Bookish Weekly Wrap-Up: 7/23 – 7/29/18

 

Happy Sunday (almost Monday) bookworms!

How is everyone?  I WAS having a good day until this evening when we discovered that there is water leaking into our basement.  Oh yes.  Our brand new carpet is ripped up and in the process of drying as we speak.  Nothing ruins your Sunday feels more than a leaking basement.  Hence why this post is late.

Such is life right? Let’s talk books so I can forget about my basement woes…

 

*Bookish 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, what I will be reading next, noteworthy posts around the bookish blogosphere, and any interesting bookish articles I came across.

Monday 7/23

Book Event: Sabaa Tahir’s Book Tour for A Reaper at the Gates

Thursday 7/26

Book Review: Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld

Recently Finished Reading:

» Hunger: A Memior of (My) Body by Roxane Gay

*4.5 Stars*

Feelings in a few thoughts:

• I love how real Roxane is.  I don’t always agree with her beliefs, but I never get that “my views are right and others’ are wrong” vibe from her.  I respect that she’s not afraid to talk about the hard things.  Her books always make me think.
• Despite the fact that I was classified as morbidly obese at one point in my life (my BMI was 40, so I was on the borderline of this category), I gained new insights to the struggles of those who are placed in this category.  I never had to worry about things like fitting into an airplane seat, seat belt extenders, stepping up onto a stage, seats with armrests, etc.  Reading this book can really shed light on the challenges those who are morbidly obese must face every day.  Definitely a perspective that I wish more people would read.
• Loved that Roxane narrated this audiobook herself.  It was very well done.
• There are so many powerful moments in this book…

“This is a memoir of (my) body because, more often than not, stories of bodies like mine are ignored or dismissed or derided. People see bodies like mine and make their assumptions. They think they know the why of my body. They do not.”

“The bigger you are, the smaller your world becomes.”

“As a woman, as a fat woman, I am not supposed to take up space. And yet, as a feminist, I am encouraged to believe I can take up space. I live in a contradictory space where I should try to take up space but not too much of it, and not in the wrong way, where the wrong way is any way where my body is concerned.”

» Smoke in the Sun (Flame in the Mist #2) by Renée Ahdieh

*3.5 Stars*

Feelings in a few thoughts:

• Many of the questions I had throughout the Flame in the Mist were finally answered in this book.  My biggest complaint with the first book was that I was confused about the fantasy elements, but things were cleared up in Smoke in the Sun.
• I loved Mariko’s character in this series.  She is confident, intelligent, clever, brave, strong, etc.  A great lead character in a YA book.  I respected her for always sticking to her convictions and not letting anyone, even the boy she loves, sway her from her goals.
• The villain in this book was not developed enough.  The best villains, in my opinion, have motivations behind their actions, but I didn’t see any reasoning behind any motivations here.
• While I appreciate that this was the conclusion to this series and not a series that drags on unnecessarily like so many YA series out there, I wasn’t exactly satisfied when I finished it.  Unfortunately this book felt rushed & abruptly ended.   The book either needed to be longer, or this needed to be a trilogy.
• I debated between the 3.5 star rating and a 4 star rating.  I really did enjoy this series, but I feel like it had the potential to be more.

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Currently Reading:

» Bright We Burn (The Conqueror’s Saga #3) by Kiersten White

Status: 20%

» Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

Status: 25%

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What Am I Reading Next?:

» It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover

Sometimes it is the one who loves you who hurts you the most.

Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up
— she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life suddenly seems almost too good to be true.

Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily. And the way he looks in scrubs certainly doesn’t hurt. Lily can’t get him out of her head. But Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. Even as Lily finds herself becoming the exception to his “no dating” rule, she can’t help but wonder what made him that way in the first place.

As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan — her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened.

» Marie @Drizzle & Hurricane Books shares her spread sheets & tips for blogging organization → HOW TO: ORGANIZE YOUR BOOK BLOGGING LIFE (FT. MY SPREADSHEETS!)

» Lois @My Midnight Musing talks about embracing a book slump → Discussion: How to Embrace the Book Slump

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» 11 Girl-Centered Sci-Fi Novels for Middle Grade Readers

» Summer 2018 Must-Read Fiction

» The Best Audiobooks of 2018

» 16 of the Hottest Romance Books of Summer

What are you currently reading?

What will you read next?

Have a wonderful week & happy reading