I decided to reread Harry Potter because I finally hit my Goodreads goal for the year, and have no other pressing books to read (that‘s actually a lie, my TBR is huge). But HP just feels right this time of year and it makes me happy, so I might as well

This was one of my favorite Christmas reads this year!! Thoroughly enjoyed it and it was a fun modern twist on the classic tale!

April Wrap-Up!! I haven‘t posted reviews of all of these books yet, but it was so nice to get some of these that have been on my TBR forever knocked out! I also enjoyed every one of my reads this month, other than The Hawkman!

#aprilwrapup

Current Read 😁 I could probably devour this in a day if I had the time, but sadly school and final projects are taking over my life

I felt so weird while reading this book, but I still loved it!! Cath is me right now in college and there were so many parallels between our lives it was hard to read at some points (no one wants to confront their faults) but overall enjoyable. Rainbow Rowell does it again!! 😊

4/5 ⭐️

#fangirl
#rainbowrowell

I read this book a couple months ago, and I loved it! I wasn‘t actually a huge fan of the love story, but I loved Marco and Celia as individuals and every side character was so wonderful—the whole cast of characters was exciting to read about and so in-depth. And I could picture myself in the circus perfectly: I love a book with a well-written setting

5/5 ⭐️

#thenightcircus
#erinmorgenstern

I made it only 9 hours, 11 minutes, and 30 seconds into this challenge. So...not even close to what I was supposed to hit or what I thought I‘d hit (15 hours), but I still had fun doing it and it got me through Ready Player One and the first part of Winter! I‘m so excited for the next one already

#25infive

I reread this book last week for the first time in 3 years! I loved it just as much as I did when I read it back in school and I took away something different this time too. One of my favorite classics!

5/5 ⭐️

#thegreatgatsby
#fscottfitzgerald
#classics

It‘s been many weeks since I‘ve been on here, but I‘m back! I‘ll have to catch up on book reviews and other posts soon, but for now, here‘s my current read! I‘m loving this book so much, and definitely a lot more than the movie

I thought this was a wonderful little novel that surprisingly tackled serious issues too. It sort of felt like a mix of The Help, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and Forrest Gump, which I know sounds strange, but it worked and I really enjoyed myself the whole time. Highly recommend if you‘re a fan of historical fiction or women‘s fiction

4/5 ⭐️

#allthebeautifulgirls
#elizabethjchurch
#historicalfiction

1. The Night Circus!!
2. 2.5. I say .5 because my dad‘s brother who‘s in his 50‘s recently got married, so I guess his wife is now technically my aunt, but I don‘t see her that way because I didn‘t grow up with her as an aunt
3. Ant, always
4. Green tea, an apple, and some pretzels (so healthy, I know)
5. Will do!! 😊

#friyayintro @jesshowbooks

I believe I said I was going to post a selfie in another post as part of number five to the #friyayintro from last week. As such, here‘s the last selfie I took (although I have eclipse glasses on instead of my normal ones)

I adore this passage (and also this whole book)

Happy Friday all!
1. Read, see an improv show, do homework, watch snowboarding in the Olympics tomorrow
2. 5‘8”
3. If we‘re talking my college town, about a year and a half! If we‘re talking my hometown (since I go back and forth), since I‘ve been 4!
4. The Night Circus
5. Will do, but probably in another post. I‘m not techy enough to get two photos in one image

#friyayintro @jesshowbooks

I received an arc of this book on Netgalley (my first time ever using Netgalley actually!) and I loved it! I can‘t wait to read more arcs now

Time to finally read this one!! I started it about 5 years ago and read the first 250 pages and then just....didn‘t read the rest?? I have no idea why, but it‘s time to reread/finish it!

My boyfriend understands me: A print out of a Harry Potter meme is guaranteed to make me smile way more than a regular Valentine‘s Day card 😁

Hope everyone else is having great days filled with lots of love from all the people in their life ❤️

I was really disappointed with this book. I liked the characters and the Russian folklore elements and the writing style, but it was just sooooo boring. It took 220 pages just to get past the events described in the blurb, and then the climax felt rushed and like too little, too late because of it. There was too much backstory and not enough real plot or action happening

2.75/5 ⭐️

#thebearandthenightingale
#katherinearden

1. Ice skating or curling. I don‘t watch the Olympics much, but I hope to more this year
2. Fredrick Backman and Rainbow Rowell
3. November
4. Molly‘s Game (a surprisingly appropriate answer with the Winter Olympics upon us)
5. Will do!

#friyayintro @jesshowbooks

I went through three phases while reading this: First, Eleanor made me cringe a lot with her awkwardness, the way you cringe at Michael Scott in The Office. Second, I found her endearing and memorable and just plain funny and the book was really enjoyable to read. Third, this book ripped my heart out and I loved it anyway.

This book touched me and Eleanor will stay with me as a character for a long time.

4.5/5 ⭐️

#eleanoroliphant
#gailhoneyman

Hello all. My name is Kelly but my #LitsyHandle is Cats-and-Tea. I made a new NaNoWriMo account this year because I didn‘t like my old username and decided on the username Cats&Tea just because I like those two things a lot. Since I joined Litsy at the end of November, I decided to stay consistent with the names, only I couldn‘t use an ampersand on Litsy.

@Chelleo

This is a few days late, but I wanted to post a wrap up for January! I read 5 books and rated them all 3.75 or higher, so it was a pretty great month for me! I‘m ahead on my Goodreads challenge now and got through some books that had been on my TBR a while, so I‘m feeling good going into February! 😊

1. Probably not
2. 25 and I am not looking forward to going outside
3. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
4. I‘ve never been anywhere other than where I live, Wisconsin, and Disney, so pretty much anywhere. Maybe London
5. 😊😊

#friyayinto

It‘s my first day back at school and man has this semester hit hard. It‘s syllabus week, but I somehow spent 4 hours on homework already and still have more to do. I‘ve decided to ban homework after 10pm (for the time being) though. Books and tea and mental health will be priorities before bed

The only thing I really have to say about this book is OH MY GOD. I was so stressed reading this, what with chapters from the murderer‘s perspective and threats to Robin‘s safety, and with all the personal stuff we learn about Robin and Strike. And then it ended on a cliffhanger??? JK Rowling, why must you do this to me???

5/5 ⭐️

#careerofevil
#robertgalbraith
#jkrowling
#cormoranstrike

1. Probably cheesecake, either regular or with chocolate chips
2. Big Mouth. Such a weird, but funny show
3. My current read, Career of Evil is currently stressing me out. The murderer just seems so creepy and there‘s so much personal stuff between Strike and Robin and I‘m so stressed reading it
4. Almost 2 months!
5. 😊

#friyayintro

Do you ever make jokes to yourself when you read, even when they aren‘t very funny? When Strike got on the train from London to Scotland and was complaining about the accommodations, I couldn‘t help but think “Wow, the Hogwarts Express has really gone downhill since the 90‘s” and just silently chuckled to myself for like five minutes

1. Not really, but I usually read in bed
2. Random scraps of paper or receipts or train tickets
3. At the end of a chapter or I‘m annoyed haha
4. Maybe tea, but usually no
5. Nope, I can‘t focus
6. One at a time or else I get confused about characters/plots or just abandon one of them
7. Everywhere!
8. Silently
9. Never, unless it‘s a boring school book/textbook
10. Whatever happens but I try to keep it like new
11. No
12. Everyone reading this!

1. Arthur by far. I still watch that show if I see it on PBS
2. Haven‘t read any! That‘s one of my goals for 2018
3. Pickles. And pop. You give it up for a year and suddenly it‘s too sweet when you go back to it
4. Nothing in particular haha
5. Will do! Happy Friday everybody!

#friyayintro
@jesshowbooks

Can I give a book more than 5 stars? I loved this. It was fun and cute and spit-out-my-tea hilarious. I loved all the characters and the story and it was the kind of book that just brought about this really pure love of reading for me. Like that “wow, reading is awesome” feeling you got as a kid the first time you read a book you loved.

5/5 ⭐️

#gentlemansguidetoviceandvirtue
#mackenzilee
#yahistoricalfiction

This is a cool giveaway! Congrats to @TheBookKeepers on hitting 1k!

#bookkeepersGIVEAWAY

This book might be making my list of “Top Ten Favorite Books of All Time That Are Not Harry Potter (Or Else The Whole List Would Be Harry Potter)” but we will see as it continues on. Also, someone tell me I‘m not the only one with a list like that

Victoria Schwab: What did August Flynn ever do to you to deserve such pain? He is too precious to deal with this kind of thing.

In all honesty though, I enjoyed this book. Not likely one I‘ll reread, but I‘m glad I spent time on this duology, and I truly am impressed with how good it is.

3.75/5 ⭐️

#ourdarkduet
#victoriaschwab
#monstersofverity

1. Not really a fan of Cheetos/chips in general, but if I had to choose, I‘d say crunchy
2. Only read 3, liked them all, but the tagged book was best
3. Read, head to the library, go to a jazz club to see my sister perform
4. Speak every language! That would be the coolest superpower!
5. I‘m double majoring so my advisor says I shouldn‘t add one, but I‘d like to add an English or History minor just for the hell of it

#friyayintro
@jesshowbooks

This book was very pirate-y and even though I usually don‘t like first person POV stories, I loved Alosa‘s narration and how I got to go inside her head. Levenseller kept the story interesting despite Alosa rarely leaving the ship, and while there were more details/scenes I wish were in this book, I have a feeling the sequel will provide even more adventure.

4/5 ⭐️

#daughterofthepirateking
#tricialevenseller
#yafantasy
#adventure

Finished this a while back, but thought I‘d still post about it. This was a poignant, short little story that is perfect for anyone who‘s a fan of Backman. I enjoyed it a lot and found a lot of quotes I loved.

5/5 ⭐️

#fredrikbackman
#dealofalifetime

Wow, did this book make up for how much I didn‘t like Cinder. I still wasn‘t engaged in Cinder‘s storyline in this book, but Meyer‘s writing somewhat improved, I thought Scarlet was a complex character compared to the people in the first book, and I was utterly blown away by how Meyer twisted the story to retell Little Red Riding Hood. I‘m definitely finishing the series now

4/5 ⭐️

#scarlet
#marissameyer
#lunarchronicles

I only read 22 books last year, but most of those were in the second half of the year, so I figured I‘d double what I accomplished. I can probably read 60 if I tried, but that seemed a little too ambitious to start with, so I‘m going to shoot for this now and reevaluate if I hit it! I‘m so excited to discover a bunch of great new books this year!

#goodreads
#goodreadschallenge
#2018

I love so many passages in this book it‘s like I want to post the whole thing. But this one in particular really made me think

I begrudgingly have to say this is a pick. I usually hate YA romance novels, and I know I was getting nit-picky about different things as I was reading because I‘m an Italian lang/culture geek, but this left me with such a warm and fuzzy feeling that I can‘t deny how much I loved it. Lina and Ren were such adorable characters too.

4/5 ⭐️

#loveandgelato
#jennaevanswelch
#yaromance

I liked the characters and the overall storyline in this one, but thought the pacing was a little rushed at times and that problems sometimes got resolved a little too quickly/conveniently to be realistic. Overall though, a solid pick for historical fiction with some strong female leads.

3.5/5 ⭐️

#theaddress
#fionadavis
#historicalfiction

Picked up these two books at the Half Price Books sale today and am very excited to get to them in the new year. Also, my boyfriend bought me many, many boxes of tea for Christmas and I think this is my favorite so far. It tastes like cake!

1. Anything with chocolate and peanut butter
2. I love hosting and cooking for everyone!!
3. 19 right now, but hoping to hit at least 24. It was a busy year
4. Elf all the way. I watch it multiple times a year
5. Books and clothes pretty much, but not much else. I‘m pretty happy with anything I get

#friyayintro
@jesshowbooks

Starting this tonight! I love the aesthetic of historic New York, so this book has me excited

Not the biggest fan of this book. I thought Meyer “told” more often than she “showed” and it made the characters fall flat. Cinder just didn‘t resonate with me. I wish there was more world building and better writing, because it was such a cool concept. Now the question is whether I continue the series.

2.5/5 ⭐️

#cinder
#marissameyer
#lunarchronicles

1. Fav holiday tradition is def going to my grandma‘s house Christmas Eve for a big family dinner...we do lasagna, pierogi, cheesy potatoes...a whole bunch of deliciousness and good company

2. Illustrated Harry Potter 3, The Bear and the Nightingale series, a few others...

3. Whatever I have from the library

4. I don‘t know many readers, but may get my best friend a copy of the Cuckoo‘s Calling so she has to read it

#litsyquestions
@GypsyKat

Sci-fi Cinderella seems like the coolest concept ever...here‘s hoping this book lives up to the hype

I loved this one even more than the first in the series. It was exciting, a strange, interesting, grotesque murder to solve, and I loved getting to hear more about Robin and Strike‘s personal lives (and hopefully their relationship in the later books). I wish the whole series was out so I could binge read it

5/5 ⭐️

#thesilkworm
#robertgalbraith
#jkrowling
#mystery
#cormoranstrike

Bad lighting here, but I‘ve got the Christmas tree, a Christmas mug of tea, and a book I‘m hoping to finish by tomorrow. It‘s a good Friday night

Wow this was an intense read. I hadn‘t heard too much about this part of WW2 history before, but the horrors Sepetys describes should be known by everyone. I thought Lina was a strong, resilient character, and I admired her a lot.

4/5 ⭐️

#betweenshadesofgray
#rutasepetys
#worldwar2
#historicalfiction