Reading RoundUp #44
It’s Friday! For some reason this week felt rather long, so I’m eagerly looking forward to the weekend. My parents are coming to visit tomorrow to hear more about our Ireland trip and see all our pictures! You can check out my trip recap if you want to see a few pictures as well 🙂 I stopped by the library earlier this week so I have lots of great books to share. Here we go!
This week’s Reading Roundup!
Work Book (for lunch time reading):
Paris By The Book by Liam Callanan – This book represents a significant triumph in my blogging life! It’s my first review copy from a publisher! I’d read a few articles about how to request ARCs from publishers and was surprised to find it’s a simple matter of emailing them and stating your interest and blog / social media stats. If they deem you worthy, they’ll send the book! I think I’ve sent 5 emails now, and this is my first success! The book combines Paris, family intrigue, and a bookstore, so it’s right up my alley.Â
House Books:
Dumplin’Â by Julie Murphy – The sequel to this young adult book recently came out, so I’m seeing it pop up everywhere. I always have to start at the beginning, so thankfully I found Dumplin’ available on the shelves of my library. It’s a story of an overweight teen who enters her town’s beauty pageant. I love Julie’s snappy writing and watching Willowdean navigate friendships, boys, and the struggle of insecurity.Â
A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J Maas – After DEVOURING the first three books in this series, I took a bit of a break before picking up A Court of Frost and Starlight. The original trilogy wraps up nicely and the reviews state this addition isn’t quite as great. However, I can’t not read it haha.Â
Kindle Books:
The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Ware – Anthony Peardew has collected seemingly meaningless lost items over the past forty years and formed a writing career around coming up with their stories. His assistant, Laura, is tasked with finding their owners and returning them. The ruggedly handsome gardener and their quirky neighbor end up coming on board with her quest. This story isn’t a fast-paced page turner, but a delightful stroll.Â
Rust and Stardust by T Greenwood- I just received approval for this eARC on NetGalley! This novel coming out in August is based on the true crime story of the kidnapping that inspired Vladimir Nabakov to write Lolita.Â
Audio Books (listening on Scribd):
Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis – This motivational / self-help book appeared on another blogger’s list of June reads. For some reason, her description convinced me to read it even though I rarely delve into this type of nonfiction. Turns out, I LOVED IT! Listening to Rachel narrate her stories was certainly why I enjoyed this as much as I did. She is full of humor and honesty and passion. You can’t help but get caught up in her excitement and want to follow her advice. I respect her message that your life is completely your responsibility and it’s up to you to make the changes you want, even though it might take hard work, dedication, and sacrifice.
From Around the Web:
Best Books of 2018 – Allison over at My Novel Life shares her favorite books of the year so far, neatly organized by genre.Â
AirBnB Reading Retreats in Every State – We use AirBnB for most of our vacations now, so I might just have to suggest visiting a few of these : )
Check out Reading RoundUp #43Â for more of my recent reads!
*Disclosure – I earn a tiny commission if you purchase any items through the links above and the price you pay is the same. Thanks for supporting my reading habit!
Congrats on your first ARC! Such an important milestone for a book blogger 😉 You never forget your first!
Thanks! It was pretty thrilling ha!
I love Rachel Hollis and Girl, Wash Your Face has been on my list for quite some time now. Dumplin’ sounds totally up my alley too. I love your blog!! It’s inspiring me to up my reading game 🙂
Have a great weekend!
That’s the best compliment! Enjoy your weekend too!
Congrats on getting your first review copy! I am way too shy/nervous to actually email a publisher and request anything!
I felt completely unqualified, but it worked out well. You should definitely go for it! I found a “template” online to get an idea what to say. If you want me to share my email I can!
Thanks for the link 🙂 I’ve been wanting to read Dumplin’ after hearing so many good things about it. You’ll have to let me know how you like it.
It was a fun read! Some typical teenage drama that got kind of annoying, but overall I liked the characters and thought it was an entertaining and atypical story line.
Congrats on getting an ARC from a publisher. I tend to stick to NetGalley and Edelweiss but a few publishers have my address. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
Rust and Stardust is on my wishlist. My weekly update
Your Ireland trip looks so fun. I love the photos. Have a great week!