I accidentally flew through a bunch of audiobooks and got a lot of my August TBR done this week, which I’m very happy about! I also finally received the romance novels I purchased from The Ripped Bodice, a romance bookstore here in Southern California, and have had a blast starting my *romance journey*. I think that this pandemic portion of my life will be marked by the beginning of my obsession with romance novels…they are just so inexpensive and cute and I can’t stop searching the internet and thrift stores for all the romance novels. It’s truly an addiction.
I also watched Love Between the Covers on Amazon Prime, a documentary on the booming romance novel business, and became even more fascinated by the romance industry. My haul and reviews on the romance books I received will eventually be posted here. For now, I want to have some fun- so here is the Stay at Home Book Tag created by Princess of Paperback on YouTube!
Laying in Bed: Book you could/have read in a day
I started and finished listening to the audiobook of Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars yesterday. It was a super quick read that mixed magical realism with a memoir-ish format. I have mixed feelings about the execution of the book, but it was still a very impactful read all about the true and not-so true story of Kai Cheng Thom as she moves to a new city and embraces her identity as a trans woman.
Snacking: Guilty pleasure book
I’m all about being comfortable with what you like, so I don’t really love saying something is a guilty pleasure. But in the traditional sense, I think that the Vampire Academy Series would fall under this title. There are some issues I have with certain aspects of these books, but I still love reading them. They are a lot of fun and revolve around vampires…and I will always have time for vampires! I haven’t finished the series, but I am slowly going through them so I can extend the experience. (The movie is also awful and wonderful and I have watched it way too many times.)
Netflix: Series you want to start
The Wildwood Duology by Juliet Marillier is one that I have been wanting to read for awhile. All I know about this series is that it is a fantasy with strong female characters, talking frogs, and GORGEOUS covers. That’s all I need to know. I will probably read this series this fall!
Deep Clean: Been on your TBR for ages
Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder has been on my TBR longer than any other book. It still seems like an interesting plot and I have it on my Kindle…so I’ll get to it…eventually.
Animal Crossing: Book you recently bought because of hype
I don’t ever really buy books, but since romance novels are so inexpensive compared to other books and not typically carried at my local libraries, I’ve purchased quite a few recently. The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics is just one of these books. It’s a sapphic historical romance that I’ve heard praise of from many different book bloggers and booktubers across many genres. I think the hype will prove to be well deserved for this one and I can’t wait to read it!
Productivity : Book you learned from or had an impact on you
I’m just going to link to this post about the nonfiction books I read last month. Inside This Place, Not of It was my favorite from this list, though. It was a tough read, but taught me a lot and put actual faces and stories to the flawed prison industrial complex in the United States.
Facetime: A book you were gifted
I haven’t been gifted a book in a long time, but I was gifted a bookstore gift card from my mom for Christmas. With that card, I bought Lucky Caller by Emma Mills, who is my one auto-buy author. She writes the cutest books with the most heartwarming friend groups. I really liked Lucky Caller and ended up giving it 3.5 stars.
Self Care: What is one thing you have done recently to look after yourself
I went back to basics recently and decided to listen to one of my favorite albums while reading some historical romance with my cat. When I was in high school, I was obsessed with cassettes and I found Live Through This by Hole on cassette at a local record store. Ever since then, it is has been one of my prized possessions. Nothing like 90s grunge on scratchy tape to get through the angst!
BONUS: Name a book coming out soon
I am super excited to be on the blog tour with Hear Our Voices for Miss Meteor by Tehlor Kay Mejia and Anna-Marie McLemore, which is coming out on September 22nd. It has been on my TBR ever since I first discovered it mostly because of how cute the cover is. I’m excited for the Mexican-American representation and what I’m sure will be a cute story!
How has your week gone? Have you read any of these books yet or want to soon?
Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great week! 💖
The Ripped Bodice is a premium name for a bookstore and I am SO jealous that we don’t have that in Chicago wow. The documentary on the romance industry sounds incredibly interesting, I’m adding that to my watchlist asap!!! I never read the Vampire Academy books but have kinda been wanting to for the past few weeks….don’t know if I should do it or if I’ve missed the prime age group for enjoying these books to the fullest :/ I loved reading your answers for these!! 🥰
Right?! I am just so happy that such a store exists! I really want to actually go to the physical location, but traffic here is too wild for me. You should watch the documentary! It made me want to read and buy so much historical romance…goodbye to my money 👋
I feel like I definitely am not in the age group to enjoy the Vampire Academy series to the FULLEST and I so easily see the flaws, but that never stops me from picking them up when I need a bit of a reset. I will say that the first one suffers the most from those mid-2000s girl-hate tropes, but that is mostly gone by the 2nd book. Not the BEST books ever, but still fun every now and then.
Ahh thanks Erin!! 💖