Wrap Up|| August.

Posted on August 31, 2018 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

Hey!

I can’t believe tomorrow is September 1st! I am pretty stoked, because I can finally start decorating for Halloween/Fall and not look completely crazy. HAHA. 😛 This month I did pretty good with my reading, which I am stoked about! I feel like I read and listened to a decent amount of books and a lot of them were four stars too and I even had a five star in the mix! I’m so picky lately with what I give five stars to. I’ve been looking for the “WOW” factor and haven’t found many this year. You can find a full list of these books and the other books I read this year over here. All will be linked to Goodreads below and I will also link to individual blog posts if I did a review for them.

DNF Books:
These are the books that I attempted to read in August, but couldn’t get into them, didn’t like them, etc., and don’t plan to ever finish them.

Hunger by Roxane Gay

Honestly, I really was into this book at the beginning but it was really hard to read. Her story is really sad from what I did read. It’s a memoir as well and I think that is what made it even sadder. It was also hard for me to read on a personal level as well and it had me thinking about certain things with myself (my weight). It was stressing me out thinking about my own problems. When I would read certain things that author said, I would take a look at myself and start not liking what I saw physically with myself. I was starting to feel bad/negative about myself and my appearance and I just couldn’t continue reading it because of that. I was first interested in Hunger because my cousin told me about it and she said the author was one of her college professors, so I decided to check it out. I won’t be finishing this book. It just wasn’t for me.

Physically Read Books:
These are the books that I read myself (not audiobooks) throughout the month of August.

#MurderTrending by Gretchen McNeil – 4 out of 5 stars – Review.
I was sent a copy of #MurderTrending on Netgalley for review and I had a lot of fun reading it. Feel free to check out my review for more. It’s a pretty short review, because it’s better to go into it not knowing anything. It makes me more fun.

Ghosted by Rosie Walsh – 5 out of 5 stars.
Hands down Ghosted is one of my favorite books of the year! It was so good and so emotional. So many feels and so many tears. This was one of my most anticipated books of the year and it did not disappoint. I loved it!

All Your Perfects by Colleen Hoover – 4 out of 5 stars.
I really liked All Your Perfects so much. Felt like old CoHo again, especially after reading Without Merit last year (which was my least favorite of all her books). I definitely did my fair share of crying my eyes out haha. Also, Graham…he was perfect.

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han – 4 out of 5 stars.
I finally read To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before! I’ve owned this book for like three years now? I really wanted to watch the movie, but felt guilty if I didn’t read the book first. I thought the book was great and I regret not picking it up sooner. The movie though….not a fan. Also, the fact that the movie spoils the first 100 pages of book two in the series is annoying considering I hadn’t even read book two yet! Once I started book two and realized what was going on, I was a little ticked off.

Little Monsters by Kara Thomas- 4 out of 5 stars.
I’ve been wanting to read Little Monsters for awhile now and I am so glad I finally did. It was so good and had me guessing the entire way through it. I thought I had it figured out so many times, but nope…shocker! I flew through it too, because it was hard to put down.

Audiobooks:
These are the books that I listened to the audio versions throughout the month of August.

Florida by Lauren Groff – 2 out of 5 stars.
Florida wasn’t what I expected it to be. The stories in this book were also mostly boring to me and I couldn’t get into them. I don’t have the best luck with books with short stories though, so maybe that was the case with this one? I don’t know. They just weren’t that interesting to me and they didn’t “wow” me.

Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman – 3 out of 5 stars.
I liked Something in the Water and it did have my guessing quite a bit. I was hoping for something more though. It didn’t blow me away and there were some boring parts to it as well. It was still a decent read though.

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara- 3 out of 5 stars.
I love anything True Crime, so I was stoked to finally be able to finish I’ll Be Gone in the Dark. I thought the audiobook was pretty good, but it didn’t blow me away. Probably because I’ve already listened to tons of podcasts about the Golden State Killer before I ever read this book, so I already knew a ton about him. It was still good and creepy!

Currently Reading Books:
These are the books that I started to read in the month of August, but didn’t get a chance to finish them yet.

P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han
The Temptation of Adam by Dave Connis

I was hoping to finish P.S. I Still Love You before the end of this month, but that is not going to happen. I’m only 100 pages into it and I haven’t been wanting to read much when I get home from work. I am hoping to finish it this week though. So far I like it even though the movie spoiled the beginning. I also started The Temptation of Adam, which is a book that I’ve been wanting to read for awhile now. I’m about 30% into it right now and so far I like it. I like to read one e-book and one physical book lately, because I don’t always like to bring my physical books around with me.

What books did you read in August? Have you read any of the books I read? Feel free to link me to your wrap up posts if you have one!

In case you missed it;
Book Haul|| August.
Random|| Life Update.
Book Tag|| Anonymous Bookaholics.

I hope you have a great day and weekend!

ashleyblack

Book Haul|| August.

Posted on August 29, 2018 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

Hey!

I am not entirely sure how I ended up with so many book purchases this month, but I did. I had zero on my list to buy this month (I’ve been trying to only stick to my pre-orders this year), but somehow I ended up buying eight books (none pre-orders) and of course I got a ton of e-books, because E-BOOK DEALS! 😛 I’ve been so good this year with not buying too many books, so I am trying not to let it bother me that I did this month, lol. They are books that I’ve been really wanting though, so at least there’s that.

I don’t have any pictures of my own books for a lot of these, because they haven’t actually arrived yet. It takes awhile for Book Depository and Book Outlet orders to actually get to me (sigh), but since I bought them in August I want to include them in my haul post. You can check out all the books I own over here. There’s also links on that page to pages for my kindle books and my physical books. Now onto my haul!

Books I Bought:

Clean by Juno Dawson
Am I Normal Yet? by Holly Bourne
My [Secret] YouTube Life by Charlotte Seager
State of Sorrow by Melinda Salisbury

I’ve been really good about not buying books this year, but I’ve been really wanting to read these books, so I couldn’t resist. I decided to go with Book Depository, because these books are not actually released in the US right now. I seen a couple on Amazon that you can order from the UK, but they were expensive on Amazon versus Book Depository. Hopefully they are worth the wait, because it takes forever for BD orders to get to me which is why I rarely purchase from them. I hate waiting, haha. I’m impatient af.

Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han
Speak: The Graphic Novel by Laurie Halse Anderson
Scythe by Neal Shusterman
Starry Eyes by Jenn Bennett

I got a few books on Book Outlet as well. I’ve stayed clear from Book Outlet for pretty much this entire year (I can do some serious BO damage to my bank account if I let myself), but I noticed that the To All the Boys I’ve Love Before books were being sold out EVERYWHERE thanks to the Netflix movie and I was only missing the third book. Book Outlet had it, so I decided to just get it on there before it was too late. I didn’t want to pay shipping on just one book, so I decided to get Scythe (Finally! I’ve been dying to read it.) and the Speak graphic novel. I read Speak years ago, but every time I see the graphic novel at Target I always want to buy it and never do. Super stoked I seen it on BO and really stoked to read this version. I finally bought Starry Eyes, which I have been dying to get my hands on FOREVER now. I had $10 in Amazon reward points, so I only paid $2.81 for the HC which is awesome.

Books from Publishers/Authors:

Sadie by Courtney Summers
Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich

I was so stoked when I won another giveaway on Goodreads for Sadie! I am dying to read this book and hopefully I will be reading it next week. I was sent an ARC of Dear Evan Hansen from The Novl and I am really looking forward to reading it. I think I will try to read that one next week as well. I’m going on a weekend road trip to Illinois for a wedding with my mom & my cousin’s family (I think I mentioned this in my last post) and it’s an 18-20 hour drive. I will most likely be bringing these two books and my kindle. I want to try to use this little trip to play catch up with some ARCs/E-ARCs. Hopefully I’ll get a lot of reading in between 18-20 hours in a car there and then another 18-20 hours back. So you will definitely be seeing reviews for both of these really soon!

E-Books:

Rosie Colored Glasses by Brianna Wolfson
Now I Rise by Kiersten White
Happy Doomsday by David Sosnowski
Vicious by V.E. Schwab

Batman: Nightwalker by Marie Lu
Down Time by Barry Lyga
Less by Andrew Sean Greer
A Messy Beautiful Life by Sara Jade Alan

I’m not a super hero fan, but Marie Lu! So I had to get Batman: Nightwalker since it was on sale for $1.99. ALSO…DOWN TIME!!! It’s a new I Hunt Killers prequel and I am dead. 😛 I also heard that he is hoping to write another series that follows Jasper Dent and his friends!!! I am hoping this becomes a reality, because you probably know by now that the Jasper Dent (I Hunt Killers) series is one of my favorites.

That’s my August book haul! 🙂 Have you read any of these books? What books did you get this month? Let me know and feel free to link me to your haul posts if you have one.

I should have my wrap up post up in the next few days. I am hoping to finish at least one of the two books that I am currently reading before then. Crossing my fingers to finish both though!

In case you missed it;
Random|| Life Update.
Book Tag|| Anonymous Bookaholics.
Thoughts|| #MurderTrending.

I hope you have a great day!

ashleyblack

Random|| Life Update.

Posted on August 27, 2018 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

lifeupdate

Hey!

I think it’s been like ten or so days since my last update. I’m been so MIA this last week and a half on the blogosphere, but I am ready to get back into it in September and catch up with you guys this week. August has been such a weird month for me with things not working out and other things happening. Here is just a quick little update and a few pictures.

bf610bd6-4226-4c29-861e-f2d51322480b

It was my mom’s birthday on August 17th and we had a birthday party for her on August 18th (a Saturday). We decided to do a beach themed party and we created a little “beach” in the backyard. It came out really great too! We used a beach/ocean backdrop and added a bunch of sand. We also included seashells, beach balls, beach toys, and other beachy things. We wanted to create it for picture to take pictures there. Like a little photo booth area and of course you could hangout there if you wanted. It was also a pool party too, so we all played pool volleyball and had a lot of fun.

5a3be2c1-763e-49d0-94e7-c4e98fe49073

The hubby got a new job! It’s a job he really wanted and I am so stoked for him. He worked really hard in school for a year for this, so it’s really awesome. So we were supposed to be moving, but it didn’t happen like we thought it would which is what I’ve been so down about. BUUUUT, with this new job he got, it changes everything. They actually want him to move there to work in their office in Orlando so it should definitely happen for us this time around. He just has to train here where we currently live for 8-10 months and then they was him to transfer to Orlando. I am really hoping this works out this time. We are taking a different approach and route as well this time around, so hopefully so. Over the weekend I put together a little party for him to congratulate him on his new job. I got a cake and we grilled out. We decorated with some decorations and balloons.

7cb85967-7f38-48bd-a5af-a5941c3bcb47

toalltheboys

I finally read To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and I really enjoyed it. I kept seeing spoilerish things with the movie having just released on Netflix, so I decided to finally read it. I finished it on Sunday and watched the movie on Sunday too. First of all, I really liked the book so much. The movie though….I really didn’t care for it that much. It was just okay. I think having read it and then watched the movie right after kind of ruined it for me it. It was so different and things happened that didn’t happen in the book…BUT THEN I decided to start the book sequel after the movie and I was annoyed AF! The movie pretty much spoiled the beginning of the sequel. A big event that happens too, not something minor. So I’m like “WTF” and now I feel like maybe I would have liked the movie a little better had I read the entire series first. The movie had some things in it that didn’t happen until the sequel. I read 70 pages of PS I Still Love You and events that happened in those pages happened in the movie. That annoyed the heck out of me! So yeah, not a fan of the movie. The hubby really liked it though, but he also never read the book so there’s that.

Just some random pictures. Halloween candy is starting to make an appearance and I am super stoked. I had to get a few things, like my favorite little pumpkin candy corn type thing. I’m not entire sure what to call them, haha. But I love those things and I buy so many every year at this time. And the other is just a random picture of my shoes. I don’t know. I just thought the grass was really green and I liked it.

So next weekend (September 6-10) I am going to Illinois! One of my cousin’s is getting married, so my mom and I are going to go. We’re going to ride with my other cousin and his family. They are going to rent a van. We’re all going to pitch in $100 each for gas & renting the van. It’s a 18-20 hour car ride (ahhh), so we’ll literally only be there for the wedding which kind of sucks. We wont’ really have any time to do anything else, but it’ll still be nice to see family and hangout for a day or two.

78044e36-0ebf-4b88-a605-cc0098658e5c

And here are a few pictures of the furbabies. It wouldn’t be an update without a picture of them. 😛 Top Left (Dax). Top Right (October & Leaf). Bottom (ColbyJack). That’s all for this little update. I plan to catch up with all of your posts and comments this week when I get some free time.

I’ll have my August wrap up post coming soon. I am hoping to finish the two books I’m currently reading in the next four days. I don’t know if this will actually happen, but I am hoping. I will also have my August book haul soon too. I probably won’t have my own pictures, because I’m still waiting on the books to actually arrive. Dang Book Depository taking forever!

In case you missed it;
Book Tag|| Anonymous Bookaholics.
Thoughts|| #MurderTrending.

I hope you have a great day!

ashleyblack

Book Tag|| Anonymous Bookaholics.

Posted on August 16, 2018 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

booktag

Hey!

Today is my Friday, because I get to have tomorrow (actually Friday) off work. Super stoked about that! I decided to request it off because it’s my mom’s birthday and we have family from out of state visiting. On Saturday we’re having a birthday party for her, which will be cool! 😀 Anyway, I was tagged by Avery from Red Rocket Panda to do the Anonymous Bookaholics tag. You should go check out Avery’s blog! 🙂

Questions:

What do you like about buying new books?

I love the look and feel of books. Especially if they have bright colorful artwork on the cover or pretty fonts. I also love having my bookshelves all set up with so many books on it. It’s actually killing me right now that I currently do not have any bookshelves and that all my books are packed away. I miss being able to stare at them and admire them, lol. Hopefully soon this changes! But honestly, I just LOVE books, reading them, collecting them, everything! GIVE ME ALL THE BOOKS!!!!

How often do you buy new books?

I don’t buy books too often these days, because I already have so many that I need to read and I am also trying to save money. I might buy a few a month or go months without buying. I used to buy TONS every single month though, but have since stopped.

Bookstore or online book shopping – Which do you prefer?

I love checking out different bookstores, but because I don’t have a ton of money I usually buy online. It’s cheaper online, sadly.

Do you have a favorite bookshop?

I don’t really have a favorite bookshop. There was a used bookshop here called Second Edition Book Shop and they had a cat named Catsby that lived there. I really liked going there and checking out all the books that they got in. Sadly the book shop closed down though. 😦

Do you pre-order books?

I do pre-order books. I usually only pre-order my auto-buy authors’ new books or a book that I absolutely cannot live without and need it on release day, lol. But mostly it’s just my auto-buy authors that I pre-order.

Do you have a monthly book buying limit?

No monthly limit, but I try not to spend a ton of money a month when I do buy books. So I guess I try to limit myself to $30-50 if I do happen to buy some books.

How big is your wishlist?

My Goodreads TBR is kind of crazy long right now of the books that I want to read that I don’t own, lol. I do have an Amazon wishlist of books though and it’s pretty decent sized. It’s 100+ books, LOL. UGHHH.

Which three books from your wishlist do you wish to own NOW?

Starry Eyes by Jenn Bennett
Heretics Anonymous by Katie Henry
The Lightning Thief Illustrated Edition by Rick Riordan
* Percy linked to Amazon, because I couldn’t find on Goodreads*

I just recently found out that there is now an illustrated edition of The Lightning Thief and I seriously need to own it like ASAP! That $25 price tag though has me hesitating, ughhhh! I love Rick Riordan so much though and I love Percy Jackson. I added it to my Christmas wishlist too, so we’ll see what happens. If not, I might have to breakdown and spend the money. I’ve also been eyeing Starry Eyes FOREVER! I also found out about Heretics Anonymous a few months ago and it sounds so good and I need it!

I Tag:

Maren (The Worn Bookmark)
Aimee (Aimee, Always)
Kelly (Another Book in the Wall)
Lilly (Lair of Books)
Kristin (Kristin Kraves Books)

And anyone else that wants to do this tag! It was a lot of fun and I would love to see your answers. So feel free to link me to your posts if you decide to do it.

In case you missed it;
Random|| Picture & Reading Update.
Thoughts|| #MurderTrending.

I hope you have a great day!

ashleyblack

Random|| Picture & Reading Update.

Posted on August 15, 2018 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

Hey!

This won’t have a ton of pictures like usual, because I haven’t really been taking very many pictures these days. But I do have a few of neat ones from the weekend and some pictures that I found on my old camera. Also a desk tour, because why not? lol. I am skipping my usual WWW Wednesday post, so I can post this instead. I’ll put a little reading update at the end of this post though. First though….food, as always. 😛

The hubby finished school last week and to celebrate we went out for pizza and fried ravioli at our new favorite Italian restaurant. I usually always get the BBQ chicken pizza and he usually always gets the buffalo chicken pizza. It’s so good and it passes the cold pizza test. Their fried ravioli is so freaking good, so we have to get it every single time we go. I’m already craving them again and it’s only been six days since I had them. 😛

4b0b16a9-a526-4c1e-90ee-c64f1e2887c5

The Umbrella Sky Project was happening in Miami, so the hubby and I decided to go check it out. It original started in Portugal for an art festival, but then other cities around the world started to do it. Basically during the hot summer months they’ll string a bunch of umbrellas up as shade for people. They’ll be taking them down in September, so I wanted to go see it before that happens. It was really neat and pretty. A guy that lives over there told us that when they first put the umbrellas up they were a lot more colorful and brighter, but the colors started to fade. I still think they look really neat though. Below are some more pictures of it.

f1012df5-18ca-455a-a32e-520f79c9abe2

f54d5662-51ee-4d3e-bedd-57a7b561afc1

I set up my desk area our apartment. I really like how it came out. I’ve been neglecting finishing up my school stuff (sigh), but I am hoping now that I have my desk all setup, it’ll motivate me to finally finish it. I’m kind of close to being finished with all the work. I am hoping to have it finish by the end of next month.

On the left I have some notebooks and school book, one basket with post-its and page flags, one with sharpie markers, desk organizer that just has random things in it that I need to clean out. A box that has note cards in it, because I have an obsession with buying all of Target’s dollar bin note cards. A cork board (and dry erase board behind it) that I need to hang up, a stack of books that I hope to read soon. A cat mug, some candles, a Stranger Things coaster, my butterbeer mug from Harry Potter World that is being used as a pencil/pen holder. Some paper clips (I have some others that are currently MIA right now and I am annoyed that I can’t find them), armadillo lamp, my laptop, my desktop computer, some random faux succulent plants, and my TARDIS Funko Pop. Hanging on the wall I have a Sherlock print, Supernatural print, and a Doctor Who print. At the time of this picture the hubby hung them up crooked but I have since fixed them because it was bugging me LOL. Under my desk I have some baskets with a bunch of miscellaneous things in them.

A couple random pictures. I took this picture the bird on the power lines awhile ago when I first got my Nikon D3400. I actually didn’t like that picture, but then I was going through my memory card again to delete pictures and I decided to transfer it to my phone anyway and I ended up really loving it, lol. I found my “whatever forever” bracelet and perfect timing, because I need to live this like I used to. I’m letting stresses of life affect me way too much lately and I hate it because I was never like this. I started to wear it every day again as I reminder.

27441d52-4d32-496a-ae09-4c4c910493d0

The sunset from Friday night. It was storming really bad, but once the storm was over the sky looked like this. I love the shades of orange. It was really pretty and I of course had to get a picture of it. I’ve said it a million times, I am sucker for the sunset.

I found my old digital camera that I bought back in 2016 for our California trip and there were still pictures from California on it. These four a pictures that I took when we went to Monterey Bay, California. Such a pretty town! I definitely want to go back to California again.

Random selfie from Friday. The picture on the right is Leaf and I watching Pocahontas. Funny story, so I was talking to Leaf (because I always talk to my furbabies, lol) and I was listing all the shows on Netflix that we should watch. Secretly hoping she would answer back and pick one, because you know…maybe cats can truly talk? 😛 Eventually she got bored with me and ran off, so I chose Pocahontas. Then she comes back and I say to her “oh, you came to watch Pocahontas with me! You’re in for a real treat.”, haha. Crazy cat lady….for damn sure.

Here is my mini reading update. I usually do a WWW Wednesday post on most Wednesdays, but I really wanted to post this little picture update, so I am including a mini WWW Wednesday down below.

Currently Reading: Ghosted by Rosie Walsh. So far it’s pretty interesting. I’m not too far into it, but I like it so far. It’s one of my most anticipated reads of the year, so I am hoping it’s amazing.

Recently Finished: #MurderTrending and Florida. #MurderTrending was so good! You can check out my review linked below. Florida was just okay. It wasn’t anything too exciting. It wasn’t what I expected it to be.

Reading Next: I am hoping to read All Your Perfects next! I am so stoked to read the new Colleen Hoover book. Hopefully I can start that at some point this week or definitely next week if not. I am EXCITED!

In case you missed it;
Thoughts|| #MurderTrending.
Travel|| Lake Placid, FL.

I hope you have a great day!

ashleyblack

Thoughts|| #MurderTrending.

Posted on August 13, 2018 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

murdertrending

#MurderTrending by Gretchen McNeil
4 out of 5 stars.

Goodreads Description: WELCOME TO THE NEAR FUTURE, where good and honest 8/18 citizens can enjoy watching the executions of society’s most infamous convicted felons, streaming live on The Postman app from the suburbanized prison island Alcatraz 2.0. When eighteen-year-old Dee Guerrera wakes up in a haze, lying on the ground of a dimly lit warehouse, she realizes she’s about to be the next victim of the app. Knowing hardened criminals are getting a taste of their own medicine in this place is one thing, but Dee refuses to roll over and die for a heinous crime she didn’t commit. Can Dee and her newly formed posse, the Death Row Breakfast Club, prove she’s innocent before she ends up wrongfully murdered for the world to see? Or will The Postman’s cast of executioners kill them off one by one?

I received #MurderTrending from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Released August 7th, 2018.

I am going to do a quick review of this book, because it’s better to know very little when going into it.

#MurderTrending was so dang good! I was sucked in fairly quickly. It felt really fast paced, which I love. Lots of different things going on and a lot of mystery behind it. Some things I did figure out, but it was exciting saying “I knew it!!”. It also kept me guessing a lot too and that was fun. I loved the characters and was rooting for them the entire time. It gets pretty gory at times, but I actually like that kind of thing. #MurderTrending was right up my alley.

Overall, I had a lot of fun reading this one. I loved that it was fast pace, kept you guessing, and had great characters AKA the Death Row Breakfast Club. 😛 It was hard to put down and I would #HighlyRecommend reading this one.

In case you missed it;
WWW Wednesday #52.
Travel|| Lake Placid, FL.
Book Tag|| Meme Book Tag.

I hope you have a great day!

ashleyblack

WWW Wednesday #52.

Posted on August 8, 2018 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

wwwwednesdayflower

WWW Wednesday is a weekly MEME hosted by Taking on a World of Words. Simply answer the following questions. 🙂

The three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

*Goodreads linked below.

Hey!

I am pretty sure I am battling a reading slump. I also am going through some stuff right now, so my mind is elsewhere and it’s been so hard to focus on reading. I also got addicted to watching all of these baking shows on Netflix. I spent an entire weekend in bed watching season one of Sugar Rush, then I moved onto Zumbo’s Just Desserts and finished the rest of the season for that last night. LOL. I’ve been trying to read here and there though. Here is what I’ve been reading…

Currently Reading:

The Shadow Minds Journal by Kia Carrington-Russell
#MurderTrending by Gretchen McNeil
Florida by Lauren Groff

So I mentioned a reading slump and because of that reading slump I have been starting a bunch of different books hoping that one will grab my attention long enough for me to read longer than just a few minutes. I started #MurderTrending because it was just released and I need to do my review. It’s actually pretty good so far. I’m almost halfway through it. I had also started another book before this one called Hunger by Roxane Gay. I was interested in the first half of it, but then I started to lose interest and stopped. I’ll have more about it at the end of the month in my wrap up.

I am also still reading The Shadow Minds Journal, it’s pretty interesting but this dang reading slump is killing my reading vibes. I am also listening to the audiobook for Florida. I’ve had that on hold at my library for FOREVER and it finally got checked out to me. It’s interesting so far, but nothing “wow” worthy yet. It’s short stories though, so maybe it won’t. I don’t have the best of luck with these short stories books. I figured it would be interesting though since they all center around Florida and I live in Florida. Honestly, I might have to just take a break from books altogether for a little while. I’m not that into anything it seems and I think it more has to do with me than it does the books.

Recently Finished:

I haven’t finished any books this week, sadly. You can check out my July Wrap Up post where you can see all the books that I read last month if you’re interested.

Reading Next:

Ghosted by Rosie Walsh
The Three Hares by Geoffrey Simpson
Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman

I’m not entirely sure what I will read next, because of my mood and my mind always changes when it comes to what to read next. I want to focus on trying to finish up the books on my “currently reading” list. If I do happen to finish my currently reading, then I will POSSIBLY read Ghosted, Something in the Water (audiobook), and The Three Hares. I’ve been dying to read Ghosted and Something in the Water since I heard about them and I was sent The Three Hares from the author for review. I also have a ton of other ARCs and books sent for review that I want to focus on for the rest of the year. So as always, my “reading next” is up in the air and usually never looks like what I say it will be, lol.

What are you currently reading? Recently finished? Reading next? Have you read any of these books? Feel free to link me to your posts, so I can check them out!

I am really leaning toward a little break though, because I think I need it to get my mind right and back into the reading/blogging game…maybe even life too? Things in my life outside of the blogosphere are happening and have already happened and I honestly feel kind of stressed out. I have a TON of things on my mind and it’s hard to handle right now. This is also kind of a new feeling for me, because I usually never let myself feel this way. UGH.

In case you missed it;
Travel|| Lake Placid, FL.
Book Tag|| Meme Book Tag.
Top Ten Tuesday|| Popular Books that Lived Up to the Hype.

I hope you have a great day!

ashleyblack

Travel|| Lake Placid, FL.

Posted on August 3, 2018 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

travel

Hey!

Over the weekend my mom and I went to Lake Placid to help my cousin move into her new house. We went on a Friday and stayed until Sunday morning. I was able to leave early from work Friday, which was nice. My mom picked me up from work and we hit the road.

5b5b8fea-8ceb-4645-bb0a-35737667868e

Scary rain clouds! It rained almost the entire time on the way there. It was off and on. It was kind of amusing, because we would be driving it crazy rain and then a few minutes later it was gone. It did that the entire 1.5 hours to Moore Haven (where her old house is and where we were meeting up with her and her husband). That’s Florida for you! It’s always like that. It can be pouring rain on one side of the street and the other it can be sunny af. While waiting for my cousin to get there, I swung on the swings across the street from their house. It helped to past the time and I love swings.

When they got there we loaded up my mom’s car and their car. We only did one trip since it’s 30-40 minutes from their new house and because it was about to rain again. The next day (Saturday) was going to be the big moving day where we filled up the cars and the U-Haul. Once we got back to her house she gave us a tour of her house and we just ate and helped unpack the boxes we brought. When it stopped raining I went outside to take some pictures. There was a rainbow over the top of her house, which was awesome.

fb1da071-d970-4f02-b528-3656775a07c0

Below: I’m not entire sure what these plants are, but they were really pretty so I got a couple different pictures of them.

d0f43259-2ec9-4a9e-abd2-a5798236502a

And you know me, I had to take a picture of the pretty sunset. I wish the weather wasn’t so crappy, because I would have went down to the lake to take pictures of the sunset there and same with the sunrise. I wish I would have went down to the lake for that, but I did get a few good pictures of the sunrise from their balcony on Saturday morning.

We spent the entire morning packing up the U-Haul in Moore Haven and then we spent the rest of the day unpacking the U-Haul and getting the boxes and furniture inside the house. We also took breaks to set up her son’s playroom. We were all tired, so we didn’t even attempt to unpack any of their boxes. Instead we ordered massive amounts of Chinese food, which was even better than unpacking boxes. Haha. My mom and I got up early to go back home. Before we left we stopped off at the lake to take pictures. Then we also stopped at the grocery store and walked across the street to another area of the huge lake to take more pictures. Here are all the lake pictures that I took and more of those plants that I loved, lol.

206ee34c-795c-4fe8-8dc9-4929d221f2bc

Funny story about this mushroom. So we were walking around the grass and I spotted it and I got so excited about taking a picture of it. You can see in the first picture that there was grass in front of it. I went to move the grass to get a picture of it without the grass in front and I accidentally touched it and I start freaking out.

Me: oh my god!
Mom: what?
Me: i accidentally touched it. am i going to die?
Mom: *laughing* no, you’re not going to die.
Me: some mushrooms are poisonous.

And then the entire two hour car ride back home I kept saying “I can’t believe I touched the mushroom.” and kept asking my mom if she was sure I wasn’t going to die, LOL. Clearly I didn’t die. HEYYYY! 😛

Oh, and here is a picture of their new dog Stella. I’ve met her before, but never longer than an hour. She LOVED me though. She was always laying next to me or wanting me to pet her. I swear, all animals love me. So strange, but I am not complaining. Haha.

And that pretty much concludes my post about Lake Placid. We didn’t get to do a whole lot while actually there since we were just there to help my cousin move. Now that she lives there though, I will definitely need to go take a weekend and stay with her and actually roam around Lake Placid and do things. From what I did get to see, it seems like a really nice and pretty town. Feel free to follow me on Instagram (heyyitsashley)! A lot of these haven’t been posted on my Instagram yet, so you’re seeing them first! 🙂

In case you missed it;
Book Tag|| Meme Book Tag.
Top Ten Tuesday|| Popular Books that Lived Up to the Hype.
Wrap Up|| July.

I hope you have a great day and weekend!

ashleyblack

Book Tag|| Meme Book Tag.

Posted on August 2, 2018 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

booktag

Hey!

It took me awhile to finally get around to this tag, ahhhh. I need to play tag catch up. I was tagged by the awesome Lilly from Lair of Books to do the Meme Book Tag! This tag is seriously the best! I love a good meme and these ten memes are always hilarious! Thanks for tagging me, Lilly! You guys should definitely go check out her blog. 🙂

Crying Kim Kardashian – A book that made you cry.

kim-kardashian

I admit, I cry easily at books, movies, and TV shows. So I have cried quite a bit when it comes to books. Colleen Hoover books always have me a mess. A couple others that really made me cry a lot were The Knife of Never Letting Go and The Serpent King.

Salt Bae – A book that needed a little something more.

salt bae

A recent one that I read was Love, Hate & Other Filters by Samira Ahmed. I enjoyed it, but I felt like something was missing. I didn’t feel blown away by it like everyone else has been. I believe I gave this one three stars.

Guy Thinking – A book that made you think.

guythinking

I’ve been getting into more nonfiction books again, which I love! Nonfiction books always make me think, especially when it’s about real topics that are happening now or have happened in the past. A couple of my recent favorites have been An Anatomy of Addiction and The Radium Girls.

Confused Guy – A book whose hype you don’t understand.

confusedguy

I’ve said it over and over again and I am sure I sound like a broken record, but hype and I don’t go well together. There are WAY TOO MANY books that I don’t understand the hype surrounding them. A couple being Illuminae and A Court of Mist and Fury. I don’t understand the Illuminae hype because I was so bored throughout almost the entire book. A Court of Mist and Fury…Sarah J. Maas did a very horrible thing. I can go into it forever, but I won’t. I just don’t understand the hype at all. I can’t even bring myself to read the other books in the series and honestly, I don’t really want to. Sucks too, because I actually loved the first book so much.

Evil Patrick – A guilty pleasure read (whatever you consider guilty pleasure to mean).

evilpatrick

V23 new typeface tagline.indd

I don’t really have an answer for this. I don’t feel guilty about the things that I read. I think I’ll go with books that have to do with the internet/online chatting. I don’t really know how to explain it, lol! But basically the books with the characters meeting online or over texts, etc. Or books that have emails/IM chats/text messages in them. Examples being Alex Approximately and Tell Me Three Things.

Meryl Streep – A book that you’re always hyping up.

merylstreep

It’s been awhile since I’ve mentioned this book on here, but I was constantly hyping up the I Hunt Killers series and I am always recommending the Falling Kingdoms series too. I love both of those series so much.

Successful Baby – A book (whether you liked it or not) that you felt accomplished after reading.

successfulbaby

I’ll say The Darkest Minds, because I’ve been wanting to read this book for years and I just never got around to reading it. I FINALLY did and I loved it. I am super stoked for the movie that I am pretty sure released tomorrow. I still need to continue with the series. Hopefully soon!

Pennywise – A book with a promising concept/a book that you had high expectations for, but ultimately let you down.

pennywise

It seems like everyone loves A Darker Shade of Magic and the rest of the books in the series. It took me quite awhile to finally get around to reading it. The hype was real to almost everyone, except for me. It wasn’t a complete let down, but it wasn’t as amazing as everyone likes to say it is. I was mostly bored toward the first half of the book and by the second I was impatiently waiting for it to end. There was still some good moments at the end, but I was expecting “OMG THIS IS SO AMAZING” and didn’t get that. I am currently listening to the audiobook of the sequel, so we’ll see if this series can redeem itself.

Headphones Guy – A audiobook that you enjoyed.

headphoneguy

I listen to a lot of audiobooks and I mostly enjoy them all. But I LOVED the Harry Potter audiobooks. The narrator is perfect for the series and I think that’s what made me especially fall in love with the books. I didn’t read (well listen in my case) to the books until I was much much older….like three years ago, lol. I chose to go with the audiobooks and I am so glad that I did.

Distracted Guy – Two books; one you’ve been neglecting on your TBR for a long time and a new one that’s distracting you/peaking your interest.

distractedguy

OMG, I am neglecting so many dang books on my TBR. I feel so guilty too. The guilt is bad. You’ve probably seen this on quite a bunch of blog posts and lists I’ve done, but I have to thrown it out there again…because maybe if you guys tell me again for the 439853954 time I might finally read it! 😛 I’ve been neglecting Six of Crows. It’s been going on for way too long now. I think something is wrong with me, because I keep continuously checking out books from my library instead of reading my own books. Why are my books not distracting me and peaking my interest enough to want to grab like as soon as I post this? If I had to choose one though, I would go with All Your Perfects. I am dying to read the new Colleen Hoover book, but I am really trying to be good and finish all of these other books that I started and need to read next first. UGH.

I tag everyone to do this tag, because who doesn’t love memes? If you have already done this tag, feel free to link me to your post so I can go check it out! 😀

In case you missed it;
Top Ten Tuesday|| Popular Books that Lived Up to the Hype.
Wrap Up|| July.

I hope you have a great day!

ashleyblack

socially awkward bookworm.

Monthly Archives: August 2018

Wrap Up|| August.

Hey!

Book Haul|| August.

Hey!

Books I Bought:

Books from Publishers/Authors:

E-Books:

Random|| Life Update.

Hey!

Book Tag|| Anonymous Bookaholics.

Hey!

Questions:

I Tag:

Random|| Picture & Reading Update.

Hey!

Thoughts|| #MurderTrending.

WWW Wednesday #52.

Hey!

Currently Reading:

Recently Finished:

Reading Next:

Travel|| Lake Placid, FL.

Hey!

Book Tag|| Meme Book Tag.

Hey!

Crying Kim Kardashian – A book that made you cry.

Salt Bae – A book that needed a little something more.

Guy Thinking – A book that made you think.

Confused Guy – A book whose hype you don’t understand.

Evil Patrick – A guilty pleasure read (whatever you consider guilty pleasure to mean).

Meryl Streep – A book that you’re always hyping up.

Successful Baby – A book (whether you liked it or not) that you felt accomplished after reading.

Pennywise – A book with a promising concept/a book that you had high expectations for, but ultimately let you down.

Headphones Guy – A audiobook that you enjoyed.

Distracted Guy – Two books; one you’ve been neglecting on your TBR for a long time and a new one that’s distracting you/peaking your interest.