Bookish Weekly Wrap-Up: 7/29 – 8/5/18

 

Happy Sunday bookworms!

Did everyone have a great weekend?  I had another great week both on the reading & blogging front.  Let’s see what I had going on this past week…

*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 7/31

Favorite Books of 2018 (1st Half)

Thursday 8/2

July 2018 Bookish Wrap-Up + Book Haul

Friday 8/3

August 2018 TBR: ARC August

» Last night I attended Colleen Hoover’s book tour for All Your Perfects in Cincinnati.  I actually took 3 members of my book club with me since we read It Ends with Us as our August book selection.  A good time was had by all.

» I started the tedious process of redoing my book cases & unhauling books to make room for new inventory.  Good news is that I unhauled a good amount of books.  Bad news I now have to reshelf all my books.

Recently Finished Reading:

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

Feelings in a few thoughts:

• Fantastic finish to a GREAT YA historical fiction series.  Actually, I feel like the books progressively got better with each installment.  Favorite book of the series!
• Lada is a very complex main character.  If you are a fan of anti-hero stories, and would fancy one with a badass female anti-hero, here is the series for you!  While Lada does have some good qualities – loyalty, strength, drive, etc – she does whatever is necessary to obtain her goals, regardless of the cost.  Despite her bloodthirsty ways, I couldn’t help but like and admire Lada.
• Radu!  I loved him more with each passing book.  His progression over the series was very satisfying to watch.  Whereas the other main characters, Lada & Mehmed, stayed constant throughout the series (Lada is vicious and Mehmed is an asshat) Radu goes through a tremendous amount of personal growth.

» It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover

Feelings in a few thoughts:

• Trigger/content warning: Domestic violence & child abuse
• I was really nervous about this book starting off because it was giving me Fifty Shades of Grey vibes and that was not going to fly with me.  Thankfully this was NOT the case.
• This is the type of contemporary/romance that I am on board for!  One with depth & makes you think.
• I am a HUGE fan when authors tackle a heavy topic that make you reevaluate your previous stance on a subject by showing a side that you don’t often see.  Colleen wrote a very important perspective here.
• I was sweating through the final chapters of this one.  My heart was in my throat the entire time.
• The author’s note!  Do NOT skip the author’s note on this one.  My heart hurt.

» Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

Feelings in a few thoughts:

• This was my first Agatha Christie book!  I am not big on murder-mysteries, like at all.  I decided to give this one a go because I wanted to be able to say I have read one of Christie’s books.
• The audiobook was well narrated HOWEVER I feel like I would have enjoyed this better in print form.  Because I listened to it on audiobook, I feel like I missed too many fine details I would have picked up better in print.
• The ending! The ending was absolutely perfect and I did not see it coming at all.   The book was probably more of a 3 star reading for me (not because it is a bad book or bad writing, just because these types of books don’t interest me) UNTIL the ending.  Bravo Christie! 

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Currently Reading:

» Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

Status: Just starting

» The Queen of the Tearling (The Queen of the Tearling #1) by Erika Johansen

Status: Just starting

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What Am I Reading Next?:

» The Last Days of Night by Graham Moore

New York, 1888. Gas lamps still flicker in the city streets, but the miracle of electric light is in its infancy. The person who controls the means to turn night into day will make history–and a vast fortune. A young untested lawyer named Paul Cravath, fresh out of Columbia Law School, takes a case that seems impossible to win. Paul’s client, George Westinghouse, has been sued by Thomas Edison over a billion-dollar question: Who invented the light bulb and holds the right to power the country?

The case affords Paul entry to the heady world of high society–the glittering parties in Gramercy Park mansions, and the more insidious dealings done behind closed doors. The task facing him is beyond daunting. Edison is a wily, dangerous opponent with vast resources at his disposal–private spies, newspapers in his pocket, and the backing of J. P. Morgan himself. Yet this unknown lawyer shares with his famous adversary a compulsion to win at all costs. How will he do it?

In obsessive pursuit of victory, Paul crosses paths with Nikola Tesla, an eccentric, brilliant inventor who may hold the key to defeating Edison, and with Agnes Huntington, a beautiful opera singer who proves to be a flawless performer on stage and off. As Paul takes greater and greater risks, he’ll find that everyone in his path is playing their own game, and no one is quite who they seem.

» Jackie @Death by Tsundoku talks about why she’s ending things with NetGalley → Solving for Tsundoku: Breaking Up with NetGalley and shares some ways you can change things up with your book club → Building Better Book Clubs: Events to Change it up

» Margot @ Lectito shares a few things she wishes she would have known before her book was launched → Things I Wish I’d Known Before My Book Launched

» Danielle @Books, Vertigo, & Tea talks about her struggles with discussion posts → Blogging Life: The Challenges I Encounter With Discussion Posts

» Sam @Clues and Reviews discusses disappointing book endings → Discussion Post: You Had Me Until the Ending

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» The Most Addictive Books of the Last 25 Years

What are you currently reading?

What will you read next?

Have a wonderful week & happy reading 🙂