Document Your Life | Summer 2016

May Wrap-up & June TBR

May, in Photographs

This month I explored a park, my mom and I stumbled across a beautiful wooded part of our town, and I finally created a Snapchat!

Summer TBR!

Top Ten Tuesday [June 16]

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week they update their blog with a list of ten things that have to do with a predetermined topic.



This week's topic is: Ten Books on Your Summer TBR.



1. Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson

2. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2) by Sarah J. Maas

3. Fire and Flood by Victoria Scott

4. Angelfall by Susan Ee

5. Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes by Rick Riordan

6. The Nightmare Charade by Mindee Arnett

7. P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han

8. The Queen of Zombie Hearts (White Rabbit Chronicles #3) by Gena Showalter

9. Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay

10. The Retribution of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #3) by Michelle Hodkin


What are some books on your summer TBR?

BOOK HAUL [collective]

As you may or may not have noticed, there has been a severe lack of book-hauling on this blog. It began in April—after purchasing only a few, meager reads—and ended yesterday, when I looked at my bookshelf and went: "Holy shit, I have accumulated a lot of books." So, here you go. A book haul.

1. Anatomy of a Misfit (ARC) by Andrea Portes

2. Between the Spark and the Burn (Between #2) by April Genevieve Tucholke

3. Cinder by Marissa Meyer

4. City of Heavenly Fire (The Mortal Instruments #6) by Cassandra Clare 

5. Conversion by Katherine Howe

6. Cress (Lunar Chronicles #3) by Marissa Meyer

7. Dangerous Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

8. Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige 

9. Find Momo: A Photography Book by Andrew Knapp

10. Four (Divergent novellas) by Veronica Roth

11. Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh

12. If I Stay by Gayle Forman

13. Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

14. Isla and the Happily Ever After (Anna #3) by Stephanie Perkins

15. Landline by Rainbow Rowell

16. Let's Get Lost by Adi Alsaid 

17. Love and the Zombie Apocalypse by Chelsea Bellingeri

18. Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira

19. Percy Jackson's Greek Gods by Rick Riordan

20. Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins

21. Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern

22. Scarlet (Lunar Chronicles #2) by Marissa Meyer

23. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo 

24. Shugo Chara! (Volume #3) by Peach-Pit

25. Shugo Chara! (Volume #4) by Peach-Pit

26. Shugo Chara! (Volume #5) by Peach-Pit

27. Siege and Storm (The Grisha #2) by Leigh Bardugo

28. Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson

29. The Archived by Victoria Schwab

30. The Lovely and the Lost (The Dispossessed #2) by Page Morgan

31. The One (The Selection #3) by Kiera Cass

32. The Unbound (The Archived #2) by Victoria Schwab

33. Through the Ever Night (Under The Never Sky #2) by Veronica Rossi

34. To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

NOT PICTURED:

35. Marco's Story (The Dispossessed #1.5) by Page Morgan

36. No Place Like Oz (Dorothy Must Die #0.1) by Danielle Paige

July 2014 Wrap-up

July was an AMAZING reading month for me. I managed to get a few books ahead of my Goodread's 2014 book count, participated in the BookTubeAThon and pretty much enjoyed every single book that I picked up. Completing eleven books—and five novellas—is a pretty big deal for me, especially considering how poorly I have been doing recently.

☆☆☆

1. The Nightmare Dilemma (Arkwell Academy #2) by Mindee Arnett: The books in this series have SO MUCH potential, but—to me—they seem to fall a little... flat. I am not saying I didn't enjoy this book, because I did, but it is so disappointing when you read an okay book that could be amazing, should the author just delve a little deeper. The thing I found most disappointing was the lack of setting; when I read the synopsis of The Nightmare Affair, I immediately thought these books would be a combination of Harry Potter and the Arthurian legend. However, we did not really see much of Dusty's boarding school and I felt like this was a HUGE missed opportunity. There was also a lot of unnecessary back-and-forth between the main character and her love interest, and quite a few of their interactions were cheesy and hard to read. The plot was unpredictable, however, and I did enjoy a few of the hotter moments between Dusty and Eli. Overall, I am liking this series. I just wish the author would do her idea/the concept justice!

☆☆☆





2. Love & The Zombie Apocalypse by Chelsea Bellingeri: This book was not so good. The writing, plot and characters were a bit juvenile, things happened too fast, there was zero development, editing and grammar mistakes, too many POVs and cheesy interactions. The only thing I really enjoyed about this book was Rachel.

 ☆☆☆☆☆

3. Cinder by Marissa Meyer: WHY DID I NOT PICK THIS UP SOONER?! I found the science-y/DNA parts a little confusing, but every single one of the characters were complex and fantastic, the story was exciting and hilarious, and I loved all of the little twists and turns. Meyer took a classic fairytale and twisted it into something deeper and darker; incorporating both small and super important elements of Cinderella into a story that is high-tech and fantastic. I loved it!

☆☆☆☆






4. The Queen's Army (Lunar Chronicles #1.5) by Marissa Meyer.

☆☆☆☆☆

5. Scarlet (Lunar Chronicles #2) by Marissa Meyer.

☆☆☆☆





6. Cress (Lunar Chronicles #3) by Marissa Meyer: Rarely do I ever marathon a series that is not yet complete, but I just couldn't help it!! Cress was not my favorite of the three—it was a bit slower than the others and had a few useless/unneeded chapters—but I could not give it anything less than four stars. Every single one of my favorite characters made an appearance and the writing remained beautiful and hilarious; suspenseful and cute. The ending was worth every heartache and I cannot believe we have such a long wait until Winter! D:

Actual Rating: 4.5

☆☆☆☆☆

7. Carswell's Guide to Being Lucky (Lunar Chronicles #3.1) by Marissa Meyer.

☆☆☆☆





8. Glitches (Lunar Chronicles #0.5) by Marissa Meyer: It was nice to get a glimpse—however briefly—into Cinder's first years in the Eastern Commonwealth. I sympathized with Adri for about 1.5 seconds before hating her again.

☆☆☆☆☆

9. The Little Android (Lunar Chronicles #0.6) by Marissa Meyer.

☆☆☆☆





10. Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh.

☆☆☆

11. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo: Fact: Everyone seems to love this book. Surely, I would love it too? Yeah, not so much... It was good, but I found it lacking; with it's wishy-washy characters, unnecessary drama and predictability. Also, I found it a tad too slow, a trait that does not work with Fantasy. The action scenes we did get were great—very suspenseful—and the Darkling has a lot of potential but, overall, I was pretty disappointed with this read.

Actual Rating: 3.5-3.75

☆☆☆





12. Don't Close Your Eyes (Wake trilogy bind-up) by Lisa McMann: As the BookTubeAThon neared its end, I found myself struggling to complete the three books in this trilogy; Wake, Fade and Gone. The concept was interesting—being sucked into people's dreams—and I really enjoyed the psychological aspects that McMann incorporated into the story, but there was too much unnecessary drama and back-and-forth between the main character and her love interest. In all honesty, if this trilogy had been condensed into one book (two, max), I probably would have liked it better.

☆☆☆☆

13. The Lovely and the Lost (The Dispossessed #2) by Page Morgan: Looking back, I am not entirely sure why I gave the first book in the series, The Beautiful and the Cursed, three stars. This book was SO. GOOD. I loved all of the characters and there was always something happening; I never knew where the story was going! The writing and language were beautiful and, other than Luc and Ingrid's back-and-forth, I absolutely enjoyed reading this book. Historical Fiction is quickly becoming a favorite genre of mine.

☆☆☆☆





14. Marco's Story (The Dispossessed #1.5) by Page Morgan.

Started but did not finish:

. . . .

July Stats:

▫ Read 11 books (and 5 novellas)

▫ Read 3,779 pages

GR's 2014 Reading Challenge:

▫ Read 42 of 70 books

▫ Currently 1 book ahead of schedule

Upcoming Releases:

▫ The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco -- August 5, 2014

▫ Servants of the Storm by Delilah S. Dawson -- August 5, 2014

▫ Between the Spark and the Burn by April Genevieve Tucholke -- August 14, 2014

▫ Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins -- August 14, 2014

▫ Sanctum by Madeleine Roux -- August 26, 2014

▫ Six Feet Over It by Jennifer Longo -- August 26, 2014

▫ A Little Something Different by Sandy Hall -- August 26, 2014

Lost of new releases this month! Which are you most looking forward to?

June 2014 Wrap-up [spoiler free!]

June was fairly uneventful, reading-wise. After completing the Bout of Books read-a-thon in May, I entered the month in a reading slump of sorts and could not bring myself to sit still for very long. Thankfully, it ended after I indulged in a few of the more action-y books on my TBR shelf, but I still only managed to complete a handful of reads before the month's end.

☆☆☆☆☆

1. Monsters of Men (Chaos Walking #3) by Patrick Ness. This book was an emotional roller-coaster, and I loved every minute of it. After setting aside Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira, I needed something fast-paced and action-packed, and Monsers of Men was the perfect fit. I absolutely adore this series, and the ending—while heartbreaking—was very fitting and emotional. Completing this book allowed me to check off two of my personal 2014 reading goals: to finish a series (progress = 1/10) and read a book that had been on my physical TBR shelf for longer than six months.

☆☆☆





2. Snowscape (Chaos Walking #3.5) by Patrick Ness. The last line was what did me in. Oh, my heart.

☆☆☆☆

3. The New World (Chaos Walking #0.5) by Patrick Ness. As far as prequel novellas go, The New World—while not at all what I was expecting—turned out to be very interesting and insightful. I was originally hoping for glimpses of Todd's parents; their struggle upon arriving in New World and how their ending came about, but Viola's past proved to be equally vital and I quite enjoyed reading from her POV before Todd and the Mayor.

☆☆☆☆





4. To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han. First of all: there's going to be a second book? YES, PLEASE. In truth, I was expecting this to be another cutesy contemporary, filled with fluff and happy endings. However, there were some powerful themes present that I was not expecting; the importance of family, friendship, first loves and how to move on. I quite enjoyed the fake boyfriend/girlfriend scheme and was vaguely reminded of The Duff (but better, obviously). There were a few things that I did not like, such as Laura Jean's babyish attitude and a few of the more annoying characters, but the writing was beautiful and I continually found myself far more emotionally invested in the story than I should have been. The cliffhanger ending was a perfect set-up for the second book and I cannot wait to find out what happens next. Hopefully it will also be written from Laura Jean's POV.

☆☆☆☆

5. The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith. The unnecessary/annoying family drama, cheesiness and lack of any real struggle or journey kept me from enjoying this book as much as I was hoping to. Oliver was definitely a favorite, but other than his character and the lovely writing—though, I am not really a fan of third-person POV—I found myself reading just to finish.

And the two books I began but did not finish this month were:

. . . . 

May Stats:

▫ Read 3 books (and 2 novellas)

▫ Read 1,591 pages

GR's 2014 Reading Challenge (Progress):

▫ Read 31 of 70 books

▫ Currently 3 books behind schedule

Upcoming Releases:

▫ Landline by Rainbow Rowell -- July 8, 2014

▫ Four by Veronica Roth -- July 8, 2014

▫ Lets Get Lost by Adi Alsaid -- July 29, 2014

Taking my awful, two+ week long reading slump, I think I did relatively well this month. Hopefully I can bring my Goodread's reading challenge number up during July.

The year is already half over! How are your goals coming along? Read anything good this month?

☼ TAG: Summertime Madness ☼

The "Summertime Madness" TAG was created on Youtube by JackEastsBooks. Several of the questions have been changed around to better suit a blog (and my answers).





1. Show a book with a "summery" cover:

Despite the fact that I have not yet had a chance to read this book and have absolutely no idea in which season it takes place, this cover seems to embody everything that comes to mind when I hear the word "summer." The mountains and pavement and glow of the sun make the cover's setting look humid and sticky. Also, the character on the left (Amy, I am assuming) is wearing shorts. So there's that.

2. Pick a place—fictional or otherwise—as the perfect destination for your Summer Vacation:

Paris in the summertime. Need I say more?

3. Destination: Summer Vacation. What novella do you choose to read during your flight?

I could read this novella a million times and never find it dull. Warner is such a complicated and interesting character.

4. You have a case of Summertime Sadness. Choose a happy book to lift your mood:

A contemporary retelling of Pride and Prejudice; this book just makes me so happy. <3

5. You are sitting at the beach, alone. Which fictional character would be your Beach Babe?

Excluding the obvious reasons (i.e: smoldering good looks), I feel like either Will Herondale or Noah Shaw would make an excellent beach-side companion. Whilst lounging about in the shade, Will could read to me from one of his favorite books and, if The Evolution of Mara Dyer is any indication, we all know what Noah is capable of on a beach...

6. To match your ice cream, you want an icy cool sidekick. Which fictional sidekick do you pick?

That title would go to Chubs from The Darkest Minds. Not only is he extremely smart and level-headed, but his sass/sarcasm have left me in hysterics and he seems like the kind of person you would want at your side during a difficult situation.