Contemporary's not my go-to, and I probably wouldn't have even looked twice at this book had it not been a @ForeverYoungAdult book club pick. An ambitious high schooler with big plans for her future finds out she has a rare disease that will eventually cause her to lose her memory, so she writes about her life for her future self to read. It's a bit predictable and tropey, but the main character's voice is so refreshing that I didn't mind.

I started off 2017 excited about all the books & reading challenges & being active on Litsy, & then life happened. I was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder, my grandmother died, I am no longer speaking to my dad after discovering he has a son that he's never met or supported in any way & was never planning to tell me about, & this school year has nearly caused me to throw the 8 years I've been on this teaching career path out the window.

THIS BOOK 😍. Garber has created a lush, magical, dangerously seductive world packed with twists & turns & full of dark, mysterious characters. 📚 > 🎥, but I can already imagine how visually stunning this will be on screen. I love an unreliable narrator, & in this case the setting itself fulfilled that role. At Caraval, secrets are currency, time doesn't play by the rules, & lines—between illusion & reality, trust & deceit—are constantly blurred.

Source: catster

bliss.

Dishin' out side-eye like nobody's business.

Clay gets a mysterious package: cassettes recorded by his crush Hannah, who had just killed herself. The tapes detail how she got to that point & are to be mailed to each person who played a role in her downward spiral. You know it ends with her suicide, yet as you're listening to the tapes you can't help desperately hoping someone sees what she's going through & pulls her back from the edge. Dual narration = excellent choice for the audiobook.

Finally got a chance to open my #CupidGoesPostal package. Thank you SO much, @melissanorr ! The books look interesting, and I love the bookmark - plus, I was actually thinking of buying a tarot deck, so that was an awesome surprise!! 😍

This book is a hoot & a half! I genuinely guffawed while reading, thanks to witty banter, snappy one-liners, the occasional sly pop culture reference, & some well-placed interjections from the narrators. Plus: romance, magic, & kickass women! I know zilch about the Tudors, so I don't know how history buffs will feel about the authors' liberal changes, but it's so tongue-in-cheek that I can't imagine anyone getting offended. #fyabookclub #febfyabc

#LitsyPartyofOne provisions: tasty banh mi, comfy PJs, trusty companion Soto, and—of course—a good book!

TFW I have to close my book and face the real world. 😞

Source: Stack of Books / The Prodigal Thought

Rereading these books fills my heart with so much joy (except when I nearly jumped out of my skin during the Aragog encounter, which is illustrated in TERRIFYING detail). I've read them all a million times, and this time around even caught a bit of foreshadowing for Deathly Hallows I hadn't noticed before. Now on to Prisoner of Azkaban, my absolute favorite of the series. I'm especially excited for that eventual illustrated edition! #hpchapteraday

👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

‪http://deadline.com/2017/02/shonda-rhimes-developing-comedy-luvvie-ajayi-im-judging-you-the-do-better-manual-1201900452/‬

A 21st century white girl & a freed slave from the 18th century team up to find a powerful, time-altering artifact before it falls into the wrong hands. Their search takes them through different eras & countries, and in each one she has to recognize & confront an unexplored aspect of her ignorance & privilege. I NEVER see this in time travel stories—not even in Doctor Who. Kudos to the author for tackling an uncomfortable truth & doing it so well.

This is an incredible story of the courage and sacrifice of a few that grew into a movement. I had no idea of all the role play training that went into sit-ins and other nonviolent forms of protest. Friends had to practice hurling nasty slurs at each other, harassing each other, and doing their best to provoke and tear each other down—maintaining absolute calm & composure when they were on the receiving end—in order to prepare for the real thing.

ETA Monday, @LiteraryinLititz ! #QGP1

When I first heard about this book, I knew I wanted it in audio. I enjoy memoirs in audio format anyway—there's just something about hearing a person tell their own story in their own voice—but as an avid Night Vale fan, I already loved Mara's voice. Her stories of childhood acting, her mother's death, her mental health struggles, bombing on stage at a comedy show, & navigating friendships & relationships are honest, awkward, funny, & poignant.

January stats. I rarely hit double digits, so this was a great reading month for me thanks to #24in48!

This was so much fun to read aloud to my 3rd graders after just having finished Where the Mountain Meets the Moon! They loved that book and were just as enchanted by this one with its stories-within-the-story format and heartfelt lessons of forgiveness and learning to let go. The 2 books are connected—great opportunity to practice compare and contrast and making inferences. Kiddos and I are excited to start book 3, When the Sea Turned to Silver!

#CupidGoesPostal #ValentinesBookExchange package arrived today 😍

I am in love with this shirt / it's been so hard to resist petting myself all day

#24in48 complete! 🎉🎉🎉 2 started, 2 finished, 6 read start to finish, and a 172-page dent made in A Storm of Swords. I just read for 24 hours, and all I want to do is start a new book to celebrate 😂

Final book of #24in48. Contemporary is not my go-to genre. Sometimes it's just too real for me, & this was one of those times. The description of Jessie's high school & everyone in it made my skin crawl, because it is exactly like mine, down to the tiniest detail. It made for an uncomfortable reading experience. Otherwise, it's a cute if not terribly original story—sort of a straight version of Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda. T for #LitsyAtoZ.

7th book, 2nd audiobook of #24in48. As celebrity memoirs go, there's nothing particularly unique about Anna's, but it was a fun listen. I laughed at her sense of humor, cheered at her determination that women should not be made to feel ashamed of their sexuality, and could relate to her struggles with anxiety.

6th book/1st graphic novel of #24in48. Two people who can stop time with their orgasms find each other and team up to have sex and rob banks. It's as creative and outrageous as it sounds, exploring themes like loneliness, whether the end justifies the means, and (obviously) sexuality. I probably ruined my eyesight a little trying to read the tiny text of the many jokes and gems hidden in the background art, but it was worth it. One qualm: 👇🏾

17.5 hours in to #24in48, 5th book completed! The title is pretty self-explanatory: a group of fangirls kidnap a member of the boy band they're obsessed with, and things quickly spiral out of hand while they argue over what to do with him (e.g. let him go vs. take lots of selfies vs. blackmail him for concert tickets). Equal parts ridiculous and thought provoking, this book explores fandom culture and all its implications. K for #LitsyAtoZ.

Calling it a night at 14 hours! 😴 #24in48

12 hours in to #24in48, books 3 & 4 complete. John Green's post-apocalyptic novellas about corn-hoarding zombies are entertaining, dark, & philosophical in that John Green way. The sequel (no entry on Litsy) suffered from some inconsistencies & lack of a satisfying ending. This is my Z for #LitsyAtoZ, & I'm also going to use it for my belated #readjanuary day 20 #thiscovermakesnosense as there are no unicorns in these books. @RealLifeReading

9 hours in to #24in48, second book completed. This was my zillionth reread of Sorcerer's Stone, but my first full read-through of the illustrated edition. The illustrated edition worked out nicely for @hpchapteraday - I found myself reading a little more slowly to savor the gorgeous art, so limiting myself to only one chapter at a time wasn't as agonizing as expected.

Just hit the 6-hour mark in #24in48. Time for lunch! Did anyone else not plan a TBR ahead of time? I'm penciling in my books on the right-hand page as I read them — I'll figure out how to organize them into something pretty at the end.

Leah starts this book by revealing that her relationship with her husband began when he was married to another woman, that her father did time for selling drugs, & that her mother was "a self-admitted slut in her younger days." Why? So the "church" of Scientology can't use it against her or her family for coming forward with this book. She's incredibly brave & adept at explaining both why Scientology appeals to so many & why it is so fucked up.

3.5 hours into my first #24in48 readathon! My only outings today will be therapy, getting bagels for me and the husband, and the post office to send off my #CupidGoesPostal #ValentinesBookExchange gifts, then it's back to reading!

Day 19: #endpapers. @RealLifeReading #readjanuary

Belated day 18: #royals. I have a soft spot for evil villain backstories, and nobody does it like Marissa Meyer! This is a Queen of Hearts origin story that begins when she was just Catherine. Before she was lopping off heads, she was a girl destined to marry the king but with her own dreams of an illicit romance with the court joker and running a bakery with her best friend. Excellently crafted characters, action, humor, and heartbreak.

sick day 😷 - spending it in bed with chocolate, a book, and A Series of Unfortunate Events.

Alex, a bruja who just wants to be "normal," goes on a quest to save her family after accidentally banishing them to a strange land in an attempt to get rid of her magic. This was an interesting, Alice-in-Wonderland-esque take on witchcraft & Latin American mythology that had a fascinating world but suffered from tropes, lack of character development (beyond their diversity, which was great), & characters' making frustratingly bad decisions.

*eye twitch*

Day 17: #recommendedby my mom. She thought this book was hysterical. On the to-read list it goes! @RealLifeReading #readjanuary

Day 16: #inspiredbymartinlutherkingjr. Last Friday, I showed my 3rd grade class this video, The Story of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Kid President: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4xXZhXTFWnE In it, Kid President talks about meeting Dr. King's son and pledges to #bookitforward by sending 30 copies of Martin Luther King III's book to a school in his town. @RealLifeReading #readjanuary

In the year 2118, all of Manhattan is enclosed inside a 1000-floor tower, the floor you live on designating your wealth & social status. Interesting premise, flat execution. The way the tower was 1st described made it sound like an apartment building, & it was difficult to wrap my mind around roads, schools, parks, etc. inside. I enjoyed the PLL-style drama, but it would have been better had that same time & effort been put into world-building.

Day 14: #fortheloveoffonts. I know everyone raves about the audiobook versions of Illuminae and Gemina, but the unique visual format contributes so much to the reading experience. @RealLifeReading #readjanuary

Day 13: #setinmycity. @RealLifeReading #readjanuary

Belated Day 12: #girlinthetitle. @RealLifeReading #readjanuary

As a huge TGIT fan, I was really excited to read this book. I'm glad I went for the audio, because not only is she a great writer, she's also a captivating storyteller. As a huge introvert, there was so much of this book I could relate to. I couldn't help but admire her resolve to face her fears as she put herself out there again & again, & I found myself cheering her on this uplifting & inspiring journey from dark & twisty to standing in the sun.

Day 11: #DNF. I don't DNF books very often, because I hate not knowing things (even the ending to a crappy book), but I did DNF this series. I enjoyed the first one, but the second one was a struggle. I didn't want to stick around to confirm the pattern, and from what I hear, I made the right call. 🙃 @RealLifeReading #readjanuary

Day 10: #bookseveryonebutyouhasread. I KNOWWW 🤦🏾‍♀️ But hey, that's what @SerialReader is for, right? @RealLifeReading #readjanuary

Belated day 9: #readingequipment. Kindle disguised as composition book, knee pillow because I'm old AF, trusty companion Soto because I'm also a child, bendy booklight, and the bullet journal I started on a whim over the weekend that is dedicated solely to books. 📚💕 @RealLifeReading #readjanuary

A few months ago, I saw a Twitter thread in which Zentner & his followers (including Rainbow Rowell 💔) ridiculed a 1-star reviewer by dredging up her Amazon history. It was mean, immature, misogynistic, & would have caused me to not read the book had I not already possessed a (signed) copy. Knowing that, I'm almost mad that this book was so fucking excellent. It's harder to reconcile that he's actually talented & also an asshole on the Internet.