#recentreads

Val with a wonderful rum cupcakes from Yaffa's forthcoming book, A Taste of Bourbon. Val would snatch that recipe! Thank you ❤! #Repost @yaffasantos.author ... Thank you dear @serataino for my ARC of A Delicious Dilemma! This book nurtured my heart and I loved getting to know Val, Philip, and their families. I am a Jersey girl, too, so I also enjoyed the story taking me back to Muñoz Marin and Clemente Blvd 😜 AND I loved that Val and Philip had geekdom in common 🤓 Brava! 🙌🏽✨ Can’t wait for readers to fall in love with this swoonworthy story. [Image description: the book A Delicious Dilemma by Sera Taino sits on a wooden board with a chocolate cupcake on the left and a cup of coffee on the right.] #bookstagram #bookphoto #recentreads #readersofig #bookreview #bookish #readersofinstagram #romancenovel #romancereadersofinstagram #romancecover #kissingbooks #romancebookstagram https://www.instagram.com/p/CSzftNbr-Vh/?utm_medium=tumblr

Recent Reads 📚❤️ 

I am officially OBSESSED with the ACOTAR series! Rhys and the gang have stolen my heart for the foreseeable future... Sorry Loki! 😬 I need all of the merch immediately! This series just makes me so happy. I love the Inner Circle so so much, and makes me wish that I had a close friend group more like them! QOTD: Do you try and find connections between props and the book they're with for photos? Do you have a friend group like the Inner Circle? I think I end up thinking too much about connections, honestly! But I had a lot of fun with this set-up. I tried to pull influences from all of the courts and events in the book. Hence the gold and red for Autumn and Day Courts standing out a bit compared to the cooler tones in the rest of the picture! . . . #pagesfromalibrary #acotar #acourtofthornsandroses #acomaf #acourtofmistandfury #acowar #acourtofwingsandruin #sarahjmaas #bookstagram #instabooks #bookishlove #readmorebooks #instabooklovers #booksbooksandmorebooks #bibliophiles #bookaddicted #bookcommunity #booksta #recentlyread #recentreads #feyre #feyrearcheron #rhysand #nightcourtinnercircle #nightcourt #fae #highfae #fantasy #fantasybooks #reads https://www.instagram.com/p/CEDQezEgeHb/?igshid=142kcfolqq8s2

July 7th, 2020 || 📚mini reviews: july reads📚 . 🌿La acusación by Bandi (translated by Héctor Bofill & Hye Young Yu). I normally don’t read short story collections because they tend to be a hit or miss for me but I was intrigued by this one. As always, I enjoyed some stories more than others but, as a whole, the collection is a worthy read and it pains the very bleak reality for millions of people in North Korea (7.5/10) . 🌿My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh. This novel was a ride for sure! Very dark, somewhat vulgar and extremely compelling for sure, but the ending threw me off completely and although it might have worked for some readers, it didn’t for me. What I “liked” the most was the depiction of depression through both the main character and her friend Reva (7/10). . What are you currently reading? • • • #julyreads #adayinbooklandreviews #recentlyread #recentreads #unitedbookstagram #bookloversunite #bookloversday #myyearofrestandrelaxation #literaryfiction #laacusacion #bandi #shortstorycollection #bookreviewers #bookreviews #booksandcoffee #bookaesthetics #translatedfiction https://www.instagram.com/p/CCVjBmHqNfw/?igshid=1cr2bhpi9e36n

June 13th, 2020 || 📚The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta 📚 . I have just finished The Black Flamingo and it was just what I needed. A wonderful coming of age story which, without shying away from tackling important issues, leaves you with a big smile on your face. I am not one to read novels written in verse, for whatever reason I always felt the format would not be for me: I was wrong. I also absolutely loved Dean Atta’s prose and how he explored Michael’s identity. . I haven’t been able to focus on my reading lately and although I am making progress on White Rage and Stamped from the Beginning, I also needed something that would make me smile and The Black Flamingo provided that. I think it’s also important to focus on joyful books written by BIPOC authors. . What have you been reading lately? • • • • #theblackflamingo #deanatta #novelinverse #bipocauthors #queerreads #ownvoices #adayinbooklandreviews #junereads #unitedbookstagram #bookstagrammersunite #readersofinstagram #recentreads #recentlyread #readeveryday https://www.instagram.com/p/CBX-siVq9JT/?igshid=14h5m8o03kyqp

May 13th, 2020 || #asianreadathon update! 📚 . i have finished these two so far. both by Japanese authors: 🌿 The Beast Player by Nahoko Uehashi. i'm not really sure how to rate this (in terms of my own numerical system). do i think it was worth my time? yes. did i enjoy it as a whole? also yes. would i pick up the sequel? probably. but i also had some issues. i liked the translation which at any point felt out of place, and the language was fluid and felt natural to me. in terms of the story per se i think i prefer the first half to the second half - where i felt the main character became very passive and behaved in circles. for a character that appeared to be very smart, i found myself a few times frustrated by her (lack of) action: she remained silent when it was necessary for her to speak up and she endangered herself when it wasn't necessary. the highlight for me was how she cared for animals. . 🌿The Complete Chi’s Sweet Home. Part 1 by Konami Kanata. this was adorable; the story of a cat who gets lost and is found by a family who can’t keep animales in their apartment. the story is just the daily adventures of Chi, the cat, but she is just too cute and I adored the artwork (8/10). . hope you are all having a good week! what are you currently reading? • • • • #recentreads #mayreads #recentlyread #adayinbooklandreviews #chissweethome #thebeastplayer #graphicnovels #fantasynovel #asianauthors #japaneseliterature #readingupdate #unitedbookstagram #bookreviewers #bookloversunite https://www.instagram.com/p/CAIK40iqy6t/?igshid=18vb5b95oanw1

Dec 15th, 2019 || mini-reviews. I got through some books this week. There is a bit of everything this week. Let’s go through worst to best. . 🗽The good fairies of new york by Martin Millar. This was a dnf; I got to page 21 and I read such an awful passage that I was like nope nope nope. Also, the writing style was so bad it wasn’t worth it . 🐳 Deeplight by Frances Hardinge. The premise of this one was amazing but sadly, I didn’t like the execution. I struggled throughout to keep my mind focused on the story and I also didn’t connect with any of the characters which in the end was a massive problem for me because it prevented me from fully engaging with the narrative. The writing was good and there were some moments I enjoyed but as a whole, this didn’t work for me (4/10). Maybe this one wasn’t the right one to start reading Hardinge so if you have any recommendations, feel free to let me know. . 🇻🇳 The best we could do by Thi Bui. This is an illustrated memoir of the struggle of a family to come to America due to what was happening in Vietnam. This graphic novel is amazing; it explores identity and trauma, parenthood and sacrifice. It is such a worthy read (9/10). . 🌹 A curse so dark and lonely by Brigid Kemmerer. Picked this up because I needed some form of escapism and I got exactly that. Read it in two days, was hooked from the very beginning. It is flawed though and I guessed the big twist but all in all I had a lot of fun reading it. One thing I wanna say though, and it’s not just about this novel, but YA as a whole is that authors need to get their lengths of time right…. I mean, the amount of stuff these characters achieved in two days alone I wouldn’t have done in a week. It is not realistic (7/10). . What have you read this week? Hope you have an awesome sunday? ❄️ • • #thegoodfairiesofnewyork #deeplight #thebestwecoulddo #acursesodarkandlonely #fantasybook #yalit #stackofbooks #bookstacks #readingupdate #recentreads #sundaybooks #adayinbooklandreviews #graphicnovels #graphicmemoir https://www.instagram.com/p/B6Fu04SIa6J/?igshid=1ksdh89fyfy9q

🌻SEPTEMBER WRAP UP🌻 aka the weird reading month. Not my best month in terms of reading 😔 i just haven’t been on the mood or it could be some sort of burnout due to the NEWTs readathon 🤷🏻‍♀️ . 🌿La revolución de las flâneuses (7/10). An essay collection with some interesting ideas. It is best to space it out and not read all essays at once since they could be a tad repetitive. . 🌿Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Part of my reread. This is probably one of my least favourites of the series although i still love it.... however, i’ll say the fatphobia in this one is even more pronounced than in the first one. . 🌿This One Summer (6.5/10). Beautiful artwork but the execution of the story was a bit flawed. I wish some thing could’ve been developed a lot more. . 🌿The Flatshare (7.5/10). A nice and cute contemporary story. Some bits were a bit cheesy but I appreciated how the author didn’t shy away from showing the trauma of an abusive relationship. . 🌿How Green Was My Valley (9.5/10). A new favourite. I have a full review of this one. It is an absolute delight of a novel. Highly recommend it. Completely character-driven. . How was your reading month? Any favourites? Any books we should avoid? • • • #adayinbooklandreviews #readingwrapup #recentreads #theflatshare #howgreenwasmyvalley #thisonesummer #harrypotterandthechamberofsecrets #larevoluciondelasflaneuses #essaycollection #rereads #generalfiction #graphicnovels #recentlyread #bookreviews #bookreviewer #bookpile #bookstacks #bookishfeature https://www.instagram.com/p/B3CFRjRohuh/?igshid=zjnmt2wg1qdh