Nature, Dinosaurs, & Other Things.

Posted on April 24, 2019 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

pictureupdate

Hey!

It’s been awhile since I’ve done one of these posts, so I figured I would do a quick little picture update! 😛 I have a ton more pictures that I could post, but I am running out of storage space on the blog again (ugh). I may have to upgrade again or figure out some other way. Here are some of the things I’ve been doing and pictures I’ve taken over the last few weeks.

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We (sister, hubby, and I) went to Circle B Bar Reserve again, but this time we checked out the lake area and OMG it did not disappoint. I was able to get so many awesome pictures and see so much cool wildlife. There were a ton of different birds and alligators! Luckily we survived and didn’t get eaten by any alligators, haha. The area was huge and we didn’t walk the entire thing, so we may have to check it out again ASAP! Here are some of the pictures that I took there. I took a lot, so I had to really narrow it down for this post.

We even seen some wild boar/pigs, which was pretty awesome! There was like a whole family of them. I couldn’t really get great pictures because I didn’t want to scare them away and my camera wasn’t cooperating with me, but I did get these two pictures. We seen some armadillos too.

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These is one of my favorite pictures that I took at the nature park. It came out so great and I am pretty proud of it, haha. My main focus was the butterfly, so I didn’t even notice there was a bee on the flower next to it. So that was a cool surprise when I was going through my pictures and noticed it.

On April 9th, it was my younger sister’s birthday. She’s only a year younger than I am. Her birthday happened to fall on a Tuesday, so we went Moe’s for her birthday. Taco Tuesday 😛 ! Moe’s is always so good! We also baked her a cake for her birthday. It came out really awesome. I think we are really getting into this cake decorating, haha. Over the weekend of that week we decided to check out Dinosaur World. It was a good time, but not something to do more than one time. Haha. It was interesting though. Here are some pictures of the dinos. I took a bunch, but again, had to narrow it down a lot for this post.

Below are just some random pictures that I’ve taken throughout the last few weeks.

And of course my furbabies. Top two pictures are of my boys and the bottom two pictures are of my girls.

That’s all for this post. I hope you enjoyed seeing all my pictures. You can follow me on Instagram if you want to see more or as I post them. Username: heyyitsashley. I am currently battling a cold, UGH. I knew it was coming, because yesterday I had a stuffy nose, but I woke up today feeling like such crap. Hopefully this doesn’t last long, because my family is coming to visit this weekend and I don’t want to feel bad when they are here. Anyway, I better go start my work day now.

In case you missed it;
It finally happened!!
Friday Finds #79.
Review|| Girls with Sharp Sticks.

I hope you have a great day!

ashleyblack

Random|| Picture Update.

Posted on December 11, 2018 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

pictureupdate

Hey!

I haven’t done one of these updates in quite awhile, so I have a TON of pictures to share with you guys. It’s almost 50 pictures, so be prepared. 😛 I’m just going to jump right into it!

My sister (Stephanie), Andy, and I went to this Renaissance festival called Camelot Days that we have here two weekends in November. It was an okay time. I felt like other years were a lot better than this year was. I didn’t take a ton of pictures while I was there, but these above are the ones that I did take.

My mom making homemade noodles for Thanksgiving! 😀 She made SO MUCH food! Thanksgiving was really great. Lots of food and some family friends came to our Thanksgiving too.

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My younger sister Stephanie and I made Christmas cookies for Thanksgiving too. We started off really good with them, but then we were just over it from spending so long making them that you can tell with the cookies when it started to go downhill for us HAH. They all tasted good though. 😛

A bunch of us sitting on my mom’s sofa waiting for all the food to be done. We were watching the dog show that they have on every Thanksgiving. We were also switching between that and the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade. Right picture is DINNER! That was only one of my plates. There was so much food and I couldn’t fit everything on one plate, haha.

Speaking of Christmas, I got some pretty awesome wrapping paper from Target this year. SHARKS! SKULLS! YETIS! FLAMINGOS! SANTA BEARDS! 😛 I also go Home Alone 2 (my favorite one) for only $9 at Target on Black Friday. I can’t wait to watch that this week.

I’m not having a full size Christmas tree this year, but this is my mini Christmas tree that I have on my dining table. The cats already messed it up though, lol. But it was good for about a couple days.

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Stockings hung! I moved my desk to the living room, so it was right under this wall, so it was kind of hard to reach over my computer to get to the wall (LOL), so they all kind of went crooked and downhill. My sister is moving back here and going to be living with us, so I didn’t want to forget her and got her stocking up too. She’s the top. My stocking is Santa, Andy’s is the reindeer, and then of course the other stockings are for our furbabies (three cats & a dog).

Speaking of cats, here they are! Leaf (left picture), October (top right), ColbyJack (bottom right).

I can’t forget my boy, Dax! We took him to the groomer a couple weeks ago to get his haircut. His hair was getting out of control.

A couple weeks ago my sister Stephanie, my nephew, and I went to the park to go Pokemon hunting. I took my camera with and got a few pictures. Middle two are pictures of my nephew. The bottom left is a picture of my sister.

A couple different sunset pictures from the nights I went to the gym. You guys already know how obsessed I am with taking pictures of the sky. It’s the first thing I do whenever I step outside. See if the sky is picture worthy, it usually always is. 😛

Some random pictures I took at the park over the weekend. It was Andy’s work holiday party (HOLY ANXIETY) and I went with him. It was kind of awkward, because well..I’m socially awkward and I don’t do good with small talk or social gatherings, lol. It was okay though. It wasn’t a horrible time and the food was good. There was also a ton of cookies and I love cookies. First picture is when we first got there. That’s Andy walking in the first picture. Second picture is when we were leaving the party and the sun was starting to set.

Some random pictures. Left one is of little Leaf laying on me. She was totally hugging me and it was the cutest. Right picture is just a random picture I took because I really loved my cacti shirt, lol.

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Another random sky picture that I am obsessed with.

So Andy and I kind of sucked with Christmas this year by deciding to give each other our big presents (the expensive ones) that we got each other, lol. He got me a new zoom lens for my Nikon D3400, which I was so stoked about. Check out the size difference! The zoom lens is on my camera and the lens that is next to it is the original lens that it comes with.

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I’m so used to my original lens being able to auto-focus, but this zoom lens that I got doesn’t auto-focus, so it’s going to take me some time to get used to focusing the shots myself. It’ll be fun though. I haven’t had the chance to use it very much yet, but I did take this picture that I thought came out really nice.

We all decorated the tree outside of the house a few nights ago. Totally looks a mess, haha. 😛 Very Charlie Brown-ish. It’s still cute in it’s own way. First picture is the three. Top right is one of the ornaments on the tree, and the bottom right is just an out of focus picture of the lights (bokeh). I like taking out of focus pictures of Christmas lights.

That’s all the pictures that I have. Feel free to follow me on Instagram (heyyitsashley) if you want to. Some of these have been posted there already in the last month or two. Others haven’t made it there yet. The next couple of weeks I’ll be pretty busy, so not sure how active I will be on here. Seems to always happen around the holidays though.

In case you missed it;
December TBR.
Wrap Up|| November.
Book Haul|| November.

I hope you have a great day!

ashleychristmas

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

Secret Life of a Book Blogger Tag.

Posted on July 6, 2015 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

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Hi 🙂

I was nominated by Ana from Ana’s Lair for the Secret Life of a Book Blogger Tag. Go check out her blog! Thank you Ana for the nomination!

1. How long have you been a blogger?

+ I started my blog back in 2011, but I never really kept up with it and I only had my bestie following me. I officially started this new blog 6-7 months ago; in January.

2. At what point do you think you will stop?

+ I’m not sure when I will stop or if I ever will! I love doing it and as love as I love doing it, I will keep with it!

3. What is the best thing?

+ One of the best things is getting to meet and talk to fellow bloggers! It’s been fun to share my love for books and talk with others that love them just as much as I do.

4. What is the worst thing? What do you do to make it okay?

+ I guess not being able to come up with posts to do! Tags and weekly memes help with that most of the time.

5. How long does it take you to create/find pictures to use?

+ Most of the time I use pictures that I personally took myself. Sometimes I’ll search for gifs to use in my blog posts and it doesn’t usually take too long.

6. Who is your book crush?

+ OMG…I have so many book crushes! This year my really big book crush would have to be Raffe from the Penyrn and the End of Days series. Go check out the series! Angelfall is the first book!

7. What author would you like to have on your blog?

+ ALL OF THEM!? If I had to choose, I would probably go with Becky Albertalli (author of Simon vs. the Homosapiens Agenda). She’s such a cool person and we’ve tweeted a bunch of times and it’s always been fun.

8. What do you wear when you write your blog posts?

+ It all depends on where I’m at, to be honest. I mostly do them in the morning after I get dressed for work though, so I’m usually just wearing pants and a t-shirt, lol. Nothing fancy, haha.

9. How long does it take you to prepare?

+ Sometimes I do my posts in advanced and then over the days leading up to when I plan to post, I’ll tweak them a bit. If I don’t do it in advanced, then it probably takes me about 30 minutes. Sometimes I’ll type up things on my phone to save for later for my blog.

10. How do you feel about the book blogger community/culture?

+ I love the book blogger community and I am so excited that I created this blog and have been able to be apart of it! There are so many awesome bloggers and it’s exciting to meet you all and talk to you all!

11. What do you think one should do to get a successful blog?

+ Post at least a few times a week, use pictures (even if it’s just book covers), use tags (tags are wonderful things and it gets your posts out there to everyone), and engage with other bloggers. It’s fun getting likes and it’s also great getting comments. You engage better that way and you get to know other bloggers better.

I nominate you all to do this! It’s a fun little tag to have on your blog and it may be helpful to other bloggers as well. I would love to see your answers, so link me to your posts if you choose to do it! 🙂

I have some random pictures to share with you from 4th of July weekend. You may have seen these on Instagram if you follow me.

I tried to get ColbyJack (my cat, if you’re new to my blog) a picture with the little hat on as well, but he was not having it! It’s hard enough to get him in his little birthday hat on his birthday, so trying with this hat was a huge fail. I got Dax and Bella to do it though! 😛

So I don’t leave him out of the post though, here is ColbyJack doing what he does best! 😛

Here are a couple recent posts I’ve done:
Thoughts: We Were Liars.
Blogger Recognition Award.

I hope everyone had a great weekend and has an amazing Monday! I am so tired today, so hopefully this day goes by fast! BYE! ❤

random update with pictures.

Posted on May 27, 2015 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

I am kind of wide awake, so here is a blog post about random stuff and some pictures to go with.

I ordered a couple books today. One for the book club and then another that I’ve been waiting for and was just released. They will be the last books I buy in May. I’ll share once I receive them Friday. 🙂

Add me on Goodreads OVER HERE if you like.

I’ve been looking at cute packaging and letter stuff on Pinterest. I think it’ll be fun to find a pen pal. I love finding cute things, so it’ll be cool to share them!

Add me on Pinterest OVER HERE if you like.

I am currently reading Revenge, Ice Cream, and Other Things Best Served Cold by Katie Finn. So far I am really liking it. It’s the second book in the Broken Hearts & Revenge series. I am so excited about this book. FYI: do NOT read the description to this book before reading the first book Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things To Mend or you’ll spoil the first book and I promise you that you do NOT want to spoil the first book!!

The boyfriend and I started Orphan Black today and so far we really like it. We also got froyo and it was so good as always. I actually did not get too many toppings this time and it came out really colorful and cute, lol. I get cheesecake bites every single time.

I finally got around to getting some new music for my iPod. I’ve been so focused on my blog and reading so many books that I kind of neglected getting new music. I finally got The Maine’s new album (which I LOVE), the new The Story So Far and Mumford & Sons.

I’ve kind of been slacking with my Popsugar reading challenge, which is kind of depressing! I really thought I could do this, but I feel like I am slowly (well maybe quickly) running out of time! Ahhhhhh! See! Not that many checked off!

I found a cute yellow flower when I went on a walk. I also found some wheat pennies when I was counting my money in my piggy bank. The boyfriend started to fill my piggy bank with all his change (which is now up to like $45!!), so I can buy books! I love that he supports my craziness.

And here is my boyfriend and I doing what we do best. He plays likes to play xbox and I obviously love to read. Right now he is pretty addicted to Halo. He took a break from Call of Duty.

Last but not least…here are some furbaby pictures! Dax, I don’t think he’s ever sad! And ColbyJack, just hugging the Tide while he sleeps; it must be so comfy! Strange guy.

OH! I almost have 200 followers (10 or 11 short from 200!) on my blog and it’s so exciting! I’ve only been really doing this blog for a little close to five months, so that’s pretty awesome! So thank you all for following me and liking my posts! I definitely would not be where I am without you guys! HIGH FIVE FOR YOU ALL! ❤

You can check out my last post about An Ember in the Ashes OVER HERE! The book was so good and I am so glad that I decided not to wait to draw it from my book jar before reading it! I have some other things I want to update on, but I will save it for another post. I will be back Friday with Friday Finds and then my May recap of all the books I read sometime on Sunday or Monday. I should probably go to sleep now though. Goodnight!

photo dump, because pictures are cool.

Posted on May 24, 2015 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

Hi 🙂

I hope everyone has been having a good weekend and getting lots of reading done! Yesterday I wrote how I planned on reading all weekend, but I’ve kind of failed at that so far this weekend. Ooops! I got busy with other stuff, so I probably only got maybe 50 pages read in my current read all weekend. Blehhh…lame, I know. Anyway…I decided to just do a random photo dump post with random pictures I’ve taken over the last few days. You may have seen some of these already if you follow me on Instagram (heyyitsashley – If you follow me…let me know and I’ll follow you back.)

So yesterday (Saturday) my mom, older sister, and aunt took the niece and nephew fishing. My nephew really loves fishing, so that was extra fun for him. They both caught a lot of fish. My older sister and I laid on a blanket and read our books. Below are some pictures from that day.

Grace & Jackson fishing.

Me reading by the water and then a picture of the water.

So my sister and I were laying on this blanket reading and I decided to look over my shoulder and saw this, which put an end to our reading. We spent the entire time keeping an eye on it, lol.

IGUANA! – He eventually climbed the tree, but then came back down. Ughhh.

Here are some other random pictures from the park we were fishing at.

Niece, Nephew, and my mom fishing.

And these are just other random pictures from throughout the week that I’ve taken.
The pup Dax and random selfie.

ColbyJack using my book to clean himself. He wouldn’t let me have it either. He basically switched to attack mode when I tried to take it away. He’s been kind of mean today. Here is a random pretty flower.

Ice cream and ice cream shaped lollipops.

I think I’ll go read some now. An Ember in the Ashes has been so good so far and it’s getting even better. I’m about halfway through it, so I definitely want to read more! I have some laundry and stuff to eventually get to. The plus side, I don’t work tomorrow! 🙂

Recent posts from the week:
A Funny Book.
Friday Finds #15.
Small Book Haul.

I’ll leave you with Coals by Modern Baseball, because I love this song so much and that’s the song I am currently listening to as I finish this post. 😛

“I’m alright and I’m always getting better.”

BYE! ❤

Small Book Haul & Other Things.

Posted on May 21, 2015 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

Hi 🙂

I bought some books this week and thought I would share them with you! I was getting packages back to back and it was pretty crazy, but fun! 🙂 I don’t think I’ll be able to do that again though, lol. I decided to get a free trial of Amazon Prime (to see if I will use it much and whether to keep it) and I wanted to take advantage of the two day shipping, but that also meant I took advantage of my bank account too! OOOOPS!

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
Made You Up by Francesca Zappia
The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh
Revenge, Ice Cream, and Other Things Best Served Cold by Katie Finn

I decided to get Crown of Midnight, because I really wanted to see what happened next after Throne of Glass. I’m sure you all seen that I wasn’t that huge of a fan of Throne of Glass, but I still wanted to give the series a chance. I did start really liking it at the end and enough to make me want to continue with the series.

Revenge, Ice Cream, I had to order right after I finished reading Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend. I am totally loving the Broken Hearts & Revenge series so far! I am also excited that there will be a third book! I do need to eventually repurchase Broken Hearts though, because it has a new cover and it matches the Revenge, Ice Cream book and not the original cover that I have. I want the book covers to match, lol! I am so excited to read this book though. I plan to read it after the book I am currently reading.

The Wrath and the Dawn sounds like such a great book and it has a cool book cover, that’s exciting! Made You Up also has such an awesome book cover and I really can’t wait to read it, because it sounds so good! I am definitely excited about these two books and they were books on the top of my TBR that I really want to read. I really hope I love them!

Random Bookish Stuff:

I won some ARCs in a giveaway on Twitter, which is exciting! I can’t wait to get them. This is the third time I’ve won a giveaway on Twitter. 🙂
I pre-ordered Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari and I can’t wait to get it. It’s releasing in the middle of June. He’s one of my favorite comedians and I loved his character on Parks & Rec. It’s probably the most expensive book I bought so far this year (a little over $20 including shipping, etc.), but I decided to…

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I finished the book Rogue by Julie Kagawa and it was SO GOOD! It’s the second book in the Talon series. I’m not sure if I’ll do a review on it since it’s a sequel and I’m always scared I’ll give something away. It was definitely an awesome read though. Now the wait for Soldier...ahhhh. 😦
I am currently reading An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir and so far it’s really good. I decided to skip drawing from my book jar and pick this one up. I’m glad I did! Also found out this week that it will be a series.

Recent Posts from the Week:

To end this post, here is a picture of ColbyJack and Dax. 🙂

BYE! ❤

would you rather book tag.

Posted on May 16, 2015 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

Hi 🙂

I seen this tag over at Marie’s (drizzle and hurricane books) blog and I thought it looked like a lot of fun! I’m also killing time before the party we are having starts! What better way than a fun book tag? 🙂

>>Would you rather only read trilogies or only read standalones?

+ I think I would probably go with standalones! I love a good trilogy, but I have started so many trilogies and series that I am kind of overwhelmed with it! I know there also so many unfinished ones that I started that I really need to finish! It can get kind of chaotic!

>>Would you rather only read male or female authors?

+ This is kind of hard to answer! I love books by all, but I guess if I really had to choose than I guess I would choose female. There have been amazing books that I read by females that you would probably think a male would have written.

>>Would you rather shop at Barnes and Noble or Amazon?

+ Although Barnes & Noble is more convenient, because you can have the books right away…I would choose Amazon. It’s so much cheaper to order books on Amazon and it always helps that you can get books even cheaper when you get e-books too.

>>Would you rather books were made into TV shows or movies?

+ I was just talking to my boyfriend about this the other day! Well, me talk and he being “tortured” to listen to my book talk, haha. I was telling him how I rather books be made into TV shows, because I feel like you can get more of the book if it was a TV show and it wouldn’t be as rushed and as many things taken out. With a movie, I feel like it’s always rushed and sometimes so many things are different….*cough* Percy Jackson *cough*

>>Would you rather read only 5 pages per day or 5 books per week?

+ Five books per week, DUUUUUHHHH! There are just too many books that need to be read to only read five pages a day! That’s insane! GIVE ME ALL THE BOOKS!

>>Would you rather be a professional author or reviewer?

+ I would rather be a professional reviewer. I suck at writing anything, so I rather just enjoy the books instead of writing them.

>>Would you rather be a librarian or a bookseller?

+ Hmmm…I think I would choose bookseller. I would love to meet people that buy books and collect books. I would be able to share my love for collecting and buying. It would also be fun recommending books that they HAVE to own. High five to all the librarians though. I would probably talk people into buying the books if I was a librarian too. Any job surrounded by books would be amazing to me.

>>Would you rather read only your favorite genre, or every other genre but your favorite?

+ OMG! This is a horrible question! I love so many different genres. I don’t even know what my favorite is anymore!I One of my favorites is dystopia, but I think I will just go with every other genre, because well….maybe I’ll learn to love them even more.

>>Would you rather only read ebooks or physical books?

+ TOUGH question! I love them both, but lately I really love physical books. So I guess I would go with physical books.

I want everyone that is following me to do this tag and then link me to your posts! This is such a fun tag and you should not skip over it! 😛

Other bookish stuff;

I won this ARC in a giveaway on Twitter and I received it yesterday! I am really excited about it and can’t wait to read it! 🙂 *picture is linked to Goodreads*

I am currently reading Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend and I found this in the book and thought it was hilarious. **by the way, this book is SO good**

Basically, Sergeant Which is a Doctor Who spinoff in this book. HAHAHAHA. I thought it was pretty hilarious, but I guess that’s because I am a hardcore Doctor Who fan. I’m sure you’ve seen how much I’ve mentioned it and I also own so much Doctor Who stuff, SO MUCH. Here’s my mini Sonic Screwdriver. & remember that time my kitten was the fourth Doctor? 😛

Anyway! I have tons more pictures to share with you, but I’ll save those for another time or you can check out my instagram (heyyitsashley) and you can see them over there! 🙂

Here are a couple of my recent posts if you missed them and want to check them out!

I am off to go to this party! I hope everyone is having a great weekend! BYE! ❤

First May Book Haul & Other Stuff.

Posted on May 11, 2015 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

Hi 🙂

I have a book haul to share and I also decided that I would do a photo dump too! Everyone loves books and random pictures, right? 😉 On Saturday I went to Goodwill with the boyfriend after he got off work and found a bunch of books. I was really excited about it and here are the books that I found.

Wings by Aprilynne Pike
I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore
Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt
The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold
Always Looking Up by Michael J. Fox
Death on the D-List by Nancy Grace
Matched by Ally Condie
Crossed by Ally Condie
Reached by Ally Condie
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
The Tenth Gift by Jane Johnson

Inside the Cage by Matt Whyman
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

I think this was a pretty awesome and successful book haul! I found a ton of books and it was cool that I found the entire Matched series! I’ve been off and on about whether I wanted to read it or not, but since I seen it at Goodwill for cheap, I decided not to pass it up. The boyfriend chose Inside the Cage and Number the Stars. He said Number the Stars was one of his favorite books and this one was in better condition than the one we have now, so he wanted to get it. I am happy with all of the books that I got and can’t wait to eventually read them. Now I need to try not to buy as many more books this month, because I’ve already gotten all of these plus Magonia. I need to chill out with spending lots of money. Luckily these were from Goodwill, so it wasn’t as much money if I had gotten them brand new! 🙂

Onto the random photo dump, because pictures are FUN! If you’re following me on Instagram (heyyitsashley) then you probably have seen these already.

The younger sister and I made cupcakes for our mom, older sister, and aunt for Mother’s Day. I thought they came out really good. SO MUCH PINK!

I got some new bookmarks from Craftedvan that I am so in love with! I drew Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend by Katie Finn from the book jar. I also started to read ’89 Walls by Katie Pierson that I got from Netgalley for review. I’ve only read one chapter so far in this one. I don’t normally read two books at a time (unless it’s an audiobook), but since ’89 Walls is an e-book, I also wanted to have a physical book to read too. I also just noticed they are both written by someone named Katie, lol. 😛

My furbabies: ColbyJack & Dax. My boyfriend also texted me on Mother’s Day since he was at work and told me Happy Mother’s Day because we have furbabies, lol.

Here are just a few random pictures I took. I saw a butterfly in my mom’s little butterfly garden she made and then the sky looked pretty the other day.

I hope you enjoyed this post and all of the pictures! In case you missed them, below are links to a couple recent posts that I have done.

The Burrito Bowl Book Tag. – A really fun book tag that includes burritos and books. Two great things!
Bloggers’ Book Club: May. – My thoughts on Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe.

Bye! ❤

Mini Book Haul & Other Stuff.

Posted on May 3, 2015 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

Hi! 🙂

I hope that everyone has had a great weekend! This blog post is going to be full of a lot of awesome stuff…books and pictures, always awesome! First of all, I had a pretty great weekend! The museum was pretty cool and I really want to take my niece and nephew next time! I think that my nephew especially would enjoy it SO much! I didn’t take as many pictures as I thought I would, but I do have a few to share. I also found out that I won a giveaway on Twitter, which I am so excited about! I’ll do a post about that with the book once I receive it. The last of the books I ordered in April arrived today, which was unexpected, because I didn’t think they would arrive on a Sunday! I was also nominated for two blogger awards! It has definitely been a great weekend!

In this post I am going to share the books I got today and a few pictures I took over the weekend. I will have the blogger award posts up during the week! 🙂

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
None of the Above by I.W. Gregorio
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz

These are the last books that I officially bought in April. I kind of went a little crazy with the book buying in April and I know I need to tone it down a bit (maybe more than a bit) this month! All of these books went straight into the book jar except Aristotle and Dante, because that is May’s book for the book club I am in. I am really excited to read all of these books though! Let’s see if I can actually hold off from reading them before they are drawn or if I HAVE to rush to read them right away. It’s so hard, because I’ve been dying to read these, lol!

The science museum was pretty cool and definitely educational. A lot of stuff I didn’t even know about and probably should have. A lot of it was interactive too, so that was cool. I would really love to take my niece and nephew. I think Jackson would love it a lot. I didn’t take as many pictures as I thought I would, but here are some pictures I took over the weekend and some from the museum.

DINOSAURS! 🙂 Well their skulls anyway, lol.

There was this HUGE shark and this HUGE elephant that were totally awesome!

Some fishies and a turtle that totally looks like some kind of dinosaur, lol. At least that’s what I thought it looked like. It was cool.

Here are just some random flowers, because flowers are pretty and I like pretty things. The last picture is just thrown in because it was pretty and I believe I took it on Friday before work.The first picture, my boyfriend and I couldn’t decided whether it was a butterfly or a moth. What do you think?

That is pretty much all for this post! Be on the look out for the blogger award posts. I’ll probably post one on Monday and then the other the next day or maybe in the same post. I don’t know yet! I’m currently working on them. 🙂

In case you missed them, here are a couple of the recently posts that I have done!

April Reads Recap. – All about the books I read in April and a look at some of the books I’m going to read this month.
Friday Finds #12. – Books that I added to my TBR last week and some books I got for Kindle and from Netgalley.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend! I plan to spend the rest of today finishing Red Queen. I am so close to being done! Bye! ❤

Friday Finds #11.

Posted on April 24, 2015 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

FRIDAY FINDS showcases the books you ‘found’ and added to your To Be Read (TBR) list… whether you found them online, or in a bookstore, or in the library — wherever! (they aren’t necessarily books you purchased). Hosted by A Daily Rhythm.

Hey! 🙂 Happy Friday!

Can I just have a million dollars, so I can buy all of the books on my TBR? There are so many books that I want to read and probably thousands and thousands that I want to read that I haven’t come across yet! Below are ten of the books that I found this week and they are all linked to their Goodreads descriptions.

A Whole New World by Liz Braswell
Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway
Still Waters by Ash Parsons
A Little Something Different by Sandy Hall
It’s a Wonderful Death by Sarah J. Schmitt

The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness
The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows
None of the Above by I.W. Gregorio
The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley by Shaun Hutchinson
Girl Underwater by Claire Kells

I think I say this every Friday, but covers, the COVERS! I also think I say this every time that I am a sucker for a pretty book cover. All of these books having such a amazing book covers is not doing bank account any good. Let’s talk about A Whole New World though (this is not the final cover), but….Aladdin is pretty much my number one favorite Disney movie and this is a reimaging of that movie. The entire series is going to be reimagines of classic Disney stories. I am very excited about this book! All the other books sound just as great too, of course!

I actually did not get any free Kindle e-books this week, kind of shocking! I actually didn’t even attempt to look at BookBub this week, because I would have been on there for hours. I did buy three books for my Kindle though.

Looking for Alaska by John Green
The Duff by Kody Keplinger
Alienated by Melissa Landers

I’ve been wanting to read Looking for Alaska for years now, so I seen that it was only $2.99 for Kindle, so I decided to get it. I seen a lot of people reading The Duff and they really liked it, so I decided to give it a chance since it was only $2.99 and Alienated sounded good and it was only $0.99. Good deals and potentially good books.

What are some of the books you added to your TBR list? Link me to your post or leave a comment! 🙂

Here are just some random pictures from the last week or so. I haven’t really been posting too many of those lately! They can also be seen on my Instagram too.

I found a tiny dandelion puff! I was going to blow the seeds off, but accidentally held it in front of the air conditioner vent in the car. I’m sure you can imagine how sad that was for me. Yesterday was World Book Day, so I took this picture. I tried to get more of Throne of Glass read. I am sadly not enjoying the book as much as I thought I would and I am halfway through it. It sucks that it took me almost an entire month to read half of it. I could have read so many more books in the time that it took me to get halfway through this one. I am determined to finish it this weekend. I am also crossing my fingers that maybe it won’t be so bad toward the end. I don’t hate it, but I don’t love it either.

My furbabies! I love these two so much! They are so cute and perfect! I’m sure all furbaby owners say this about their pets though, lol.

And here is my bookcase that is pretty much out of space, but I bought a new one and just need to put it together and actually find a place to put it, lol. I have no space in my tiny apartment, so this will be a mission. I also need to buy more wallpaper, so I can wallpaper the shelves like I did this one. Oh! And I have a kitty on my bookshelf. 🙂

Here are some of my other recent posts in case you missed them and want to check them out!

I have to get off here and get to work. I am totally going to be running late if I don’t. Bye! ❤

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda.

Posted on April 18, 2015 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

HEY 🙂

I am trying to work through more of the 2015 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge, so here is another post for that. You can find other books I’ve read/listened to for the challenge over on my blog. There is a category for them! I am really excited about this next book that I just finished and I am sure you all have seen my excitement in posts or on social media.

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Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
FIVE STARS.

“He talked about the ocean between people. And how the whole point of everything is to find a shore worth swimming to.”

I just finished reading Simon vs. and it was SO GOOD! I loved it so much and it’s definitely moving up in the list to being one of my favorite books. It was perfection! I flew through the book in three days (basically two days though, since on the first day I only read the first chapter), which was awesome. It was also sad that I flew through the book, because I didn’t want it to end! It was hard not to fall in love with all of the characters in the book, especially Simon and Blue! I laughed so much throughout the entire book and I smiled and giggled like a huge dork! So much cuteness that you really could not have had that reaction! I definitely recommend this book to everyone! It was such a great read and I am sad that it’s over! I think I will always be wondering what the characters from the book are up to! I don’t want to say too much about the book, because I don’t want to risk spoilers! So just take my word for it and read the book! 🙂

Goodreads desciption: Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised. With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.

“The way I feel about him is like a heartbeat — soft and persistent, underlying everything.”

Here’s something totally exciting! Becky Albertalli tweeted me. 🙂

Are there any books that you read that were published this year? Or are there any that you are excited about that will be coming out this year? Let me know in the comments! I know I have tons of them that I am excited for!

Book Haul post Monday or Tuesday. I was really hoping I would get to do it this weekend, but it looks like my books won’t be delivered until Monday or Tuesday. 😦 I was crossing my fingers, because they are at the post office in my area…just not at my front door! UGH! I did go to Goodwill today and found six books, which will be included in my book haul post next week. I am totally excited about my Goodwill finds today, but more about them in my book haul post. This post is actually becoming super long already, lol!

Here are some random pictures featuring Simon vs. since this post is about the book and I was fangirling like crazy over it and ended up snapping a lot of pictures throughout the three days I was reading it. lol. I’m a tad bit crazy, ask anyone! 😉

Here are some of my other posts from this week in case you missed them or want to check them out!

Friday Finds #10 & Kindle E-books – Books that I added to my TBR this week.
Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock – A book by an author I’ve never read before.
Teaser Tuesdays #1 & Stuff – A small glimpse of Throne of Glass and some pictures.

Happy reading & weekend! I hope everyone is enjoying it! See you next time! 🙂

Teaser Tuesdays #1 & Stuff.

Posted on April 14, 2015 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Hey! 🙂 It has been a few days since I’ve done a post. I’ve slowly been getting through my reading, which is kind of disappointing. If I’m not reading, it’s hard to come up with post ideas! I’m actually really disappointed in myself, because it’s the middle of April and I’ve only gotten four books done so far.

Anyway! I decided to participate in Teaser Tuesdays today, since I haven’t posted in awhile and it sounds like a fun post. This is the first time I’ve done this meme, so let’s go!

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Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas.

“Princes are not supposed to be handsome! They’re sniveling, stupid, repulsive creatures! This one…this…How unfair of him to be royal and beautiful.”

“You are each competing for the title of my Champion- my right hand sword in a world brimming with enemies.”

I “cheated” and chose a sentence from two different pages. I am actually not very far into the book like I hoped I would be. I got so distracted over the weekend with other things, that I simply did not read as much as I hoped. I am really liking the book so far though and I’m hoping to have it finished this week.

I am really excited about getting some books in the mail this week and I am hoping to get some others in the mail next week! Expect a book haul this week or next week when I get the others. Depends on if I can contain my excitement, lol. It’s a total of 13 books! AHHHHHH! I am excited just thinking about it! I am going to Target today to buy my nephew the first Harry Potter book and I am hoping I don’t end up buying myself a book too. I am going to keep thinking about the fact that I have 13 books coming to me in the mail over the next two weeks and hopefully that will be good enough to make me not buy another. *crossing my fingers*

Anyway though…I was so excited when my nephew asked me for a Harry Potter book, because he usually wants video games. It was totally random. Yesterday morning I went to walk Dax and my nephew was waiting to go to school and he asked me if he could have my Harry Potter book (I don’t have one), so I told him I would buy him one and he got so excited about it. He also asked me this morning where it was, lol. I told him I was getting it today.

Here are some pictures before I end this post. 🙂

Me reading over the weekend before all the distractions occurred.

Distraction number one: I’m not quite finished yet, but I’m pretty stoked about my coloring skills on this. lol. My younger sister did one with me too, so we chilled and colored.

Distraction number two: getting frozen yogurt with the boyfriend and younger sister. We usually go every Saturday.

Distraction number three: Dax being cuddly. It’s rare that he is cuddly like this. He usually just likes to chill at the end of the bed. I can’t pass up moments like this.

Distraction number four: I painted my nails. It had been awhile since I painted them and it needed to be done, lol.

And ColbyJack is always a distraction. 😉

The boys. Dax looking for a toy to play with and ColbyJack being nosy watching him.

Well there you go! I hope you enjoyed this post and as you can see, I had a ton of distractions, lol. I won’t even include Pinterest, because we all know that is forever a distraction. I have to get ready for work and walk the pup. Hopefully I get some books read, so I can do some reviews! Or maybe I’ll go back and review some of the other books I have read so far this year that I haven’t done a review on (which is probably more than half of the 39 books!).

In case you missed it, you can check out my last post over here. I answer bookish questions – The Ultimate Book Tag.

Link me to your Teaser Tuesdays post or leave a comment with a teaser from the book you are currently reading! I am always looking to add books to my TBR, of course! BYE! ❤

Small Book Haul & Random Pictures.

Posted on April 8, 2015 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

HEY! 🙂

So I recently ordered some books online (delivered today) and I also got a book at Target. Target is totally my go to grocery store now (I find it to be so much cheaper and better quality than most places, besides Publix) and that has its good and bad. The bad being I can’t help but always look at the books and I always end up leaving with at least one of them! I also wanted to order a book online and they were like “if you add $13 more, you can have free shipping” and I used that as an excuse to get another book, which turned into three, because I found a coupon code online, lol! There is seriously something wrong with me, hah.

A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray
The Wicked Will Rise by Danielle Paige
Dorothy Must Die: Stories by Danielle Page
We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach

Dorothy Must Die: Stories has the three novellas (No Place Like Oz || The Witch Must Burn || The Wizard Returns) in one book. I really wanted to order The Wicked Will Rise, so I added the stories book with it. I also really want to read A Thousand Pieces of You and I am in love with the cover, so I decided to get that one too. I got We All Looked Up at Target, which I am so excited about. It sounds like such an amazing book!

OH HEY, it’s ColbyJack! He loves books and boxes and he got both of them. If you follow me on Instagram, then you might have seen some of these pictures already. If you’re not, you should totally follow me! 🙂 —> heyyitsashley

GOOD NEWS, GUYS! I finished Dorothy Must Die! YAY! I loved it, so I am excited to eventually read these other books. It took me so long to read it, because of the reading slump.

My boyfriend sent me this picture of ColbyJack today at work. He said he was looking everywhere in the apartment for him and then finally found him sleeping under the blanket. Pizza & beer = perfection & dinner tonight. 🙂

Dax has my heart, seriously. I love my pup so much! Books & beer = perfection too! I am off to start Throne of Glass tonight. New book, means new bookmark. SHERLOCK ❤

Alright…that’s all for this post. I did a post earlier today that you can check out over here: WWW Wednesdays. You can also check out my post from a couple days ago over here: Creative Blogger Award. Fun stuff! 🙂 I hope everyone has a good night! I’m totally crossing my fingers that my reading slump is slowly letting up. Let’s see how that works out when I start this book tonight! BYE! 🙂

Creative Blogger Award & Stuff.

Posted on April 6, 2015 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

Hey! 🙂 I was nominated for the Creative Blogger Award by Rachael at Reading Rachael. Thank you again for the nomination! Definitely go check out her blog!

The Rules:

Nominate 15-20 blogs and notify all nominees via their social media/blogs
Thank and post the link of the blog that nominated you (very important)
Share 5 facts about yourself to your readers
Pass these rules on to them

I’ve been nominated for other awards that have wanted me to give facts about myself. Trying to come up with some more facts that I haven’t mentioned before is always hard. Let’s see if I can do this. It’s only five, so maybe it won’t be as hard? lol 🙂

The Facts:

ONE: I have a horrible memory. I keep a journal and have for about 11-12 years and when I go back to read it, I have no memory of anything I wrote happening to me or things I did. I also remember very little of my childhood. If someone mentions something I did or what I was like, I really have no clue what they are talking about. I also can’t remember most of what happens in the books that I read once I finish and move on to a new book. It’s one of the most annoying things I have to deal with.

TWO: I am currently obsessed with bagels from Starbucks and I get one every single Monday. I used to do it four times a week, but it started to become costly, so I decided to make Monday Starbucks Monday. I’ve never missed one in about six months.

THREE: Since we are talking about Starbucks, I guess I should tell you that I don’t like coffee. I also don’t understand how coffee wakes people up or gives them energy. The times I have drank it (which is seriously like once or twice a year), it makes me want to instantly go to sleep. I will literally be falling asleep at my desk at work after I drink it.

FOUR: I don’t like staying at other people’s houses overnight. When my family goes back to Cape Coral (some more of my family live there) to visit, I never go with. Staying at other people’s houses just really bugs me and gives me anxiety. I like being at my own house, among my own things, and in my own bed. I think the only times I ever really go overnight is if my boyfriend and I stay overnight at his parents’ house. Even that is kind of awkward for me even though him and I been together 7.5 years and I love his parents so much!

FIVE: I love Cherry Coke. It’s my favorite soda and usually what I always get. It’s totally heaven and if heaven was real, it would be in my heaven. Every faucet, every lake, every ocean, would just be Cherry Coke. It’s perfect. Remember that time when Percy Jackson ordered Cherry Coke? Yeah…he totally had the right idea.

In all its goodness. ❤

Coming up with new facts was kind of hard! I guess there really isn’t much to me? I like the little things, mostly. I also don’t ever really do much except read and watch my TV shows. At least most of the time, anyway. I’m simple. I always have been. I do want to travel the United States (and eventually the rest of the world). SAVE SAVE SAVE!

The nominations:

I didn’t check beforehand if you have already been nominated for this and have done it, so feel free to ignore if you have or if you want to do it again, that’s cool too. 🙂

So I mentioned it a few times that I was seeing Taking Back Sunday and they played with The Menzingers (which I love) and letlive. (which I wasn’t too big a fan of their performance). The concert was great and Taking Back Sunday and the Menzingers played so many songs and all that I loved. I love concerts so much and I am thinking of getting tickets to see The Story So Far again. I’ve already seen them three times, but I love them so much and they are so great live.

Taking Back Sunday. I love this venue, because they have a bar. So I chill back by the bar and drink beer and listen to my favorite bands. It’s so perfect!

All the excitement. 😀

I finally got my new debit card, but I am having some issues as a whole with my bank right now, which is totally lame. I did buy this app that was recommended to me called ReadMore and it times you as you read and at the end it gives your reading patterns, how many pages you read and how many are left, how long you read, random other stats, and also if you read at the same pace how long it would take you to finish the book. It’s pretty neat so far and I was able to actually read a lot more of Dorothy Must Die. I only have 166 pages left in the book! I hope I finish it this week, so I can try to start Throne of Glass. I’m really hoping that this app helps me out of my reading slump or I hope finishing this book does. I don’t want to force it, but I also don’t want to just not read. I started to listen to Linger again today and was actually starting to find interest in it, so that’s a good thing. I’ll have it finished by tomorrow and then I’ll probably jump back on to listening to Beautiful Chaos, before it gets returned back to the library.

Here are just some random pictures I’ve taken and then I am off to find something on TV until the boyfriend gets home. He is bringing Taco Bell home, which I am totally excited about. I am STARVING!

Enjoy the little things: pretty flowers, reading by the pool, and ring pops – one of the greatest parts of being a kid, or a grown up kid. Ring pops are good at any age, especially now that they have tons more flavors now than they did when I was a kid.

And this is my side of the bedroom, which is totally colorful and FULL of stuff! I love stuff, lol. You can see my furbabies in there too. They like my side of the room. I actually have the side of the room that has the most space, because I have so much stuff. Remember awhile back when I said the majority of the stuff in my boyfriend and I’s apartment was mine? Yeah…totally true statement.

Holy massive post, right? I probably should have saved some pictures for another post. OOOPS! This post is fun though and maybe even full of some creativity? It is the creative blogger award. 😉 I really should go now though. It’s Monday, so that means Bates Motel and The Following and ahhhhh! I read too much and watch too many television shows. Total fangirl when it comes to fictional anything though. Rambling again. I need to shut up, but before I do, you can check out my last post over here – reading slump chump. bye! ❤

March reads recap.

Posted on April 1, 2015 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

HEY! 🙂

The month of March went by so fast it seems like. I got through eleven books in March, which is one book short from the last two months. These are books I physically read myself and audiobooks that I listened to at work. These aren’t really in the order that I read them, but you can find them also listed over here along with all the other books that I have read so far this year. All will be linked to Goodreads below.

Angelfall by Susan Ee
World After by Susan Ee
5 stars for both.

These books were SO great. I actually loved them a lot more than I thought I was going to. I am impatiently waiting for the last book to come out; End of Days. I loved the whole apocalypse and angels mix. I am also totally in love with Raffe. I would definitely recommend this series. I was desperately looking for a new series to absolutely fall in love with and this has been it so far!

A Good and Useful Hurt by Aric Davis
5 stars.
You can also check out my post on this book here.

I really loved and enjoyed this book. It was different and really interesting. It was a really good mystery/thriller type book. I loved the idea of the book and it came together so nicely. I loved that it had a touch of supernatural to it too. It was a good find and read for me.

Monstrous by Sean Platt & David W. Wright
3 stars.

The book sounded like it was going to be a really interesting and good read, but I ended up not liking it as much as I thought I would. It annoyed me more than anything and I almost didn’t want to finish it. I pushed through it though and it just wasn’t something I loved.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
4 stars.
You can also check out my post on this book here.
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
5 stars.
You can also check out my post on this book here.

For so long I went back and forth deciding if I ever wanted to read Fangirl. The hype was kind of crazy and the description sounded like something I wouldn’t like. I ended up enjoying the book and I am really excited about the Simon Snow spinoff book to be released in October: Carry On. Eleanor & Park was a book that I had on my TBR and I LOVED IT! It was perfect, it had me crying, and it had me so happy. The ending though, I didn’t really care for it that much.

The Glass Arrow by Kristen Simmons
4 stars.
You can also check out my post on this book here.

This book was chosen for the March read in the book club that I am in. I was excited to read it, because it sounded like it would be a great read and it was! I loved the story and a lot of the characters were so great. It is also one of those books that make you really think about society and what it is and what it could be. ALSO…Kristen Simmons totally tweeted me a smiley face. 😉

Lost in Babylon by Peter Lerangis
4 stars.

This is the second book in the Seven Wonders series and one of three started but never finished books I had. I decided to get the audiobook from my library, so I could finish it by listening to it at work. The book was great and I really enjoyed it. I wish I didn’t ever stop reading it before, but I am glad I was able to actually finish it. The characters are great and it has it’s funny moments. The kids in these books are dying and have to travel to the seven wonders looking for Loculus that will save their lives. So far I have really enjoyed the Seven Wonders series, so I am looking forward to reading the next book.

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
4 stars for both.

For a few years now I have been going back and forth on if I wanted to read this series or not. I finally decided to give it a chance when I seen the audiobooks available at my library. My library had these enhanced versions, so it was pretty interesting. I could hear all the thunder storms, listen to the songs (16 Moons, 17 Moons, 18 Moons), hahaha. Or if things were being thrown and breaking. It was fun! The story itself has been good and enjoyable, so I am glad I decided to give them a chance. I think the enhanced audiobooks have helped with me liking them a lot though. It really made me feel like I was right there with them. I watched the movie for Beautiful Creatures and was so disappointed with it though.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
4 stars.

I was able to get the second Harry Potter done this month and I enjoyed it. It was another of the three on my list of books I started, but never finished. I gave it four stars, because it was really enjoyable and I never got bored of it. I still don’t understand why everyone is so obsessed with the series though. Maybe my opinion will change as I read the other books. Or maybe it’s something I should have read as a kid and might have really loved it even more if I did. I don’t know! But I didn’t hate it and it was really enjoyable and I do want to continue with the series.

I sadly did not finish Dorothy Must Die this month like I really hoped I would. This reading slump kind of took away from that and I had a lot of my TV shows started back up this month too, so that also didn’t help. I love the book so far though and the worse part of a reading slump is when you actually enjoy the book, but still can’t get yourself to read it.

Can he just exterminate my reading slump?
Look at all these wonderful books waiting to be read!

I am really hoping that April will be better and I can get through a lot of the books that I really want to get through. Most of the books this month were audiobooks and I do love audiobooks at work, but I also enjoy physically reading books myself too and I have TONS that I bought that I want to read. So let’s hope April is a lot better with reading more books myself versus audiobooks. I’m going to try to stick with a list and my book jar once I get my list done.

Just in case you missed them, here is the last post I did and my recap post from February and January.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books recently added to my TBR list. There is also some random pictures I’ve taken too.
February recap post. This post has random pictures I’ve taken too.
January recap post.

I can’t wait to start reading and listening to some more books in April. I am currently listening to Beautiful Chaos and next Linger. As for physically reading books, I am currently finishing Dorothy Must Die and then going to read The Lie by C.L. Taylor (which I will have a review on afterward) and Throne of Glass. These are books that I for sure want to get done in April along with plenty of more (I just need a starting point). Once I get caught up on everything that I know I need to read ASAP, I want to start doing more reviews on my blog. As for right now, I am off to go lay down and attempt to read. I am actually sick, so I am thinking about going to sleep early tonight. Terribly sorry for the kind of massive post, lol. 😉

What were some of the books that you read this month? Or if you have a recap post, link me! 🙂 It’s always nice seeing and hearing what others have read. What books are you looking forward to reading in April? ❤

Top Ten Tuesday: Books recently added to my TBR.

Posted on March 31, 2015 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Ten Books You Recently Added To Your To-Be-Read List

I usually do this at the end of the week with another meme I participate in (Friday Finds), but I figured I would participate in TTT this week and it’ll hopefully end up making my Friday post not so massive, haha. Here are ten of the most recent books I have added to my TBR list (all linked to Goodreads):

Modern Romance: An Investigation by Aziz Ansari
Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine
The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer
The Wrong Side of Right by Jenn Marie Thorne
Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

Never Never by Colleen Hoover
Diary of a Teenage Zombie by Kristy Berridge
Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen
Secrets of a Charmed Life by Susan Meissner
What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe

I tend to add so many books to my TBR list. It’s definitely a problem of mine and I’m sure a problem with most (if not all) book lovers. I am most excited for Aziz Ansari’s book to be released. I love all his stand ups, I love all the characters he plays, and of course I LOVED his character Tom from Parks & Rec. So many books, so little time. Sigh.

What are some books you recently added to your TBR list? Or link me to your post! 🙂

Here is a link to my last post in case you missed it. It’s a book haul post and I guess those are always fun, because BOOKS! 🙂 Also…have some random pictures of my furbabies and other maybe fun stuff?

++ This is ColbyJack chillin on the end table in the living room. Yeahh..that’s a TARDIS coaster. If you haven’t noticed already, I am way too obsessed with Doctor Who and I have Doctor Who everything…almost!
++ There is my pup Dax and I was totally laying on that pillow reading, but I got up for literally a minute and he stole my reading spot. He’s too cute to move, so I found a new spot.

++ Here they both are half asleep; they were really tired. If you don’t notice, they are laying on a comforter on the floor of my bedroom, because my boyfriend and I make sure they are always comfy. They also have like four beds and you can see some of them in the background, but ColbyJack ALWAYS lays in his box. We have purposely left that box there just for him.
++ The next picture is just a hilarious picture of ColbyJack. I can’t get over how funny it is STILL a year later when he does it. hahaha.

++ Sunrises and Starbucks sweet tea are probably the only greatest things about Monday mornings. It’s what I look forward to on Sunday nights, to be honest. I go to bed dreaming about the everything bagel that I am going to get on Monday.

You can see these and more of my pictures over on my Instagram: heyyitsashley.

Tomorrow I’ll probably post my March recap post. Link me to your TTT posts or let me know any books that you recently added to your TBR list! 🙂 I always need more books….right? The almost 300 on my list and almost 100 on my bookshelves obviously aren’t enough for me. 😉 Off to work for me! BYE! ❤

Friday Finds #7.

Posted on March 27, 2015 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

HEY! 🙂

I know I haven’t been updating as much this week as I usually do, but I guess I’m in this weird place right now when it comes to books and reading. I can’t believe I even said that! If you read my last post, then it kind of explains it. I hit 100 followers this week though and that is awesome! I’ve been actively only using this blog again since January of this year and I already hit 100 followers. I actually only had two followers (my bestie and my younger sister) when I started back on this blog. So a 98 follower increase in just 2.5-3 months is pretty amazing! THANK YOU GUYS! ❤

I don’t think I went too crazy (well as crazy as I usually do) with adding books to my TBR list this week. Here are ten of the books that I found this week:

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
The First Third by Will Kostakis
Life in Outer Space by Melissa Keil
Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt
Never Always Sometimes by Adi Alsaid

The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider
SYLO by D.J. MacHale
Control by Lydia Kang
The Nethergrim by Matthew Jobin
Love and Other Foreign Words by Erin McCahan

I decided to share pretty much all the books I found this week, because it was hard to choose and I love the covers of all of these! I exported my entire TBR list on Goodreads to Excel and printed the book titles off and put them into a container, so I can have it as my “book jar”. I also printed off blank slips, so I can hand write any new adds that didn’t get printed off. I think once I finish all (or at least some) of my Netgalley books, I am going to start drawing books to read next. I hope that it helps me to get to my older adds and also help me decide what to read next.

Are any of these on your TBR list? What are some books you found this week? Or link me to your post!

Just in case you missed them, here are a few of the last posts that I did.

Book Haul and random adventure/pictures.
2015 Reading Challenge: a book that made me cry.
Friday Finds from last week.

I am going to try to finish reading Dorothy Must Die this weekend and then start on some of the Netgalley books that I have. It’ll be the last book I read for March. I am currently listening to Beautiful Darkness, but should have it finished by today. It’s almost time for my monthly recap post, so that should be fun. I recently added Throne of Glass to my TBR list and it was chosen for the April read for the book club (Bloggers’ Book Club) I am in. I am excited about that! I should be receiving the book in the mail today!

It feels weird ending this post without a random picture, so here is yet ANOTHER picture of my kitten ColbyJack and my pup Dax. I swear I mostly take pictures of my furbabies.

Happy Friday! & Happy Reading!
Thanks again for being awesome! This blog would be nothing without you guys; my followers! It’s been so awesome getting to know you all and sharing our love for books. ❤

Book Haul, Adventures, & Pictures.

Posted on March 22, 2015 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

Hi 🙂

Remember when I said I was on a book buying ban? Yeah….I suck, lol. There is a Goodwill literally 5 minutes walking from my house, so I decided to drag my younger sister on a walk to the Goodwill with me. I was really going to look for a jar there for the book jar I wanted to make, but of course I had to look at the books too. I failed to find a jar, but I left with a bunch of books. Together they only cost me about $10 though!

Walking isn’t too bad, but since I live in Florida it is so dang hot! WHERE’S THE SNOW THOUGH?! The walk wasn’t bad though, thank God. It could have been worse had it been a further distance. The Goodwill is across from a railroad track that is at the end of the street that my house is on, SO CLOSE!

This is the railroad, of course. I love that there are flower bushes along the side of it. I live on the other side of those bushes; well toward the end of the street anyway, but close enough. I also have one of those bushes in my backyard, it’s pretty.

My sister and I found this pretty neat mirror at Goodwill. If my apartment was bigger, I probably would have wanted to get it. I’m the one with the colorful TOMS on and she’s the one with the black shoes; well those are our legs anyway, lol 😉 Onto the books and then some other random pictures from today and this week.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
Ashes of Twilight by Kassy Tyler
Chasers by James Phelan
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
The Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer
The Long Wait for Tomorrow by Joaquin Dorfman
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith

So, those are all the books that I got! They were all in great condition! I couldn’t pass up on the Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox. It’s the sixth book in the series, but I want to eventually own and read them all, so I had to buy it. I already read Water for Elephants, but I really loved the book, so I wanted to own it. The rest of the books I have never read and they all sound like good books. I had Thirteen Reasons Why on my TBR list, so it was nice finding it. There is a picture of ColbyJack chillin amongst the books. He really just wanted to lay on the plastic bags.

I printed off my entire TBR list from Goodreads on Excel and I plan to do the book jar soon! I have seven books I want to read before I start the jar, so I printed off extra pages, so I could fill out new books that I add to my list. I know I’ll probably end up adding tons more books before I actually get a chance to do the jar (like all the books I bought today). I wrote down the seven books I want to read before, so I can check off from there. I am thinking about doing two jars; one of books I own already and one of books I don’t own yet. That way I am not constantly having to spend money on books and I can also get the books I own already read.

Okay, so other than Goodwill, my younger and older sister and I went to the pet store. My younger sister has gerbils, so she wanted to get some bedding for them. There was a snake at the pet store that some lady was holding. It felt so cool. They also had this cute little bird that my older sister and I really wanted, but it was over $100! That’s my sister’s arm in the picture with the snake. And my older sister bought me this to hang in my apartment; she knows how much I HATE cleaning, so it’s perfect.

Earlier this week I posted how I got a ton of Bath & Body Works in the mail, well this week I also got some new TOMS and my book light. I am in love with both so much! The TOMS came with a pretty awesome bracelet!

And here are a couple of random pictures that I took this week. Purple flower in my backyard and tree branches and leaves that I thought looked pretty cool.

Anyway, that’s all for now! I hope everyone had a great weekend. Just in case you missed them, here are a couple of the last posts that I did.

Book club post about the book we read in March; The Glass Arrow. – Random Excitement: Kristen Simmons tweeted me a smiley face, lol.
Friday Finds – some of the books I added to my TBR list this week, because you know, it’s never-ending and I can’t stop.

Bye! ❤

30 Day Book Challenge // Day 12.

Posted on March 17, 2015 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

Hi 🙂

I hope everyone had a good day today! I’m just going to jump right into today’s post and then a random little update and some pictures at the end.

Day 12: Favorite poem or collection of poetry.

The cover makes me dizzy, lol. Goodreads linked in the cover.

So for today’s post I am supposed to post a favorite poem or collection of poetry. I have done a post on this book before, but I love it so much. You can check out my other post about this book that I used for the 2015 reading challenge over here. I am going to post two poems from this book in my post, because they are all so great and it was hard to really choose! The book is filled with amazing photography, poems, and words. I love it so much! Anyway…

The Layer’s Unseen
“There is magic even here, in gridlock, in loneliness, in too much work, in late nights gone on too long, in shopping trolleys with broken wheels, in boredom, in tax returns, the same magic that made a man write about a princess that slept until she was kissed, long golden hair draped over a balcony and fingers pricked with needles. There is magic even here, in potholes along back-country roads, in not having the right change (you pat your pockets), arriving late and missing the last train home, the same magic that caused a woman in France to think that God spoke to her, that made another sit down at the front of a bus and refuse to move, that lead a man to think that maybe the world wasn’t flat and the moon could be walked upon by human feet. There is magic. Even here. In office cubicles.”

The AWOL Hearts
“Let’s play hopscotch in malls. Let’s drive fast with the top down. Let’s turn up the music as loud as it’ll go. Let’s put a couch on an island in the middle of the freeway and wave at everyone on their way to work. Let’s hug strangers in parking lots. Let’s hand out secret messages at traffic lights. Let’s make lists of all the things that make us smile and tick them off, one at a time. The world will carry on without you and me when we’re gone. Let it carry on without us, today.”

What is one of your favorite poems or a collection of your favorite poems? Let me know in the comments!

Random update:
I’ve been good with not buying any books and I am proud of myself for that. I did however, buy other things. I bought a new pair of shoes (TOMS – which will be here Friday!), I bought a new book light and I am totally excited about it (Doctor Who of course – that’ll be here this week too), and I ordered some things from Bath & Body Works and it was delivered today! I am so glad I had a $50 gift card for B&BW and a 20% off coupon. The total at the end was about $60, so I only had to use $10 of my own money! 🙂 That’s always exciting. Today I baked cookies with my younger sister and decorated them. I also saved some for my niece and nephew to decorate. That’s always fun.

The little bags (four little bags) have more hand santizers in them. I still haven’t opened them yet. I need to, because I want to smell them, lol. I also need to reorganize all my B&BW stuff over the weekend. I just have so many pocketbacs (hand sanitizers), ugh. Maybe almost 500? I’m crazy.

My decorated cookies! SPRINKLESSSSSSSS! I only ate one and then let everyone else have the rest. I just wanted to decorate. And then me…always reading. 😉 I’m using my Supernatural bookmark. I love my boys and so glad they are back tomorrow!

That’s all for this post! In case you missed it, you can check out my day 11 post about five random books on my to be read list over here and if you love cats, you can see a cute picture of my kitten ColbyJack at the end of the post, lol! 🙂 I might not do my post for tomorrow, because I’ll probably go to the movies to see Cinderella with the boyfriend. I also still need to post the entry I wrote for The Glass Arrow. I think I might post it over the weekend. It’s sitting in my drafts. Anyway, that’s all! BYE!

Versatile Blogger Award.

Posted on March 15, 2015 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

Hey 🙂 I’ve been nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award by drizzle and hurricane books! Thank you so much for the nomination! I love your blog! Everyone should go check it out! 🙂 I’ve already been nominated for this before, but I don’t mind doing it again. You can check out my other post over here.

How does it work?
1. Nominate 15 other bloggers relatively new to blogging
2. Let the bloggers know that you’ve nominated them
3. Share 10 random facts about yourself
4. Thank the blogger who nominated you and link back to their blog
5. Add the Versatile Blogger Award picture to your post

The hard part since I have already done this, is coming up with 10 new facts! So, let’s see if I can do this! I should know about myself, right? 😉

1: I love nail polish. I have about 80 bottles of nail polish and anytime I go to Walgreen’s (which is one of my favorite stores, lol), I end up buying more. One of my cousins bought me a nail polish rack for dogsitting for her and now I can display my nail polish. My nail polish rack below:

2: I love pop punk music and going to concerts. I love music just as much as I love books, so I spend a lot of money on concert tickets and books. Some of my favorite bands: The Story So Far (seen them 3 times), Real Friends (seen them 2 times), Neck Deep (seen them 3 times in just one year, lol), Knuckle Puck (seen them 2 times), The Summer Set (seen them 2 times). I also seen SO many other amazing bands live. New Found Glory being one of my favorites to see live. Next month I am seeing Taking Back Sunday again. First picture: The Story So Far and second picture: Brian from The Summer Set.

3: I am obsessed with TOMS (shoes). I have so many pairs of them and I actually just ordered a new pair last night and I am so excited to get them. I even got my boyfriend obsessed with them. We probably have TOMS thrown everywhere around our home.

4: I am addicted to Pinterest. I could spend hours on there and every time I pick up my phone, I go straight to the Pinterest app first. I am constantly rearranging my pins and my boards. I am so proud of my Pinterest that I force my boyfriend to look at all the pins I’ve pinned, lol.

5: I’ve been with my boyfriend for almost seven and a half years. It’s kind of crazy that we have been together so long. It doesn’t at all feel like it’s been that long and that’s the amazing part of it. We are huge geeks, so it works out perfectly. We met at a grocery store we both worked at and have been together ever since. This picture is from New Year’s last year from a party at a local bar. And we’re that couple that has matching shirts. One happens to be Doctor Who. 🙂

6: I am still a kid at heart. I love playing video games on my 3DS (especially Pokemon and Animal Crossing) and I love coloring. I have tons of crayons, markers, and coloring books. I also hate sharing my crayons and markers, lol. I’m always paranoid that someone will use them all up or break the crayons. hahah.

7: I have no idea how to cook. My boyfriend does all the cooking. I can make macaroni and cheese though! That’s about it. I do however make the best sandwich. Other than that, I am pretty useless in the kitchen. I really want to learn though, because my food boards on Pinterest are constantly calling my name.

8: I love the beach, but I don’t like getting in the water. I am paranoid about sharks and stuff, but I love sharks, lol. I usually just put my feet in the water and that’s about it, lol. I don’t even like going in pools though. We have a pool at our house, but I never use it.

9: I love holidays and birthdays, because I love giving gifts. I take pride in my gift giving ability, lol. I always find the perfect gifts for everyone and I love seeing everyone’s face when they receive them. It’s probably one of my favorite feelings and things to see.

10: And for number ten I leave you with the song that I am currently obsessed with right now. I am actually on and off obsessed with this song. I’ll listen to it forever and then when I can finally get myself to stop and move on, I always end up coming back to it a few months later and I am now back on it. It’s just SO good and so relatable. Something’s Keeping Me Here by Real Friends.

I am currently jamming the hell out of it right now on repeat. You would probably be laughing at me if you seen me right now. Here is a good visual/example:
JAM OUT SUPER

I tag everyone for the Versatile Blogger Award if you haven’t done it already or if you want to do it again, that’s cool too! I would love to get to know everyone and read your post. If you decide to do it or have done it already, link me to your post in the comments. 🙂 Starting back tomorrow with the 30 day book challenge and I have a post lined up for The Glass Arrow. I hope everyone had a great weekend!

30 Day Book Challenge // Day Ten.

Posted on March 13, 2015 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

Hi 🙂

I am so glad it is Friday! I am looking forward to a weekend of catching up on sleep and reading. The work week went by really fast, but it was also really busy at work. I definitely got overwhelmed a lot with work this week and took it out on my books by not reading as much as I usually do. Earlier today I did my Friday Finds post and you can check it out over here in case you missed it. If you don’t know what that is, it’s a post about some of the books I added to my to be read list this week. 🙂 Onto day ten…

Day 10: Favorite childhood book.

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Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar. I loved this book as a kid. It was so fun and filled with so many amazing things! I remember one of my teachers would read a chapter to us every week from this book. It was one of the greatest parts of going to school as a kid. I still think Mrs. Gorf is scary! I sadly don’t remember exactly everything in the book, because it has been SOOOOOO long since I have read it. I am going to do a reread of it; I want to relive part of my childhood and the book is so great. I think every kid should read this book or every parent should read this book to their kids! I still have a copy of it and I have to be careful with the pages, because it’s so old. I love it though. 🙂

Last year I read the first chapter of this book to my niece and nephew, because I wanted them to experience this amazing book. I took this picture last year of my nephew Jackson. He was totally into the book and it was a proud moment for me, lol.

^^^ I am still totally excited about the book! 😉 ^^^
What is one of your favorite childhood books? Let me know in the comments! 🙂

You can also check out my day nine post about a book I didn’t think I would like, but ended up loving over here.

30 Day Book Challenge // Day Seven.

Posted on March 11, 2015 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

Hi 🙂

It’s been crazy busy today and I finally got caught up with Once Upon A Time and a couple other shows that were sitting on my DVR. That’s why my post for today is being posted kind of late tonight. Sometimes I get so caught up in reading or binge watching shows on Netflix that my DVR fills up so fast. I actually have no shows started on Netflix (that’s a first) and I’m pretty much caught up on my DVR (that’s definitely a first in awhile). Sad to admit, but I have no social life whatsoever, so books and TV shows are pretty much my life (besides the boyfriend and our furbabies). But anyway!

Day 07: A book you wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t.

I have had Cinder by Marissa Meyer on my TBR list since 2013 and I have been really wanting to read it, but still haven’t gotten around to it. I’ve heard a lot of great things about it and notice that a lot of people love the series so much. I’m not sure why I haven’t gotten around to it yet, but I definitely want to. I finally bought the book and I am hoping to get around to reading it this month or for sure in April. I also have had Paper Towns by John Green and The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken on my reading list since the time I added Cinder. I own all three books now, so I am hoping that soon they will be no longer on my TBR list.

Is there any books that you have wanted to read for a long time, but haven’t read yet?

I am torn between reading before bed or watching The Following; both are excellent choices. I do have a discussion on the first half of The Glass Arrow with the book club (Bloggers’ Book Club) tomorrow night – I am not quite to the halfway mark, but almost, so I may try to get more reading from that done before then. Decisions, decisions. In case you missed it, you can check out my day six post about my favorite book from my favorite series over here and you can check out my new bookmarks that I can’t wait to use, lol.

I went to a carnival with my older sister, niece, and nephew on Sunday night. They had fun. Here’s a picture from that and then I should go. bye! 🙂

A Good and Useful Hurt.

Posted on March 7, 2015 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

*goodreads page linked in cover*

Goodreads: “Mike is a tattoo artist running his own shop, and Deb is the piercing artist he hires to round out his studio’s motley crew of four. The last either expects is romance, but that’s what they get as they follow their off-kilter careers and love lives into complete and total disaster. When Mike follows a growing trend and tattoos the ashes of deceased loved ones into several customers’ tattoos, he has no idea that it will one day provide the solution — and solace — he will sorely need. And when the life of a serial killer tragically collides with the lives in the tattoo shop, Mike and Deb will stop at nothing in their quest for revenge, even if it means stepping outside the known boundaries of life and death. Ink that is full of crematory ashes, a sociopathic killer, and pain in its rawest form…this is going to hurt.”

A Good and Useful Hurt by Aric Davis. I thought it was going to be hard to find a book written by an author with my initials, especially an audiobook. I was adding Kindle audiobooks to a wishlist to find them easier later and I decided to go through all the books I added; one of them happened to be a book by an author with the same initials. I was excited, because I thought it was going to be hard to find one, especially an audiobook.

I personally loved the book. It was different and so interesting. I tend to keep going for the serial killer/murder type books lately. The love story thrown in the mix was also really great. It wasn’t too much, like most books are these days and I really liked that. It had its laugh out loud moments, its teary eye moments, its OMG moments, and even some scary moments. There are also times where you will get angry. The characters were great and the background stories were nice. I loved the closeness and friendship the characters in the book had with each other.

There is a serial killer on the loose and he is killing women. Mike and Deb are trying to catch the murderer before he murders again. I love how it all came together and the use of the tattooing and the cremated ashes. It also had some paranormal stuff in there too. It was so different from anything I’ve read so far. I’m trying not to give away too much, because I really want everyone to read the book. I loved it so much.

One of the things I took from this book is that life is short and you never know what can happen. Live, be happy, don’t take things for granted, tell the people you love exactly how you feel any chance you get. Here is a quote from the book that I loved: “I just need to accept that some bad things happened and that I can move past them. I need to learn to be thankful for the time I had and not be so angry about the time I lost.” – this can be for anything in life. Things happen and you move on from them. If you don’t, you lose so much time in the now and you let life pass you by.

Unrelated: The boyfriend and I took Dax to the dog park today and he was so happy. He ran around like crazy with all the small dogs and the big dogs. He had the time of his life it seemed. We haven’t been able to take him in so long, because the boyfriend works a different schedule than I do and he usually doesn’t have weekends off work. I also went to Target today (I need to stop going to Target) and spent money on things I didn’t need (of course) and ended up buying two books. Ughhh.

I decided not to buy anymore books for awhile, unless someone else is buying for me or I have gift cards. I’ve spent way too much money last month on books and it’s kind of crazy. I have a library card, so I need to use that more! I also have Kindle Unlimited and there are tons of books on there that I want to read too, so I might as well just read those. I have about 50 books at home that I’ve probably only read ten of the 50. I also have about 10 books I bought on Kindle that I haven’t read/started, but didn’t finish and a few I got approved for from Netgalley. So I have plenty of books I can read that I already own. Let’s see if I can actually stick to not buying books over the next few months. Let the book buying ban begin! *with the exception of book club books if I can’t find them for free anywhere*

To end the post: here is a picture of Dax after the dog park. He was so happy! And the two books that I bought today.

The Young Elites by Marie Lu
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

I’ve been kind of slacking with reading (besides audiobooks at work; I believe I mentioned this in my last post), so hopefully tomorrow I can make a bigger dent in The Glass Arrow. Sometimes I go through this and a lot of my TV shows are starting back up. I can’t blame Supernatural anymore, because I am all caught up! Anyway, the boyfriend is playing COD, so I think I’ll start reading some. I’ll start back on the 30 day book blog challenge on Monday. I think I’m just going to do the posts Monday-Fridays and take a break on the weekends. The post got pretty long, oops. I hope everyone is having a great weekend! 🙂

30 Day Book Challenge // Day One & Stuff.

Posted on March 2, 2015 by ashley @ socially awkward bookworm

Hello! ❤

A couple months ago I found a bunch of 30 day book challenges on Pinterest, so I decide that I would do one this month. There will be a “category” for it on my blog to locate the posts easier.

Day 01: A book series you wish had gone on longer OR a book series you wish would just freaking end already.

The Mortal Instruments series. I decided to go with a book series that I wish would just freaking end. It FINALLY ended though! I had a love/hate relationship with this series. I felt that it went on way too long. In my opinion it could have ended perfectly at book three. It took me two months to finish the last book (City of Heavenly Fire). I would start reading it, get insanely bored and then I would stop to read something else (I ended up reading five books before I finally finished it). It was kind of a huge disappointment, because I really loved the second and third books. It started to go downhill during book four. I was pretty much over the entire series after I read book four.

Did you read The Mortal Instruments series? How did you feel about it?

Unrelated: My birthday is tomorrow and one of the things my boyfriend bought me was a new bookcase (it’s pretty tall – five shelves – picture below and it doesn’t even show the entire thing) and I was pretty excited about it. We basically kind of celebrated on Saturday since my birthday falls on a week day. We also got frozen yogurt and my younger sister came along with us. A new frozen yogurt shop opened up right down the road from our house called Orange Leaf and it’s so good! We’ve already gone three times in the last week, lol.

I hope everyone had a great weekend and got lots of reading done. I didn’t get that much reading done this weekend. I did read some more of Dorothy Must Die and I started to read some of The Glass Arrow. I wouldn’t normally read two books at once (unless I’m listening to an audiobook at work), but since I am reading The Glass Arrow as part of a book club I’m in (Bloggers’ Book Club) I decided to see how I feel about reading two books at once. I was basically running around yesterday, so I didn’t get much reading done. I was on the hunt for wallpaper/contact paper and it took three hours and four stores later to find some that was cute enough! Before I go, I have my February reads recap post up over here. 🙂 Off to work!

socially awkward bookworm.

Tag Archives: pictures

Nature, Dinosaurs, & Other Things.

Hey!

Below are just some random pictures that I’ve taken throughout the last few weeks.

Random|| Picture Update.

Hey!

Random|| Life Update.

Hey!

Secret Life of a Book Blogger Tag.

random update with pictures.

photo dump, because pictures are cool.

Small Book Haul & Other Things.

would you rather book tag.

First May Book Haul & Other Stuff.

Mini Book Haul & Other Stuff.

Friday Finds #11.

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda.

Teaser Tuesdays #1 & Stuff.

Small Book Haul & Random Pictures.

Creative Blogger Award & Stuff.

March reads recap.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books recently added to my TBR.

Friday Finds #7.

Book Haul, Adventures, & Pictures.

30 Day Book Challenge // Day 12.

Versatile Blogger Award.

30 Day Book Challenge // Day Ten.

30 Day Book Challenge // Day Seven.

A Good and Useful Hurt.

30 Day Book Challenge // Day One & Stuff.