artsy musings of a bibliophile

Monthly Recap: April

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April was a month where I got too busy and had no time to relax until the last five days of the month.

LIST OF NEWSWORTHY

2015 is flying by! What.
Bookstores are my favorite place to be // Summer means ice lollies // Hospital runs // Are your books squeaky clean? Heh

Life After Transplant
My mother had a successful kidney transplant in the middle of the month and everything else basically rolled around it. It was such a nerve-wracking experience but she’s doing so much better now. Thank you so much for all your positive thoughts, guys! They definitely helped. <3

Not Too Little, Not Too Late
I’ve been busy accomplishing something that I was supposed to a year and more back and it’s such a relief. I’m hoping to talk about in length in a blogpost soon.

#cleanbooks
Crini and I started a ridiculous tag on Instagram because we’ve had it with ridiculous tags so what’s one more? Also, we get to mess up the tag because there are people looking for books with no swear words which is unfathomable to me. Why would anyone want censorship like that? Ronan Lynch is not amused.

TV WATCH

All the TV shows I watch are on crack because what the cray-cray?!
Allison as Sarah is a thing to watch. // Orphan Black
Arrow and The Flash get the twin award for being the most crazy shows ever and I love them.
I’m so relieved that Revenge is ending because it’s time for it to be over. Also, I’m glad that it’s ending on such a crazy note because it fits.
Fresh Off the Boat is such a ridiculously hilarious show. All of you need to watch it.
Damn, I was digging the humanity-switched-off Steroline so much on The Vampire Diaries. They’re all I watch, really because I fast-forward all the Delena and other crap scenes because barf.
Orphan Black is back and I couldn’t be happier that it’s better than ever.

MOVIE WATCH

Hey, look at that. I managed to watch a movie.

Groot is my favorite, obviously // Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy (8/10) – Guys, I watched Guardians of the Galaxy and I am Groot.

APP WATCH

Has anyone tried Inbox by Google yet? I think it looks really sleek but I’ve yet to play around with it.

MediSafe is 
MediSafe – Since my mother is on immunosuppressants as well as steroids, I decided to get this app so that she takes her medicine on time because otherwise there could be risk of rejection. So far, so good. I highyl recommend getting this app if you’re on medicines for life or even doing a week-long course.

LIST OF READS

Rereads are the best and half the reason why I read so little in April.

The Raven Cycle, slaying me since 2013.

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater (reread)
99 Days by Katie Cotugno
Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater (reread)

LIST OF BLOGPOSTS

I still want to blog but again, had no time. I’m hoping I’ll fully get back into it in May, though.

I posted my review of The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater.
I interviewed Becky Albertalli, the author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, and it was awesome.
I posted my review of The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater.

LIST OF BOOK BUYS

I’m not buying many print books this year because there are so many good that have yet to release. My wallet is going to be so sorry.

I’m so excited to read this in May with Crini!

More Than This by Patrick Ness
Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson (thank you, Greenwillow Books)
Fans of the Impossible Life by Kate Scelsa (thank you, Balzer + Bray)
The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness (thank you, Harper)
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

PLAYLIST

All the All Time Low and POLARHEART’s Hypnotise, basically.

Thanks to Crini, I got hella addicted to this album // More Hilary Duff music // Ship to Wreck is such a good song!

How was your April?

Review: The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

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MSTDT

ABOUT THE BOOK

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater
young adult paranormal magical realism published by Scholastic on September 5th, 2013
second book in The Raven Cycle series

Now that the ley lines around Cabeswater have been woken, nothing for Ronan, Gansey, Blue, and Adam will be the same.

Ronan, for one, is falling more and more deeply into his dreams, and his dreams are intruding more and more into waking life.

Meanwhile, some very sinister people are looking for some of the same pieces of the Cabeswater puzzle that Gansey is after…

Read More »

Interview + Giveaway: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda Blog Tour

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I’m so excited to be a part of #SimonVs blog tour because it’s one of my favorite books that I’ll be pushing everyone to read. Harry Potter and Elliot Smith obsessed Oreo-fiend, Simon Spier is my favorite this year. He’s also a hopeless romantic who can’t help his hilarious typos in flirty emails to Blue. I’m plan to reread it forever and ever and cannot wait to hold the beautiful hardcover in my hands.

ABOUT THE BOOK

young adult lgbtq contemporary romance published by Balzer + Bray on 7 April 2015

Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised.
With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.

THE INTERVIEW

I’m so incredibly happy to have Becky on the blog today because I adore her! Case in point, we both had one day to get this post ready and she was so fast with her replies to my emails despite being so busy. Basically, she’s such an amazing person.

It says in your bio that you write ‘very nerdy contemporary young adult fiction.’ How did the very nerdy part came to be?

I LOVE this question, because the fact that you even have to ask is extremely flattering. I think I will always write about nerds, because I can’t even begin to imagine what goes inside the brains of cool people. Fact: Simon and his friends are nerds, but my own nerdiness reaches a whole other level.

As a clinical psychologist, how has your experience of working with teenagers influenced you as a writer?

I think it’s a mixed bag! Being a psychologist gave me the opportunity to get to know so many incredible teens, and I think it helped re-acclimate me to how teens talk, think, and interact. That being said, balancing the two roles has been challenging at times. I went from having basically no online footprint to being a public figure, and that alone has been a huge transition. Furthermore, in my role as a psychologist, teens have trusted me with really precious information, and it’s critically important that I never mine that for my fiction. Beyond that, I try to do everything within my power to make sure my former clients never feel vulnerable that their confidentiality could be breached. I won’t let it happen – that’s nonnegotiable – but I still worry that they think it might!

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda is about so many things so this might be very hard for you to answer, but what’s your favorite part about it?

Hmm…I think my favorite part of this book is the love story. I loved writing the email chapters. I think I got a little lost in Simon and Blue’s relationship at times! And I feel like I’ve gotten to know them both so well over the past two years that it’s really special to see them get their happy ending. I truly believe that every Simon deserves to eat infinite Oreos and make out with the grammar nerd of his dreams.

Drunk Simon or Oreo eater Simon?

That is, in fact, a trick question, because Simon is ALWAYS Oreo eater Simon (and Drunk Simon is especially Oreo eater Simon). I will resolve this dilemma by linking to this very informative Buzzfeed. Why, yes, I will be making these for my launch party.

Do you know you probably gave us all a heart attack with Martin’s involvement in Simon’s life?

My work here is done!!! 😀

It’s awesome to see so many diverse YA coming out this year! What’s your take on that?

I’m completely thrilled by it. It’s incredibly inspiring to see editors acquiring such a range of diverse titles, and especially to see the reading community responding to them with such enthusiasm and positivity. In my imprint (Harper’s Balzer + Bray), I can name four 2015 debuts off the top of my head that star LGBTQIA+ characters, and one of their huge contemporary titles this year stars a Turkish-American girl. I think this shift is so incredibly important and so desperately needed – and, thanks to influencers like the We Need Diverse Books team, I expect it will only continue to improve. Of course, it’s also important to acknowledge how much work there is left to do in challenging our tendency to default to white, straight, cis, male, non-disabled characters and authors. Nonetheless, I’m excited to be a part of that work.

Are you currently working on anything?

I am working on something! I’ve been in edits and rewrites for the second book of my two-book deal with Balzer + Bray, which I would describe as a loose companion book to SIMON. I’m hesitant to reveal much about it, since I keep making such dramatic changes as I rewrite. I’m hopeful that we can expect to see it on shelves in 2016.

Lastly, everyone should know that you are – ?

Beyond excited to launch this book. Incredibly, ridiculously grateful to all of those who have supported me along the way. Thrilled to be a part of this community. Looking forward to what comes next!
Becky Albertalli can be found at

THE GIVEAWAY

We may never now what the emboss on an Oreo cookie means but that surely isn’t stopping Simon or us from enjoying one or a whole pack of it. One lucky person will win a copy of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda along with a package of Oreos. (Please do visit my policies page before entering!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Additionally, you can also win a personalized hardcover of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda if you tweet how you eat your Oreos or Instagram a picture using the hashtag #SimonVs by April 6th. Yes, today’s the last day so get going!

Review: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

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MSTRB

ABOUT THE BOOK

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
young adult paranormal magical realism published by Scholastic on September 18th, 2012
first book in The Raven Cycle series

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

Read More »

Monthly Recap: March

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I honestly have no idea where March went. I felt like I did nothing but was busy anyway and also the other way around? Sigh. Ignore me.

LIST OF NEWSWORTHY

March was the month where I actually became a feels troll because everyone hates my tumblr. Damn you, tumblr.
Caaaaake // It rained and was lovely // I went to a park // Almost birthday selfie

Transplant Update
We finally got approval to go ahead with for my mother’s kidney transplant and now we’re just waiting for her to have the surgery in a week or so. So nervous!

Quarter Century Club
I’ve always loved March because spring finally arrives and then it’s my birthday month, too. I still don’t know what I’m doing with my life so I keep having these little panics but mainly, I think I’m okay. I mean I got to have this divine strawberry gâteau cake so I can’t complain.

TV WATCH

Nothing matters now that The 100 is on break.
I WILL NEVER BE OKAY T____T //The 100
I can’t believe that it’s hardly been a little over two weeks since The 100 went on a break. LIKE HOW. Also, that ending smashed my heart into million little pieces and I’ll never be okay.
The season finale of Suits killed me.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine is the best comedy show out there and I don’t care what you say.
Fresh Off the Boat is still going hilariously well.
I also finished watching season one of Hindsight and have mixed feelings about it.
I basically watched one episode each of Arrow, The Originals, The Big Bang Theory, The Vampire Diaries and Daria and then wasn’t in the mood for anymore TV for the rest of March.

MOVIE WATCH

I think I should just stop including this section ha ha.

APP WATCH

I didn’t try out any new apps this month except one.

Trying my hand at organization.
Wunderlist – I actually tried it once before but I downloaded it again because they updated it with folders which is so much better. I still like Google Keep better, but I’m planning to use Wunderlist for blogging stuff.

LIST OF READS

Every single book that I read in March made me break down with the exception of one that was just a mindfuck.

I don’t know how I survived reading these.

A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab
The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma
Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
Red Rising by Pierce Brown
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater (reread)

LIST OF BLOGPOSTS

I was in sort of a blogging slump for the whole month of March. It mainly involved me being too busy to blog and when I had the time to blog, I preferred reading over it. Also, I may have blanked out on how to write reviews.

I posted my review of The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma

LIST OF BOOK BUYS

Wow, look at my book curing restraint! I’m honestly trying to cut out on requesting any review copies but I couldn’t hold back when I saw volume one of The Fade Out up on NetGalley because I’ve been anticipating it pretty darn much.

I hope it’s as awesome as its cover suggests.

The Falconer by Elizabeth May
The Fade Out, Vol 1 by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (thank you, Image Comics!)

PLAYLIST

A slow month for music hmm.

Forever in love with purity ring // Sacrifice is the only song I love from the soundtrack // Hypnotise: The Pynch song

How was your March?