Uncategorized

September 14, 2020

Red, White, & Royal Blue

Some of the links below are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate we will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase through our link, at no additional cost to you.

THE BOOK

This book has snapped me out of my “avoiding my blog” funk.

After a glorious quarantine I returned to teaching at the end of July and I’ve been nonstop ever since.

I may have not been doing a lot of writing, but I sure have been doing a lot of reading. I’m back to tell you about some of my favorite books worth mentioning!

Closing in at my 60th read of 2020, we have Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. You know I love me a good romance and this one takes the cake.

Red, White, & Royal Blue takes place right after Obama’s second term. Our first female president, President Ellen Claremont is up for reelection. FSOTUS, her son, Alex Claremont-Diaz is the classic American boy we all know and love, as well as the shining star in our book.

Alex surprises the readers, as well as himself when he ends up in a love affair with royal Prince Henry of Wales! Y’all the relationship between FSOTUS Alex and Prince Henry are up there with Mickey and Ian from Shameless, David and Patrick from Schitt’s Creek and Elio and Oliver from Call Me By Your Name. I just adored these characters, and was so sad when I got to end of the book and couldn’t read more of their witty antics.

The Readheads book club (amazing by the way, totally recommend their podcast) said that this book was more for escapists because their is so much happy that it’s almost unbelievable. I can agree with that to an extent, because I was so happy every time I opened this book and was transported into the word of the White House and Buckingham Palace. I read to escape though, so I can certainly get down with all of the happy in this book.

Red, White, and Royal Blue had everything I could ever want in a love story: handsome men, witty banter, a decent plot, and some SPICE!

By the end you’ll be screaming LOVEISLOVEISLOVEISLOVEISLOVE.

This was a 5/5 stars for me!

Grab your copy HERE, and let me know how you end up liking it!

THE QUOTES

“I was young and full of hope, and you let me embody the American dream: that a boy who grew up speaking two languages, whose family was blended and beautiful and enduring, could make a home for himself in the White House.”

“Thinking about history makes me wonder how I’ll fit into it one day, I guess. And you too. I kinda wish people still wrote like that. History, huh? Bet we could make some.”

“Every person who bears a legacy makes the choice of a partner with whom they will share it with, whom the American people will hold beside them in hearts and memories and history books. America: He is my choice.”

THE BATH

I’m just surviving until further notice. Get some bubbles, find a face mask, grab anything with sugar that sparks your attention at Wawa, then get in..and read.

July 26, 2020

Home Before Dark

THE BOOK

“Every house has a story. Ours is a ghost story. It’s also a lie. And now that yet another person has died within these walls, it’s finally time to tell the truth.”

This spooky book was an easy five stars for me! If you’re going to give this a read, I highly recommend not reading it RIGHT before bedtime. What was happening within the book manifested into my dreams, errr…nightmares a few too many times!

I’ll be the first person to admit that I don’t do horror well. I loathe scary movies, I’m the most annoying person at Halloween Horror Nights, and I typically dress as a nice cat for Halloween.

Home Before Dark by Riley Sager has me wanting to dive down a hole of strictly horror reads, it was THAT good.

If The Haunting of Hill House and American Horror Story and CSI had a baby, it would be Home Before Dark.

Let me give you a quick synopsis of what this book is all about. Maggie has just inherited this house after her father’s passing. 25 years prior she lived in said house for a few weeks with her parents. Some crazy ish went down those 25 years ago, but she doesn’t recall any of it.

Maggie’s dad had written a tremendously successful book about their families’ experiences at this house, and throughout Maggie’s life himself and his wife don’t talk about what went down at this house with Maggie. Maggie read the book, but still doesn’t recall the events.

After inheriting the house she begins residing in it with the intent to flip and sell it. It’s while she is staying there that the story of the house begins to unravel all over again.

Y’ALL. This book had twists and turns and scared me to death! Some of the scenes were so unbelievably creepy and truly played into some of my deepest fears. I was screaming when the end came together because just when I thought I had it figured out I came to realize that I was SO wrong!

If you’re looking for a spooky haunted house book, I totally recommend giving Home Before Dark a read! You will not be disappointed!

Bonus: The cover glows in the dark!

What are some other spooky books I should read? I’ve only ever read The Shining by Stephen King and I would consider Dark Places by Gillian Flynn pretty horrific as well.

I have added the following books to by TBR pile:

Ghost Story by Peter Straub

The Shadows by Alex North

Please let me know what else I should be reading! October is around the corner!

THE QUOTES

“Grief is tricky like that. It can lie low for hours, long enough for magical thinking to take hold. Then, when you’re good and vulnerable, it will leap out at you like a fun-house skeleton, and all the pain you thought was gone comes roaring back.”

THE BATH

These coconut snacks by the Creative Snack Co. are my latest addiction. The cranberry flavor is my favorite. While they do include organic cane sugar, the remaining ingredients are absolutely clean, making this an easy go-to for me These were definitely messy to eat in the tub, but I didn’t even care. I needed all of the sweet comfort to get me through the scary parts of this book.

I found this bath soak at CVS and didn’t love the scent, but it ended up being pretty mild in the tub. They have a coconut rose scent I am dying to try. Pairing the mint with some good old fashioned Dr. Teals Eucalyptus and Spearmint ended up still being a very relaxing combination. 10/10 recommend giving it a try!

July 10, 2020

Educated

Stop, drop, and go BUY THIS BOOK RIGHT NOW! Educated by Tara Westover is one of the most captivating memoirs I have ever had the privilege of reading.

I didn’t have any expectations going into Educated. I didn’t read the back of the book to see what it was going to be about. I liked that the cover had a pencil on it and was sold (yes, this is how I frequently choose what to read). Look closely though, there is more than just a pencil on the front cover.

Westover says in an author’s note at the beginning of the book that “This story is not about Mormonism. Neither is it about any other form of religious belief.”

When you finish this book, you will realize how powerful this author’s note is.

Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Can you imagine being seventeen years old the first time you heard about the Holocaust, or the Civil Rights movement?

Westover’s upbringing is unimaginable. I struggled to wrap my head around the fact that someone so close in age to me grew up so drastically different.

When I first read that Westover’s family was Mormon, I automatically assumed they were polygamists and waited for the storyline. It never came. When reading Educated, you will read about horrific accidents that didn’t include proper medical care, violence and abuse from family members, the inner workings of the mind that is likely a paranoid schizophrenic/bipolar man who believes the government is after him. Her upbringing is genuinely baffling and I don’t think I have enough words in my repertoire to accurately describe the hell that Westover went through.

Despite the craziness of Westover’s upbringing, there is that genuine love that exists within any family. She paints this picture vividly and I truly felt for her when she began to distance herself from her family. Her decision to do so was no easy feat.

The best part about this book is being able to see the internal struggle that Tara Westover goes through as she becomes educated and her views of the world begins to morph.

I am in absolute awe of Tara Westover. As a teacher, I can’t help but believe in the power of education. Reading this book is very inspiring, it will make you want to learn about anything and everything because you’re reminded that as much as you think you know, you don’t know what you don’t know.

If you’ve read this book, I’m dying to hear from you! What was your biggest takeaway from this book?

THE QUOTES

“You can love someone and still choose to say goodbye to them,” she says now. “You can miss a person every day, and still be glad that they are no longer in your life.”

“My life was narrated for me by others. Their voices were forceful, emphatic, absolute. It had never occurred to me that my voice might be as strong as theirs.”

“The decisions I made after that moment were not the ones she would have made. They were the choices of a changed person, a new self.
You could call this selfhood many things. Transformation. Metamorphosis. Falsity. Betrayal. I call it an education”

THE BATH

The tray.

The suds.

July 6, 2020

The Glass Hotel

THE BOOK:

I REALLY wanted to like The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel.

I absolutely hated it.

The Glass Hotel is about..jeez I can’t even really tell you. It’s basically about a Ponzi scheme and the trickle-down effect of how the scheme changed the lives of those effected by it.

Why didn’t I enjoy this book?

I couldn’t keep up with the timeline to save my life. It jumped forwards in time, backwards in time, and I feel like there were times when it was present day. I felt confused constantly.
I was bored reading it. I feel guilty for admitting this. There were times when I wasn’t bored, but every time I felt like I was enjoying myself I was being introduced to a new character and a new storyline. Was there even a plot? I can’t be certain.
So. Many. Characters. I remember getting to the last few pages and still not being able to square away who was who.

After listening to the Readheads podcast on this book, I came to the conclusion that maybe I’m just not cut out for books with really deep literary meanings. This book was like a puzzle, if you want to read it–you must go into it knowing that this is not a leisurely read. The text is meant to be contemplated deeply to truly understand it.

I like to read to escape and for enjoyment! The Glass Hotel was not that!

I felt compelled to write about The Glass Hotel though, just in case any of my like 2 followers are wanting to read a book worth analyzing. If you are the type of person who enjoyed English classes and has a good time finding hidden meanings within words–this book is for you.

I’m still glad that I read this book, mostly because I enjoyed listening to the Readheads podcast about it so much! They made me laugh out loud with this one! I’m also proud of myself for finishing a book I hated, and for exposing myself to different writing styles.

I DO believe that every book is capable of teaching me something new. I feel a little bit more educated with every novel I cross off of my list, The Glass Hotel was no different. (I learned about Ponzi schemes, lol)

If you are up to cracking the code of literary-ness, grab your copy of The Glass Hotel HERE!

THE QUOTES

“Memories are always bent retrospectively to fit individual narratives”

“There is exquisite lightness in waking each morning with the knowledge that the worst has already happened.”

“Give me quiet, he thought, give me forests and ocean and no roads. Give me the walk to the village through the woods in summer, give me the sound of wind in cedar branches, give me mist rising over the water, give me the view of green branches from my bathtub in the mornings. Give me a place with no people in it, because I will never fully trust another person again.”

THE BATH

Boring books call for entertaining snacks. God bless these sour worms.

The best part of this bath was the Unicorn Fruit Body Butter I found at Ulta. Lather this on after a bath if you want to smell like vanilla icing!

Leave me a comment below and let me know how you liked The Glass Hotel! I could use some insight to help changed my mind. Please someone convince me that I should have enjoyed it!

July 4, 2020

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Check out the full discussion of Club Book Baths Episode 1 as we discuss this AMAZING book! Check it out on YouTube HERE.

If you plan on listening in, it’s not too late! Grab your copy of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo through my Amazon Affiliate link HERE.

Join our Facebook Group HERE, I will be posting the full video discussion on the Club Book Baths group, as well as on my YouTube channel!

June 30, 2020

The Nightingale

THE BOOK

Wow. I finished The Nightingale a few hours ago and I’m still waiting for the inner turmoil to subside.

If you’re a fellow nonstop reader like myself, then chances are you’ve already read this book. If you’re just now getting into reading and stumbled upon my little blog, listen up so I can give you the 411 on The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah.

The Nightingale was the 2015 Goodread’s Choice Winner. Let me tell you, it was VERY deserving of that award. It deserves every ounce of popularity it has received.

The Nightingale takes place in France during the time of WWII. It follows the story of two French (non Jewish) sisters and their experiences during the war. I think it’s important to bring up that the sisters are not Jewish because many of the books I have read about WWII have been from the perspective of a Jewish character. After reading The Nightingale I’m wanting to read more books from the perspectives of different people and learn about how the war effected them as well.

I think what I enjoyed most about The Nightingale was the alternative perspective. Typical historical fiction books circa WWII, tend to revolve around concentration camps. This book really opened my eyes to what it might have been like being someone that wasn’t immediately targeted by the Nazis.

While I think it’s fair to say that no one had it harder than the innocent lives that were sent to concentrations camps during the war, The Nightingale really helped paint the picture of what it might have been like for French Catholics and the very serious challenges they faced in war as well.

The Nightingale was so beautifully written. If I wasn’t completely lost in the story of Vianne and Isabelle I often thought about HOW ON EARTH Kristin Hannah was able to gather the information to pull this book together. Every detail made me feel like I was truly in France during the time of war.

This book is powerful. It is a true testament to the power of human will in the face of adversity. It is also a beautiful reminder that women are a force not to be reckoned with. (insert strong arm emoji)

The Nightingale is officially being moved to my list of Top 10 books I have ever read. I will admit with confidence that this is my favorite historical fiction to date.

I am giving The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah and easy 5 stars on Goodreads. If you’re looking for another 5 star book recommendation by me, check out one of my reviews HERE.

If you’ve already read The Nightingale, here are a few of my recommendations for other historical fiction books I have personally read and enjoyed circa WWII.

Night by Elie Wiesel (nonfiction) This book is near and dear to my heart. After reading this book, I traveled to Poland with my Mom. I visited Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II Birkenau. The words written by Elie Wiesel were loud in my head as I walked the camps and paid my respects to generations lost.

Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

The Storyteller by Jodi Piccoult

Have you read The Nightingale? Do you have any historical fiction books you think I should read? Leave me a comment below and let me know!

June 29, 2020

July 2020 Reading Goals

June, you flew by! June was filled with angst-filled romances, heartbreaking historical fictions, and even books I absolutely hated.

Do you ever feel like you fall into a genre bubble? That is, a bubble of the same genre with not much of a desire to read anything else. I fall into a romance bubble quite often. I’m not complaining! I just want to make sure I’m not missing out on other great reads.

This month I really tried to step out of my comfort zone. I found that by stepping out of my comfort zone, I discovered some UH-MAZING books, and now I’m feeling more inspired than ever to dabble into different genres.

Without further adieu, here is what I’m looking forward to reading this July:

Educated by Tara Westover (nonfiction autobiography)

You and Me and Us by Alison Hammer (fiction)

Untamed by Glenon Doyle(nonfiction autobiography)

Code Name Helene by Ariel Lawhon (historical fiction)

The Ballad of Song Birds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins (dystopian young adult science fiction)

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (A Hunger Games Novel)

Slammed by Colleen Hoover (romance)

Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (romance)

Home Before Dark by Riley Sager (thriller)

Do you have any big July reading plans? Leave me a comment below and let me know what you’re excited about reading!

June 26, 2020

It Ends With Us

THE BOOK

Have you ever been in a physically abusive relationship?

Have you ever been in an emotionally abusive relationship?

Have you ever had a friend that was in an emotionally or physically abusive relationship?

If you’ve answered “yes” to any of those questions, I’m not suggesting, I’m asking that you take the time to read this book.

Colleen Hoover has really done something special with this book. She found a way to shed light on what it looks like being in an unhealthy relationship through the eyes of the person that adores the person making the relationship toxic.

It Ends With Us is another fabulously twisted romance by literary queen Colleen Hoover. This book follows Lily—a twenty something and her life when she meets hunky neurosurgeon Ryle. There are also many flashbacks to Lily’s life as a fifteen-year-old, falling in love for the first time with a homeless boy named Atlas.

As I read this book I felt so much empathy for Lily and the difficult situations she encountered. I was right there with her, finding justification for scenarios that really didn’t deserve any. CoHo makes you feel just how challenging it can be to make the right choice for yourself when you’re so entirely wrapped up in another person.

The only spoiler I’ll give: Lily makes the right choice in the end.

It Ends With Us is a page turner. I sped through this one in two days. You’ll get hooked super fast and then won’t be able to put it down until you get to the end! In true CoHo fashion it’s also filled with lots of steamy love scenes.

I gave this book 5 stars on Goodreads. The story of Lily is one that I will treasure for the rest of my life.

Grab your copy of It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover through my Amazon Affiliate link HERE.

Leave me a comment down below if you have any books that were similar to this one that I should add to my list! #foreverreading

THE QUOTES

“All humans make mistakes. What determines a person’s character aren’t the mistakes we make. It’s how we take those mistakes and turn them into lessons rather than excuses.”

“It’s easy when we’re on the outside to believe that we would walk away without a thought if a person mistreated us. It’s easy to say we couldn’t continue to love someone who mistreats us when we aren’t the ones feeling the love of that person.”

“Cycles exist because they are excruciating to break. It takes an astronomical amount of pain and courage to disrupt a familiar pattern. Sometimes it seems easier to just keep running in the same familiar circles, rather than facing the fear of jumping and possibly not landing on your feet.”

THE BATH

Today’s bath was brought to you by..you guessed it..Dr. Teals. They really are my favorite bubble bath, and it is so convenient that so many grocery shops sell their products.

This little bath trio is by a company called Sanitas that my aesthetician turned me on to!

Lastly we have the iridescent face mask by Que Bella, because who doesn’t need some extra sparkle in their life?

Don’t forget to subscribe to join Club Book Baths! Leave me a comment down below and let me know how you liked It Ends With Us!

June 21, 2020

6 Gift Ideas for Book Lovers

Some of the links below are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate we will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase through our link, at no additional cost to you.

When you become a reader it’s an easy hobby to spend lots of money on! It’s also a great hobby to be frugal with. I go through phases where I want to buy all of my books from Thrift Books or borrow them for free at the local library. Then I go through phases where I want to be the boujee-est bookstagrammer I know.

Lately I’ve been on a boujee book kick! Here are some of my favorite must haves!

A bath tray! Us readers need to squeeze in reading whenever we get a chance. This bath tray is a perfect excuse to turn some pages while also relaxing and focusing on self care. You can find my bath tray in this Amazon link here. I really love this bath tray because the back is the perfect size for a hardcover, tablet, or my Kindle! The two side pieces are adjustable and removable. This is super convenient when trying to keep a candle away from a page.

Some of the links below are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate we will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase through our link, at no additional cost to you.

2. A Kindle Paperwhite! Do you need this if you also have the Kindle app? If you read a lot, my answer is YES. For as affordable as $65 on Amazon, it can’t be beat. The Paperwhite is perfect for a beach vacation, cruise, etc. It is designed to not have a glare which is very convenient when lounging by a pool on a sunny day. If you’re anything like me and go through multiple books in a single vacation, you need this. Having the Kindle Paperwhite alleviates needing to bring along multiple heavy books. You can also style your Paperwhite with fun covers like these.

3. A Fun Reading Tote! If I’m ever in the mood to go curl up in a coffee shop or bookstore I always bring my tote. It’s perfect to carry notebooks and writing utensils. If you’re ever taking notes for a book club or highlighting a worthy quote, it is very convenient to have everything in one bag. I also like to throw whatever books I’m reading in my tote. This prevents me (sometimes) from leaving my books all over the house.

4. A cute book mark! My favorite book mark ever was a gift from my best friend from. She got it from this Etsy shop. It’s obviously super sentimental and really sturdy. You can also find really cute ones on Amazon or Barnes and Nobles.

5. An inspiring journal. There are so many great journals, so go with one that speaks to you. This Reading Journal from Amazon is really cool because you can track your reading, rate your books, write your reviews, and bullet journal. I love this one by Kate Spade , simply because it’s just so pretty. Like I said, this list is all about my boujee reading items.

Every time you escape with a good book, you are treating yourself to an act of self care. I vote that every now and again, you treat yourself!

6. A book sleeve! This is the perfect way to throw your beloved hardcover into something for safe keeping before tossing it into a bag. Book sleeves are extra convenient when taking a book to the beach!

June 20, 2020

Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Book Store

THE BOOK:

Do you ever want to expand your reading horizons? Do you ever feel guilty because you basically only read romance books or books filled with lots of murder? I’m hoping at least one of you can relate right now..

Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore is the perfect book if you’re trying to venture into different genres.

Let me begin by saying, if you follow me because we like the same type of books and you’re always in need of a binge worthy read, this is NOT the book for you. I did not love this book, but I am actually really grateful I read it. SO if you want to step out of your reading bubble, I am going to give you 5 reasons why Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore is the perfect book to do it with.

It is a really unique genre. Goodreads is classifying it as fiction/mystery/fantasy. Just like Goodreads, I also cannot make up my mind as to what genre this is. It is essentially a book about books. The characters go on an adventure to try and crack the code as to why other characters are checking out obscure books in an old book store in San Francisco.
It will make you feel smart. If you’re anything like me, you’ll have to reread a few pages to truly make sense of what’s going on when computer codes are being cracked and century old puzzles are being solved.
You will get to hang out with the smart kids! I don’t just mean regular smart, I mean Ivy League/Works for Google/Making Millions smart! The characters in this book are very intelligent, seeing the inner workings of their lives was super fascinating.
You get to pretend work for Google! I cannot attest if the author was writing true facts about working for Google or not, but the ways he describes it will make you want to apply to be a janitor at the very least to get in on the Google action.
The cover to this book (at least the hardcover) glows in the dark. Are you even a reader if you don’t own at least one novel that glows in the dark?

I ended up giving Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore 3 stars on Goodreads. It truly wasn’t a bad book. If it had more romance, and more murder, it would have been an easy 5 stars. I can’t help it guys, the heart wants what it wants!

Have you read this one? Leave me a comment below and let me know your thoughts!

THE QUOTES:

“Walking the stacks in a library, dragging your fingers across the spines — it’s hard not to feel the presence of sleeping spirits.”

“You know, I’m really starting to think the whole world is just a patchwork quilt of crazy little cults, all with their own secret spaces, their own records, their own rules.”

“Let me give you some advice: make friends with a millionaire when he’s a friendless sixth-grader.”

THE BATH

You MUST try this Honest Company Bubble Bath, the scent is a super mild orange and vanilla! It was a welcome change from my typical lavender bath.

I found the face mask at Target, and the lemon paired perfectly with already zesty scents from the bubble bath.

A refreshing lemonade is also a necessity when enjoying this citrusy soak.