Thursday Quotables

Some slight blogging changes…

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So I’ve been feeling a little overwhelmed lately with being in charge of everything to do with moving to a new place and moving my mom in with us and working hard on my recovery, so my blogging is really falling by the wayside.

I’ve also been thinking a lot about original content vs. the weekly book memes I do. Obviously my blog is weighted to the latter and I’d rather it was more even.

So I’ve been thinking about what I can change.

First of all, I found a new format for my quotes. Instead of posting them all in one post I’ve been scheduling daily quote posts whenever I finish a book. I really like doing it this way and I’m definitely keeping that.

Which brings me to the fact that I have several book meme posts that are quote centric, and that seems redundant…

So secondly, I’m cutting out Thursday Quotables. I love it, but it just doesn’t make sense to have it when I have my other quote posts.

I’m definitely keeping First Lines Fridays, it’s my absolute favorite of the bookish memes I do. I love the idea of judging a book solely off the first line(s). But as we all know some really good books have really boring first lines, so I don’t do a FLF for every book I get like I could.

Which brings me to the third thing:  From now on, Teaser Tuesday is solely to supplement First Lines Fridays. Whenever a book has a first line so crappy I’m not willing to do an FLF post for it, I’ll do a Teaser Tuesday on it! That way I get at least one teaser “judge this book on a quote” style post for each book I read.

Fourthly, I’m going to quit WWW Wednesday because I feel like I repeat myself too much when I use that one… Almost everything I have to say about the books I say someplace else in some other format.

Fifth on the list of changes, I will now be alternating What Are You Reading Wednesday and Friday 56. Meaning, if I do one on a book I’m reading, I won’t do the other. Sometimes when I’m looking on page 34/34% I can’t find anything worth posting, so when that happens I’ll try using page 56/56% instead. That way I have at least one post of that sort each week.

I plan to keep doing Top 5 Wednesday whenever I have something for the prompt, and I would like to get back on top of Musing Monday. So those aren’t changes, just something I’ll try to make more of an effort on.

As for book photo posts:  I will keep doing my original Dedication Spotlight idea, and I will keep doing Tomes & Tea occasionally. I’m also hoping that after this move is done I can get back into doing some Book Photo Challenges.

And of course I hope to keep coming up with reviews and other original content.

Older posts from the book memes I’m quitting will still be available on my blog, they just won’t be linked in the sidebar anymore, and for the record I still totally like those lovely memes, I just feel like I need to focus a bit more.

That’s everything, I think. Wish me luck!

Thursday Quotables: June 28, 2018

LeeLeave a comment

This weekly feature is the place to highlight a great quote, line, or passage discovered during your reading each week; whether it’s something funny, startling, gut-wrenching, or just really beautifully written.

Because life is an ugly, awful place to not have a best friend.

Summary:

Halley has always followed in the wake of her best friend, Scarlett. But when Scarlett learns that her boyfriend has been killed in a motorcycle accident, and that she’s carrying his baby, she’s devastated. For the first time ever, Scarlett really needs Halley. Their friendship may bend under the weight, but it’ll never break—because a true friendship is a promise you keep forever.

Thank you Bookshelf Fantasies for this fun book meme!

Thursday Quotables: June 14, 2018

LeeLeave a comment

This weekly feature is the place to highlight a great quote, line, or passage discovered during your reading each week; whether it’s something funny, startling, gut-wrenching, or just really beautifully written.

It was as if I was attached to her with a tether, her every movement yanking at me, my own hands reaching to shield her from the dangers of her waving arms.

Summary:

The more things change…

For fifteen-year-old Haven, there’s just too much going on.

First, there’s her father’s wedding to Lorna Queen, the local television “Weather Pet.” Then her sister Ashley’s wedding to boring Lewis Warsher, who doesn’t seem to suit Ashley at all. And Haven can’t ignore the fact that she’s nearly six feet tall and still growing. Haven can barely figure out who she is anymore or where she fits in.

Then Ashley’s old boyfriend, Sumner Lee, shows up and sparks Haven’s memories of the summer when her parents were happy, her sister was plucky and carefree, and everything was perfect…or so it seemed.

Thank you Bookshelf Fantasies for this fun book meme!

Thursday Quotables: April 26, 2018

LeeLeave a comment

This weekly feature is the place to highlight a great quote, line, or passage discovered during your reading each week; whether it’s something funny, startling, gut-wrenching, or just really beautifully written.

Big weddings meant big money and, with Bee’s fiancé, Kevin Yu, from a family that owned a big pharmaceutical company, big attention. Personally, I wanted to know if she planned to change her name, switching from Bee Little to Bee Yu, but had not found a way to work this into a meeting. Yet.

Summary:

As bubbly as champagne and delectable as wedding cake, Once and for All, Sarah Dessen’s thirteenth novel, is set in the world of wedding planning, where crises are routine.

Louna, daughter of famed wedding planner Natalie Barrett, has seen every sort of wedding: on the beach, at historic mansions, in fancy hotels and clubs. Perhaps that’s why she’s cynical about happily-ever-after endings, especially since her own first love ended tragically. When Louna meets charming, happy-go-lucky serial dater Ambrose, she holds him at arm’s length. But Ambrose isn’t about to be discouraged, now that he’s met the one girl he really wants.

Sarah Dessen’s many, many fans will adore her latest, a richly satisfying, enormously entertaining story that has everything—humor, romance, and an ending both happy and imperfect, just like life itself.

Thank you Bookshelf Fantasies for this fun book meme!

Thursday Quotables: April 12, 2018

LeeLeave a comment

This weekly feature is the place to highlight a great quote, line, or passage discovered during your reading each week; whether it’s something funny, startling, gut-wrenching, or just really beautifully written.

Mother prescribing her books like medicines. A good dose of Whitman would set me straight, like caster oil.

Summary:

Astrid is the only child of a single mother, Ingrid, a brilliant, obsessed poet who wields her luminous beauty to intimidate and manipulate men. Astrid worships her mother and cherishes their private world full of ritual and mystery – but their idyll is shattered when Astrid’s mother falls apart over a lover. Deranged by rejection, Ingrid murders the man, and is sentenced to life in prison.

White Oleander is the unforgettable story of Astrid’s journey through a series of foster homes and her efforts to find a place for herself in impossible circumstances. Each home is its own universe, with a new set of laws and lessons to be learned. With determination and humor, Astrid confronts the challenges of loneliness and poverty, and strives to learn who a motherless child in an indifferent world can become.

Thank you Bookshelf Fantasies for this fun book meme!

Thursday Quotables: February 15, 2018

LeeLeave a comment

This weekly feature is the place to highlight a great quote, line, or passage discovered during your reading each week; whether it’s something funny, startling, gut-wrenching, or just really beautifully written.

Maps had always interested her; there was something bewitching in knowing one’s precise location in relation to others on the earth.

Summary:

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.

Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king’s council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she’ll serve the kingdom for four years and then be granted her freedom. Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilarating. But she’s bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her … but it’s the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead … quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

Thank you Bookshelf Fantasies for this fun book meme!

Thursday Quotables: February 1, 2018

LeeLeave a comment

This weekly feature is the place to highlight a great quote, line, or passage discovered during your reading each week; whether it’s something funny, startling, gut-wrenching, or just really beautifully written.

But on this night, for this Volkking’s death, when the Death Maiden no longer cried out, and the beating hands had tired, and throats were too raw to howl again, and silence flowed like night out of the low doorway of the Death House, flames erupted —

Summary:

Newbery Medalist Cynthia Voigt depicts the parallel quests of two extraordinary young women with power and compassion in this fourth and final book in the Tales of the Kingdom series.

Elske is a girl with no future—until her grandmother’s sacrifice saves her from certain death. Beriel is an imperious princess, determined to claim the kingdom that is her birthright. Fate brings them together, both exiles, one servant to the other. Elske offers Beriel steadfast loyalty and courage, precious qualities in a dangerous quest to regain the throne she has been denied by treachery. And for Elske, the handmaiden, Beriel’s proud example provides a perhaps even more precious gift—the strength to look within. As Elske seeks to find her true self and Beriel battles to reclaim what is rightfully hers, both discover the value, and the price, of reaching the journey’s end.

Thank you Bookshelf Fantasies for this fun book meme!

Thursday Quotables: January 25, 2018

LeeLeave a comment

This weekly feature is the place to highlight a great quote, line, or passage discovered during your reading each week; whether it’s something funny, startling, gut-wrenching, or just really beautifully written.

What kind of a world was it where in order to be on top you had to push others under — as if you were pushing heads down underwater — and hold them there until they drowned, and then you could be on top.

Summary:

The prospect of freedom is weighted with danger in this tale of high adventure, the third book in the Tales of the Kingdom series from Newbery Medalist Cynthia Voigt.

Oriel has always stood out as someone who would not bend. No matter how much he has had to endure, the Damall’s cruelty cannot corrupt him. Griff, a boy who has watched and admired Oriel, is the opposite. He has learned to keep out of sight, to bow in the face of force. Yet the two became friends, and together they escaped from the terrors of the island and take with them the Damall’s most prized relic—the beryl, a green gemstone engraved with a falcon, its wings unfolding. But as they seek a new life, it’s not as easy as they’d hoped, for ahead lie raiding Wolfers, rival armies, and unspeakable dangers…

Thank you Bookshelf Fantasies for this fun book meme!

Thursday Quotables: January 11, 2018

LeeLeave a comment

This weekly feature is the place to highlight a great quote, line, or passage discovered during your reading each week; whether it’s something funny, startling, gut-wrenching, or just really beautifully written.

I am a thornbush, bristling from the over-attention of my parents, and he is a man of a million little fatherly stab wounds, and my thorns fit perfectly into them.

Summary:

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy’s diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?

Thank you Bookshelf Fantasies for this fun book meme!

Thursday Quotables: January 4, 2018

LeeLeave a comment

This weekly feature is the place to highlight a great quote, line, or passage discovered during your reading each week; whether it’s something funny, startling, gut-wrenching, or just really beautifully written.

Darkness, though, grows like a cave formation. Slow drips from the uneasiness harden over the surface of a slick knob of pain. Over time, the darkness crusts in unpredictable layers, growing at such a pace that one doesn’t notice it has filled every cavern under the skin until movement becomes difficult or even impossible.

Summary:

Here is a thing everyone wants: a miracle.
Here is a thing everyone fears: what it takes to get one.

Any visitor to Bicho Raro, Colorado is likely to find a landscape of dark saints, forbidden love, scientific dreams, miracle-mad owls, estranged affections, one or two orphans, and a sky full of watchful desert stars.

At the heart of this place you will find the Soria family, who all have the ability to perform unusual miracles. And at the heart of this family are three cousins longing to change its future: Beatriz, the girl without feelings, who wants only to be free to examine her thoughts; Daniel, the Saint of Bicho Raro, who performs miracles for everyone but himself; and Joaquin, who spends his nights running a renegade radio station under the name Diablo Diablo.

They are all looking for a miracle. But the miracles of Bicho Raro are never quite what you expect.

Thank you Bookshelf Fantasies for this fun book meme!