List of the most popular hashtags for theme #BOOKISHLIFE

Happy Sunday! I was up with the sun this morning (thanks, internal clock) but I couldn't resist snapping a photo of my June picks in this morning light. I'm only about 150 pages into ATLWCS, and I'm a little concerned I won't be able to finish it before it's due back at the library! If so, I might end up buying my own copy because it is absolutely beautifully written and I think it's worthy of ownership. QOTD: Early riser or night owl?

Sunday mornings with cafecito, de Beauvoir, Salter and my geraniums

what is the most-quotable book or movie you can think of? ⠀ Apart from Harry Potter, because..obviously..... I also quote Mean Girls so so often. Its so weird to think how much that movie impacted me and the way I react to situations, there’s a Mean Girls quote to EVERYTHING! ⠀ One of my all-time favorite quotes is DEFINITELY “I solemnly swear I’m up to no good”, and when I saw this keychain in the @thebookishbox’s June Box, I lost it. It was definitely my favorite item!! You guys NEED to check out this subscription service, ESPECIALLY for this next months box, the theme is: FORBIDDEN FOREST! I’m so excited. If you wanna grab one for yourself, you can use my code MELTHEAUROR10 to save! Hope you all have a great day!✨

Finished my 27th trip around the sun today! ☺️☀️ #blessed⁣ ⁣ ⁣ THANK YOU ALL, so so much, for all of the birthday wishes on my previous post! If someone would have told me a year ago today that I’d have friends from all over the country and world wishing me a Happy Birthday I’d laugh in their face. No doubt in my mind that the #Bookstagram community is the nicest and most heartfelt one out there on the internet! I have met so many amazing friends simply because of BOOKS and I am forever thankful. ⁣ ⁣ ⁣ I wanted to picture some of my favorite reads from my 26th year of life! Some of these books changed my life; some of them I still think about often; some of them pushed me out of my reading comfort-zone; and some of them are automatic recommends that I tell anyone and everyone who reads to read. ⁣ ⁣ What’s a book that changed YOUR life? ⁣ ⁣ ⁣ ⁣ P.S. - also wishing a Happy Birthday to my new friend & birthday twin @bookgirlgen ! ⁣ ⁣ ⁣ ⁣ ⁣ #happybirthday #bookbirthday #bookstagrammer #bibliophile #bookish #bookworm #bookaddict #bookblogger #bookishlife #readingtime #reading #booknerd #bookrecommendations #bookflatlay #bookaccount #readingchallenge #bookclub #vscobooks #bookishfeatures #bookphotography #ilovebooks #booklove #instabook #instareads #goodreads #mybookfeatures #bookstack #books

Found these adorable book & kindle sleeves by @artisanal_ane on @etsy and had to have them! Aren’t they so cute? It’s been helpful having them to protect my copy of The Ash Family - which I still have not finished! Thought I’d have way more reading time this week than I did, oops. I’m rounding out my last few days of travel in DC with two of my favorite people then it’s back home to hot and sticky ATL tomorrow! How has your weekend been treating you so far? Any good new book finds?

QOTD: who’s your favourite villain? I mean, I think I can safely guess that The Darkling is gonna be the clear winner in the comments • • Day 9 #tinylovejune19 - favourite villain • • #bookstagrammer #bookstagramfeature #booksofig #booksofinstagram #yabookstagram #youngadultbooks #yalit #ireadya #bookishglee #bookishlove #bookishlife #bookworm #booknerdigans #bookgeek #bookdragon #bookaholic

Do you ever set yourself reading goals and TBRs or just read whenever and whatever you feel like? In the past I’ve had a ridiculous habit of hesitating to pick up longer books, despite knowing full well that I love dense world building, lengthy descriptions, and delving deep into character development. I think part of this stems from always picking shorter books because they make me feel more productive when it comes to hitting my reading target for each year. Alas, focusing predominantly on the number of books I should get through every year eventually made me loose sight of why I love reading so much. Sure, I want to read as many books as possible, but my core motivation for reading isn’t and shouldn’t be to hit a certain number. I read to be swept away to unimaginable worlds, meet memorable characters and get lost in their epic stories. That’s why this year I set a completely different set of reading goals that shift focus away from the math and toward the meaning behind why I’m choosing to read a particular book. I challenged myself to pick up more lengthy books I’d wanted to read for eons, to explore more genres outside of my comfort zone, to read less hyped up YA books and to start listening to audiobooks. So far, this has totally changed the way I decide what to read and has even motivated me to read more than I have in years because I’m picking books based on a lot more than “how quickly can I get through this and move onto the next?!”

What’re you all up to today? This is my book haul from the Friends of the Library Sale on Friday! I need more shelves . I predicted I’d only get one bag, so I did pretty well by only getting three . These two stacks for $18. If you want a closeup of the books I got and want to let me know which ones you’ve read, I did a live video yesterday of them and I’ll save it to my highlights once it’s expired.

The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah. . “Love has to be stronger than hate, or there is no future for us.” . So I read this book, The Nightingale? Do you know it? Here’s a quick teaser for the dozen or so out there who have been living in a cave: Two sisters in occupied France in WWII, both struggling to survive, one in their home village and the other as a Resistance fighter. Got it? We’re all friends here, right friendly friends? Because this review veers a bit into “unpopular opinion” territory. A while back I mentioned that I was not a fan of The Great Alone. For me, that book was off the charts dramatic and the main characters did not feel believable or rounded. All the bad things happened, one after another until I landed straight up in the middle of a Young and the Restless episode. I posted a review on goodreads last summer if you want to check it out. Most people told me that The Nightingale was a very different read and I should give it a chance. I am glad that I read The Nightingale and I enjoyed it more than The Great Alone. Here’s what I liked. Hannah’s focus on different female experiences of WWII was a perspective that interests me. Isabelle is a character I am glad to have met and of all of the players in this story, she felt the most whole. At about the halfway point, I was all in, and didn’t want to do anything but read on. Because this is a war story, you expect a lot of intense things to happen, so it didn’t read as overdone. I would classify this book as a page-turner. I was entertained. And now for the “but”… like in The Great Alone, the characters here aren’t as real to me as characters in the books I have loved. There’s a flat or forced quality about most of them. Other than Isabelle, I wouldn’t call them unique. That’s the thing. Kristin Hannah writes a story that makes me turn the pages, but there’s something missing for me - layers, or a sense mystery or delicacy. I will likely read another by her in the future, perhaps on vacation, or when I want a speedy read. But so far, her books don’t surprise me enough or linger in my imagination. I know many of you feel the opposite. I’m ready for all the opinions! Let’s still be besties.