Tag: 2021

Year in Review | 2021

What a year! It was a year of being cautious as school opened back up and restrictions were lifted, reinstated, lifted and reinstated…and now lifted but cautious again as numbers of COVID surge higher again. It was better than all the major anxiety of 2020 at least and I hope next year will be better.

According to Goodreads.com:

Honestly, I don’t know how accurate this is because at times I have 3 versions of the same book as “to read” or “read”. 🤦🏻‍♀️ So I know it’s close to this number but probably less. There are books I read and didn’t review either – mainly because I forgot or I ended up not liking it and didn’t want to spend energy saying why.

Once again, I’ve rated books quite high, even though I felt like this year I got more three star and DNF’ed books.

I wrote about my favorite book of this year. Here are the books I enjoyed the most in 2021 – just click the links below:

Best Books I Read in 2021 | TTT

Favourite Books of 2021 | #SixForSunday

The lowest rated books for me are:

Most of these were mostly because I’m just not the right audience for it.

I hope all of you have an amazing New Year!! Please stay safe, stay healthy and here’s to a good 2022!

🎆 ~ Yolanda

Goodreads Choice Award Nominees That I’ve Read in 2021

It’s that time of year again where Goodreads readers vote for their favorite books of 2021. I saw a few bloggers posting about the books they’ve read on the list and so I was curious to see which books I’ve read in each category as well. Some categories I had a 0 since I stick to certain genres – so let’s see what I read in 2021:

What I’ve Read~

Fiction:

Historical Fiction:

Fantasy:

Romance:

Best Debut Novel:

Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction:

Best Young Adult Fiction:

I think the Romance category had the most titles that are still on my TBR list. As you can see I tend to read YA Fantasy/Fiction but I try to mix it up with Romance and Historical Fiction and it’s nice to see some of the books I’ve read make the list!

Did any books you read this year end up on the nominees list? Let me know in the comments!

~Yolanda

Time Magazine Top 100 YA Books of All Time – 2021

I saw an author tweet this list from Time Magazine and I thought it would be cool to take a look and see what books I have read from this list. It’s the list of 100 YA books of all time, all time meaning books from the 1800’s to present.

  1. Little Women by. Louisa May Alcott
  2. Anne of Green Gables by. L.M. Montgomery
  3. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by. Betty Smith
  4. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by. Anne Frank
  5. The Catcher in the Rye by. J.D. Salinger
  6. Lord of the Flies by. William Golding
  7. To Kill a Mockingbird by. Harper Lee
  8. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by. E.L. Konigsburg
  9. A Wizard of Earthsea by. Ursula K. Le Guin
  10. I’ll Get There. It Better Be Worth the Trip by. John Donovan
  11. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. by. Judy Blume
  12. A Hero Ain’t Nothin’ but a Sandwich by. Alice Childress
  13. Forever by. Judy Blume
  14. Tuck Everlasting by. Natalie Babbitt
  15. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by. Mildred D. Taylor
  16. A Swiftly Tilting Planet by. Madeleine L’Engle
  17. The Westing Game by. Ellen Raskin
  18. Homecoming by. Cynthia Voight
  19. The House on Mango Street by. Sandra Cisneros
  20. Weetzie Bat by. Francesca Lia Block
  21. The Giver by. Lois Lowry
  22. Ella Enchanted by. Gail Carson Levine
  23. Holes by. Louis Sachar
  24. If You Come Softly by. Jacqueline Woodson
  25. Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging by. Louise Rennison
  26. Monster by. Walter Dean Myers
  27. Speak by. Laurie Halse Anderson
  28. Stargirl by. Jerry Spinelli
  29. The Princess Diaries by. Meg Cabot
  30. A Step From Heaven by. An Na
  31. Rainbow Boys by. Alex Sanchez
  32. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by. Ann Brashares
  33. Before We Were Free by. Julia Alvarez
  34. Feed by. M.T. Anderson
  35. Persepolis by. Marjane Satrapi
  36. How I Live Now by. Meg Rosoff
  37. Code Talker by. Joseph Bruchac
  38. Elsewhere by. Gabrielle Zevin
  39. The Book Thief by. Markus Zusak
  40. The Lightening Thief by. Rick Riordon
  41. American Born Chinese by. Gene Luen Yang
  42. Copper Sun by. Sharon Draper
  43. Tyrell by. Coe Booth
  44. Graceline by. Kristin Cashore
  45. The Hunger Games by. Suzanne Collins
  46. Ship Breaker by. Paolo Bacigalupi
  47. Akata Witch by. Nnedi by. Okorafor
  48. Daughter of Smoke & Bone by. Laini Taylor
  49. Legend by. Marie Lu
  50. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by. Benjamin Alire Saenz
  51. Code Name Verity by. Elizabeth Wein
  52. Every Day by. David Levithan
  53. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by. Jesse Andrews
  54. The Fault in Our Stars by. John Green
  55. If You Could Be Mine by. Sara Farizan
  56. March: Book One by. John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, illustrated by. Nate Powell **
  57. Brown Girl Dreaming by. Jacqueline Woodson
  58. I’ll Give You the Sun by. Jandy Nelson
  59. Noggin by. John Corey Whaley
  60. The Crossover by. Kwame Alexander
  61. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by. Jenny Han
  62. An Ember in the Ashes by. Sabaa Tahir
  63. Dumplin’ by. Julie Murphy
  64. Everything, Everything by. Nicola Yoon
  65. March: Book Two by. John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, illustrated by. Nate Powell **
  66. More Happy Than Not by. Adam Silvera
  67. Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by. Becky Albertalli
  68. Six of Crows by. Leigh Bardugo
  69. Salt to the Sea by. Ruta Sepetys
  70. Scythe by. Neal Shusterman
  71. The Sun Is Also a Star by. Nicola Yoon
  72. We are the Ants by. Shaun David Hutchinson
  73. When the Moon Was Ours by. Anna-Marie McLemore
  74. Allegedly by. Tiffany D. Jackson
  75. American Street by. Ibi Zoboi **
  76. Dear Martin by. Nic Stone
  77. I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by. Erica L. Sanchez
  78. Long Way Down by. Jason Reynolds
  79. The 57 Bus by. Dashka Slater
  80. The Hate U Give by. Angie Thomas
  81. The Marrow Thieves by. Cherie Dimaline
  82. We Are Okay by. Nina LaCour **
  83. When Dimple Met Rishi by. Sandhya Menon
  84. A Very Large Expanse of the Sea by. Tahereh Mafi **
  85. Children of Blood and Bone by. Tomi Adeyemi
  86. Darius the Great is Not Okay by. Adib Khorram
  87. The Astonishing Color of After by. Emily X.R. Pan
  88. The Poet X by. Elizabeth Acevedo **
  89. Frankly in Love by. David Yoon
  90. Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me by. Mariko Tamaki, illustrated by. Rosemary Valero O’Connell
  91. Like a Love Story by. Abdi Nazemian **
  92. Pet by. Akwaeke Emezi **
  93. With the Fire on High by. Elizabeth Acevedo
  94. The Black Flamingo by. Dean Atta
  95. Felix Ever After by. Kacen Callender **
  96. Stamped by. Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
  97. The Henna Wars by. Adiba Jaigirdar **
  98. We Are Not Free by. Traci Chee
  99. You Should See Me In a Crown by. Leah Johnson
  100. Firekeeper’s Daughter by. Angeline Boulley

Wow, I’ve only read 28 from this list lol…oh well. There are a few on here that are already on my TBR though.

Bold Titles = books I’ve read

** = books on my TBR list

title in Italic = watched the movie adaptation, not that it counts lol

It looks pretty diverse which is great. This is the first time I’ve actually paid attention to their list. If you want to check out the actual article and list, please click here ➡️ Time Magazine.

What do you think about this list? ~ Yolanda

Monthly Wrap Up | January 2021

How are we already in February? January felt like an extension of 2020, not gonna lie. I don’t think I read many books. I’ve been trying to house break a puppy! It’s been chaotic! Here is what I read:

Every Single Lie by. Rachel Vincent ~ 3.5/5 Stars (ARC read before January) ~ Published Jan. 12, 2021

Shadow City by. Francesca Flores ~ 3.5/5 Stars (ARC read before January) ~ Published Jan. 26, 2021

New Year’s Kiss by. Lee Matthews ~ 3/5 Stars

The Four Winds by. Kristin Hannah ~ 4.5/5 Stars (ARC read before January) Published Feb. 2, 2021

One of the Good Ones by. Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite ~ 3.5/5 Stars (ARC read before January) Published Jan. 5, 2021

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by. Erika L. Sanchez ~ 3.5/5 Stars

Instant Karma by. Marissa Meyer ~ 3.5/5 Stars

Of Wicked Blood by. Olivia Wildenstein & Katie Hayoz ~ 4/5 Stars (ARC read before January) Published Feb. 2, 2021

Love Spells and Other Disasters by. Angie Barrett ~ 4/5 Stars

I Wanna Be Where You Are by. Kristina Forest ~ 3/5 Stars

The Princess Trials by. Cordelia K. Castel ~ 3/5 Stars

Greythorne by. Crystal Smith ~ 5/5 Stars

The Princess Games by. Cordelia K. Castel ~ 2.5/5 Stars

This Golden Flame by. Emily Victoria ~ 4/5 Stars (ARC read before January) Published Feb. 2, 2021

Fables & Other Lies by. Claire Contreras ~ 3.5/5 Stars

How to Build a Heart by. Maria Padian ~ 3.5/5 Stars

***

I’ve been lumping all my my books together ~ books I read months before but planned to published near publication date. But I want a true count of books I read in a specific month so I really have to do a better job at separating the info.

Books Actually Read in January 2021: 10 + 3 ARCs for future posts = 13

Book Reviews Posted: 16

Blog Tours: 3

I was feeling off my reading game in January but let’s see if I can make it up in February. I hope you all have a wonderful reading month!

🥰 ~ Yolanda

2021 ~ Happy New Year!

Fireworks have been popping off here for weeks now, but last night was crazy as usual. Today is my nephew’s birthday so we are going to celebrate that and Sunday is my daughter’s birthday so we’ll be having cake all weekend it seems. 🎂

Since I didn’t do a weekly updated Christmas week, let’s do one today:

New Books Acquired:

NetGalley ~

Overdrive Online Library ~

Kindle Books ~ (bought)

TV, Movies, Etc…:

Netflix ~

Bridgerton – whoa…talk about 🔥🔥🔥…spoiler ~ there are lots of sexy times in Episode 6 haha. I mean there are some here and there in the previous episodes but yeah…episode 6? Overall, I’m a sucker for romantic period pieces so I enjoyed this one. I read a few of the Bridgerton novels years ago, but not all of them and I don’t think in order either. I don’t remember much because it’s been years but I’m definitely down for watching season 2. I LOVE Eloise, the actress who played her was great, yes Eloise and Penelope and Lady Danbury were my favorite characters in this first season of the Bridgertons. The diversity is great because we all know historical romances are usually white characters, so seeing various ethnicities in the show was fantastic.

excuse me, i love you ~ Ariana Grande’s concert documentary ugh, her voice is ridiculous. Would love to see her live in concert and this show made me miss concerts SO much. 😭 I loved concerts when I was younger and it slowed down when I had kids, but the times I can go to a concert is a TREAT. Anyway, I loved the show.

Adulting:

  • My nephew’s birthday is on 1/1 and my daughter’s birthday is on 1/3. She expects more presents and honestly, all I want to get her is a cake haha…she has way too many toys. I donated a bunch of clothes, toys and books the past two weeks to make room for more things coming into the house. But now I just want to clean house again. 🤦🏻‍♀️
  • I wanted to get a dog halfway through the pandemic. It’s been 2 years now since our fur baby Sky (a husky) has passed and seriously…this year was so trying I missed having a doggy. So I thought I was ready, it hurt losing Sky…but wow, is everyone buying the puppies and how are they buying them because the ones I’ve seen are SO expensive? I looked on humane society and the spca a bunch but the small dogs are usually adopted so fast and though I love big dogs, this time around I’m looking for a small dog, even small/medium is fine. My doggy nephew jumped into my car this past Christmas, I was about to take him home haha – he must remember that I dog-sat him when he was a puppy and he slept in my daughter’s bed for a week! Yes Aunty spoils him with lots of love.
  • I got to sleep in this week, meaning I slept in until 7:30am! HOORAY! lol…I honestly do not look forward to remote schooling coming back again. We’ll see if my son’s school makes any changes tot he schedule.
  • Etsy shop: I have a 25% off sale going on to clear out items before I start making anything else. Honestly I haven’t poured resin in almost 3 weeks now! Maybe I had a little bit of burn out. So I’m gonna rest for a bit and decide what I want to do next.

Have a great weekend everyone! And happy new year!

🎆 ~ Yolanda