Top 5 Tuesday: Surprising 2019 Reads!

I swear I'm not leaving again! It just turns out that back-to-back Thanksgivings and hosting 14 people was a little more than I anticipated. Who would've guessed?! Idk, maybe everyone. Anywho, the Holiday week was a freaking whirlwind to say the absolute least. I did have a wonderful time and everything went really smoothly with our first hosting of a family holiday so I'm putting this one in the win column!

2019 has been kind of a disappointing year, reading-wise for me. With so many things going on (liver donation surgery, my husband finishing his PhD, moving to New Mexico) reading has taken a back seat. I'm really looking forward to 2020 and stepping everything back up again with my reading, reviewing and blogging. We've also got our first ski trip coming up this weekend and I literally couldn't be more amped. Anyway, today I wanted to participate in Top 5 Tuesday! A weekly meme hosted by Bionic Book Worm and this weeks topic is 2019's most surprising reads!

Continue reading...

Review: The Other Woman by Sandie Jones!

So, apparently hosting a Thanksgiving for 14 people is more than I previously anticipated. Apologies readers for missing my Food Friday post but I've got a new recipe scheduled for this Friday so keep an eye out! Especially since everyone will be particularly hungry right after Thanksgiving! In the mean time, I'll be reviewing The Other Woman by Sandie Jones!

Continue reading...

Review + Recipe: Children of Blood and Bone + Jollof Rice!

Welcome back to the table readers! I'm really excited to be bringing y'all my first recipe and a read post since my short hiatus. It really is one of my favorite things about this blog that I get to explore different techniques and foods from all over the world. I've made Korean, English, Cuban, Middle Eastern, Italian, Mexican and the list goes on. It's so fun and I'm thrilled to be taking y'all (any myself) to another new location: Nigeria! Jollof rice is one of the most common dishes in West Africa and there's tons of regional variations. I'm sticking with a more traditional recipe for today but in my research I saw numerous incredibly tasty looking options.

Continue reading...

Top 10 Tuesday: Reading Changes!

Y'all. The universe, straight up, does not want me to get a hair cut. Can't a girl just try to look nice when she's hosting her first full Thanksgiving for 14 people?!?!?! I've had my appointment cancelled twice now and it's a for real beat down. You know what isn't a beat down though? Top 10 Tuesday! This one always stresses me out a little because coming up with 10 things always feels a tad overwhelming.

But you know, because I'm a *maverick* (just kidding) I'll be participating in this weeks Top 10 Tuesday ANYWAY. Top 10 Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Artsy Reader and this weeks topic is changes to your reading life! 

Continue reading...

Top 3 Thursday: Favorite Backlist Reads!

As I mentioned in a few of my previous posts, I'm a SHEEP when it comes to reading. I always find myself looking at my TBR saying "you know, I'm gonna read this book that's been sitting here rejected for 56 million years" and then I see a shiny new release that all my GR and blogging friends are reading and I toss that sentiment to the wind and board the hype-train. Leaving these non-new releases sitting sad and alone, when they deserve to shine too! So tickle-me-pink when I see that today's Top 3 Thursday post is all about our favorite backlist reads from 2019!

Continue reading...

Review: Lock Every Door by Riley Sager!

Jules Larsen does not have an enviable life. In fact, her life is decidedly a raging dumpster fire. She's lost her job and she's lost her boyfriend - and all in one day. She's got no family to lean on, no money in the bank and no prospects on the horizon that might help pull her out of the hole she's found herself in. Living on her best friends couch with a bleak outlook on the future Jules seems to have hit rock bottom. But that's the thing about "rock bottom" isn't it? Once you're there, there's no where to go but up.

Continue reading...

Top 5 Tuesday: Authors I Need to Read!

On today's episode of "Things Christina Learns About Herself", Christina learns that she starts all of her blog posts with some iteration of "Happy [insert something related to the day of the week as if the readers of this blog don't know what day of the week it is]". So to break with tradition I'm wishing you all a very somber, sad Tuesday. Just kidding! But I do need to come up with some other shtick to start my posts, good lord but I'm redundant.

Today I'm participating in Top 5 Tuesday a weekly meme hosted by Bionic Book Worm where different topics are explored each week. This week is "authors I need to read", so off we go! 

Continue reading...

Review: Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey

Happy Friday to all my party people! I'm doing my level best to not make *another* liar out of myself and delivering on the 86 million backlogged reviews I have waiting for you! I'm starting however, with a few more of my recent reads since they're fresh on the brain.

Continue reading...

Top 5 Tuesday: Top 5 Books On My Current TBR!

Happy hump-day fellow readers! As I mentioned yesterday I'm working on getting back into the swing of blogging and I've got another review coming at y'all on Friday. I didn't want to stack too many of them back to back and I love these little bookish memes so I thought this would be a fun way to break up the week! I know it's technically Wednesday, but Top 5 Wednesday is on a hiatus so I thought #yolo I'd just to the T5T post today!

Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Bionic Book Worm where various topics are explored every week. If you haven't checked out her blog I can't suggest it enough! It's a great way to explore lots of fun book options. 

Continue reading...

ARC Review: The Toll by Neal Shusterman!

A big fat happy publication day to the final installment of one of my favorite series, Arc of a Scythe by Neal Shusterman! I'm forever going to stan Shusterman and forever trying to dig myself out of my blogging slump. So, what better way to kill two birds with one stone than to come back to the game with a review of The Toll provided to me directly from Simon & Schuster. So first and foremost, thank you a million times to Simon & Schuster for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I know it's been a hot minute since I've been on here but I've got a ton of back logged reviews and while I'm going to try to take it a bit slow I'm ready to dive back into reviewing and blogging. As it turns out, moving 700 miles and adopting a new puppy is a lot to adjust to! So without further ado, on to the review!

Continue reading...