Bibliomanic Bookworm

Today, I have decided to tell you about my experience with Owlcrate. I always hear and see people asking, “What is the best book subscription box?” And I figured it wouldn’t hurt to let you guys know what I think on the matter. Keep in mind, I am completely biased, because this is the only book subscription box I have ever received. My July 2016 Owlcrate! Owlcrate is a monthly subscription box that sends you a new release, hardback book (Now with exclusive covers only found in Owlcrate!) and some bookish goodies. Each month there is a new theme that the whole box is based on. Owlcrate is YA books only, but they now have come out with an Owlcrate Jr. that is middle grade books. Each books genre is based on the theme, so whether you get a YA contemporary or a YA fantasy is up to the theme. Now like I said, this is the only book subscription box I have received. Because after my first 3-month subscription, I knew I didn’t want any other book box.

Goodreads Summary *NO SPOILERS* The Hunt is a fresh, new take on what it means to be a vampire, while also nodding back to the classic stereotypes. I liked this book it was a lot of fun to read, and I don’t think it over-did it too much on the cheesy vampire part. The plot was extremely interesting with a lot of action, and just enough romance slipped in between scenes to make it an awesome find. Now saying that, I won’t be picking up the sequel, and here’s why. This book was a Bookoutlet pick that came super cheap. At the time I was also trying to add enough to my cart to get a discounted price off my total, so this was a book that when I read the synopsis I was interested in it, but ultimately was just a filler book in my cart. Since then (about two years ago) this book has sat untouched on my TBR shelf. Since this book is a part of my Book-Tube-A-Thon review series, the only thing that made me pick up this book was the challenges, and the overwhelming need to

Today I want to share with you some things that really irk my nerves when reading. Some things just get to me in a book, and here are some examples: Not having chapter numbers - I don’t really have a valid explanation as to why this gets to me, but it does. Sometimes I get motivation to finish a book by calculating how many chapters I have left based on how many chapters there are total. I CAN’T DO THAT WITHOUT CHAPTER NUMBERS!! Not naming the POV’s- If your book has multiple points of view… PLEASE LABEL THEM. I hate having to figure out whose chapters I’m reading. If you don’t make it insanely obvious, please assume I don’t know who is who, okay?   Dog-eared pages- This one is pretty self-explanitory. I like to keep my books very pristine and in tip-top shape, so don’t go around messing up the corners of my pages. Unless you want a very angry Madi Monster on your hands 😊 .   Bent paperback covers- Most of the time after I read a paperback, the front

Goodreads Summary *NO SPOILERS* One of us is lying is a mixture of murder mystery and inspiration from the breakfast club. Upon finishing this book, I sat here staring at my screen debating about what I could say about this book, because I felt that it was an alright read. In my opinion, this book is way over hyped but that hype was one of the reasons I kept reading. Yes, I liked the romance and the friendships made in this book, but that isn’t what the story is about. I felt that the suspense was a little too drawn out and it made me excited to finish so I could figure it out and be done with it. And then when I did finally get to the big reveal, I felt as if it fell a little short. I was expecting it to be a huge “ah-ha” moment but it was just glossed over and moved on to the next piece of the puzzle. I think it had a lot of drama that I could have done without, even if it did make sense with the story. I really was expecting to love this book, but I thought it

Today I want to share with you all some things that make me completely lose interest in a book. Whether I’m in the middle of reading it or I’m just checking out the synopsis, these things are a sure sign of a DNF (Did not finish) book. The Well Thumbed Reader inspired this post! Click on the link to see her blog. Insta-love- I HATE books that the characters fall in “love at first sight.” I don’t believe in that, and will run away from the book and never think of it again. I want the characters to get to know each other first, because I think it makes their story more endearing than when they automatically become boyfriend and girlfriend. sport books- Honestly, I couldn’t care less about sports in reality, so why would I want to read about them? short time spans- I’ll probably contradict myself in this one, but I don’t like it when all the action happens in one day. I want things to be evenly paced, and I don’t want a book that skips too much time, because the

It’s just another Manic Monday! Today’s special mention is… PANDAM DESIGNS!!!! Harry Potter Sticker Collection. Pandam designs is a company that designs and makes bookmarks (magnetic and regular). They also design art prints, postcards, stickers, pins, and buttons! The company will also accept customized design ideas. Everything I have seen from this company is high quality and super cute! Shadowhunter Bookmark Set.  There are character bookmark sets, such as: Shadowhunters, Game of Thrones, Hunger Games, etc. You will just need to check out their Instagram page for all of their awesome photos! Pin Collection Their Instagram Handle is @pandam_ph and you can place an order through the link in their bio. Prices are listed at the bottom of the order form. They will also be having a special giveaway when they hit 1K followers on Instagram! So be sure you follow and share their content! Pandam Designs Logo. Thank you for viewing

Goodreads Summary *NO SPOILERS* Wildman is such a touching story about a stranger’s understanding and the way you can connect to anyone. Wildman also deals with upholding expectations and how sometimes the best moments in life can catch you off guard. Wildman has been getting some MAJOR hype lately and was one of the main reasons I bought it, and it didn’t disappoint. It was such a great story and reminded me of Jeff Zentner’s The Serpent King . Both books will make you instantly fall in love and leave a lasting impression. This book was unique in its own way, and held me captive from the start. This book kept coming with new things to throw at the reader just when you thought they were good. The characters were super relatable and had depth to them. I also really loved the book’s cover because of how well it fits with the story and it is pleasing/intriguing to the eye. Not only is the dust jacket great, but the naked cover is awesome as well. This book checks off

Goodreads Summary *NO SPOILERS* Armada is such a fantastic combination of Sci-fi genius and geek pop culture with a little bit of the right kind of humor, you won’t want to put it down! Not only is it all of this but it’s action-packed too! This book is everything you ever wanted in a sci-fi book. I absolutely loved Armada! It took me a few chapters to warm up to it but after that it was nothing but instant love. One of the reasons I had for picking up this book was because I read his other work, Ready Player One, and couldn’t get enough. I didn’t have high expectations going into this book and was a little discouraged at the beginning, but when things started to pick up, all of my doubts flew out the door. Honestly, after just these two books, Ernest Cline is now one of my favorite authors and from now on will be an instant buy. I loved all of the videogame references and appreciated all of the time and research that went into connecting all of these real-life th

Today I will tell you about some things in a book that make me want to immediately pick it up. Things that you could tell me to get me to buy it without even looking at the book, key words that make think, “Yep, that is my kind of book!” So, let’s get started! Fairytale Retelling - I’m a sucker for any fairytale, and when they are re-imagined? Even better! I love to read a new take on the story and see how well they integrated parts of the original by comparing the two works. Pirates/Sirens - Seriously guys, this is an amazing concept you can do so much with, that is really underappreciated. I love anything to do with these two groups! And if you still aren’t sure about this category, then go read The Pirate King’s Daughter by Tricia Levenseller which has both! 😉 Mental Illness- I love learning about how people deal with different ailments and I like to educate myself on different types of mental illnesses. Unfortunately, there are so many different

It’s just another Manic Monday! And today I want to feature… BIBLIOFILE!! The Bibliofile is a reading journal that helps you keep track of what books you have read and acquired. The first time I heard about this was a few days ago on the Amino app in the Books and Writing community. I thought it was such a cool thing to have, because I’m always struggling to keep up with what I have read and bought! This reading log also has pages for quotes and other fun pages to fill in. This product can be purchased on Amazon.com (This post is in no way sponsored or endorsed, I have chosen of my own free will o share this product with you guys). Let me know how you keep track of what you’ve read in the comments below! And let me know if you would like for me to do a post on my reading log and the way I keep up with my books.

Goodreads Summary *NO SPOILERS* Here and Gone is an alluring tale of a mother’s struggle to reclaim her children from backwards cops while fighting off self-doubts and the public’s condemnation. Overall, I liked Here and Gone . This book is a nice change from my usual reading genres, but I had a few problems with some of the logic in this book. I’m new to reading mysteries/thrillers so I haven’t yet trained my brain to not point out all of the steps not taken to solve the murder/mystery. For example, why don’t people use lie detectors or drug tests to figure out if a suspect really is a suspect? Ignoring these things, I really enjoyed the author’s writing style even though this book took a while to pick up action wise. I was expecting something to blow up or some gun fights right off the bat, but I forgot you also have to tell a story. This being a new experience for me, I think I was expecting more than what the author could give me. I really liked most aspects

Goodreads Summary *NO SPOILERS* After Hours is an unexceptional book that left me struggling to finish. A book about dares that had me excited to read, because I thought it would be similar to Nerve by Jeanne Ryan, but was not well written and not exciting at all. While reading this book I found some grammar and spelling errors which was really annoying and the dares in the book weren’t exciting at all. They were lackluster and this book kept piling up problems one by one. I also had a problem with the pacing in this book, whole weeks would go by with nothing happening. And the multiple point of views was really unorganized, and broke up the flow of the story. I didn’t like this book at all and was excited to finish just so I could start another book. It wasn’t extremely hard to read; the authors writing was alright, it was just boring and unimaginative. Good thing this book was short, or I would have had to label it DNF. This book was super predictable and uncreat

Goodreads Summary *NO SPOILERS* This book was everything I never knew I wanted. A little dark with an irresistible romance that keeps you hooked from the first page. This was such a short book, 200 pages or so, and I wanted more! The writing style was outstanding and I loved the story-line. A mix between realistic fiction and mystery that is also a young adult contemporary novel. I really loved the effortless feel of this book, how it is such a simple concept and it read as if you were watching a movie. I finished this book in a day because of the length but also because of the way it demanded to be read in one sitting. I will definitely pick up any other book(s) from this author because of this book. Wasn’t very original and was very predictable, but I don’t care! I felt like I could relate to (some) of these characters and understood where they were coming from. This book made me ‘aww’ and made my heart race at all the right times. As you know I give out brown

  I am participating in this year’s booktubeathon! Last year was the first time that I participated and I had so much fun! This year will be even better because I have an idea about what is going on and what I’m doing. So for those of you who don’t know what booktubeathon is it is a read-a-thon (Like a reading marathon) that lasts all week. So from July 24 th through July 30 th you try to read as many books as possible to cut down on your to be read pile. There are fun things throughout the week too, like giveaways and reading challenges and Twitter sprints. This was made for booktube (Youtube) but since then has evolved to include bookstagram (Instagram) and Twitter. So if you are interested in learning more or just want to check it out to see what it is all about go follow @booktubeathon on Twitter, Youtube, and Instagram. So now I will reveal the reading challenges for this year:            Read a book with a person on the cover       .     Read a hyped book

So I have just recently come up with the idea of doing a post every Monday on bookish things and new releases to go crazy over! In these segments I plan on including things such as: Authors, publishers, new releases, bookish products/accessorizes, indie book stores, fan art, subscription boxes, etc. If there is a category you would like to see, but it isn't listed here, let me know in the comments! Also if there is something specific you think I should feature please contact me and let me know! for my first Manic Monday I am choosing to feature... THUMB THINGS! Yay! These cool gadgets have been on my wishlist for ages! It is so simple but awesome and has the potential to be extremely useful! I always find myself holding my book with one hand and have trouble keeping the book open enough for me to read. This would help me out a lot and I'm sure it could help you too if you find yourself having these same problems. These gadgets are available to purchase on Amazon.co

Most people like to have a drink and a snack with them when reading, the question is though, whether you prefer coffee or tea? Now as a southern white girl (I can just see the stereotypes piling up) I was raised on Starbucks and Sweet Tea. Although I tend to drink more coffee than tea, I still like both. One can argue that these two things don't really count as tea or coffee seeing as they are all sugared up and transformed from their original state. But honestly, when i'm reading I don't usually drink anything, and if I do it's water. The only time I make coffee or tea myself, is when I want to take a cool bookstagram picture, and then I end up dumping it out without drinking it. I have an owlcrate subscription so when they pack tea into their boxes I usually just keep them around for keepsake purposes. Sometimes I will get the courage to actually drink those teas, but I end up not liking them because they are too bitter or have no taste. Does anyone else share

Goodreads Summary *NO SPOILERS* This book is so beautifully written and intriguing that I want more! This book reminded me a little of Kasie West’s P.S I like you and is one of the reasons I liked it. The main character can be a little annoying at times, and I had to put the book down once or twice from major second-hand embarrassment. Despite that, I really enjoyed this book. Yes, this book does have a love triangle in it, but it is one of those that you love to hate. This story was so cute and charming, I was smiling all the way through. This book also deals with some relevant topics to today, such as: Societal hierarchy, stereotypes, and judgement. This isn’t the first book of its kind, but Roat manages to remake it just enough to be unfamiliar. This book had me on the edge of my seat waiting to see what would come next. The characters were so fun and had so much personality that I felt like I could really relate to each of them. Bonus points are certainly awa

Goodreads Summary *NO SPOILERS* Kevin Hart knows how to write a book full of wisdom and humor. Not only can he crack jokes he can impart some strong advice. After finishing this book all I wanted to do was write a long message to Kevin explaining how much he has motivated me, and how his book managed to positively impact my day. His book is the first autobiography I have ever read, and he has made me want to read more from that genre. I don’t know what possessed me to pick it up, but I’m glad I did! Not only is it an inspiring story about the ups and downs in life, it has pictures to accompany it! I loved reading about his progression as a person. From working to become a comedian, to evolving in his relationships to become a better man. Kevin sets the bar high in his determination and work ethic, he reminds us that you have to be all in and have a network of supporters to call on for help. I like his approach to life, and I can only hope to accomplish a portion of