Hi all. You might have noticed my frazzled state this week. This week was the week I vowed to get back into blogging and I became determined to kick my slumps butt. I didn’t totally succeed but I am getting back into the rhythm of blogging. I just need to remember how on earth I got organised in the first place because I am most definitely not keeping track of things at the moment.
I won’t bother trying to fill you all in on my life since my last proper Sunday post because I would be talking for hours. I have spent a lot of time with friends and making plans. A couple of my friends have had big life changes recently and it’s meant I’ve been seeing them a bit more. It’s been great, though, I think I hadn’t realised how little I’d seen them until I was making all these plans with them and that is totally awesome.
Like I said, this was the week of getting organised. Or, more the weekend of getting organised. I was determined this would be the weekend where I get my head on straight and sort out those little things I’ve been putting off. I have been suffering along with flat pillows and kept saying I was going to get new ones since I keep waking up with an achy back and shoulders but I finally bought new ones. Not tested them out yet but they definitely feel like I’ll sink into them. I also vowed to finally sort out the things I gained from my nan’s house. I had old books and random board games and just random stuff which I gained from her home which hadn’t found a place in my own home yet so I finally sorted those out. And I hung the pictures which I have been sat on my floor for far too long. I think I might have managed to get vaguely organised. I plan to get organised with blogging and blog related things over Sunday and next week. I want to have a mental plan for when and what I’m doing like I used to so fingers crossed for me guys.
I’ve hinted at work stuff before and there is still work stuff going on. I won’t talk about the bad, my friends and co-workers get enough of that from me so I won’t talk your ears off too, but my options are being considered. I am finding there are a few folks at work who are becoming good friends, though. We had an office party a few weeks back now and we all had a great time before heading out to a club after. There are was the usual drama from folks going out drinking but it was a great laugh and I got to know a couple of people way better for it. Who knew they were so fun? I am actually making plans to go to Birmingham Pride with a couple of folks from work this year. I’ve never been before but I’ve been told it’s a great day, they have food and drink on and there are various artists there. I think it’ll be different, at least, and I am all about doing different things.
What I’ve Been Reading
I’m not gonna do all the books since my last Sunday Summary post, you can see what I’ve read lately in my wrap up post. I have been in quite a slump so this is two weeks worth of books. I just don’t know what I want to read at the moment. Shelter in Place was a decent read, it had its problems but I did enjoy it. Aftermath was also a decent read and Kelley Armstrong always writes books which I enjoy but it also wasn’t love. I got Chasing Truth for free and I am so glad I did because that book was really fun. Definite love with that one, once I got used to the writing style, anyway. I immediately bought Hiding Lies when I finished and although that one hasn’t hooked me that’s more because I got sucked into fanfiction for a while and that’s all I wanted to read. Hopefully, I’ll finish that soon.
New To Me
So this is a months worth of new books and I admit it does demonstrate how much of a problem I have. In my defence, most of these were bought with a gift card. Actually, I think all but 5 of them were. Does that make it better? Probably not, oh well.
And these are all the ARCs since last time I checked in. Maybe you can appreciate why I’m so frazzled when you see all these glorious books to read and me stuck in a reading slump. I am so excited for so many of them. maybe I’ll become a recluse for a while and catch up.
And finally, I won a competition a little while back by Rachel over at Confessions of a Book Geek. One of my friends has been on at me to read The White Queen for a while and The Nightingale has been on my radar for a while so I am so very excited to start both of them.
And that is my bookish update. What have you been reading lately? Have I missed anything important while I’ve been gone?
This, in fact, isn’t even the post I intended to write when I sat down in front of my laptop. I was going to play review catch up tonight and then sort out a few discussion and tag posts for my blog (because this place is beginning to look neglected) but then I realised I had no clue which books I had and hadn’t reviewed on my blog. One book I had three separate drafts written up for reviewing it and none of them had the same things on there! I even thought I’d reviewed a book but hadn't and started to draft up ideas for another which I reviewed a couple of weeks ago. It’s a serious case of where is my mind?
And thus this post was born as I question whether or not anyone else finds themselves losing track of blog related things? I know half my issue is that I have been away, I’m not following my old mental blogging schedule so I’m left questioning what day it is. Also, I’ve stopped using my bullet journal because I’ve simply not been sat down for five minutes a day to fill it in and that used to help me plan out my days and my blog. I simply don’t know what I have and haven’t reviewed because of it, I used to have a lovely little list that helped me out. Instead, I am left staring at my Goodreads read shelf hoping I’ll remember if my little Goodreads review has been adapted and posted on my blog. Don’t even get me started on Amazon reviews.
Do you lose track of the books you have and haven’t reviewed as well? I want to know how you keep track of the books you’ve reviewed on your blog. Do you even bother? I mean, I’ve done a couple of rereads and I don’t know if I’ve reviewed those before and I know I can search my blog but I want an easier way to know if I’ve reviewed it before. It’s bugging me. I am not traditionally organised and tidy (seriously, I am a bombs gone off, organised chaos kind of girl) but usually I can remember the important things (like what books I’ve got left to review) but currently I feel like Velma when she loses her glasses, my brain is gone and I don’t know what’s going on.
Give me all the blogging organisation tips and make me feel less lost and confused, please? How do you keep track of your books? I want to know your secrets!
Published: 5th April 2018 (UK)
Source: Netgalley
Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
My Rating:
"One of the loveliest, most exquisitely beautiful books I've read in a very long time. . . . I didn't just read the pages, I lived in them." --Jennifer Niven, New York Times bestselling author of All the Bright Places
A beautiful love story for fans of Jandy Nelson and Nicola Yoon: two teens find their way back to each other in a bookstore full of secrets and crushes, grief and hope--and letters hidden between the pages.
Years ago, Rachel had a crush on Henry Jones. The day before she moved away, she tucked a love letter into his favorite book in his family's bookshop. She waited. But Henry never came.
Now Rachel has returned to the city--and to the bookshop--to work alongside the boy she'd rather not see, if at all possible, for the rest of her life. But Rachel needs the distraction. Her brother drowned months ago, and she can't feel anything anymore.
As Henry and Rachel work side by side--surrounded by books, watching love stories unfold, exchanging letters between the pages--they find hope in each other. Because life may be uncontrollable, even unbearable sometimes. But it's possible that words, and love, and second chances are enough.
I have been away a while but I’ve read some fantastic books whilst I’ve been gone and this was one of them. I had hoped reading a book about books (as well as a bunch of very cool characters) would inspire me to get back into reading. I adored it but it didn’t quite do what I wanted.
This book is many things, and I put off reading it for many reasons. The key one being I knew it would be sad as a central part of the story is Rachel dealing with the death of her brother, and with it being so soon after losing my nan I wasn’t sure sadness and loss was appropriate reading. Grief and loss is a central part of the story, and it is dealt with heroically, but it’s also about love, friendship, life, and family. I couldn’t see that at first, but once I started the book I was amazed at how I had missed out on such a good read when it was sat waiting for me on my Kindle.
As I said, this book is about grief. It was sad, Rachel’s brother, Henry, drowned and she is not ok. It has taken away her love for the sea and taken away her passion for life. That’s isn’t exactly the set up for something bright and cheery. But it wasn’t the overwhelmingly sad book I thought it might be. It does have moments which will make you tear up because it is an emotional read, but I spent far more time smiling along with this book than anything else. It’s about Rachel’s grief, but also about a bunch of other people’s grief. And it’s about growth and self-discovery, and friendship and so much more. I’m just sorry I let the prospect of some real emotions, like sadness, put me off reading this ARC.
I immediately liked Rachel. She is broken by the loss of a brother she was so close to and she is not coping with that loss. Returning back to a place when she will have continual reminders of her brother doesn’t seem like the best plan but it’s the only plan really. Then when she’s stuck working with her old best friend who she was in love with you can see how it was easy to like her. She has enough on her plate and didn’t want to revisit the past, especially not when it brings up memories of her brother. She slowly learns that remembering isn’t a bad thing, it’s bittersweet. Grieving and loss involve remembering, and Rachel gradually learns this and comes to turn with both her past and what her future holds.
Henry was a little different. I didn’t actually like him at first (any guy who can be in love with such a shallow girl and be blind to things around him comes across as a bit of a dick). He came across so self-centred, he just couldn’t see beyond the end of his nose, but that’s what made this book so satisfying to read. Rachel’s growth is in regards to grief and her own needs. Henry’s is in his attitudes and perceptions of those around him and what he holds as important. He discovers that his own aims were changed and in fact what he actually wants is far closer to home. He realises the importance of family and also about letting things go.
Sorry to be so vague about things, I don’t want to spoil this book because it’s not a fast-paced read but a slower journey of discovery and people and that you don’t know as much as you think about those you love and even when it comes to yourself. It’s about grief and family and the meaning of home. It’s lots of things and I adored it.
Have you read this, what did you think? What books have you been hesitant to read because it hit too close to the feels?
I’ve been absent for the past couple of weeks and it turns out my last monthly wrap up was January! That was the start of the year! It’s cool, though. Now you get the three month bumper edition of my reading/blogging/life update.
You’re excited, I know.
In Real Life
So it’s been a bit crazy in real life… which is obviously why I’ve been gone a while. If you’ve checked out any of the Sunday posts I did manage to get up you will have seen I’ve had things going on.
We are finally finished clearing out my nan’s! The house sale went through last week and I was amazed we managed to clear out everything in the time we did. It was a very full house and it was empty by the time we were finished with it (I think. I shed a few tears when it hit I wasn’t going to get to go back in the house. It was a place where I grew up and there were a lot of happy memories in that house. It would have hurt too much to keep it, though. I’m glad it was going to become a family home again.
There’s also been drama at work I’m not even going to attempt to get into as it will just piss me off. Safe to say I am not happy with my job and something needs to change on that front. I;ll let you know when I’ve figured out where on earth I’m going with that one. Is it so much to ask to have a job which I can do and when the days over I can leave it at work and just enjoy my time off. I do not live for my job right now, my job fuels my reading habit and makes it so I don’t starve to death. I kind of with I could love my job but it’s just one of them.
And that is most of the day to day. Other stuff happened but let’s not get into that, shall we?
Can’t Stop Listening
Clearly // Grace VanderWaal
Paradise // George Ezra
Make Me Feel // Janelle Monae
February/March/April Reads
5 Stars
4.5 Stars
4 Stars
3.5 Stars
2.5 Stars
DNF
February/March/April Posts
No link ups again this time around, I’ve so many bookmarks lately and I don’t know when they’re all from. Hopefully we’ll be back sharing the blogger love next month.
And we’ve given up with the goals and challenges. I barely have had chance to think and I’ve lost the blogging/reading mojo of late so I’m prioritising.
What have you been up to in the past three months? Read any good books? Got any tips to get me back into the swing of things?
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