When We Were Infinite, by Kelly Loy Gilbert // Thoughts & Ramblings on a New Favorite

It’s been a long time since I last read a book that left me feeling viscerally changed. That is, until I finished reading When We Were Infinite a few days ago.

Sitting in the back of my family’s minivan, hurtling down a highway in Tennessee as rain pounded the windshield, I just stared at the blank page at the end of the book and thought- about the novel and the characters, yes, but also about how my life would never quite be the same now that I had read it. I could tell that the emotions I’d felt and the thoughts provoked by what I’d just read would be staying with me for a long, long time.

I’ve always read only recreationally, but ever since I started blogging and especially as I’ve become more involved in the world of Goodreads and ratings and reviews and to-be-read shelves and releases, I’ve become a much more critical reader. I no longer rate a book only on my enjoyment, but I’m also considering so many other factors as I read: do I truly like the characters? Am I bored at all? Is the writing exceptionally good?

Within the last year, I’ve found myself rating very few books five stars, and often I’ll already be thinking about the rating I’m going to give a book as I’m reading. (This might be unhealthy reader behavior.) When I was about a fourth of the way into When We Were Infinite, I knew it was going to be five stars. When I was halfway through When We Were Infinite, I knew I was going to need to talk about this book with someone, anyone. By the time I finished it, I knew that writing a blog post solely about this book was non-negotiable.

I’ve (much to my dismay) abandoned my blog terribly over the last school year. I wish I could attribute it to just being busy, but I know the reasoning lies much more with a lack of motivation or compelling content to blog about. But after finishing When We Were Infinite, I was overflowing with motivation and a desire to get all my thoughts out about this novel. Even if they’re scattered, even if this post isn’t as formatted as I normally would want and doesn’t follow the patterns of my ordinary content (something that caused me a lot of anguish over whether or not I should even post this), I ultimately decided that this is my book blog and there is no right or wrong way for me to talk about a book I truly loved (with no spoilers). So, here’s me doing just that- and thank you for being here. :’)

5 Books To Read While You’re Social Distancing // Aka My Top Cozy & Heartwarming Recommendations

For me, reading has been such an escape these past few weeks.

Before COVID-19 had blown up where I live, before I was quarantined in my house and I was doing online school and taking dance classes over Zoom, I hadn’t read solidly in months. A book here, finishing a book there, reading this or that required book for school- but I really wasn’t reading for fun anymore.

I definitely still haven’t caught up to my Goodreads challenge yet (I’m still more or less 10 books behind), but with more free time, I’ve started reading a lot more. These days, it feels like my mind is going a million different directions and is perpetually anxious both about the present and future, and reading has become something that’s been able to calm me down, be an escape, and allow me to end my days (and often fill my days) with something that entertains me well.

I’ve discovered some new books recently that I want a chance to talk about (because that’s just me, always screaming about books), and I also of course have some older recommendations, but ultimately, I hope this post can offer you the same comfort books have been giving me lately, and give you something to do while social distancing!

What I’ve Been Reading Lately // ft. mini reviews & YA recommendations!!

I’m back at it again with the mini reviews.

This summer has basically been one massive reading and blogging marathon for me, and I’ve been slacking on my reviews lately, so it’s no surprise that today’s post features lots of mini reviews. Shh, no, I’m not scared of full reviews at all. I read all these books in June, but I still can’t wait to scream about them today!

Much to everyone’s shock, especially my own, this post will not only have YA contemporaries in it but also a fantasy novel! I know, the day that I don’t post solely about contemporaries deserves to become some sort of holiday. Or it should at least have a plaque in its honor because this is monumental.

I’m looking forward to talking about all the good books I’ve been reading lately, so without more nonsense rambling, besides this important reminder to go vote in the 2019 Book Blogger awards, let’s get into the reviews!

The Summer Bucket List Book Tag // ft. 10 books that are perfect for summer (!!)

What could be better than books and bucket lists?

As I’ve established in my summer bucket list post from a couple weeks ago, I adore bucket lists. And obviously, due to the entirety of my blog’s content, I also adore books. That makes this tag, The Summer Bucket List Book Tag, the most perfect tag for me to do! 😉

First of all, this tag was created by Tiffany from Read By Tiffany. If you’ve never heard of Tiffany and her blog, please stop reading this post and go visit her lovely corner of the internet! I am begging you to leave my post, so you know it’s good. She’s so kind, sweet, never fails to use the best emojis, and her blog (which she recently redesigned) is the best pink, Hufflepuff aesthetic in the universe.

I’m beyond excited that she created an original tag that not only lets me exclaim how wonderful her blog is (!!) but also allows for me to talk about and recommend a whole lot of books to you all.

Let’s get into the post!✨

The Pancake Book Tag // ft. Thoughts on Book Slumps, Simon Spier, & More

It is a truth universally acknowledged that pancakes are amazing.

Even if they aren’t your favorite breakfast food (I have to admit, waffles offer some true competition), there’s something amazing about a tall, warm stack of pancakes. Especially if they have chocolate chips…or blueberries…or whipped cream… 😉

Prepare to be craving pancakes for the rest of this post, because today I’m going to be participating in Becky’s Pancake Book Tag! Being the amazing human that she is, she combined pancakes and books all into one post, and I couldn’t love it more.

This tag is incredibly creative- I love all the prompts, the beautiful graphics, and of course I can’t wait to talk about some wonderful books all the while wishing I was eating pancakes right now.

Without further ado, let’s get into the post!

5 Books To Overwhelm Your TBR With (!!) // ft. Emma Mills & Other Mini Reviews

It’s that time of the year again.

January is the month of announcing new releases. Your reader is probably full of posts about books coming in 2019, and if you’re like me, your TBR is filled to overflowing- and then you add even more to it, because GOOD BOOKS.

Well, don’t worry, I’m here to make your to-read pile suffer even more. 😉

Today I’m going to be talking about five YA contemporaries that I read in the past few weeks! These have all been released in 2018 or before, but I still think these books deserve all the love in the world.

I’m excited to start screaming, so without further ado, let’s begin!

Insta-Love vs. Slow Burn Romances // Which Makes For a Better Love Story in YA Contemporary?

Romance. An element that’s almost always present in YA contemporary.

Me being me, I spend most of my time reading YA contemporaries. So naturally, I also read about a lot of romances, which are divided into two main categories: they’re either insta-love or slow burn.

Recently, I started thinking about how both of these categories create such different storylines and really dictate the plot as a whole. Of course, that led me to wonder- which is better? The potentially overused insta-love or the occasionally boring (but sometimes wonderful) slow burn romance?

In this post, I’m going to talk about the pros and cons of both of these, compare them, and then give my final answer to the question guiding this whole post.

Let’s get started!✨

The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls Review + Author Interview!! // ft. me screaming, as usual

Half the time you can catch me obsessing over contemporaries.

And today, in a shocking turn of events, I will be obsessing over one of my favorite contemporary YA novels, The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls. I’ve been talking about this book a lot over the past few months, and in this post I’m going to be reviewing it and also sharing an interview with the author, Jessica Spotswood.

I first read this book back in July, and that’s when I originally wrote this review, but due to the logistics of everything, it’s just now getting to see the light. I’m so excited to finally be sharing all my thoughts, and doubly excited that I had the opportunity to interview the author for this post.

Without further ado, let’s get started. 😉

8 YA Contemporary Recommendations! // Mini Reviews & All the Heart Eyes

Hi, I’m Olivia, and I love contemporaries way too much.

Okay, maybe not way too much, because there’s no such thing as loving contemporaries too much. They deserve all the love and hugs and heart eyes in the world, am I right?! The answer is yes.

Today’s post is my long-awaited at least by me mini reviews of the books I got in my last library haul, as well as reviews of a couple other books that I read but that didn’t come from the library. All of these are YA contemporaries that I would recommend to all of y’all, and I hope this post helps your TBR turn into even more of a monster. 😉

Without further ado, let’s get started!

What Does It Take For Me to Cry Over Books? // + Books I’ve Shed Tears Over

You could say I’m a pretty emotional reader.

Every bookworm is different- some cry over everything, some over nothing. I’d say I’m somewhere in between. It’s complicated. 😉 Today I’m going to be talking about what is takes for me to actually shed real tears over words written on pieces of paper- otherwise known as books.

I’ve talked a little bit (in random posts I think?) about some books that made me cry, and in this post I’ll be doing that yet again. Because who doesn’t want to hear about a lot of books that will make them sob their eyes out??

Without further ado, let’s get into the post!