Last Year I Was Reading #1

Starting this Wednesday off with a question: How are you? There’s been so many positive things going on in my academic and personal life right now. For example, my in-person graduation ceremonies for my undergrad last year and my master’s degree are set for the same Friday in two and a half weeks! As I wrap up my master’s program, life has definitely been hectic and my reading and blogging lives have fallen a bit off the wayside in April. Life is SO different from last April (first full month of quarantine and being sent home from college early) vs. this April. I thought it’d be fun to take today to do the Last Year I Was Reading meme for the first time. Created by ReadingMaria, you take your current reads & compare it to the book you were reading last year at this time, considering the similarities or differences between them. 

Last year I was reading….

youll-miss-me-when-im-gone-9781481497749_hrAt the end of April in 2020, I read You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone by Rachel Lynn Solomon. This was the first book I read by Rachel Lynn Solomon, who has become one of my all-time favorite authors. The book follows twin sisters, Adina and Tovah. They decide to take a genetic test to see if they test positive for Huntington’s Disease, which has wrecked their mother’s health over their high school careers. While one twin tests negative, the other tests positive. This book explores the twins’ complicated relationship, their family’s faith & Judaism, and their personal growth. I loved the plot and story, but I could not stand one of the main characters. 

I am currently reading….

I’m currently reading two books: Educated by Tara Westover and Twice Shy by Sarah Hogle. Educated was highly recommended to by my students and colleagues, since my students are currently completing a memoir unit. It feels weird saying I’m LOVING this book because there’s some heavy and at times gruesome material, but I find Tara Westover’s upbringing in a conservative Mormon household, in which her parents didn’t let her go to public school until she went to college, so fascinating. If you’re a fan of The Glass Castle, I highly recommend checking this one out.

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Books, Film, & Hopefully More Books: April 2018 Wrap Up

April shall be known as the month where I wanted to read all the books, but my last month of the semester and final papers sort’ve prevented that– I still managed to read 6 books! I’m beyond excited for my summer reading plans, and within those 6 books, I also managed to conquer two Sarah J. Maas books!?! Since I spend a lot of time reading, writing, and with words in general for school, I relaxed a lot by watching TV and movies. And writing blog posts, of course.

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The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides | 4/5 Stars

I’ve been loving bookish Instagram templates lately, and I found The Virgin Suicides through a classics challenge template. This intriguing, but shocking read has definitely become one of my favored classics.

A Girl Like That by Tanaz Bhathena | 4.5/5 Stars

The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan | 4/5 Stars

Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas (Reread) | 5/5 Stars

Finding Felicity by Stacey Kade | 4/5 Stars

Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas | 5/5 Stars

 

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So imagine my happiness when my family decided to get HBO on Amazon Prime during the busiest time of the school year. There’s so much I want to watch on HBO (my friend keeps pressuring me to start Game of Thrones), and I did find the time to watch a few movies, including The House, La La Land, and Collateral Beauty. Zoella’s New York City vlogs influenced my watching of Collateral Beauty, which was my favorite movie of the month (even if it caused me to ugly cry).

I also watched Speech & Debate on Netflix. I was really excited to watch this one because of Darren Criss and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s cameos, and I really enjoyed its cast and humor.

My finals work had me craving some light-hearted TV, which led me to catching on the CW. I’m now up-to-date on Riverdale, and I’ve been loving Life Sentence with Lucy Hale.

Streaming-wise, I watched the first season of Divorce on HBO/Amazon Prime. I’m a huge Sarah Jessica Parker fan and it was fun to see her once again in New York City. And in more light-hearted TV news, I watched the first season of Nailed It on Netflix. I love baking shows, and this one is such much fun, showcasing amateur bakers who try to replicate Pinterest and Instagram-worthy cakes and treats.

 

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Reviews

SCHOOL BOOKS THAT I ACTUALLY ENJOYED: March Mini Reviews

The Little French Bistro by Nina George

My New Favorite Graphic Novel: The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang

College YA Meets Music: We Are Still Tornadoes by Michael Kun and Susan Mullen (featuring Music Habits Tag)

ARC Review: All of This Is True by Lygia Day Penaflor

Queen of My Heart: Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas

Diverse Reviews: A Girl Like That & The Astonishing Color of After

Top Five Wednesday

Favorite Jokesters

Auto-Buy Sci-fi & Fantasy Authors

Ideal Mash-Ups & Anticipated Mash-Ups

Fandom Items

 

April Snow Showers??: TBB Asks Spring Edition

Monthly Recommendations: Mental Health Rep

Traveling with Fictional Characters and My Favorite Things: The Liebster Award

My Experience Seeing Carousel

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CarouselDuring the first week in April, one of my best friends and I went to see Carousel on Broadway. I have a post about my experience seeing the show, and I can now say that I’ve been to a Broadway preview.

Publishing over 200 Posts- Wrap ups truly are full circle. I probably should’ve mentioned this last month, but Give Me More Spring Breaks: March Wrap Up was my 200th blog post. I’ve actually been doing some spring cleaning on the blog and deleting some old posts, but I’m still over the 200 mark!

Finishing my second year of college- At the time I’m publishing this wrap-up, I only have two days of my sophomore year left! I’ve enjoyed sophomore year much more than my first year, and not just for the fact that I had no written final exams this semester. I did really well in the classroom, had my first internship, made some great friendships, and of course read a lot of books.

 

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What did you read and watch in April? Did you go to any bookish events? Share in the comments!