Weekly Wrap-Up: 8/1 – 8/7/16

 

Happy Sunday my bookish people!

Overall, I had a wonderful week.  I finished 2 books, received my first ever book subscription box, and received autographed books from Colleen Hoover!

Read on for more details…

*Weekly Wrap-Up is a weekly post where I feature what posts were published on the blog for the past week, any bookish/blog happenings, what I recently finished reading, what I am currently reading, and what I will be reading next.

This week on the blog:

Monday 8/1

Book Review: Magruder’s Curiosity Cabinet by H.P. Wood

August 2016 TBR

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Tuesday 8/2

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I’d Buy If Given a Fully Loaded Gift Card

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Wednesday 8/3

Top 5 Wednesday: Books Set in Ohio

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Thursday 8/4

Book Traveling Thursday: Lazy Day Read

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Bookish/Blog happenings:

I have read 44 books so far this year!  I am 9 books ahead of schedule, which is wonderful since I would like to be able to adjust my 2016 Reading Challenge up to 75 books!

I received some unexpected book mail!  I remember I requested The Imperial Wife via The Reading Room and was notified back in the middle of June that I was approved, however I totally forgot about it until it showed up this morning!  I am very excited about this one because I don’t believe I have read a historical fiction set in Russia… or any books set in Russia for that matter.

My BBF (Best Bookish Friend) attended Colleen Hoover’s It Ends With Us Book Tour  when she came to Cincinnati, OH on Friday night.  I had a going away party to attend for some family friends who are moving away to Florida, so I was not able to go with her.  I was super bummed.  HOWEVER my friend took my copy of It Ends with Us AND November 9 and got them both signed for me!!!!

I received my first every subscription box via My Lit Box!  This subscription box was suggested to me by fellow book blogger Bina @If You Can Read This.  I must admit, I did cheat and ordered July’s box because I really wanted it!  I was very happy with the contents of this subscription box!  If I didn’t have to save up for a book festival, I would have went ahead and subscribed to this box.  I am going to ask my hubby for a subscription for Christmas 🙂

Here is why I love this subscription box and how it differs from other book subscription boxes…

MY LIT BOX  is a monthly book subscription service highlighting diversity in literature, delivering newly released novels by writers of color. Each month you will receive a box containing a newly released novel as well as 1-2 quality book related goodies that will make your experience all the more enjoyable!

What sets My Lit Box apart is that the books shipped to you are by writers of color, and I hope you see yourself, and your experiences on these pages as well as the experiences of others and are enlightened & entertained.

Now, obviously I am not a person of color, however I hope to be in the category of those who are enlightened through the diverse literature included in these boxes.

Bloggers like Naz @Read Diverse Books, Bina @If You Can Read This, and Whitney @Brown Books & Green Tea have all inspired me to evaluate my reading and branch out.  After I finish my reading for the BBTB book festival that I am attending in October, I am challenging myself to read one book each month written by or about a person (or people) who differ from me.  People of color.  People of different religions.  People with physical or mental handicaps.  LGBT+ characters.

So far, I have a few books on my TBR list for this goal so far…

» Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

» Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera

» The Book of Esther by Emily Barton

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Recently finished reading:

Amazon • Goodreads

*3.5 stars

The conclusion of The Raven Cycle fell a little flat for me if I am being honest.  I felt like the first three books were this huge build up toward this book but I felt underwhelmed after finishing.  I also feel like there were a lot of loose ends that were not wrapped up, which bothered me.  I still love this series, but The Raven King is my least favorite in the series.  Review to come soon!

Amazon • Goodreads

I know a lot of people were disappointed with Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, however I for one adored it.  I went into this realizing that this is not a BOOK written by J.K. Rowling, but rather a SCRIPT for a PLAY in which Rowling had some input…  It made my heart happy to revisit some old friends and meet some new ones!  Review coming soon.

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Currently reading:

Amazon • Goodreads

I am currently 30% through The Summer that Melted Everything.  Things are really starting to pick up.  So far, this book almost feels like a parable… it is much more profound than I was expecting.  There are so many quotable passages!

Amazon • Goodreads

I am only about 5% through this one and I am worried that this isn’t going to be my cup of tea.  I am already annoyed with the leaning male character Doran, which worries me.  I can already smell an overdone trope here.  Since this is one of the books for the BBTB book festival, I am going to try and stick it out.  Maybe it will end up surprising me.

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On deck:

Amazon • Goodreads

Following right along with my August 2016 TBR, The Love that Split the World is next on the list!

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How was your week?

What are you currently reading?

What will you read next?

Have a wonderful week, and happy reading 🙂