It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. Military dude is sent to visit his sister, who is now part of The Others (idk specifics - damned series), with the mission of finding out some scientific secrets, knows what he's doing doesn't seem/feel right, sort of helps do it anyways and feels pretty guilty about it after when his new girlfriend is understandably pissed. Their relationship felt pretty meh overall. I wasn't cheering for anything but an ending

I don't know how much longer I'll stay up. I've gone back to paranormal romance since that was working well for me this morning. I have fresh, clean sheets on my bed though and less than 6 hours of sleep in me.

"See the line where the sky meets the sheets?
It caaaalls me" #24in48

#24in48 - #ownvoices Lara Jean writes letters to the boys she's fallen for and hides them in her room, never to be seen again - until her family is cleaning the house and the letters get mailed. It's awkward af yet so relatable - I mean, who hasn't finished a relationship with stuff they need to get off their chest? Plus she's dealing with her Mom's death and trying to keep family traditions alive. Definitely an entertaining read- & soon a movie!

I can't with this one. It's totally not my style and isn't keeping my interest. The romance is actually too cutesy and prim and proper for me. I didn't think that was possible, but it is apparently. Oh well, learned something new about myself and popping this in the donations pile. Someone else will love it, I'm sure.

I *massively* slowed down on my last book and needed to take a break from it, so now on to something light and easy while trying to socialize with my family as they watch a baseball game. I picked this up at ALA Annual last year and am that horrible person who doesn't read her free books in a timely manner *ducks* First chapter is promising though! Not my normal style romance, but it sounded interesting! #24in48

#24in48 challenge -Change It Up: When I slow down, I'll take a break, go for a walk or stretch and try to start again. If that doesn't work, I'll change up the book. Usually picking up something lighter helps.(That might happen soon. This book is fantastic but it's a hard read - full of sensitive topics and thoughts that I need to sit on before continuing.)

Favorite audiobooks for road trips:

📚 Any Harry Potter book
📚 Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (read by Lin-Manuel Miranda!)
📚 Any audiobook read by the author (such as Amy Poeler's Yes Please)

*Disclaimer: I have a hard time with audiobooks so I don't listen to them often. These are my favs, aka the only ones I can handle.

#24in48 @24in48

Today was my first day of using the Bookout app and I love it! It's a great way to keep track of your reading - time, pacing, even a place for notes you take while reading! This pic is just a small piece of why I love it. #24in48

How sweet is my stepmom? She just slipped into my room and brought me these 😍 BRB sugar coma coming soon #24in48

Good morning, #24in48 friends! I just woke up to our first challenge - the #shelfie. This is just a small small portion of my collection. I'll be mostly reading from the top shelf in this pic for the weekend. @24in48

#24in48 Intro

Where in the world are you reading from?
– A small town outside Charleston, South Carolina

Have you done the 24in48 readathon before?
– Yes! This is my third (never finished though.)

What book are you most excited about reading this weekend?
– Hunger by Roxanne Gay

Tell us something about yourself.
– I‘m a nerd who is probably a little too into Harry Potter for my own good. I love to read, travel & do outdoorsy activities.

Starting my #24in48 with a light paranormal romance and some kitty snuggles 😻

You know, I came across this book in unpacking after my move and can barely remember it. I vaguely recall enjoying it (and found others from the series, so I just have like it at least a little) but now it's been so long that I've forgotten it. I started a re-read of it today!

Happy birthday, @Liberty 🎉

This book is under consideration for my #24in48 readathon list. It's one of my favorite stories. I received it for my birthday YEARS ago. It's time for a re-read, I think! #Liberthday

I wasn't particularly impressed with this one. There is an interesting world with robots that have taken over and humans infected with an illness that causes extreme cannibalism (Sort of like Reavers in Firefly), but it just left me with more questions than answers. The characters were underdeveloped. It's a bit predictable too. The world was interesting enough to keep me reading though. 2/5. (ARC version read, though book was out for awhile now)

Aaaand this is the point when I realized my jar of tahini never made the trip from Orlando 😭 Soooo no hummus today. 😭😭😭

My dad bought this for me for Christmas as a gag gift. I don't think he realized that I'd actually use it, never mind use it to make a dinner he'd actually eat. 😂

Apparently a lot of exciting events happened in the summer of 1927. I'm in a nonfiction kind of mood, so I picked this one up to read next!

This book was not what I thought it would be. The back cover (ARC, so may be different now) tells a story of love between two unconventional people. Instead it's a story of grief, of depression, of losing yourself, that's emotional and thought-provoking and so well-written that I can't believe it's the author's debut novel. 4.5/5. #recommendsday

Harry Potter references make me so happy! ❤️

Starting into this one tonight! It's one of the books I picked up awhile ago but am just now starting into it, way later than intended 😰 I finally had a chance to unpack my books after my move and realized I haven't read most of the books that I have left after donating some and losing some others, and yet still have a decent sized collection.

How I'm spending my Fourth, apparently

I'm struggling to get through this one. It's fairly engaging but I'm definitely one of those people who needs to like or at least identify with one of the characters. It's one of those books that I can tell is pretty good but is not for me. I'm giving it another week, but this may end up in my DNF pile for the Little Free Library I'm trying to talk my family into (new town I moved to this week doesn't have a library! Nearest is next town over.)

Day 8 of #riotgrams - Books and Ice Cream. Order of the Phoenix is my favorite Harry Potter book. It's the book where shit gets real. Cedric died, and now we have the fallout. Others start to go as well. There are actual consequences to things, and a peak at what's going on outside of Hogwarts. It's also the book that introduced me to one of my favorite characters - Luna Lovegood ❤️

Day 3 of #RiotGrams: #HowIRead - I'm usually laying down in bed, book hovering over my face. (I've dropped it on my face quite a few times when I start to drift off) 😂

My bookshelves are so bare right now! I'm moving, so I gathered a few strays and put them together on a DVD shelf just to have *something* besides the disaster shelves I have going right now. It's a fitting selection for me though - an ARC, a book I debated donating, a social justice book, my book journal, my mental health journal, and two writing prompt books I picked up in a (failed) attempt to regain my creativity. #riotgrams #shelfie

Atria Books offered a free ebook for the Women's March this weekend so I took them up on and and am starting Redefining Realness! I'm very excited. I made it a goal to try to read more diverse books this year and have heard so many wonderful things about this one. #24in48

I did the thing today - we drove four hours north and hit the March in Tallahassee, the state capitol of Florida. The rain couldn't keep us indoors. Not today. I've been reading Worldchanging 101 on the drive up and back until finally it became too dark. I'm taking a little break to check social media and then downloading something on the Kindle to try to get caught up for the readathon! #24in48 @24in48

😰 All of my library books came in at once, so now I must frantically read in every spare moment. First up - Lab Girl! I've been dying to read this book; it's been on my Amazon wish list since Book Riot first mentioned it months ago.

After the election, I needed some feel-good brain candy. Netflix recommended this Hallmark show about a school teacher from a rich family who loves to a small coal-mining town and falls in love with a Mountie. The first season was entertaining (albeit the least diverse TV show I have EVER seen in my life) so I gave the book a chance. It was okay but not my thing. I'd give it probably 3 stars. If you like Christian romance, give it a try.

I'm really excited about my latest library acquisition! I've wanted to read more about the Easter Rising since my recent trip to Dublin. (Yes, this is a fictionalized account, but still.)

A little post-election reading