Reading + Writing Update!

Happy Sunday!

I usually write these earlier in the day but here I am now, sitting down on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate and Shrek on in the background (Shrek is one of my favourite movies, okay?), ready to update you all on what I got read and written this past week. So yeah, life is pretty good right now and let’s just get into this update!

So far, I am 350 pages into the glorious Queen of Air and Darkness by Cassandra Clare which came out this past Tuesday and I am absolutely loving it. Every morning when I wake up, I make some coffee and sit down with this book for a good hour before I start getting ready for the day. Since it’s like 912 pages, I am nearing that halfway mark but I am taking my time with it because I never want it to end. I will probably be doing a review for it sometime this month so stay tuned for that but yeah, it’s amazing! I have also been keeping up with listening to my audiobook which is City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare, the fifth book in her first series, The Mortal Instruments. This is a book I’ve read a million times, but the narrator for this book is actually an actress from one of my favourite TV shows (Castle), and she is so good at narrating all the characters and bringing the story to life in a new way. I’m only about 4 hours in meaning I still got a good 12 hours to go, but hopefully, I’ll be able to finish it by the end of this coming week. Lastly, I requested the novel adaptation of Dear Evan Hansen and it finally came in for me from the library! I picked it up earlier this week and absolutely flew through it. It was exactly how I imagined and it was a lot of fun to see the musical translated into a YA novel. If you like the soundtrack or the musical or if you just like contemporaries I definitely recommend checking it out!

This week has also been productive writing-wise and I’m hoping the rest of December is like that as well because I really, really need a good, productive month when it comes to both reading and writing (I need to read 10 more books to reach my Goodreads goal…). Tomorrow I have a creative non-fiction assignment due for my writing class, and I’m not going to lie, it has been a struggle to write. I don’t read much CNF (but I really want to so if you have recommendations, let me know!) so it has been difficult to find what I want to write about and then how to do that. I do have a story finished, I just need to edit it profusely, and I am not sure how I feel about it but it’s going to have to do! I already wrote like 4 drafts of it and I don’t have time (or energy) for anymore. Apart from that, I started a new short story that is kind of a playoff on my idea for Project Mystic (a novel idea I’ve been working on since March of this year) and I am having a lot of fun with it but haven’t spent to much time because of my CNF assignment. I’ll probably work on that a lot next week as well as all the scholarship essays I need to write that have looming deadlines. Since I’ve been running myself down with writing and homework lately, I am thinking of taking January off writing to replenish my creativity and all that jazz but I will keep you all updated on that.

Other than that, that is all I have to update you all on and I hope you enjoyed! Don’t forget to check out my last blog post as well as my social media accounts which will be linked down below. By the way, I started posting again on Instagram so that account is no longer dead! Anyways, thanks for reading 🙂

Last Blog Post: December 2018 TBR

 

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August 2017 TBR!

July was an okay reading month, better than the last few months, but I am still really behind on my reading goal, and I want to get a lot of reading done this summer. So, I have a slightly ambitious August TBR, and since I will be less busy, I plan on reading a LOT. Anyways, here is my TBR and I hope you enjoy.

The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen

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I started this book in the beginning of July, but got distracted with others so I plan on finishing it this August. It is a fun, summery contemporary that is perfect for summer vacation, and follows a girl named Emaline who works at her parents realty place and there, she meets an artsy boy from New York that she can’t help but fall for. I am really excited because I expect to just fly through this book, and I know I will enjoy it!

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

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This was a book I purchased a while ago, and I really want to read it because I just keep hearing amazing things about it. Honestly, I want to go into it with no grasp on what it is about, but if you are curious then definitely look it up!

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

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I re read this not that long ago, but honestly, I love this book so much that I just NEED to read it again. This book follows a girl named Anna whose parents send her to an American boarding school in Paris. There, she meets a fun and loving group of friends and against her will, starts to fall for one of them. Hard. Again, this is another light hearted contemporary that is a classic and a must read!

Obsidian by Jennifer L Armentrout

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Since August is the month before I go back to school, I am in the school vibe and have the craving to read books that partially take place at school…so yeah, Obsidian is on my TBR! Obsidian follows a girl named Katy, who after a spontaneous move to Virginia with her mother, moves next door to two strange twins named Dee and Damon Black, and learns that there is more to them and their world than she thought. This book is like a sci-fi-contemporary, and I really love the combination and am excited to re read it!

City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

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Yep! I am still re reading The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare, and it has been so much fun because I just love this series. City of Lost Souls is the fifth book in The Mortal Instruments series, but without spoiling it, the main story line is that it follows teenaged Clary Fray whose mother is kidnapped from their New York apartment, and on her journey to save her, Clary discovers that her mother was part of a world of angels and demons, and that she too, has a place in it. This is my favourite series because of the characters and the plot line, and I am so happy to be back into this great world of Shadowhunters!

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

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I feel like this is one of those classic YA’s that you should read if you like cliche plot lines…and guess what. That’s me! Hush, Hush follows a girl named Nora who never really saw herself falling in love, well at least not at her school. That is, until Patch comes along and things start to change. Throughout the story though, Nora becomes weary of Patch because he starts to know things that nobody should know, and eventually the truth about him comes out. I am excited to give this a try and hopefully I will like it!

Those are all the books I plan to read in the month of August, and you should comment down below any books you plan on reading this month because I would love to know!

Summer 2017 Reading List!

There are quite a few books I want to get to this summer, and I am really excited to have some time to dive into them! Even though I never stick to any reading lists I make, I do enjoy making them and I am waiting for the day that I do actually follow it!

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The Dark Prophecy by Rick Riordan – This book is the sequel to The Hidden Oracle, which follows the god, Apollo, as he is cast down to earth as a mortal. This is a really fast paced and funny series, and I know I will enjoy it! I have started it, and I am a little over fifty pages in, but I got distracted by other books so I will need to pick it back up soon. I love Rick Riordan’s books so I am excited to continue loving them!

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The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare – Yes, that is right. I plan on reading the entire Mortal Instruments series this summer and I am so excited. Of course I have already read the series, as I talk about it a lot on my blog, but I love to re read it so why not since I have some time? The first book, City of Bones, follows a girl named Clary Fray whose mother goes missing and on her journey to find her, she uncovers the mysteries of her life and realizes her mother may have not been honest with her about who she truly is. This book has demons and angels, and amazingly sarcastic characters that you can’t help but fall in love with!

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The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen – I do have a lot of things planned this summer, so I need a quick, easy contemporary. Straight away I went for Sarah Dessen because her books are perfect for the summer! Plus, I feel like the summer is incomplete without a good contemporary or two. The Moon and More follows Emaline, who is spending her last summer before college in her small, home town, Colby. While working for her family’s rental business, she meets a city boy who is someone she would never have gone for, but she suddenly feels herself drawn to him. I love Sarah Dessen books so I am excited to try this one out!

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The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han – Yep! Another contemporary by another favourite contemporary author of mine, Jenny Han. The Summer I Turned Pretty is a really fun and light-hearted book that follows our main character, Belly, who is returning to her mom’s best friend’s beach house after a few years. There, she sees the two boys she spent her childhood with and all three realize how much they had grown up. This is a great beach read and something you can finish in no time!

Is this slightly ambitious for my crazy summer? Yes, completely…but I am really excited to see how many of these books I can read! There are a few readathons I want to participate in, so hopefully that will help me get through the a little quicker. Anyways, that is all for my Summer 2017 Reading List and I hope you enjoyed. Don’t forget to check out my last blog post: How Blogging Helps Novel Writing!