Tag: Book blog

February Reading Roundup & Life Updates

Lindsay ShortLeave a comment

I’m sick of starting each post with “I know I have been bad with posting….” so I’m not going to do that today and just get on with it 😊

February Life Updates

  • Celebrated by fiance’s birthday ❤️
  • I started to make vision boards for books on WeHeartIt for fun!
  • Volunteered to perform foot screenings on people that are homeless or are going through a hard time at “Don’t Walk By”
  • Travelled to San Antonio for ACFAS 2020 conference – had a lot of fun and learned a lot.
  • Booked and planned a trip to Ireland next month!
  • Started organizing my life with an app called “Notion” that I may talk about on here in the future!
  • Ended the month with going to Find Your Harmony 200 and seeing my favorite DJs – Andrew Rayel & Alpha 9!

Bookwise

  • Read 10 Books
  • 🎧 4 audiobooks
  • 1 ARC
P. S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han (2 To All The Boy I’ve Loved Before)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was probably my favorite book in the “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before” series, until the ending happened. After reading To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before with the subtle asian book club – I knew I had to continue and finish the series!
**Spoiler** I loved all the scenes with Lara Jean and John Ambrose McClaren. I loved that Stormy was his grandma. If Lara Jean ended up with John instead of Peter I would have been much happier. I didn’t really care for Peter in the beginning because of him still being involved with Genevieve. ESPECIALLY after he already knew that Gen leaked the video of them in the hot tub?? Come on. I really got sick of him through this book and knew that Lara Jean deserved better. Check out the mood board I made for this book.

Dark Lover by JR Ward (1 Black Dagger Brotherhood)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I have been meaning to start this series and I am so glad I did this month! It feels like a more adult, more well put together, more sexy “Twilight” series and that makes my heart happy. I love the passion when a vampire finds their mate and it is mixed in with some humor and light-heartedness.

Too Late by Colleen Hoover
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

You already know how much I love Colleen Hoover books – that’s why I have been trying to space them out and enjoy them that way. This book is definitely more dark than others she wrote but with the way she writes – you can feel the characters pain going through the situations they are put in. This book is definitely not for the faint of heart but if you want to feel like you’ve got punched in the gut with an excellent ending, I definitely recommend!

Winter by Marissa Meyer (4 The Lunar Chronicles)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I’m glad I got to read the ending of this wonderful series! My only complaint would be that this book felt very long (being over 800 pages). I listened to it as an audiobook so it helped me get through it! There is so many storylines and subplots which keeps the book interesting. I definitely recommend this whole series!

Always and Forever, Lara Jean (3 To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was probably my least favorite out of the 3 but it was still good!

**Spoiler** I liked the turmoil when Lara Jean didn’t get into her top choice to continue her perfect life with Peter. I think it is important for girls of this age to see that you need to go where you will be the most happy. I have met so many people who followed their girlfriend or boyfriend to a school just to end up breaking up and being stuck in a place they don’t care about. I loved when Lara Jean and Chris went down to visit UNC on a whim and had a crazy night together – I feel like we don’t get to see many friendship interactions between them in the book since Chris is always out being crazy.

Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck & Fortune by Roselle Lim
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book immediately drew me in the the whimsical cover with the promise of luck & fortune. This book was cute but it fell flat – I think the budding relationship between Natalie and Daniel could have been more developed. Despite the romantic relationship being a flop, the relationships between the other characters were very interesting! This was my first “magic realism” book and. I loved the prospect of certain foods having specific healing qualities.

Loveboat, Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen (1 Loveboat, Taipei)
⭐️⭐️⭐️

I read this book for the subtle asian book club this month! I had high expectations for this book since a lot of people were very hyped about it. The premise is interesting – essentially it is about a camp that children are sent to to learn more about their culture (hopefully…). But there were some aspects that really bothered me:
**Spoiler** First of all, after Ever found out that Xavier was the person who was drawing the beautiful pictures of her, there was no other mention of the pictures after that! I thought she would be more touched and give Xavier maybe some more consideration. Also after Sophie released those pictures of her and they welcomed her back later on – what the heck! After all the humiliation she gave Ever she didn’t get any repercussions for it! Then at the end when Ever was kind of hanging out with Xavier then Rick came back and she straight up ditched him. I felt really bad for Xavier. Wouldn’t you also be suspicious if the guy you’re interested in dumped his girlfriend of 2 years after just meeting you for a couple weeks?? There was just so much wrong with this book that should have been fixed. I loved the representation presented in this book. I also liked how we saw Ever’s parents fiercely deny her of what she truly wanted to do with her life but she fought for it in the end. I enjoyed watching Ever grow up and blossom into her own woman. Check out the mood board I made for this book.

The Two-Date Rule by Tawna Fenske (1 Smokejumper)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was my first Tawna Fenske book and I definitely enjoyed it! I have never heard of a smokejumper before this book but they made them sound quite hot 😏🔥 Willa has a rule that she will only go out with someone two times until she breaks it off. She is essentially married to her work and has to devote every day to pleasing clients. After going on a date with Grady everything seemed to change – they fix together perfectly – they were content just sitting home and eating pizza. So they both started dreading their second date since that would make it seem like it was over. They kept seeing each other but don’t call their outings “dates” to get around the rule. What I enjoyed most about this book was that Willa and Grady helped fix each others faults – Willa helped Grady by teaching him to look at the future instead of being scared of it. While Grady helped Willa by teaching her that she needs to take time to herself and can’t have clients dictate her whole life. Check out my mood board I made for this book.

Four Letter Word by J. Daniels (1 Dirty Deeds)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is another series I have heard only excellent things about and it definitely stands up to the hype! From the beginning of the story you are enthralled with Sydney and Brian and it only gets better and hotter as the story goes on.

Hit The Spot by J. Daniels (2 Dirty Deeds)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is the 2nd book in J. Daniels’ Dirty Deeds series. I enjoyed the first one more because of the immediate connection with Sydney and Brian. This story is about Sydney’s best friend Tori, who similarly to Sydney was screwed over by a guy as well. Brian’s best friend Jamie is trying to break down Tori’s walls and to get her to admit that she likes him. It was still a great and sexy book but it was hard to compare to the first one!

I’m Back! + REVIEWS: Big Lies in a Small Town, The Chain, Crown of Midnight

Lindsay ShortLeave a comment

It has been awhile my friends!

I really missed writing in this blog. I would think of posts for the week then it would go by without me posting anything. Life and school would get in the way and in the blink of an eye it went on for about 3 months?

School Update

I am currently in the middle of finals right down (4 down, 3 to go!) and so it’s the fake illusion of having extra time since it’s a break from clinic. I was really upset back in October when I found out we don’t really have much time off for the holidays. I felt like I heard that they had more time last year. I don’t like to travel around the holidays anyway but it would have been nice to have a break since we have been going nonstop since May.

In September my class was applying to places to go for our externships next year. Externships are basically “month long interviews” at hospitals you are interested in going to for your residency. I was so excited that I got all of the places I want to go on the first try and they all picked my first choice month. I look forward to it but I know it will be a lot of work!

I am also working on a research paper for my school’s journal and a poster for a surgery conference!

I finished by surgery rotation back in September and started Ortho/Peds in October. A lot of people would complain about this rotation and I can definitely say that it’s tiring – especially Wednesdays when I am in clinic from 9am to 8pm. Other than that, there a lot my workshops which I really like – it makes me feel like we are learning more instead of being slaves in the clinic (lol). But with more workshops comes more practical exams (I heard they’re not too bad though!). One concern my profession has as a whole is that it’s becoming to surgery focused while forgetting about basic biomechanics and orthopedics. Being in this rotation really gave me an appreciation about how much you can help people by putting something in their shoe rather than cutting them with surgery. It made me realize that when I come out of residency, I want to be able to do everything instead of only doing surgery.

Review: Big Lies in a Small Town

Big Lies in a Small Town by Diane Chamberlain
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Published: January 14, 2020

Synopsis: This book follows the lives of 2 women – Anna Dale (1940) and Morgan Christopher (2018). Anna Dale was chosen anonymously to paint a mural for the post office in Edenton, North Carolina. Being from New Jersey, she decides to visit the small town to learn about what matters to the people who live there in order to make the new mural design. The townspeople are sour because they were hoping an artist named Martin Drapple from their small town would win. Eventually they began to warm up to her an insisted that she stayed while she worked on the mural. Fast forward to 2018 and Morgan Christopher was in prison for a crime she didn’t commit. After being in prison for about a year she is visited by the daughter of her favorite artist saying that there’s an assignment that only Morgan can perform so she can get out of jail early. The job is to restore an old mural. Morgan has been through 3 years of art school but has never taken on a task so daunting. But since it’s her only chance to get out, she willingly accepts.

Review: I was shocked by how much I enjoyed this book. Before I read it, I was in kind of a “reading slump” – not super into the audiobooks I was working my way through and only giving 3 stars max to books I was reading. This book reminded me what a 5 star book felt like – wanting to constantly continue reading, always wondering what will come next, and finishing the story in about 2 days. This book had the perfect amount of mystery to keep you guessing what was going to happen next, was organized with whose POV you were reading, and the ending came together perfectly. This was my first Diane Chamberlain book and I definitely look forward to reading more!

Recommend: I would recommend this book to people who like historical fiction and mystery! But warning – there is some racism and sexual abuse.

Thank you Netgalley & St. Martin’s Press for the ARC!

Review: Crown of Midnight

Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2) by Sarah J. Maas
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis: This book picks up with Celaena doing her work as the King’s assassin. You find out shortly that she’s not so complacent – she has been “killing” people by telling them to run away and change identities while grabbing bodies that were already dead to bring to the king. While training and working for the king, Calaena and Chaol start to get closer. While working on the next assignment, something happens that changes Calaena’s world and outlook forever.

Review: I thought this book was better than the first book in the Throne of Glass series but I still wasn’t as impressed with it compared to ACOTAR. It looks like the 3rd book gets even better so maybe it’s just a slower start to the series to get the reader acquainted with everything? I definitely still look forward to continuing it (once my library book is ready…)

Recommended: For people who like ACOTAR and fantasy.

Review: The Chain

The Chain by Adrian McKinty
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Published: July 9, 2019

Synopsis: It’s not about the money, it’s about the chain. Rachel got a call that would change her and her daughter’s life forever – her daughter was kidnapped. In order to get her back, she needs to pay a ransom and kidnap another child to keep the “chain” going.

Review: I was intrigued with this book just from the synopsis. While reading it, I could easily imagine it as a horror movie. The first part of this book was really good at showing Rachel’s emotions and hardships she was dealing with to get her daughter back. In the second part of the book every other chapter was about the people who began the chain – their upbringing all the way to present. I thought it was an interesting way to let the reader see both sides of it. Thank you Orion Publishing Group & Netgalley for the ARC!

Recommended: For people who like movies like “Saw” or mystery/thriller books.

Moving Forward

I am going to do reviews like this from now on instead of having separate posts for each book.

I aim to post 2-3 times a week – my other posts being about traveling and whatever else I feel like talking about. I would see a lot of people only talking about books on their blog/instagram and having different accounts for different things and I’m not really into that. I tried to do that on instagram but how I see it is that this blog is mine and so you’ll get all the different pieces of me – whether that’s school, travel, cooking, reading, etc.

I missed everyone that takes the time to look at this blog. I hope you are as happy as I am to be back ❤️

REVIEW: The Last Mrs. Parrish

Lindsay ShortLeave a comment
The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine
Duration: 560 pages
Genre: Thriller, Mystery
Format: ebook
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis

Amber Patterson moved to Bishops Harbor with one goal in mind – to get close to Daphne Parrish and eventually, her husband.

Review

Plot – This book made me feel like I was in a “The Real Housewives” show but with even more deceit and jaw dropping moments. I liked how the author built up the story with Amber and Daphne’s friendship and showed how Amber worked her way into their family. Then when it switched to Daphne’s POV, I enjoyed learning about the beginning of their relationship and everything that went on behind closed doors.

Writing – The first part of the book is from Ambers perspective of when she meets Daphne. The middle is Daphne’s perspective starting from when she met her husband, Jackson Parrish, throughout to when she met Amber. The last portion of the book goes between POVs. The best aspect of thrillers is thinking the story is going one way, until it goes in the complete opposite direction. By writing the story this way, the reader can appreciate the protagonists perspectives on the situation and the truth behind it.

Characters – I thought that the characters were very well played. Going along with what I said above, being able to see the different POVs really made me understand and appreciate the characters more. When I was reading reviews on this book that had lower ratings, I noticed a lot of people saying Jackson was misogynistic. He definitely was, but I think that is the point the author is trying to convey. The author is trying to paint this portrait as to how a family could look so perfect and put together, but terrible things can be happening behind closed doors. I understand that part can make women uncomfortable, but I think it was really to elaborate on making the story more heart wrenching and to understand Daphne’s motives more.

This has been the year of thrillers for me. I really liked this book – it had me in disbelief while I was listening to it. I couldn’t believe some of what was going on. Nonetheless, I definitely don’t think this book is for everyone. You need to be comfortable with reading about misogyny and with understanding that this isn’t necessarily a happy book. If you like other thrillers like Verity, I think you would enjoy this book as well.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Have you read this book? What did you think?

REVIEW: Eleanor & Park

Lindsay ShortLeave a comment
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Young Adult, Romance
Duration: 328 pages
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

“Holding Eleanor’s hand was like holding a butterfly. Or a heartbeat. Like holding something complete, and completely alive.”

Synopsis

Being the new kid in school is never easy, especially for Eleanor with her eccentric style. The first day on the bus when no one else was offering a place for her to sit, parked moved over and that spot became her official bus spot. They didn’t speak to each other but eventually Park realized that Eleanor would read his comics over his shoulder. He started giving some to take home along with music to listen to. This story is about how their relationship blossoms despite Eleanor’s hardships at home.

Review

This book was written in a very raw and beautiful way. I loved that it displayed both POVs – as Eleanor and Park, so you could see how they each view each other. This story had some points that just made me smile and giggle. I think the biggest let down of this book was how it built up to the end and then just kind of deflated – it could have been soo much better. But if you enjoy sweet romances that have a more real vibe – this book was very adorable.

⭐️⭐️⭐️