Today I present to you my July book haul. 12 physical books doesn’t seem that much to me, but I found out working at a library auto approves you for some eARC’s and I went a little download happy… Hope you enjoy!
TBR Lows and Highs was created by the lovely Destiny over at Howling Libraries. Destiny is super down to earth and always has the most fun content. Go check her out!
Hey everyone! I’ve wanted to join in on this meme since Destiny created it but stopped blogging before I got to it. Now I’m back, still (and will probably forever >.>) have a TBR problem, and am finally going to post my first TBR Lows and Highs.
Let’s get to it!
∴Rules∴
• Link back to the original post at Howling Libraries • Sort your Goodreads TBR shelf by date added, ascending • Find 5 titles to purge from your TBR (the “lows”) OR find 5 titles that are at the BOTTOM of your TBR—books you want to read someday, just not right now! • Post those 5 books in the list, with a brief explanation • Next, sort your Goodreads TBR shelf by date added, descending • List the last 5 (or more!) books you added to your TBR, with a synopsis or your brief summary of why you added it (the “highs”)
∴Lows∴
There’s no real reason why these made it onto my lows. I just don’t think I’ll ever get to them.
Synopsis: It has always been Eda’s dream to become empress, no matter the cost. Haunted by her ambition and selfishness, she’s convinced that the only way to achieve her goal is to barter with the gods. But all requests come with a price and Eda bargains away the soul of her best friend in exchange for the crown.
Years later, her hold on the empire begins to crumble and her best friend unexpectedly grows sick and dies. Gnawed by guilt and betrayal, Eda embarks on a harrowing journey to confront the very god who gave her the kingdom in the first place. However, she soon discovers that he’s trapped at the center of an otherworldly labyrinth and that her bargain with him is more complex than she ever could have imagined.
In a world where magic is outlawed, ability with a sword is prized above all else. For Soren this means the chance to live out his dreams.
Plucked from a life of privation, he is given a coveted place at Ostenheim’s Academy of Swordsmanship, an opportunity beyond belief.
Opportunity is not always what it seems however, and gifts rarely come without conditions. Soren becomes an unwitting pawn in a game of intrigue and treachery that could cost him not just his dreams, but also his life.
Synopsis: Half-Fae, half-human Bryce Quinlan loves her life. By day, she works for an antiquities dealer, selling barely legal magical artifacts, and by night, she parties with her friends, savouring every pleasure Lunathion—otherwise known as Crescent City— has to offer. But it all comes crumbling down when a ruthless murder shakes the very foundations of the city—and Bryce’s world.
Hunt Athalar, personal assassin for the Archangels, wants nothing to do with Bryce Quinlan, despite being ordered to protect her. She stands for everything he once rebelled against and seems more interested in partying than solving the murder, no matter how close to home it might hit. But Hunt soon realizes there’s far more to Bryce than meets the eye—and that he’s going to have to find a way to work with her if they want to solve this case.
Synopsis: France, 1562: Nineteen-year-old Minou Joubert receives an anonymous letter at her father’s bookshop. Sealed with a distinctive family crest, it contains just five words: SHE KNOWS THAT YOU LIVE.
But before Minou can decipher the mysterious message, a chance encounter with a young Huguenot convert, Piet Reydon, changes her destiny forever. For Piet has a dangerous mission of his own, and he will need Minou’s help if he is to stay alive.
As the religious divide deepens, and old friends become enemies, Minou and Piet both find themselves trapped in Toulouse, facing new dangers as tensions ignite across the city.
All the while, the shadowy mistress of Puivert Château—obsessed with uncovering the secrets of a long-hidden document—strengthens her power and waits for the perfect time to strike…
Synopsis: In the Blue, the world’s last city, all is not well.
Julia is stuck within its walls. She serves the nobility from a distance until she meets Lucas, a boy who believes in fairytales that Julia’s world can’t accommodate. The Blue is her prison, not her castle, and she’d escape into the trees if she didn’t know that contamination and death awaited humanity outside.
But not everyone in the Blue is human, and not everyone can be contained.
Beyond the city’s boundaries, in the wild forests of the Red, Cameron has precious little humanity left to lose. As he searches for a lost queen, he finds an enemy rising that he thought long dead. An enemy that the humans have forgotten how to fight.
One way or another, the walls of the Blue are coming down. The only question is what side you’ll be on when they do.
Are there any interesting books you added to your TBR lately? Do you think I should keep any of the books on my lows? I’d love to know in the comments!
Hey everyone! It’s been a really really long time. o.o
I went through quite a lot of changes in the past year which took away from blogging time. I got a new job as an Institutional Repository assistant and moved so I could be closer to the new job and school. Two hour commutes to and from work and school was not the business ><! Also, my new job requires me to be in front of a computer for 5 hours a day, so I initially didn’t feel like dedicating more time in front of a computer when I got home. By the time I decided I wanted to go back to blogging, it had already been a few months and the anxiety to start up again got to me.
But I’ve read some amazing books that I wish I talked about on here, and I missed talking to people who enjoy the books I’m into. So I’m giving this blogging thing another shot! Casually and with no real schedule this time (for now) for the anxiety lol ><!
First post? The Mid Year Book Freak Out Tag because I’ve read 41 books so far this year and need to sum it all up.
Mid Year Book Freak Out Tag
This tag was originally created by Chami on Youtube. Go give her channel some love!
1. Best book you’ve read so far in 2019.
Without a doubt Jade City by Fonda Lee. Thank you to my cousin, Mr. Renzol, for convincing me to finally pick this up. Oh man, I’m going to try my best not to list this more than once this tag, but Jade City is now one of my favorite books of all time. It’s the Asian-inspired fantasy I’ve been waiting for. It’s dark and gritty and full of Asian culture. The Asian family dynamic was spot on and reminded me a lot of my own family. Especially since we’ve planning our next family reunion this whole year. >.>
2. Best sequel you’ve read so far in 2019.
Cheating a little bit already because in truth, I binged this whole series in one go, but I’m going to go with The Heart Forger by Rin Chupeco. I’ll be honest, The Bone Witch wasn’t my favorite read ever. It’s descriptive, and that’s fine, but it’s too repetitive with its descriptions. There’s just a lot of beautiful things in The Bone Witch. But The Heart Forger is amazing and underrated, probably because The Bone Witch doesn’t have the highest ratings on Goodreads. If you’ve given it a pass because of the first book, I highly recommend going back and reading The Heart Forger. Think Daenerys Targaryen with a three-headed dragon and a Tuxedo Mask that’s actually useful.
3. New release you haven’t read yet, but want to.
SO MANY but I pick Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson because I started to read it and liked what I got to, but I was distracted by a different book and put it down. I think a library with monster-like books and magical librarians who train to watch over and protect said books sounds fun! Plus, I’m applying to librarian school soon, so this sounds right up my alley.
4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year.
Steel Crow Saga by Paul Krueger. My other cousin, Cynthia, was fortunate enough to receive an ARC of it via NetGalley and is currently teasing me with it as I write up this post. In this upcoming YA SFF an unlikely group of people band together to fight a killer who defies the laws of magic. Paul Krueger is also a Filipino author, and my cousin tells me she already sees Filipino influences in what she’s read so far. Apparently something in the prologue is Visayan (my parents are from Western Visayas), so now I am DESPERATE to read this.
5. Biggest disappointment.
One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Not loving this physically hurt me because The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is one of my favorite books ever. I went in knowing thinking this may not be my favorite, but you know how sometimes you read a book and think, “Okay, wow, this was made for me”? This was the exact opposite of that for me. I almost felt like I was intruding and shouldn’t be listening in on the MC’s thoughts because I didn’t have many of the same opinions as her.
6. Biggest surprise.
In Waves by AJ Dungo. This graphic novel illustrates the lives of the author and his late girlfriend from when they meet to when she dies of cancer. We also learn a little bit of the history of surfing as the author compares his grief over the loss of his girlfriend to waves that come and go. I picked this up because I always try to support Filipino authors, I liked how the cover look, and I didn’t know anything about surfing. I had no idea I’d be near tears by the end of it.
7. Favorite new author.
Christina Lauren! I don’t always give their books 4 or 5 stars, but because of their work, I’ve realized I LOVE romantic comedies and will most likely be posting more romcoms on here in the future.
8. Newest fictional crush.
Kalen from The Bone Witch Trilogy by Rin Chupeco. Like I said before, he is Tuxedo Mask if Tuxedo Mask was useful. Also, his relationship is probably the most mature relationship I’ve seen in a YA. I need to find me a Kalen!
9. Newest favorite character.
Sweetie from There’s Something About Sweetie by Sandhya Menon. Sweetie is a fat girl who believes in herself and know what she’s worth. As a fat girl myself, I wish I had just a tiny bit of her confidence. I smiled the whole time I read her story. I think if I read There’s Something About Sweetie when I was a teen, my self-esteem would have been a lot higher.
10. Book that made you cry.
It isn’t out until October, but Orpheus Girl by Brynne Rebele-Henry. This book didn’t make me cry, but it devastated me. It’s about Raya who is sent to conversion therapy after she is caught together with her best friend and lover, Sarah. Major trigger warnings for homophobia, torture, and suicide. I knew this wouldn’t be a happy read, but Raya’s depression was so much like my own. I did not have a good day when I was done reading this book.
11. Book that made you happy.
Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. This book actually did make me cry, but they were happy tears. I feel like I’m always angry with something that’s going on in the world. I’m always upset with the prejudice and alway, always, always upset with the ignorance, but this book had me feeling hopeful for the future for once.
12. Most beautiful book you’ve bought so far this year.
13. What books do you need to read by the end of the year?
The rest of the Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb because I want to make it to the Liveship Traders trilogy next year. I loved Assassin’s Apprentice, but Robin Hobb’s writing is more formal than I’m used to so it takes me longer to read her books. I WILL read all the books in the Realm of the Elderlings one day, though!
And that’s that! Yay! Have you read any of the books I mentioned? Let me know in the comments and feel free to link to your Mid Year Book Freak Out Tag posts so I can read your answers, too!
High school senior Cookie Vonn’s post-graduation dreams include getting out of Phoenix, attending Parsons and becoming the next great fashion designer. But in the world of fashion, being fat is a cardinal sin. It doesn’t help that she’s constantly compared to her supermodel mother—and named after a dessert.
Thanks to her job at a fashion blog, Cookie scores a trip to New York to pitch her portfolio and appeal for a scholarship, but her plans are put on standby when she’s declared too fat to fly. Forced to turn to her BFF for cash, Cookie buys a second seat on the plane. She arrives in the city to find that she’s been replaced by the boss’s daughter, a girl who’s everything she’s not—ultrathin and superrich. Bowing to society’s pressure, she vows to lose weight, get out of the friend zone with her crush, and put her life on track.
SKINNY.
Cookie expected sunshine and rainbows, but nothing about her new life is turning out like she planned. When the fashion designer of the moment offers her what she’s always wanted—an opportunity to live and study in New York—she finds herself in a world full of people more interested in putting women down than dressing them up. Her designs make waves, but her real dream of creating great clothes for people of all sizes seems to grow more distant by the day.
Will she realize that she’s always had the power to make her own dreams come true?
Your body is no one’s business but your own. We are more than just our bodies. We are the sum of our abilities and accomplishments and hopes and dreams and friendships and relationships. It’s what we are inside that matters.
You would think with a quote like that, there’d be a ton of plus-size body positivity, but I have never been angrier while reading a book in my life. I don’t know how many times I cursed (in my head or quietly to myself…) the characters out, rolled my eyes, or furiously scribbled down pissed off notes while reading. I hardly liked any characters, hated most of their decisions, and found so many aspects extremely problematic. At first I was hell-bent on giving this book 1 star, then I bumped it up to 2 stars because for some reason I was still able to make it until the end. But then, as I laid in bed a little more calm but still sooo very angry, I thought I would give this 5 stars. Because the thing is, everything in Fat Girl on a Plane is on point, and I wonder if I hated it that much because it hit so close to home. I ended up giving this 3.5 stars because even though I’ll never say this is my favorite read, I without a doubt think it’s an important read.
Fat Girl on a Plane is an own voice novel about Cookie, a plus-sized aspiring fashion designer. The narrative is told in 2 timelines: when Cookie is fat and when Cookie is skinny. While Cookie is fat, she blogs for school under a spoiled brat who constantly fat shames her, and while Cookie is skinny, she’s made it into fashion design school and is on her way to fulfilling her dreams. I think this narrative choice is clever because as a plus-sized woman myself, personally I often think, “Well, when I’m skinny I can…”
Again, this is not a fluffy read. This is a make-you-feel-uncomfortable-and-pissed-off-for-a-purpose read. There are so many problematic and depressing aspects to this story, and if I didn’t read this on my phone I would have thrown it across the room over and over again.
First, Cookie has so many unhealthy relationships. She has a best friend who is “always there” but is constantly making up excuses for why the girl he’s interested in treats Cookie horribly. Then she has a super model for a mother who people always compare her to and who believes Cookie is a waste of space. And finally Cookie has a fashion icon for a boyfriend who fat shames a girl when they first meet, takes Cookie away from school to work and have sex with during the school year, refuses to put any kind of label on their relationship, and is at least twice her age. To be honest, I think age is nothing but a number, but the guy refers to himself as her “uncle” so in this case the guy is an authoritative figure having sex with someone with less power.
Next, Cookie has so many problematic thoughts and habits. She eats hardly anything to stay skinny, she believes no one would want to sexually harass her when she’s fat, she believes dating attractive jerks isn’t settling for fat women, and so much more along those lines.
But the thing is, speaking from my own experiences (doesn’t mean it’s everyone else’s!), everything that happens to Cookie and everything she thinks about, no matter how problematic they seem, are some of the most personal feelings, thoughts, and insecurities a person can ever feel. These are the insecurities that people push away and never talk about because of the shame these feelings bring about. It’s difficult to admit that you think so low of yourself that someone wouldn’t want to touch you. No one wants to talk about how they know it’s not okay, but dating an attractive jerk makes them feel like they’re more attractive than they feel they actually are. No one wants to talk about how they feel like they have to be more amazing than everyone else so that others see more than just the fat.
So again, I rated this book higher but not because of my personal enjoyment. I think this is such an important and eye-opening read. I just think I’ve been triggered way more than I thought I would be because talk about putting your deepest, darkest thoughts and insecurities on display lol.
I received an ARC from the publisher, Harlequin Teen, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Quotes were taken from an unfinished proof copy and may not be the same in the finished work.
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