Wrap Up – Page 2 – World of Bai

October Wrap Up

In October I read some really good spooky reads along with a few most anticipated reads like “It Starts With Us” By Colleen Hoover. I am overall extremely happy with everything I read last month and I can’t wait to share all my thoughts.

Reading Stats

Number of Books: 8

Total Pages: 2,452

Average Rating: 4.69

Most Common Format: Physical Books

Most Common Genre: Romance

Mood: Mysterious

Physical Books

“Hidden Pictures” By Jason Rekulak

Fresh out of rehab, Mallory Quinn takes a job in the affluent suburb of Spring Brook, New Jersey as a babysitter for Ted and Caroline Maxwell. She is to look after their five-year-old son, Teddy.

Mallory immediately loves this new job. She lives in the Maxwell’s pool house, goes out for nightly runs, and has the stability she craves. And she sincerely bonds with Teddy, a sweet, shy boy who is never without his sketchbook and pencil. His drawings are the usual fare: trees, rabbits, balloons. But one day, he draws something different: a man in a forest, dragging a woman’s lifeless body.

As the days pass, Teddy’s artwork becomes more and more sinister, and his stick figures steadily evolve into more detailed, complex, and lifelike sketches well beyond the ability of any five-year-old. Mallory begins to suspect these are glimpses of an unsolved murder from long ago, perhaps relayed by a supernatural force lingering in the forest behind the Maxwell’s house.

With help from a handsome landscaper and an eccentric neighbor, Mallory sets out to decipher the images and save Teddy—while coming to terms with a tragedy in her own past—before it’s too late.

Synopsis From GoodReads

Full Review

“Every Heart A Doorway” By Seanan McGuire

No Solicitations
No Visitors
No Quests

Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere… else.

But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.

Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced… they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world.

But Nancy’s arrival marks a change at the Home. There’s a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it’s up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of the matter.

No matter the cost.

Synopsis From GoodReads

Full Review

“The Sun Down Motel” By Simone St. James

Upstate NY, 1982. Every small town like Fell, New York, has a place like the Sun Down Motel. Some customers are from out of town, passing through on their way to someplace better. Some are locals, trying to hide their secrets. Viv Delaney works as the night clerk to pay for her move to New York City. But something isn’t right at the Sun Down, and before long she’s determined to uncover all of the secrets hidden…

Synopsis From GoodReads

Full Review

Graphic Novels

“PumpkinHeads” By Rainbow Rowell

I really loved this graphic novel. It was extremely cute, both in writing and the art.

Only go into this book if you are prepared to be hungry! It talks so much about some yummy fall themed treats and I just wish I could have ate them along side the characters.

“MoonCakes” By Wendy Xu

I bought this mostly for the cover, if I am being completely honest. It is super cute and Halloween themed so it felt like a great book to pick up for spooky season.

I thought it was a pretty cute read and I can totally see myself picking this up to re read each year. If you like witches and werewolves, then I know you will enjoy this one!

Audio

“The Perfect Child” By Lucinda Berry

Christopher and Hannah are a happily married surgeon and nurse with picture-perfect lives. All that’s missing is a child. When Janie, an abandoned six-year-old, turns up at their hospital, Christopher forms an instant connection with her, and he convinces Hannah they should take her home as their own.

But Janie is no ordinary child, and her damaged psyche proves to be more than her new parents were expecting. Janie is fiercely devoted to Christopher, but she acts out in increasingly disturbing ways, directing all her rage at Hannah. Unable to bond with Janie, Hannah is drowning under the pressure, and Christopher refuses to see Janie’s true nature.

Hannah knows that Janie is manipulating Christopher and isolating him from her, despite Hannah’s attempts to bring them all together. But as Janie’s behavior threatens to tear Christopher and Hannah apart, the truth behind Janie’s past may be enough to push them all over the edge.

Synopsis From GoodReads

Full Review

“It Ends With Us” By Colleen Hoover

This was actually a reread for me in preparation for the release of “It Starts With Us”. This was my all time favorite book and now I can say it is my all time favorite series!

I can’t get enough of Atlas and Lily and I will forever be rooting for them.

“It Starts With Us” By Colleen Hoover

Lily and her ex-husband, Ryle, have just settled into a civil coparenting rhythm when she suddenly bumps into her first love, Atlas, again. After nearly two years separated, she is elated that for once, time is on their side, and she immediately says yes when Atlas asks her on a date.

But her excitement is quickly hampered by the knowledge that, though they are no longer married, Ryle is still very much a part of her life—and Atlas Corrigan is the one man he will hate being in his ex-wife and daughter’s life.

Synopsis from Goodreads

Full Review

DNF

“Lord Of The Fly Fest” By Goldy Moldavsky

I don’t DNF Often, so I am quite upset I had to do this. When reading this short review please keep in mind that this is my opinion and I can only speak for myself. Please read this book if you are still interested.

Honestly the cover is so gorgeous that when the writing and characters didn’t live up to that level I had to put it down. I read about 70 pages and just couldn’t read anymore.

Favorite Quotes

“What are you talking about? We can’t just give her back—we’re her parents. Her parents, Hannah. Whether you like it or not, that’s what we signed on for.” His body shook as he tried to control his anger. “You can’t just give your kids away when it’s rough.” “You can if your kid is a monster.”
Lucinda Berry, The Perfect Child

“She crawled up on my lap and whispered in her sweet voice, “I like hurting people. Do you?”
Lucinda Berry, The Perfect Child

“Thank you for being the most comforting part of my life right now. Thank you for always being the beacon I need every time I feel lost. Whether you mean to shine on me or not. I am grateful for you. I’ve missed you. I absolutely should have kissed you.”
Colleen Hoover, It Starts with Us

“My choice helped me realize that sometimes the hardest decisions a person can make will most likely lead to the best outcomes.”
Colleen Hoover, It Starts with Us

“I think it’s instructive to be awake in the middle of the night every once in a while. To really see what you’re missing while you’re usually sleeping.”
Simone St. James, The Sun Down Motel

“She was a story, not an epilogue.”
Seanan McGuire, Every Heart a Doorway

“I’m grateful to the judge who sent me to rehab instead of prison.”
Jason Rekulak, Hidden Pictures

QOTD: What Format do you like to read books in?

September Wrap Up

In September I read a total of five books! Two were on Audio, two were physical books and one was on my Kindle. None of which were on my September hopefuls list, Shocker.

Physical Books

“Hotel Magnifique” By Emily J. Taylor

Jani is a 17 year old girl who has been taking care of her 13 year old sister for several years since their mother passed. She promised her sister Zosa that she would one day save up enough money to move them back to their hometown but the only reasonable way to make enough money for this is by getting a job with the Hotel Magnifique. A hotel where magic is practiced safely and travels from place to place every Midnight and you never know where it will be next.

When the Hotel appears in an alleyway near their home Jani and Zosa get in line to interview for a position. When Zosa is the only sister to get a job, Jani refuses to let her leave without her so she does everything she can to convince a worker to let her have a maids job. With both sisters now working for the magical hotel nothing can stand in their way for a better future. Well maybe one thing…. I suggest reading your contracts thoroughly before signing, you never know what rights you might be signing away.

Full Review

“Spin The Dawn” By Elizabeth Lim

Maia Tamarin dreams of becoming the greatest tailor in the land, but as a girl, the best she can hope for is to marry well. When a royal messenger summons her ailing father, once a tailor of renown, to court, Maia poses as a boy and takes his place. She knows her life is forfeit if her secret is discovered, but she’ll take that risk to achieve her dream and save her family from ruin. There’s just one catch: Maia is one of twelve tailors vying for the job.

Backstabbing and lies run rampant as the tailors compete in challenges to prove their artistry and skill. Maia’s task is further complicated when she draws the attention of the court magician, Edan, whose piercing eyes seem to see straight through her disguise.

And nothing could have prepared her for the final challenge: to sew three magic gowns for the emperor’s reluctant bride-to-be, from the laughter of the sun, the tears of the moon, and the blood of stars. With this impossible task before her, she embarks on a journey to the far reaches of the kingdom, seeking the sun, the moon, and the stars, and finding more than she ever could have imagined.

Synopsis From GoodReads

Full Review

Audio Books

“Ugly Love” By Colleen Hoover

When Tate Collins meets airline pilot Miles Archer, she knows it isn’t love at first sight. They wouldn’t even go so far as to consider themselves friends. The only thing Tate and Miles have in common is an undeniable mutual attraction. Once their desires are out in the open, they realize they have the perfect set-up. He doesn’t want love, she doesn’t have time for love, so that just leaves the sex. Their arrangement could be surprisingly seamless, as long as Tate can stick to the only two rules Miles has for her.

Never ask about the past.
Don’t expect a future.

They think they can handle it, but realize almost immediately they can’t handle it at all.

Hearts get infiltrated.
Promises get broken.
Rules get shattered.
Love gets ugly.

Synopsis is pulled from Goodreads

Full Review

“The Butterfly Garden” By Dot Hutchison

I don’t have a full review for this book here on my blog so here are some of my thoughts.

This book was an amazing audio and I highly recommend that you pick this one up. The over all story was really interesting and left my skin crawling! I listened to this really quickly and I really didn’t want to put it down.

E-Book

“Heart Bones” By Colleen Hoover

Beyah has been raising herself her whole life, having an absent father and a drug addict for a mother. She has just graduated high school and has a full ride volleyball scholarship to a school in Pennsylvania all due to her own hard work and determination. This scholarship finally gives her the chance to leave her life behind and start over. But when her mother dies at the beginning of the summer she has no where else to turn to except her absent father for a place to stay until school starts.

Her father has a new wife and a step daughter only a few years older than Beyah and this stings but with no where else to go she tries her best to fit in. When she meets the next door hot boy, Samson, they clearly have nothing in common on the surface but quickly learn they both have damaged pasts. Will Beyah find her place in this strange new world and can she truly leave her damaged past behind?

Full Review

DNF

“Final Girls” By Riley Sager

I was supposed to read this book with my book club for our monthly pick. However, All of us but one person had to DNF this book. It was just super boring! I made it over halfway before I decided it wasn’t worth my time. Honestly nothing happens in this book at all. I was really hopeful for this book because it was my first book by this author and I have heard nothing but good things about his work, but now I am scared to read any of the others.

Favorite Quotes

“Sometimes I believe personalities are shaped more by damage than kindness. Kindness doesn’t sink as deep into your skin as the damage does. The damage stains your soul so bad, you can’t scrub it off. It stays there forever, and I feel like people can see all my damage just by looking at me.”
Colleen Hoover, Heart Bones

“I think when you’re the worst of people, finding the worst in others becomes a survival tactic of sorts. You focus heavily on the darkness in people in hopes of masking the true shade of your own darkness”
Colleen Hoover, Heart Bones

“Love isn’t always pretty. Sometimes you spend all your time hoping it’ll eventually be something different. Something better. Then, before you know it, you’re back to square one, and you lost your heart somewhere along the way.”
Colleen Hoover, Ugly Love

“I’d battled ghosts and touched the stars. I’d climbed a mountain to the moon and conquered the fury of the sun.”
Elizabeth Lim, Spin the Dawn

QOTD: What was your favorite September read?

August Wrap Up

August was an amazing reading month for me! I read six really good books that will be fighting for a spot in my top ten reads of the year! I listened to three books and also read three physical books. I was also able to finish my reading goal for this year because of this great month.

Physical Books

“Things We Never Got Over” By Lucy Score

Naomi is a runaway bride on her way to the smallest of small towns to save her twin sister from some kind of trouble yet again. But instead of finding a warm welcoming town she is faced with a grumpy Viking of a man who thinks she is her no good twin sister Tina, here to stir up more trouble. After putting the man in his place she quickly finds out that Tina set her up to steal her car and a bag full of cash and left her with an 11 year old niece she didn’t know she had.

Naomi is now the sole guardian of her niece in a small town with no money where the only person she knows is a Grumpy man who already got on her nerves. She is quick to lay out a plan on how she will make a life for her and her niece but is she truly ready to be a parent?

Full Review

“The Roughest Draft” By Emily Wibberley

Katrina and Nathan wrote a best selling book together four years ago and haven’t spoken since due to some writing fallouts that led to Nathans divorce and Katrina’s writers block. Still having a contract to write one more book together they are forced to reconnect and knock out another bestseller in two months. Will they be able to put their rocky past behind them or will they let their contract fall to pieces?

Full Review

“Under The Whispering Door” By TJ Klune

Wallace Pierce is a no nonsense lawyer. He doesn’t take no for an answer and that is exactly why he has such a successful firm. But because of his rough personality he doesn’t have many friends or really none at all, and an Ex Wife who wants nothing to do with him.

Work is his entire life, until one day he wakes up in a church starring at his own coffin, with only a handful of people in attendance. No one seems to hear his complaints except one young girl he doesn’t recognize.

Mei is a reaper sent to take Wallace to Hugo, the Ferry Man for the in between place of life and death, who’s only job is to help people who have died come to terms with their untimely fate and help them cross to the other side.

Follow Wallace’s untimely journey through death and grief while he learns to accept his new life.

Full Review

Audio Books

“A Man Called Ove” By Fredrick Backman

Ove is a grumpy widow who only wants to join his wife in death. However, his neighbors have different plans for him. To Ove it seems that no one in his neighborhood can actually fend for themselves, he gets interrupted time and time again to fix things for others or help someone in an emergency because if he doesn’t who will? Even though he might be a grumpy old man you will find he has a heart of gold that will make you melt and a past that will leave you sobbing.

Full Review

“I’m Glad My Mom Died” By Jannette McCurdy

Jannette was only 6 years old when her mother decided she should start her acting career, stating she only wants Jannette to have all the opportunities she never had growing up. Jannette and her mother were best friends or so Jannette thought until she started realizing in her adulthood that her mothers intentions might have not been the most pure. Follow along Jannette’s heart breaking story of becoming a young childhood actress with many eating disorders brought upon her by her own mother and how she worked to overcome the impossible.

Full Review

“Everyone In This Room Will Someday Be Dead” By Emily Austin

I don’t typically write revies for audio books unless it was absolutely amazing. This one was good but not something I was crazy over. I have honestly forgotten a lot of this book already.

Favorite Quotes

“I don’t like knowing people in the context of things. “Oh, that’s the person I work out with. That’s the person I’m in a book club with. That’s the person I did that show with.” Because once the context ends, so does the friendship”
Direct Quote From “I’m Glad My Mom Died”

“People said Ove saw the world in black and white. But she was color. All the color he had.”
Fredrik Backman, A Man Called Ove

“Everyone loses their way at some point, and it’s not just because of their mistakes or the decisions they make. It’s because they’re horribly, wonderfully human. And the one thing I’ve learned about being human is that we can’t do this alone. When we’re lost, we need help to try to find our way again.”
T.J. Klune, Under the Whispering Door

“Fiction comes from truth. It is a wonderful, imaginative, flourishing thing grown from a seed of real feelings, real desires, real fears. No artist ever creates from nothing. We work from what we’ve experienced, inspired by the unique piece of the world we see. It’s why art cannot be replicated.”
Emily Wibberley, The Roughest Draft

“I’d lost myself while trying to convince someone else that I was what he wanted. I’d forgotten who I was because I’d let someone else take over the definition.”
Lucy Score, Things We Never Got Over

QOTD: What was your favorite read this month?

July Wrap Up

July was a really slow reading month for me. I only read two books last month and I fully blame that on the worst reading slump I have yet to run into. I told Noah I felt a slump coming on only two weeks into July and he just laughed and said “I think you are always in a slump.” I guess he is not wrong haha.

Lets discuss these books in more detail.

“Truly Devious” By Maureen Johnson

Stevie is a teenager obsessed with the Ellingham murders that took place in the 1930’s. She somehow got the chance to attend Ellingham Academy for her Junior year of high school and now she hopes she can crack the unsolved murder case. What she wasn’t expecting was for one of her own classmates to be murdered right under her nose. Will Stevie be able to solve the mysterious murders or will she herself be taken as a victim?

Full Review

I started this book on July first and finished on July second, that is how good this book was! I am excited to continue the series.

I picked this for my first book club pick for my close friends and we all had pretty mixed reviews, from a DNF all the way to five stars with everything in between. It made for a really interesting conversation and I personally can’t wait to read more books with my group.

“Daisy Jones and The Six” By Taylor Jenkins Reid

At a young age Daisy started to find a love for the reckless life of a rock and roll star. Hanging around bands and being exposed to sex, drugs, and booze; she thought this was the life she was meant to live. Her time spent amongst these bands lead her to finding her voice in both singing and writing, she knew she was meant for big things but what she didn’t know is that she couldn’t get there alone.

Pretty soon after, a producer for a big band, The Six, Heard her singing in a bar and he knew that she was the voice that could make The Six reach the top of the charts. The hard part was convincing the bad to let her join. Will Daisy catch her big break or watch her life come crashing down from her addictions?

Full Review

I read this as a buddy read with one of my new friends and honestly neither of us really enjoyed it. We both felt the interview style was an interesting way to tell a story but that it made it so we lacked a connection with the characters that builds in a regular writing style. I do believe that if I listened to this on audio that I would have enjoyed it more. I also think this book put me into my reading slump.

Favorite Quotes

“All I will say is that you show up for your friends on their hardest days. And you hold their hand through the roughest parts. Life is about who is holding your hand and, I think, whose hand you commit to holding.”
Direct Quote From “Daisy Jones and The Six”

“Where her books were, she was. Get the books right and the rest will follow. Now she could address the rest of the room.”
Direct Quote from “Truly Devious”

WWW Wednesday

This is a weekly prompt hosted by Taking On A World Of Words. Basically you just answer three simple questions. So lets go!

The Three W’s are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

What are you currently reading?

Physical Book

Physical Book

What did you recently finish reading?

“Truly Devious” By Maureen Johnson

Full Review

What do you think you’ll read next?

I am not sure what I will be reading next. I just made a TBR jar and I think it will choose my next read. I now have about 90 books in this jar that I need to read!

QOTD: What are you currently reading?

June Wrap Up

June has been a crazy month full of packing and putting final touches on our home so we could move. We are officially moved into my childhood home and now all that is left is finding room for all of our stuff. Now that we are moved I am hoping to have more time to read next month but if I am honest this move has exhausted me and I am not sure how much brain capacity I have for reading right now.

As always I will post the link to my reviews for you to read those. I don’t post full reviews for audio books so my thoughts will be next to those books here. I mostly listened to audio books this month while we packed so this could be fun.

Physical Books

“Read Between The Lines” By Rachel Lacey

Rosie’s whole life has been centered around books. She grew up in her moms bookstore surrounded by all the stories she loves. When her mom passes away Rosie takes over the shop which has so many wonderful memories of her childhood and special moments with her mom. All that Rosie is missing is her own romance story, But she thinks she has found that too when she strikes up a conversation with her favorite author Brie on Twitter.

Everything feels like the stars have aligned until the day Rosie gets a letter telling her that the Bookstores lease will not be renewed and that she has till December to find a new home for her beloved store. Rosie pushes love to the back burner in hopes to save her store but why can’t she have it all?

Full Review

“Loveless” By Alice Oseman

Georgia is about to head off to University never having the chance to have a relationship let alone her first kiss. She felt like she was falling behind in the romance category but she believed that was all about to change when University started. This was her time to find the love of her life.

Arriving at University she finds out that she has a roommate who seems to have relationships all figured out. This gave Georgia hope, thinking she could learn a thing or two about relationships and sex. However, this just caused her more confusion than anything. Why is romance so easy for everyone but her?

Throughout the course of University Georgia has a chance to find her true self but this will turn out not to be an easy task. Will Georgia be able to find love?

Full Review

Audio Books

“The Charm Offensive” By Alison Cochrun

I have seen a lot of amazing reviews for this book and I heard it was basically The Bachelor. Because of these things I was super excited to listen to this book. The beginning was super cute and I was hooked but the longer it went on the more I just felt meh about the whole thing. Charlie and Ben both really annoyed me and I never really cared about their relationship. The big romantic gesture happened two hours before the book ended and so once that happened I was just done. The ending really fell flat overall.

“Written In The Stars” By Alexandria Ballefleur

This book was Highly recommended to me by many Bookstagrammers and I was super excited to read this one. I think I was pretty distracted while I was listening to this book because I can’t remember much that happened, I did listen to it 30 days ago but still. I know I loved the first part of the book, The middle and all the animosity between the characters really made me feel meh and the ending just felt rushed. I have never liked enemies to lovers so this rating doesn’t surprise me but I do think I would have enjoyed it more if I actually read the book.

“Meet Cute Club” By Jack Harbon

This was a super cute story that I think every book lover dreams about. I really enjoyed this book and the characters relationship. However I did not like the narrator and so I probably would have given this 5 stars if the narrator was better, he just took me out of the story more than I would have liked.

Favorite Quotes

“Give your friendships the magic you would give a romance. Because they’re just as important. Actually, for us, they’re way more important.”
From Loveless

“She’s happy with who she is. Maybe it’s not the heteronormative dream that she grew up wishing for, but… knowing who you are and loving yourself is so much better than that, I think.”
From Loveless

“Never trust your fears. They don’t know your strength.”
From Read Between The Lines

“Life would be a lot better if we all spent a little more time staring at the stars.”
From Written In The Stars

June Thoughts

I read a lot of the books I thought I would read this month which I am super happy about! I am also in the middle of reading “Ace” but this is one I am taking my time with to mark and annotate so I can really gather my thoughts.

We have officially moved so I think life will be less busy here soon so I really hope to read and post more in the near future!