April Reading Journal Set-Up

Hello, lovelies. For today’s post, I’m going to be taking you through my reading journal spreads for the month of April! I really wanted to do something inspired by Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse ahead of the release of Shadow and Bone on Netflix later this month. I tried to include little bits from both Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows and I’m really happy with the way these came out. This was also the first spread in my new journal which you can see a little bit of in the header for this post. I finished my original one with last month’s reads and I’m happy to moving into another Notebook Therapy journal as I was really happy with the quality of the last one.

So, lets have a look at this month’s spread!

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March Reading Wrap-Up

Okay, so here’s the deal. This month was rough in so many ways and unfortunately my reading really suffered. I managed to finish 2 books this month, which still leaves puts me 7 books ahead of schedule for my goal for the year so I’m not going to beat myself up too much for it. I read a total of 591 pages this month and I actually gave both books 4 stars which was really nice.

Lets have a little look at which books I picked up!

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March Reading Journal Set-Up

Hello lovelies! For today’s post, I’m going to be taking you through my reading journal spreads for the month of March, inspired by Laini Taylor’s Strange the Dreamer. This was one of my favourite books I picked up in February and I was really struggling to think of a theme for the this month’s spreads so I decided to use the book as a very loose basis for my set-up! I’m really happy with the way these came out and I hope you like them as much as I do.

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Review: Perfect On Paper by Sophie Gonzales

Everyone in school knows about Locker 89. If you slip a letter in outlining your relationship woes, along with a fiver, an anonymous source will email you with the best advice you’ve ever gotten. 

Darcy Phillips, a quiet, sweet junior, is safe in the knowledge no one knows she’s the genius behind locker 89. Until Brougham, a senior, catches her. 

The deal Brougham offers is tempting: in exchange for his silence–and a generous coach’s fee to sweeten the deal–Darcy can become Brougham’s personal dating coach to help him get his ex-girlfriend back. 

And as for Darcy, well, she has a fairly good reason to want to keep her anonymity. Because she has another secret. Not too long ago, she abused locker 89 to sabotage the budding romance of her best friend, Brooke. Brooke, who Darcy’s been in love with for a year now. 

Yeah. Brooke can’t find out about that. No matter what.

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February Wrap-Up

Another month down, people! February was another pretty good reading month for me but there were a lot more 3 star reads compared to January. Here’s some quick stats for you: I managed to read 10 books this month, which puts me 9 books ahead of schedule for my goal for the year! I read a total of 2,865 pages this month and listened to 26.2 hours of audiobooks. My average rating was 4.1 and I made time to read 20 days out of the 28.

Let’s take a look at the books I finished in the month of February!

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My Favourite Thrillers: Recommendations from a crime-avoidant reader.

Okay, let me be upfront with you right away: crime novels and I do not get along. There’s just something about the traditional crime/thriller/mystery format of following a detective around, trying to suss out whodunnit that inspires nothing in me but the need to doze off. So, when I find one where the premise intrigues me even a little, I jump at the chance to potentially find a thriller I’ll fall in love with. avoidant

Now, I know what you’re gonna say. ‘But if you know you don’t like them why do you bother picking something up you know you probably won’t enjoy?’ And yes, sometimes this is as big a failure as you’d probably expect but every so often I find myself completely enthralled and asking myself, “Um, excuse me, remind me again why you don’t read more thrillers?”

Here are just a few of the crime, mystery and thriller books that well and truly shattered my expectations. There are three Young Adult picks and three Adult ones, with a few familiar titles as well as some lesser-knowns. Whether you’re thriller obsessed or a self-proclaimed “hater” like me, hopefully there will be one here that catches your attention.

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January Wrap-Up

Today’s post is my very first monthly wrap-up! I’ll be posting one of these on the first Friday of each month, giving you an overview of my reading for the previous month and a mini-review of all the books I’ve finished. I’ll also be including a little look at my stats and will be checking back against my reading goals for the year to keep myself accountable. Hope you enjoy!

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Review: The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe

Nora O’Malley’s been a lot of girls. As the daughter of a con-artist who targets criminal men, she grew up as her mother’s protégé. But when mom fell for the mark instead of conning him, Nora pulled the ultimate con: escape.

For five years Nora’s been playing at normal. But she needs to dust off the skills she ditched because she has three problems:

#1: Her ex walked in on her with her girlfriend. Even though they’re all friends, Wes didn’t know about her and Iris.

#2: The morning after Wes finds them kissing, they all have to meet to deposit the fundraiser money they raised at the bank. It’s a nightmare that goes from awkward to deadly, because:

#3: Right after they enter bank, two guys start robbing it.

The bank robbers may be trouble, but Nora’s something else entirely. They have no idea who they’re really holding hostage…

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My 2020 Reading Wrap-Up: Thoughts and Stats from a Very Strange Year

Sigh, what to say about 2020? I know so many of us, including myself, had so many big plans for this year before the metaphorical rug was pulled straight out from under us. However, it’s important to recognise the good things that came from this crazy year, no matter how small — I started my bookstgram, this blog and I met so many new, lovely people in the book community, none of which would have happened if I wasn’t stuck at home twiddling my thumbs.

A major upside of 2020 for me was that I had an absolute knock-out reading year! I read more this year than I ever have before, read out of my comfort zone and found so many new favourite books and authors to take with me into this year.

I see the annual Reading Survey pop up every year in the blogosphere and around booktube so I thought this year I’d have a go at using questions as prompts for my wrap-up! I’ll also be including stats from my Goodreads Year in Books and my own reading spreadsheet I kept throughout the year which was a template by Ali at HardbackHoarder.

This is going to be a very long post so maybe grab a brew, get yourself comfy and lets get started.

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Review: The Ravens by Kass Morgan and Danielle Paige

Kappa Rho Nu isn’t your average sorority. Their parties are notorious. Their fundraisers are known for being Westerly College’s most elaborate affairs. But beneath the veil of Greek life and prestige, the sisters of Kappu Rho Nu share a secret: they’re a coven of witches. For Vivi Deveraux, being one of Kappa Rho Nu’s Ravens means getting a chance to redefine herself. For Scarlett Winters, a bonafide Raven and daughter of a legacy Raven, pledge this year means living up to her mother’s impossible expectations of becoming Kappa Rho Nu’s next president. Scarlett knows she’d be the perfect candidate — that is, if she didn’t have one human-sized skeleton in her closet…. When Vivi and Scarlett are paired as big and little for initiation, they find themselves sinking into the sinister world of blood oaths and betrayals.

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