Recent Reads and Current Reads + Life Updates

Hey guys, how’s it goin?!

It’s actually been a while since I’ve written a post. Most of my recent posts were scheduled weeks before. I haven’t really had the time or energy to blog these past few weeks. But I managed to blog hop here and there. Not as much as I would like to though

Life Update

*GIF alert*

So I’ve been working at Starbucks for two weeks now and it’s going well enough, I suppose. I like the people I work with and I enjoy being able to connect with some of the customers. There’s always a downside, of course. I still have to practice my hot bar skills (so if you need a latte, you ain’t gettin’ it from me) and sometimes complex orders trip me up. And also, some customers can just be, to be frank, assholes.

But I’m trying to stay positive. One day I’ll get in the groove and then most of the stress I’m feeling will melt away and everything will be fine. Just. Fine.

Also, working all 7 days of the week is kicking my ass. I finally realized this once I took three naps yesterday–one right after I got home from work, one sometime in the late afternoon, and one right before making this post.

I literally woke up from a nap thinking I couldn’t wait until I finished this post so I could go to sleep, for real this time though. My energy levels have been nonexistent these past few days, so if it’s taking me forever to respond to your comments, that’s why 😦

I plan to take a day off this Friday though, and just treat myself to a day of relaxation and catch up on some blogging. But I’ll be trying real hard to just give myself some time to read, watch some TV, blog, and just RELAX.

On another note…

While I’ve been away, I’ve been doing some reading! Here are the books I’ve read in the past couple of weeks!

Thirteen Reasons Why | Jay Asher

Initial Thoughts: Months after watching the show, I finally took the leap and read the book. I know this book is pretty controversial nowadays, but it’s a book that makes a statement. Does it do it perfectly? No. I’m not a huge fan of the tape premise, but it makes a point, and that’s what Jay Asher set out to do. And I also think the characters, namely Clay, are pretty hollow. (The show did better in giving the characters actual personalities and voices you could connect with.) Despite its flaws, this is a powerful story that explores themes of bullying, mental illness, and suicide.

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This Savage Song | Victoria Schwab

Initial Thoughts: Amazing world-building. Potent character development. Engaging plot. Suspenseful and thrilling action sequences. Fantastic platonic relationship between Kate and August (hope they stay that way in Our Dark Duet). Loved this book and its characters. Wish the parent figures were a bit more fleshed out, though. One of the best dystopian/paranormal books I’ve read since the Blood of Eden series. Can’t wait to read the second one!

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Noteworthy | Riley Redgate

Initial Thoughts: Easily one of my favorite contemporaries I’ve read this year! Heart-warming and humorous. A diverse cast of fun and relatable characters. Like Pitch Perfect, except much more grounded. Various themes of identity, self-discovery, intersectionality, health and lifestyle, trust, loyalty, friendship, family, education, and so on. Very well-written and hard to put down. Loved every bit of this one.

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While I managed to read a few good ones, there were two books I recently gave up on. I haven’t had this many DNFs within a year, but I’ve promised myself that if I’m having trouble finishing a book, then I might as well put it down for good.  No need to punish myself.

The Thousandth Floor | Katharine McGee

For the life of me, I could not finish The Thousandth Floor. It’s just not my type of book. While the futuristic aspect was enjoyable, I couldn’t get past the whole Gossip Girl feel of it. I’ve never been a fan of Gossip Girl or the Luxe series or any other book that’s just like them (basically anything with over-the-top drama). So, I just had to let it go. I didn’t like any of the characters and some of the relationships were slightly off-putting. It’s probably a good book, just not the book for me.

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Soundless| Richelle Mead

This book was just boring. I got about 130 pages in before calling it quits. I couldn’t connect with any of the characters and nothing really interesting happens. The concept was cool, but the execution seems to be lacking, especially in the representation of Chinese culture and folklore, neither of which I experienced fully in the pages I read. So, it turned out to be a pretty dissatisfying read. Had to say goodbye.

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Spontaneous | Aaron Starmer

This book is strange. But I like it so far. The MC is very brash and has a straightforward voice/attitude that I find appealing. She’s very funny and the way the book is written keeps me entertained. I’m not really sold on the romance (it came out of the blue, to be honest) but I guess I’ll just have to wait and see how it plays out.

That’s all for now. I’ve got a discussion post in the works as well as some more reviews, some tags, awards, a bookish post about my shelves, and a couple of other things coming up in the next few weeks. I’ll be trying pop on over to some of your blogs to catch up on some of the amazing posts I’ve missed (what’s new?) and hopefully, I can get a blogging schedule up and running for myself for the coming weeks so I won’t always be so behind.

Until then, I hope y’all are doin’ all right. Thanks for stoppin’ by and I’ll see you soon! ❤