I started blogging again!

May 1, 2024 ~ Delaney ~ 1 Comment

I am so relieved we finally made it to the end of April, because it is also the end of my semester! I am one day and one final away from surviving my first semester of grad school. But that’s not what you’re here for, you’re here for the books!

Given how busy I was this month, I was shocked to find that I read 10 books total. My favorites were anticipated releases This is Me Trying by Racquel Marie and Funny Story by Emily Henry, with unexpected hits Light From Uncommon Stars and Hijab Butch Blues. I had a couple disappointments, but most of the things I read were really fun, if not really amazing! Find a full list of the books I read this month and more under the cut.

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Review: This Is Me Trying by Racquel Marie

April 16, 2024April 16, 2024 ~ Delaney ~ 1 Comment

Title: This Is Me Trying
Author: Racquel Marie
Genre: contemporary fiction
Intended audience: young adult
Format read: eARC
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Pub date: April 16, 2024
Content warnings: (from Racquel Marie’s website) off-page teenage boy’s death by suicide (method is never disclosed), grief over loved one who died by suicide, grief over paternal death by car accident, intrusive thoughts and behaviors fueled by obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), panic attacks, anxiety, morbid ideation, discussions of suicidal ideation and depression, absent/neglectful parents, off-page grandfather injury (fall without serious complications), off-page teenage sex, underage drinking and intoxication, smoking, discussions of teenage pregnancy and motherhood, side plot emotionally abusive relationship, mild violence (main character punching a side character), mild injury (hurt hand from punching)
Rating: 5/5 stars

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Review: Dear Wendy by Ann Zhao

April 9, 2024April 9, 2024 ~ Delaney ~ 3 Comments

Title: Dear Wendy
Author: Ann Zhao
Genre: contemporary fiction
Intended audience: young adult
Format read: eARC
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Pub date: April 16, 2024
Content warnings: none
Rating: 4/5 stars

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Title: Dear Wendy
Author: Ann Zhao
Genre: contemporary fiction
Intended audience: young adult
Format read: eARC
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Pub date: April 16, 2024
Content warnings: none
Rating: 4/5 stars

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Review: Just As You Are by Camille Kellogg

April 2, 2024 ~ Delaney ~ 1 Comment

Title: Just As You Are
Author: Camille Kellogg
Genre: romance
Intended audience: adult
Format read: ebook
Publisher: Dial Press
Pub date: April 25, 2023
Content warnings: homophobia, mentions of parental disownment
Rating: 4/5 stars

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March Wrap-Up // it’s the audiobooks for me

April 1, 2024 ~ Delaney ~ Leave a comment

Happy Spring! For me, March meant Spring break, and April means I am almost done with the semester (our last day of class is April 29th!). I was traveling over Spring break, so I am actually kind of shocked at how much I managed to read this month. A lot of that was due to audiobooks; half of the books I read this month were audiobooks. I had a very stressful couple weeks after break, so I started comfort re-listening to the Emily Henry cycle.

But I also read 8 new books this month, including a new five star! I read Math in Drag by Kyne Santos (@onlinekyne) and absolutely loved it! If you haven’t seen her TikToks you should totally check them out. I also really loved Just as You Are by Camille Kellogg, I Hope This Doesn’t Find You by Ann Liang, and Even Though I Knew the End by C.L. Polk.

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February Wrap-Up // I love libraries

March 1, 2024March 1, 2024 ~ Delaney ~ 4 Comments

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a lovely February. I, for one, really feel like I got back into the groove of reading this month. I read a whopping total of 14 books! And not only do I feel like I managed to knock a lot of books off my tbr, I also read some really great books. I was totally blown away by Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire, which has been on my tbr for a while but which I picked up on a whim because it was an available audiobook on Libby I actually wanted to read. The same goes for Nimona, which I heard about when it first came out, but had never really looked in to. I simply got it because it was a graphic novel available at the library. But I absolutely loved it, and immediately watched the Netflix movie as well.

I also read like, four nonfiction books this month! I probably usually read one nonfiction book a month, sometimes two, but four might be a new record for me. Poverty, by America, x + y: A Mathematician’s Manifesto for Rethinking Gender, and Moby Dyke were all great. One thing I neglected this month though was my physical tbr. I only read one physical book that I own. This is because I was checking a lot of books out from the library, but I definitely want to rectify that next month, and read at least two books from my physical collection. For more about books and this month, hit that read more button.

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Review: Most Ardently by Gabe Cole Novoa

February 13, 2024 ~ Delaney ~ 2 Comments

Title: Most Ardently: A Pride and Prejudice Remix
Author: Gabe Cole Novoa
Genre: historical fiction
Intended audience: young adult
Format read: eARC
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Pub date: January 16 2024
Content warnings: deadnaming and misgendering, homophobia
Rating: 3/5 stars

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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January Wrap-Up // a solid reading start

February 1, 2024 ~ Delaney ~ Leave a comment

Ah, January, what feels like the longest month of the year. If you have been around before, thank you for sticking with me into 2024! And if you are new here, welcome! I hope to see more of you this year. I feel like so much has happened to me this January. In previous years, I had nearly three weeks of January off for winter break, which meant I got a lot of reading done. Like twenty books a lot. This year, I only had about three days off in January, so I didn’t get quite that much reading done, but I definitely feel I am back into my normal pace, as I read ten books this month (and none of them were even graphic novels).

I feel especially accomplished because I read three books from my physical tbr this month: Becoming by Michelle Obama, How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America by Kiese Laymon, and Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch by Rivka Galchen. But my favorites were None Shall Sleep by Ellie Marney (which I listened to on audio) and Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland. For my full list of reads this month and more, check out the content under the cut. You may notice my ratings look a little lower than normal, averaging closer to 3 than 4 stars. I am just trying to re-configure the rankings in my head. Star ratings are silly and fail to capture a lot of information, rest assured that 3 stars means I enjoyed a book!

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Review: Come and Get It by Kiley Reid

January 30, 2024 ~ Delaney ~ 1 Comment

Title: Come and Get It
Author: Kiley Reid
Genre: general fiction
Intended audience: adult
Format read: eARC
Publisher: G.P. Putnam Son’s
Pub date: January 30, 2024
Content warnings: thoughts of suicide, vomiting, blood and serious injuries, hospitals, racism, biphobia, teacher/student relationship (kind of), toxic relationship, death and accidental killing, dead dog
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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2023 Reading Wrap Up

January 5, 2024 ~ Delaney ~ 1 Comment

Happy new year! It really is hard to believe we are in 2024. I did not get the chance to use my winter break to catch up on blog posts, but I did spend it reading and spending time with family, which I think is an excellent use of my time. But I still wanted to do a 2023 reading wrap-up post, even if it is a few days late.

I did not make a “best of” list this year. Last year I did a list solely of my favorite 2022 releases. However, this year I both read so few new releases and rated so few books five stars, that I couldn’t even scrape together one list. That being said, 2023 was far from a disappointing reading year. So here is a look back at some of the highlights of the year.

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