Author: The Bookish Fairy

Young adult, magical realism, and every book in between infused with fairy dust...

Top Beachy Diverse Vacation Reads

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One of my favorite things about going on vacation is finally being able to relax with a good book because it’s the one time where I don’t have to worry about any responsibilities, and the only worry I have is when I am going to have my next mojito. Here are a couple of diverse reads that range from fluffy, mysterious, romantic, and perfect for all your vacation needs!

Don’t Date Rosa Santos by Nina Moreno
Don’t Date Rosa Santos by Nina Moreno

Don’t Date Rosa Santos is a Latinx version of Gilmore Girls set in the charming beachy town of Port Coral. Rosa Santos longs to study abroad in Cuba where she hopes to figure out her identity and place in a world where she has always felt caught between two cultures. The only problem is that she is from a generation of women that have been cursed by the sea. Rosa is conflicted with her choice of applying to study abroad especially since she lives with her Abuela who refuses to even talk about the island of Cuba. Then to further complicate everything else Rosa begins to develop a crush on a boy with a boat named Alex Aquino whose family owns a marina. With Rosa’s future college plans on the horizon will Rosa break the curse to study abroad in Cuba and sail away through the sunset with Alex Aquino?

Nina Moreno’s book is the perfect book to enjoy on a beach vacation that will give you those Dawson’s Creek sunny vibes! Enjoy this book by the beach with many Cuban pastelitos in hand!

Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton
Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton

Marisol Ferrera is going to Cuba for the first time and her grandmother’s dying wish was for Marisol to scatter her ashes in her beloved island. Marisol doesn’t expect to uncover her grandmother’s love letters of a secret affair with a revolutionary. Through these letters, she learns some valuable lessons about love, family, and the heartbreaking loss of a country that was taken away from them.

Next Year in Havana is the perfect vacation read because it has the kind of sweeping romance that will leave you breathless from beginning to end. This immersive and intoxicating read will transport you to a world of political strife, forbidden romance, and heartbreak of losing the life you always knew. Chanel Cleeton’s masterpiece truly includes all the elements of an addictive vacation read.

I Love You So Mochi by Sarah Kuhn 

Kimi Nakamura is all about fashion. She loves to dress up her friends in her own Kimi originals that make her friends feel and look like an awesome version of themselves. The only problem is that her mother sees her fashion obsession as a distraction from her college plans to an elite art school. Kimi is ultimately saved when she receives a letter in the mail from her grandparents to spend her spring break in Kyoto! She immediately jumps at the opportunity and loses herself in the technicolor culture of Japan. Kimi is enthralled with Kyoto and begins to fall for Akira who is a med student by day and a mochi mascot by night. Through her travel in Kyoto, Kimi quickly realizes she needs to figure out what her true passion is and where her heart ultimately belongs.

This wouldn’t be a good vacation list if it didn’t include a book title that reminds us of ice cream! I Love You So Mochi seems like the cutest and fluffiest vacation read where you can enjoy a summer afternoon eating a bowl of yummy Mochi ice cream and indulge in the luminous world of Kyoto!

Somewhere Only We Know by Maurene Goo 

Somewhere Only We Know is a rom-com centered around the life of a K-pop superstar named Lucky who just performed her mega-hit “Heartbeat” in Hong Kong. She wakes up in her ultra-bougie hotel with a hankering for a hamburger. Then she meets Jack the journalist on a tabloid job and they have a whirlwind romance around Hong Kong that was completely unexpected. Through their adventures around Hong Kong, they learn that in order to truly live their lives they need to break out of other people’s expectations.

This Roman Holiday inspired romance seems like the ultimate breezy romance to take on vacation. Somewhere Only We Know appears to be the kind of read that will teach us to break out of the predictable itinerary of life.

Latinx Month Reads

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Featured in Frolic Media

Latinx Month (AKA Hispanic Heritage Month) is making my Cubanita heart burst with joy especially since this is the ultimate year for the Latinx book community! Now with the prevalence of Latinx authors popping up all over the place especially in the YA genre and amazing readathons like Latinx-a-thon that encourages readers to read more inclusively I literally have no shelf-control!

This year is such an exciting time to read Latinx books because it used to be that the only books that were getting published were issue books and now Latinx books are featuring Latinx characters doing some really  cool things such as opening up portals to another universe, a Wiccan bringing her BFF back from the dead, and baking magical Mexican treats! Here are my TBR recs that will take you through September and all the way through October 15th! 

like water for chocolate
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

Like Water for Chocolate catalogs the history of the De La Garza family and tells the story of Tita. Tita is gifted with the ability to cook food in a magical way where it makes others feel what she feels. When Tita meets Pedro she falls hopelessly in love with him but Mexican tradition requires her to be unmarried and to watch after her mother till she dies. Pedro’s feelings for her is very requited and he marries her sister Rosaura so that he can still be close to Tita. The pining begins in this delectable tale of love, the transformative power of food, and how love can conquer all. 

Laura Esquivel’s Mexican tale is a classic in magical realism literature. My recommendations always begin with Like Water for Chocolate for anyone that wants to get into the genre of magical realism. This novel is unique and immersive in that Tita’s broken heart is translated through the mouth-watering Mexican food that she creates. The profound connection between Tita and Pedro will give you heartache and it perfectly articulates the heart-wrenching feeling of not being able to be with the one your in love with. 

Dreaming in Cuban
Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia

Dreaming in Cuban represents a story about a family that is ultimately divided by the Cuban revolution and the complicated feelings that it ensues. This character-driven novel tells the story about each character and their unique perspectives about their bittersweet island. Christina Garcia recounts Cuba in such a lyrical fashion and perfectly captures the beloved beauty of the island and its disintegration. 

This is one of the best books that I have ever read that details the honest feelings about the Cuban revolution. When I read this story I felt that each character represented someone in my family and it made me appreciate the struggles that my family went through during the Cuban revolution. Christina Garcia’s story is an ultimate Cuban gem that is supremely underrated and needs more recognition. The writing is beautifully poetic and captures the beauty and ruin of Cuba. 

The grief keeper
The Grief Keeper by Alexandra Villasante

Marisol has always wanted to have the opportunity to live the American dream. Although her dreams come crashing down when she falls for a girl named Liliana. Marisol is forced to leave her home in El Salvador after her brother is murdered and her sister’s Gabi’s life is threatened. When they are caught crossing the border, Marisol is presented the opportunity to stay in the United States when she is asked to become a grief keeper. In this experimental study, Marisol is taking away the grief of someone suffering to be transferred over to her. Essentially the main subjects of the study are white teen girls from wealthy families and Marisol is assigned to take away their grief.

This is the group book for this year’s Latinx-a-thon and although this book is still on my TBR, I can already see that this will be a stunning read. Villansate’s book explores many heavy and controversial subjects about immigration, the society we live in today, and I have a feeling this book is going to completely shatter me. 

Sal and Gabi break the Universe
Sal & Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez

Sal Vidon is a gifted magician who is capable of getting a raw chicken into his bullies locker and even bringing back his mom from the dead! Being the new kid in Miami, he meets the ambitious Gabi Real who has Sal all figured out and soon Sal brings Gaby into his universe of magic. Until they realize that they could potentially put their universe in danger they go on an adventure to save the universe and it is filled with ropa vieja, atomic wedgies, and many laughs along the way. 

Sal & Gabi is like a rollercoaster that I don’t want to get off of. The characters are very dynamic, relatable, and it almost feels like they are going to grab you from the page and take you through their crazy teleportals! This is the kind of novel that you can gobble up in one sitting and not even realize it!

Undead Girl Gang
Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson

Mila Flores is a kickass teenage Wiccan who lives life on her terms and doesn’t care what anyone thinks about her as long as she has her BFF Riley by her side. Until Riley is involved in a suicide pact with two other resident mean girls. Mila is on a mission to find out how her best friend Riley died and she refuses to listen to anyone’s explanation. Mila puts her Wiccan skills to use and brings her best friend Riley and the other girls back to life. Together they have to unearth the truth about their death and uncover their murderer before the spell wears off in seven days. 

I was completely sold by Lily Anderson’s book when I heard that it is a clever mix of Mean Girls, Hocus Pocus, and The Craft! This is everything I want in a novel and it is the ultimate read to gear up for Halloween! 

Back to School Diverse Reads

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Back to school season is ultimately upon us whether we are ready for it or not! Even though this teacher could have used another month off I still can’t help but get excited for the fresh beginnings of a brand new school year! There is also nothing better than delving into some good back to school diverse reads to really get me into the school mode. 

Here are five essential back to school reads with diverse characters and own voices authors to add to your back to school supply list!

With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

Emoni Santiago plays by the rules but the one place where she breaks them is when she is in the kitchen. She creates the kind of food that has magical and healing properties that revives everyone around her. Emoni has been dealing with some tough choices throughout her life when she got pregnant as a freshman and has to take care of her Abuela. When her high school offers an elective to study abroad in Spain for a culinary arts program she knows it’s an opportunity she can’t pass up. Despite the lack of money and time, Emoni knows that her passion for food is one that she simply cannot ignore.

This is an inspiring back to school read for those that have a dream that seems impossible. Not to mention, reading about the food will definitely give you a hankering for some good back to school snacks.

Autoboyography by Christina Lauren

Tanner Scott’s family moved from California to Utah which is known to be a devout Mormon community. Unfortunately, this has pushed him back into the closet. The bisexual teen expects to coast his way into his last semester of high school when he ultimately falls for the Mormon prodigy Sebastian who mentors the class he is enrolled in. Now Tanner must figure out whether he wants to coast through his senior year or risk outing himself to have a chance with his new crush.

Autoboyography seems to be an adorable rom-com back to school read that I definitely want to delve into. This is the first young adult romance by Christina Lauren and I know they will deliver the kind of fluffy romance that will leave us smiling from ear to ear. I have a feeling this is the kind of book that will make us nostalgic for first love and those obligatory butterflies. 

Analee, in Real Life by Janelle Milanes

Analee Echeverria is the kind of girl who is trying to figure out who she is after losing her mother to cancer three years ago. She plays two different identities. In school, she is a shy and awkward teenager. At home, she is the online avatar elf hunter of her favorite online game named Kiri who takes no prisoners. She would much prefer to get lost in her online world and avoid the world of high school until she gets an offer from the most popular jock in school. This offer makes Analee realize that she has an inner fierceness that is slowly waiting to come out.

Analee in Real Life was the first YA book I read with the main character who is Cuban and it made my heart so happy as a Cuban American woman. This fake dating trope has the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before feels only with a clever twist.  The thing I loved about Analee, in Real Life is that it illustrates the reality of what high school is really like without sugarcoating it. Milanes perfectly depicts the journey that Analee goes through in high school and slowly finds the Kiri that is inside her all along. 

The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed

The Nowhere Girls brings together three different girls from vastly different backgrounds to vindicate the rape of a classmate. Grace Salter is the new girl whose family had to escape their community due to their mother turning from a Baptist preacher to a radical liberal. Rosina Suarez is a queer girl from a Mexican family with a pension for punk music. Erin Delillo lives for marine biology and Star Trek: The Next Generation. Together these girls create the secret group The Nowhere Girls and they combat the sexist attitudes running throughout their school and bring justice to the rape of their classmate. 

Amy Reed’s book is giving me the Foxfire girl power vibes from the nineties and this is the exact kind of book we need in our #MeToo culture. The Nowhere Girls is the perfect book that tackles serious issues that high school students face in their day to day realities. 

Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu

Vivian Carter is tired of the sexist culture that pervades through the school and she begins to take action when she hears four little words. “Make me a sandwich.” Vivian is officially fed up and she decides to create a feminist zine and names it Moxie. Vivian’s mom used to be in the riot girl crowd and this influenced her to create the Riot Girl movement in her school. Vivian brings together all kinds of girls from all different backgrounds to come together to take a stand against the prevalent sexism in their school. She meets girls like Lucy Hernandez who is the quintessential Moxie girl and she encourages Vivian to push the boundaries of Moxie. Vivian gets all the girls together to spark the Moxie movement and they learn to find their own inner Moxie girl! 

This book will teach women and girls everywhere to do what makes them happy and let go of the stereotypes and unrealistic expectations that are put upon them. Moxie is the kind of book that should be required reading in schools because it truly explores the different facets of feminism and how we view it in our society today. Not to mention, it will also inspire us to let our badass riot grrrl self out and live our best Moxie lives! 

Wedding Disaster Books

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Wedding season is ultimately upon us and it’s the perfect time to delve into some wedding-themed books! It’s been two years since my wedding and especially after all the planning and stress I endured with trying to trim down the guest list, table seating arrangements, the restaurant changing the whole menu, and family drama these days I would much rather read about weddings! These are the kinds of books that teach you that weddings aren’t perfect but it is the one day that you will never forget!

Save the Date by Morgan Matson

Charlie Grant’s sister is having a wedding coming up and she is excited to escape her impending college plans and leaving her childhood home to have a three day weekend with her big rambunctious family! Her plans for a picture-perfect family wedding go awry when the wedding planner escapes due to fraudulent activity. The wedding service “Where There’s a Will” steps in as replacements to do damage control. Charlie meets Bill who works for his uncle’s company “Where There’s a Will” and Charlie teams up with him to help save her sister’s wedding. Charlie and Bill have no idea the wedding disasters that are in store for them but through the disasters, there is a sweet romance that develops between them. Charlie’s whirlwind wedding weekend helps her realize that things are not always what they seem and that change isn’t always such a bad thing.

Save the Date has been described as a “Father of the Bride meets Sixteen Candles” kind of book. It is a book that will make you laugh, drive you insane, and it will most importantly leave you with the heartfelt message of change being inevitable but the love of a family being unchangeable.

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren  

Olive is someone who has always felt supremely unlucky. Although her twin sister Ami holds all the luck in the world from meeting her fiancé for the first time in a meet-cute rom-com fashion and financing her entire wedding through Internet contests. Olive’s bad luck carries onto the wedding when she is forced to spend a day with her nemesis Ethan who is the best man. When the wedding guests get food poisoning from eating shellfish they are the only ones who didn’t get affected. And now there is the once in a lifetime opportunity for them to go on a free vacation to Hawaii. Olive and Ethan decide to set aside their hate for one another and pretend to play newlyweds until they realize that they are not pretending anymore.

I am a sucker for the hate to love romance trope and I think that Christina Lauren will create the perfect blend of hot tension that will leave me wanting more. There is just something about a romance set in Hawaii that provides the perfect summer love feels. I know I am going to enjoy cracking open this book by the beach with a margarita in hand.

Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin

Rachel is the girl that has always played by the rules. She is a successful attorney who lives in Manhattan. Her best friend Darcy throws her a birthday party for turning 30 and her best friends fiancée is also in attendance. Rachel has always harbored a secret crush on her best friends fiancée and always feels that she can never measure up to her best friend. Until that night she decides to throw the rules out the window and ends up sleeping with Darcy’s fiancée. When Darcy’s fiancée reveals that he always had feelings for her it puts Rachel in a difficult position and it forces her to choose between the love of her life or her childhood best friend.

When I was planning my wedding, I spontaneously picked up this book thinking it was a fluffy chick lit and I was completely blown away. I saw the movie before I read the book (The horror!) and the amount of emotion and turmoil that the book exhibited was so much deeper than the movie. The indecision that Rachel goes through is so well-written and believable. I love how the topic of cheating isn’t written in a way to paint Rachel as the other woman and it really explores the emotional journey that the character goes through. If you want a wedding-themed book that explores the complicated nature of the relationship between two best friends then pick up this book!

The Meet Cute Enthusiast: Top Five Meet Cute Reads

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Hi, my bookish readers! Catfairy is back from The Bookish Fairy blog!

There is nothing that tugs my heartstrings more than a meet-cute! All the teen shows I consumed made me desperate to recreate my own meet-cute since the fifth grade. I remember distinctly walking around school with my Beverly Hills 90210 bookbag, strategically dropping all my books in front of my biggest crush and watching him walk right past me while I sadly picked up all the books myself.

Here are my top five meet-cute reads that have filled the meet-cute void in my heart and that will fill your own hearts with all the swoon-worthy feels.

Roomies by Christina Lauren

Holland Bakker has admired the guitar-playing musician Calvin McLoughlin for months until they literally collide in a New York City subway. She has always been a girl that never takes chances until she spontaneously marries the swoon-worthy Calvin to save him from deportation and giving him the opportunity of a lifetime to play music for Broadway.

This is the perfect novel to kick-off March being that the main love interest is a hot Irishman musician! Roomies is one of my favorite meet-cutes because I love romances that have that infatuated love at first sight feeling. Holland Bakker falls in love with Calvin from afar while watching him play guitar in a New York subway and that is simply one of the most romantic meet-cutes I have ever read.

The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

Natasha’s family is about to get deported and she is trying to do everything in her power to keep her family in New York and then she bumps into Daniel and her whole universe changes.

Nicola Yoon creates the meet-cute of my hipster dreams when she has Natasha and Daniel meet for the first time in an independent record store in New York! This is a beautifully poetic story that captures the intensity of love at first sight when your sixteen-years-old. Natasha and Daniel have these deep soul-searching conversations while running around New York with approximately twelve hours to fall in love with one another. This is a book about fate and about how everything is connected in some way or another and those are all the perfect elements of a magical meet cute!

 The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson

Andie is someone who always plans out her life and has learned to raise herself through the years. Her upcoming summer is meticulously planned out with the perfect internship until her father gets involved in a political scandal. Her whole summer plans go awry, and Andie will have to learn to embrace the “unexpected…”

Clark and Andie literally run into one another through a fluffy dog named Birdie and the perfect elements of a summery meet-cute is born! Morgan Matson knows how to develop a realistic romance between two characters while combining all the unforgettable fun elements of a summer romance!  The chemistry between Clark and Andie is heart-warming and they both push one another outside of their comfort zones. Not to mention, Clark is also a hot and nerdy beta-male who wears glasses, adorkable slogan shirts, and is a popular fantasy writer! If you want to fulfill the meet-cute of your summer dreams this is the book to read!

 Geekerella by Ashley Poston

 

Geekerella is an original Cinderella retelling written with the perfect blend of geek girl fandom! Elle Wittimer is the epitome of a geek girl and is a total fangirl for the SciFi show named Starfield. She writes a blog post where she criticizes the movie heartthrob Darien Freedman, for taking the lead role of one of her beloved characters for the Starfield movie remake. Suddenly her blog post goes viral and she gets the opportunity of a lifetime to enter a cosplay contest! In the cosplay contest known as ExcelsiCon, she will be one of the judges along with her nemesis Darien Freedman…

Ashley Poston’s book has a meet-cute/You’ve Got Mail vibe only instead of emailing there is texting. Their actual face to face meet-cute is none other than the quissetential Cinderella ballroom scene with a twist, filled with cosplay wearing cyborgs, Vulcans, night elves, and Klingons! When Darien Freedman lands eyes on Elle in the cosplay ball it is the ultimate cosplay turned fairy-tale.

Frenched by Melanie Harlow

Mia gets dumped by her fiancée a week before her wedding and she already has a fully expense paid trip to Paris. On a whim, she decides to fly to Paris for a single-moon and drowns herself on bottles of Bordeaux instead of buckets of ice-cream. What Mia doesn’t expect is that the city of lights holds the hottest and most romantic love of her life…

Frenched is an underrated meet-cute and even though I read this four years ago my old book boyfriend has forever been burned in my mind. Mia goes to a Canadian sports bar in the middle of Paris and meets the intellectual and irresistible Lucas who is a cross between Mark Ruffalo and Joseph Gordon-Levitt! If this doesn’t make you swoon I don’t know what will! After all, who doesn’t want to have a meet-cute in Paris?!

What are your favorite fluffy meet-cutes? Please leave me any suggestions of any swoon-worthy meet-cute reads you have in mind!

(This post can also be viewed on Frolic Media!)

Four Reasons Why You Should Reread Books

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Nowadays, with the pressures of Goodreads yearly challenges, Twitter challenges, Booktube, book subscription boxes with shiny new spray painted pages, and new anticipated monthly book lists announced on blogs it’s almost impossible to consider rereading books. One of the worst things is when you start to pick up the beloved book you have loved since you were a teenager, then you hear that your new favorite author is coming out with a new book, and to top it all off they are coming to your hometown for a book signing! There is so much pressure in the book world to read all the new releases coming up and if you’re not reading them then the book fomo starts to settle in…

We need to get rid of the book fomo and remind ourselves to reread our favorite books again. My goal is to especially read my books with the paperback spine falling apart with the yellowed pages. I already read one of my falling apart paperback books by my favorite author Francesca Lia Block book and it was an absolute joy!

Here are four reasons why you should consider rereading books again…

1…Rereading before the sequel…

Rereading books before the highly anticipated sequel of one of your favorite books is always a good idea. Being an officially registered book nerd, it is difficult for me to remember all the details, events, and characters in every book that I have read. If you want to be prepared for the sequel then it’s highly recommended to reread the previous books. Especially if you are reading a fantasy there is so much detail and world-building that comes with fantasy, that getting into the sequel could be difficult to get into the world again. The best thing about rereading a book before the upcoming sequel is that it builds the anticipation for the upcoming book and what is better than fangirling over a new book being released?!

2…Rereading before the movie…

This goes hand in hand with rereading a book before the upcoming book sequel. I am guilty of not rereading books before watching the movie and I tend to google the differences between the book and the movie. Next time, if I am excited about an upcoming book turned movie then in order to feel completely confident about what I am going into I will definitely reread the book. Although the unfortunate truth is that all of us bookish folk know that nine times out of ten the book is usually better than the movie…

3…Rereading books brings back nostalgia…

One of the most amazing feelings is to read a book and be brought back to the times that were so much simpler and carefree. I remember when I was reading one of my favorite Francesca Lia Block books I was brought back to a time when I was fourteen-years-old, baking in the sun in my backyard, with that horrible 90’s trend called the sun-in, and my biggest concern was which Hanson brother I would marry. Rereading books can make you realize how much you have grown up and the best part is that it brings back the warm and fuzzy nostalgia again.

4….They remind you why you love reading…

There is nothing better than reading a book that makes you realize how amazing it is to get lost in somebody else’s world. Rereading your favorite books makes you realize why you love reading in the first place. More than likely, you are rereading books that have made a profound impact in your life, have altered your life, given you a good laugh, or just simply made you smile so big your face hurt in the end. Rereading books is like an old best friend to remind you of how amazing they have always been. 

Chat with me in the comments below and let me know if you have reread any books lately!

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End of Year Wrap Up

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Happy Holidays, Shelfies! I hope everyone has been enjoying this season with their families, friends, or adventuring on their own, both through books and in “real life.” Today is the first year end review wrap up post. Up first is contributor Alex of Catfairy Books sharing what she’s read and loved in 2018, and what her goals are for her reading life in 2019. 

Life Update…
I know that this is so typical to say but my mind cannot FATHOM that 2018 is already coming to a close! I would say that 2018 brought so many changes in my life! I started a new grade level (I am an elementary teacher for those of you that don’t know.) and I started working as a college adjunct which was scary for me at the time!

And I have actually managed to write 13,000 words to my novel! This is a huge accomplishment for me since I have been ignoring my WIP for about two to three years now! I am excited to say that it is a YA magical realism novel with latinx rep. My excitement for this novel has no words because I finally feel like I have figured out the missing piece to the puzzle to bring my novel into workable fruition!

Number of Books Read
I have read 33 books this year so far! This has been the year of audiobooks for me! I have gone through sooooo many books due to the fact that I have been consuming most of them through audio. The number of books that I have read through audiobook is 20 books out of the 33 I have read in total! Out of those 20 books that I have listened to there are some that I have combined with reading the physical book as well. Children of Blood and Bone was one book where I actually needed to read the physical book because it’s typically hard for me to digest fantasy books. Although I still combined COBAB through physical and audio due to lack of time and the fact that I was a few weeks away from meeting her in person! EEEK! For those of you that are reluctant to audiobooks, I urge you to give it a try! They are so many books out there now with some AMAZING narration that can just bring the book to life sometimes more than actually reading it physically! Sometimes books have music and different voices! The best audiobooks I have read are definitely the Harry Potter ones! Jim Dale is the king when it comes to narration!

My Year of Books for 2018
My goal for 2018 was rolling along rather nicely due to transitioning to mostly audiobooks with my busy schedule and then October happened! The month of October was pure INSANITY FOR ME! Along with teaching full time, being a college adjunct, I also enrolled myself for an all-day workshop for three Saturdays in order to have an intern for the new school year! The month of October was the hardest month for me and October is my favorite month of the whole year! So it was a major bummer because I am the queen of Halloween and I always look forward to all things spooky!

https://giphy.com/embed/HEkttXqy9AwOQ

via GIPHY

Then came November and November was the time for NaNoWriMo which was just another disaster. I was focusing on my WIP and I DNFed so many books that month it’s not even funny!

Although…there are still 11 days away and I am currently listening to The Afterlife of Holly Black and plan to finish a Hallmark fluffy romance. And I plan to add in some poetry and picture books to my list because that counts as reading too! (First-grade teacher life…don’t judge.) So your girl is going to have 50 books achieved before the year is over!

Goals for Next Year 2019
My goal for next year is to read the same amount of books that I always pledge to read every year which is 50 books! I wanted to increase to 60 books but I am honestly not focused on reading challenges as much. My main reading challenge is to push myself to read more recently released books more than backlisted books. I am the queen of backlisted books and I can never get caught up to the recently released books! Also, I want to continue to read more diverse books since I have read some amazing ones like The Poet X, Analee, in Real Life, and The Hate U Give. And I want to read more books on Netgalley since I have never really given Netgalley a real chance and it would be great to reach out to publishers more for recently released books.

Book reviews have also been a challenge for me this year and my goal is to write at least two book reviews a month. One of my favorite things to write is book reviews and I make my book reviews extremely interactive and over the top with book playlists, book castings, pop culture references, and gifs. I love writing book reviews and delving really deep into the review but it typically takes me about two days to finish a book review. I want to put an end to pressuring myself to always write one book review a week because it’s just not realistic to my life frankly.

The year 2019 is going to be the year where I am going to focus more on the essentials and not add unnecessary stress to my plate if it’s not serving me. I have even finally figured out ways to simplify my blogging schedule and plan to schedule in three posts a week instead of five posts a week which wasn’t working out for me. I am not setting my blog posts to specific days anymore because it just adds too much pressure for me.

BookTube and book blogs have added so much unnecessary pressure to my reading like never before and this is the year where I am tired of comparing myself to other people. Compared to many people in the world reading 30 something books is quite an accomplishment and for the first time in a few years, I am finally ok with that! Let’s take away the stress of reading and start to just enjoy the act of reading for 2019!

Alex’s FOMO Book List

~ The Bookish Fairy ~ 1 Comment

TGIF, fellow book lovers! Erica here to introduce a fun post from Alex of CatFairy Books all about FOMO books. As you know from my previous post, a FOMO book is a buzzed about book that you haven’t read and aren’t sure if you’re missing out or not missing a thing. You, the readers, get to tell us which books we should absolutely read and which ones we can totally pass on. Which books on this list should Alex read? Let her know in the comments!

My Fomo Books…
Guys if you know me I am always experiencing the feeling of FOMO! (FOMO stands for Fear of Missing Out.) Now I am a huge YA fan but I personally feel like I hopped on the YA train a bit too late! I started to really delve and obsess over the world of YA about two years ago. What I discovered is that there are so many books that were published about two or three years before I discovered YA that still have so much hype and unfortunately I haven’t read any of these books! And then there were books that were published back when I was in the late teens that I should have read and finished a very long time ago! This is when the FOMO feeling breaks in…

Here is my list of FOMO Books! (Prepare yourselves, don’t yell at me!)

The Harry Potter Series…

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I know gasp! What is wrong with me?! I started to read the Harry Potter series back when I was 19 and stopped when I got to the third book!

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via GIPHY

I am known to be absolutely terrible when it comes to finishing a book series! Fortunately, I am now officially catching up to the Harry Potter series! I just finished the audible version of Order of the Phoenix and I only have two more books left to go! Audible has been a lifesaver for me when it comes to catching up on books!

ACOTAR Series

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When I first got into YA all I would hear about on BookTube was Sarah J. Mass and the ACOTAR series! I was so intrigued to read it because they described The Court of Thorns and Roses to have a Beauty and the Beast vibe! Beauty and the Beast retellings are my jam and I will read any well-written Beauty and the Beast story! Unfortunately, I just never got a chance to read it because I kept getting distracted by other books that were recently released already! (Recently released books are evil!) Now I am actually FINALLY picking up the ACOTAR series! I just started reading the first 50 pages of The Court of Thrones and Roses and so far the story is very intriguing!

Fangirl

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Honestly, it doesn’t many any sense that I haven’t read this book yet because I am a complete SUCKER for YA contemporary books! I gobble them up like I gobble up my pastelitos de guayaba!

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Fangirl is about a blogger who writes Harry Potter like fanfiction! I mean really…I need to read this because this book has me written all over it! Although I did read Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell thinking it was a good start to introduce myself to the world of Rainbow Rowell but now I want to kick myself! Eleanor and Park wasn’t a favorite for me to say the least and I wish I started with Fangirl! TBR goals!

The Sun is Also a Star

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This book has been sitting on my bookshelf for way too long! I read Everything, Everything last summer and I completely fell in love with it! I couldn’t stop reading it and even though I wasn’t thrilled with the ending I am in love with Nicola Yoon’s writing! See my book review about it here.

The Sun is Also a Star got amazing reviews and it looks like the perfect contemporary read to get you out of those dreaded book funks! The book is essentially a romance of two strangers meeting in the bustling city of New York and falling in love but it’s not only about romance. One of the main characters finds that her family is going to get deported to Jamaica and this is when the conflict ensues… Nicola Yoon is a gifted writer and I can’t wait to finally read this!

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below! Are these books worth a read?! Have you experienced FOMO when it comes to books?! What books are they? I would love to hear your opinions!