Confessions of a Bibliovore

Title: People Like Us Author: Dana Mele Narrator: Erin Spencer Kay Donovan may have skeletons in her closet, but the past is past, and she's reinvented herself entirely. Now she's a star soccer player whose group of gorgeous friends run their private school with effortless popularity and acerbic wit. But when a girl's body is found in the lake, Kay's carefully constructed life begins to topple. The dead girl has left Kay a computer-coded scavenger hunt, which, as it unravels, begins to implicate suspect after suspect, until Kay herself is in the crosshairs of a murder investigation. But if Kay's finally backed into a corner, she'll do what it takes to survive. Because at Bates Academy, the truth is something you make...not something that happened.   One sentence review: I'm still up in the air about whether I liked it or not. Lots of twists and lots of bird-walks.  Longer thoughts: So seriously I don't know how I feel about this one. It was one of those ...

I read 6 books in February, which is one better than January. But I started several that I’m in the middle of, that I just didn’t finish before the month was up. It was a better reading month rating wise as well, since I read a few 5 star books and a few 4 stars. On to the reviews! Reviews The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen The Wife Between Us was one of those books I kept seeing around and wanted to read but wasn’t planning on getting to very soon. Then it was chosen as the book of the month for my IRL book club and I decided to download it as an audiobook. I can say that yes, I liked it, but it was mostly a just okay book. Because the summary warns you that there’s a big twist, I was able to guess it because I was waiting for it the whole time. Once that was revealed (about half way), I lost a bit of interest in the characters. I didn’t find the protagonist(s) likeable and really didn’t care about their marriage or the lives they were leading. It was interesti...

I read 5 books in the month of January, but my goal was to read about 8 a month so I’m already behind on that. For the most part, it was an okay reading month. There wasn’t anything I really loved, although there was one book I enjoyed more than others, which was Bird Box. I started a few other books during January but I have yet to finish them. Reviews Dry Spell by Vi Keeland This was my first taste at a Vi Keeland book and while it was a cute, sexy read it was also too short. There was not enough sexy times, but I couldn’t really expect more from such a short read. I’m definitely looking forward to checking out a full Vi Keeland novel in the future. Rating: ★★★ Bird Box  by Josh Malerman I heard of this one years ago and I meant to read it sooner but never had the chance to. Once the movie came out on Netflix and there was so much hype surrounding it, I felt motivated enough to finally pick it up. It’s definitely a mysterious story about a dystopian world where people must keep ...

I am a middle school media specialist - grades 5-8.   Here are some things happening in our media center!  Our local Friends of the Library were very kind to us in honor of Read Across America Day. They bought us 10 books of our choice (and gave us a bonus book!) as well as provided the prize for a Create a Bookmark contest we had. We were very thankful for their kindness and generosity!  Yes this is me being a goof! I also have to share this picture. When our students come into the library they have to have a pass, and they set that pass on our counter, so we know they are there.  This was during homeroom one day (it's 25 minute period). Let's just say it was a tad busy, but I LOVE it!

I saw this post idea over at To Love and To Learn which she got from Franish . But here I am making it my own. Since starting up my blog again, I wanted to incorporate a few more things from my life, and an important one is my health, eating habits, workouts, and overall fitness. I am constantly worrying about what I'm eating, how much I weigh and how my muscles are changing. So I thought it would be fun to do a monthly sort of post where I share what my fitness and dieting habits are like. Let me start off by saying that I know I am not fat. I know I am about average weight for a woman my age and height, and that even though I don't always eat that great, I am conscious of what I am consuming. I have been worrying about my body image for as long as I can remember and it would be great to feel like I look good the way I am, but let me be honest and say, I would like to look better. Again, not because I feel like I am overweight or really unhealthy, but because I know I have ro...

Title : Caraval Author : Stephanie Garber Copy Obtained : Purchased About the Book from Goodreads Remember, it’s only a game… Scarlett Dragna has never left the tiny island where she and her sister, Tella, live with their powerful, and cruel, father. Now Scarlett’s father has arranged a marriage for her, and Scarlett thinks her dreams of seeing Caraval—the faraway, once-a-year performance where the audience participates in the show—are over. But this year, Scarlett’s long-dreamt-of invitation finally arrives. With the help of a mysterious sailor, Tella whisks Scarlett away to the show. Only, as soon as they arrive, Tella is kidnapped by Caraval’s mastermind organizer, Legend. It turns out that this season’s Caraval revolves around Tella, and whoever finds her first is the winner. Scarlett has been told that everything that happens during Caraval is only an elaborate performance. Nevertheless she becomes enmeshed in a game of love, heartbreak, and magic. And whether Caraval is real or n...

I haven’t reviewed a book here on the blog in a while because, well, I’ve been gone. I’ve sort of reviewed books on Goodreads but mostly just give them a star rating a leave it at that. But I’ve been going back and forth on whether to continue to review books now that I’m back to regularly blogging, and I don’t think I’ll be doing it the same way. The thing is, I always struggled to get through reviews even though I did it for years. I also always fell behind on the reviews I was putting up because I was reading faster than I was reviewing, which goes to show how slowly I was reviewing because I read really slow. I was always playing catch up with my reviews on here especially because I wanted to make sure I reviewed every book I read. I even started making different kinds of review posts to inspire myself to write them, such as Short Story Saturday and Quick Reviews. But after much thinking, I’ve decided that no, I won’t be reviewing books the same way. I think what works best for me ...

I am one of those that sets a ton of resolutions and usually fails at all of them. It happens, but it doesn't stop me from doing it all over again. For the past few years I've been sharing my new year goals here on this blog. But I wasn't here this year, at least not at the beginning, to share them. I don't even know if I set that many, but I always have a few. So I wanted to share what those are and how I've been doing. I might do a few check-in's throughout the year (but not likely). Goals + Am I Failing Already? + Read 100 books: Yes I am failing already. Yes, I try this every year. Yes, I have never made it. Yes, I am going to keep trying to make it (it's only March after all.) + Pay off some debt: This one will be the death of me. Moving on. + Lose some weight: I want to lose around 25lbs. Realistically, I will about +/- 3 lbs. To be honest, that's most of my goals. There's a few additional reading/bookish goals I have which I talked about in a ...

I'm back. I can't believe I am. When I wrote my last post, I was sure I was done. I made plans to delete my blog and made up a post with links in case anyone stumbled upon my blog and wanted to find me elsewhere. I was ready to say goodbye. Except I wasn't . I couldn't actually delete everything especially after so many years. I've had this little blog here since 2009 and while it's never been anything special to anyone except for me, I couldn't just erase everything that I had spent countless hours writing. I guess I just needed a long break. I don't know how well my comeback will be, to be honest. But I have been thinking about posts I want to write, reviews I want to add to my list, new features and ideas I want to incorporate and I feel like maybe this time I am really back. I think the reason why I stopped blogging as much was lack of inspiration and YouTube + social media. Other websites have become huge for the book community, from Booktubers to...

Title : What Waits in the Woods Author : Kieran Scott Copy Obtained : Purchases About the Book from Goodreads It's a beautiful, sunny day. Callie Velasquez holds hands with her boyfriend Jeremy as they follow Callie's new BFFs Penelope and Lissa up the trail. The four friends are embarking on a camping trip -- a trip that immediately goes awry. They lose their way on the trail, and encounter a charismatic stranger with questionable motives. And when Callie stumbles upon a dead body, it becomes clear that the danger that lies in the woods is deadlier than she could have ever imagined. Tensions mount and friendships are tested as these teenagers try to survive the most sinister of circumstances.   One sentence review: Perfect mix of tension, mystery and a dash of "who do I trust?".  Best for readers who: Like a book that keeps you guessing and trying to figure things out.  Best Stick-with-You Image: When Callie wakes up in the middle of the night and hears something. So...

Title: Once and for All  Author: Sarah Dessen This is only the 2nd Sarah Dessen book I've read (well listened to in this case). I really enjoyed this one. It had lots of heart. I really felt for Louna. She had been through such a difficult situation that my heart went out to her. But I really admired how strong she was. That was great to see. I think something else I really liked was her relationship with her mom. It was a great example of how teenagers and parents can be close, and how parents can be included in the story. Very well done. So many times the story defaults to absent or never talked about parents, so this was a positive to see. I also liked that Louna didn't need Ambrose to come in and make everything better. She was working on that on her own. He just happened to be part of that process. I'm glad I read this one. Encourages me to read even more of her books. Note: This definitely falls in the upper young adult category. Luona is graduating from high school s...