Faith, Hope, and Love

May is National Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and Mental Health Awareness Month, so I choose to read books that featured Asian characters and/or dealt with mental illnesses in some way. There were a few books that didn't fit into this reading theme (I'm not great at sticking to strict reading plans, plus when a library hold comes in, you gotta read what you gotta read before due dates and stuff), but here's what my reading looked like in May! 1. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart.  This was a quick, short read. And the ending ultimately threw me. It's about a rich family who spends every summer on their private island. Until one summer, something happens. The second half of the book follows the main character trying to heal from the trauma of whatever happened, as well as try to figure out what  happened.  She's an unreliable narrator, and so the ending definitely was unexpected and the twist kind of crushed me.  2. Afterward  by ...

January marks the start of a new year and is all about follow-through on resolutions, so it only felt right that most of the books I read were either new releases or books that have been on my TBR for way to long! Here's what I've been reading lately... 1. Denton Little's Deathdate : This is a book I bought in the Spring of 2017, and it had been sitting on one of my side tables for months. So, on January 1st, I was resolved to get through that stack before the end of the month. I have not  be successful in getting through all the books (especially because a few more keep getting added), but Denton Little got me started! I thought this book was funny and super engaging. Imagine if we lived in a word where we knew the day we would die from the day we were born. That's the world Denton Little lives in. This books takes us through the 48 hours before he is supposed to die. I won't say much more, except that secrets are revealed and surprises abound. And... ...

A new year means a new reading challenge! And the blog behind one of my favorite podcasts, What Should I Read Next? , has the perfect list to tackle. It's short and simple. Twelve categories (so you could say one per month), with good variety (to ensure you push yourself in your reading habits). I first heard of the Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge back in 2016 from my dear friend and fellow reader, Erica. However, I didn't actually complete the challenge until last year (and MMD had TWO lists , so I felt pretty accomplished to finish both). Because of the 2017 MMD Reading Challenge, I ... Finally  Little Women (it was a book that was more than 600 pages). While I have seem the movies plenty of times, and have read the sequel Little Men  more than I can count, I realized that I never actually finished Little Women  after I once tried to read it when I was around 8 years old. I only got through Book 1 and never came back to it. Well, finally did in 2017! Got...

Every so often, people ask me, "How many books to do you read?" It's a question I never knew the answer to because I had never thought about keeping track. Reading wasn't a competition, nor was I attempting to attain a medal for it. I never set reading goals. I just read . However, the question got asked more and more often, and so last summer, I decided to keep track. I wrote down how many books I'd read the summer of 2016 and kept at it once school began in the fall. And between June 2016 and December 2016, I had read 88 books. Close to 100 books, and that was missing 5 months! So for 2017, I decided to keep track for the whole year. Each month, I would jot down the title of each book as I finished it. On average, I read about 10 books a month. Some months I read more, some less. Length and genre varied, although I did try to push myself to read one non-fiction book a month  (and didn't always succeed). And... I ended 2017 with 152 books under m...

Towards the end of my summer, I had the chance to visit Portland, Oregon. I started the journey in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Took the train to Chicago. And then went from Chicago to Portland over 46 hours.  But that is the story for another blog, another day. I loved Portland, and my friend Dam and I did pretty much everything we could squeeze in within the four days we had: The Zoo, The Rose Garden, The Japanese Garden, The Pink Trolley, Powell's City of Books, Saturday Market, Multnomah Falls...  Dam and I in front of the Multnomah Falls But there was one thing on my list that I didn't get to: The Beverly Cleary Sculpture Garden  + taking a walking tour around her neighborhood. I even bought a book to help make the experience complete!  I was only going to get the Ramona book, but I believe very book needs a friend. And it was ANNE... how could I resist? I almost stole the book versus paying for it, since it says it technically isn't il...

Today I went to my first book conference and... I'm hooked. I want to go to more! I definitely plan to return to this one each year (as scheduling allows) and maybe even bring some kids back, too! It truly was a reader's heaven. When I first heard of the conference and read through the line-up, I only recognized three names: Laurie Halse Anderson, Shannon Hale and Ann Brashares. And then there was 25 other authors I had never heard of. Or thought I had never heard of. Many of them are pretty big names in YA lit right now, and I had seen their books on shelves or read one of their books before. It was fun to sit through panels and feel like you were just hanging out with these awesome authors--many of whom are equally awesome people. Because it's the Teen Book Conference, there were a lot of teens present. And it was great to listen to the questions they would ask. While the most famous question of the day was, "How do you deal with writer's block?" (th...

I own a lot of books. The four bookshelves in my apartments are almost completely full, and this does not count the ones I have stacked on my desk, the piano or the floor. These also do not include the five bookshelves I took to my classroom, or the half a dozen or more milk crates I've converted into book storage. In both places, I've run out of space... and I just keep buying more books. I can't help myself. It's like an addiction. When I'm feeling blue, the best pick-me-up is going on Amazon and with one click, filling my basket. It's even better to walk into an actual bookstore, flip the pages, and take in that new-book smell. I've had to ban myself from both in recent weeks. While my bank account is thanking me, my habit isn't. The funny thing, perhaps, is that I actually haven't read all the books I own. I'm like a collector that way, I suppose. I buy books just to have them... although, unlike a collector, I actually do wa...

I've yet to jump on the Pintrest bandwagon, but my cousin sent me a link to a Pintrest page that I am in LOVE with. As people who know me, and anyone who has followed this blog long enough, know... I am a big reader. I own a lot of books and have the "bad" habit of constantly buying more. I'm currently out of shelf space in my apartment, and half (maybe more) of the books I own are at school. One day, when I build my dream home (or renovate whatever home I end up in), having a library will be essential. Or at least having a place to put all of my books (with room for growth) is essential. Here are some of my favorite ideas from Pintrest: Great use of space! If I have stairs in my dream home, this is totally happening! One day I hope to have a little "Writer's Nook" in my house. Something like this would be perfect. And again, great use of space! I dream of having a bay window with a window seat that I curl up with a good book in. On ...

It's half past 3. Morning, not afternoon.  And I've just finished reading "Me Before You" by JoJo Moyes . It was one of the books I purchased in London. (You might think it silly, but my very first purchases, besides train tickets, were books. Even though I had my Kindle and I had brought a few real books, too. My second was a cute satchel to put the books in... Ha!) I began reading it this morning, and could barely put it down. Of course, I did to take care of my growing pile of laundry and to spend a few hours with friends after a clothes swap (my first! But more on that later). I got home around 11pm, and just couldn't stop reading this book. You might remember how I felt about " Thanks for the Memories " or " Sweet Love "... this was better. I can't really tell you what the book is about. To do so would give it all away. The blurb on the back did it very little justice... I thought I'd be a silly bit of chick-lit (which I lo...

Earlier today I decided to be a bit more productive than I usually am after my 4-hour stint at my part-time job and made my way to the bookstore hoping to find some "direction." Ever since I lost my magazine job (and to be honest, even a few months before then), I've been feeling a bit jaded and confused. I'm suddenly wondering if what I always wanted to do with my life is what I'm supposed  to be doing, and asking myself if the profession I've always dreamed of pursing since I was about five-years-old is really for me. What if I'm honestly just no good at it? What if I just thought  I was? I had one day left on my "birthday gift" from Borders (I got a free raspberry-lemony iced tea!), so it seemed like the place to be. In the reference section, I grabbed a Writer's Market hoping to discover a few new avenues and alleys I never thought to walk down before. In the job section, I found "Fired to Hired," which I embarrassingly picked ...

We've all heard tales of people claiming to have new talents, new tastes, new skills, and new memories after receiving a transplant. Almost as if by giving a piece of yourself to another, they really do gain a part of ... you. But what if this exchange could take place with something as simple as a blood transfusion? I donate blood today, and tomorrow some person in dire need receives it and poof! Suddenly they have vivid memories of me and my life. Sounds crazy, right? When I first picked up Cecelia Ahern 's "Thanks for the Memories," that's exactly what I thought. But the idea intrigued me--to be connected to someone through blood. And as I've read all of her books and loved them all, I'd grown accustomed to being led through a story where extraordinary things happen to ordinary people living ordinary lives. It's probably what's best about Ahern's writing, especially in this book. Here lies a story of a thirty-something-year-old Irish w...