Weekly Wrap Up | 6/8/25

Aloha friends!

Another week is over and here’s what happened:

+ Today I fly out to South Korea with my older sister and we’ll be gone for a week. It sucks to lose time traveling, because it’s a day ahead there so even though we leave on Sunday we get there Monday night. So we’re only really there for 4 real days to explore. Then fly back on Saturday! Hopefully I’ll have some interesting things to post about South Korea next Sunday.

+ My son’s piano recital is today and I’m sad I’ll miss it. He is still getting over a cough, so I hope he does okay. I know he’ll do great.

+ Did my annual breast MRI on Wednesday and everything looks good – thank god! Being in an MRI machine is like being in a rave lol…it’s so loud and the beats are thumping. I always choose Taylor Swift for my playlist in there but this time around I could barely hear the music and at one point something was tickling my nose – grrr…and you can’t move for like 25 minutes! But I got through it…at least I don’t have to worry about it for another year.

+ My son picked up his new Nintendo Switch 2! He saved money for and he’s been having a blast playing the new Mario Kart game. And yes he has been sharing it with his sister, but she’s not as much as a gamer as he is. Her ipad is still her favorite thing to play Roblox on. Though she does have my old switch, which I actually want back because I want the Hello Kitty game! 😅

I hope you all have a great week!

Blog Posts:

I didn’t post much this week it seems!

The Beautiful Maddening by. Shea Ernshaw | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Summer Vibes Book Covers | TTT | Top Ten Tuesday | 6/3/25
Top 5 Tuesday | Top 5 standalone books I wished were series | 6/3/25
New Book Releases This Week | 6/3/25
WWW Wednesday | 6/4/25
Pigeon-Blood Red by. Ed Duncan| Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️
On Wings of Blood by. Briar Boleyn| Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Bond That Burns by. Briar Boleyn| Book Review ⭐️⭐️💫

Books I Finished:

I haven’t been in the mood to read much – maybe because I had so much to do before my trip.

Where the Library Hides by. Isabel Ibañez (audiobook)

Currently Reading:

Smoke and Scar by. Gretchen Powell Fox

Throne of Secrets by. Kerri Maniscalco

The Homemade God by. Rachel Joyce

Wrath of the Dragons by. Olivia Rose Darling

Shows/Movies/Music I Watched/Listened To:

Addison by. Addison Rae – I need a few more listens but I love New York and Diet Pepsi

Videos I Posted to Youtube:

How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!

Instagram | Tiktok | Youtube

Monthly Wrap Up | May 2025

May was a busy month as usual! There are always so many end of school things to do in May, tests, school events, doctor appointments, etc…and I got through it. YAY!

I read 25 books and posted 14 book reviews in May.

I don’t have my journaling video ready to publish yet so I’m not including it in this monthly wrap up. But I’ll post it sometime later in the month when I have time!

Books I Read – 25 books:

The Love Haters by. Katherine Center (arc)
Embrace the Serpent by. Sunya Mara (arc)
Nightshade by. Autumn Woods
King of Envy by. Ana Huang
Silver Elite by. Dani Francis
A Forgery of Fate by. Elizabeth Lim (arc)
Shield of Sparrows by. Devney Perry
His Mortal Demise by. Vanessa Le
Tenderly, I Am Devoured by. Lyndall Clipstone (arc)
Den of Liars by. Jessica S. Olson (arc)
Well, Actually by. Mazey Eddings (arc)
Predatory Natures by. Amy Goldsmith (arc)
Pigeon-Blood Red by. Ed Duncan
Maid for Each Other by. Lynn Painter (arc)
Enchantra by. Kaylie Smith
For the Record by. Emma Lord (arc)
Love Unmasked by. Becky Dean (arc)
Give Me a Reason by. Jayci Lee (arc)
Bound in Inked Flame by. Ava Larksen
Thorn Season by. Kiera Azar (arc)
The Jasad Crown by. Sara Hashem (arc)
Arcana Academy by. Elise Kova (arc)
Fallen Court: Filthy Rich Fae by. Geneva Lee
Mayra by. Nicky Gonzalez (arc)
Love at Full Tilt by. Jenny L. Howe (arc)

Reviews I Posted: 14 Books

5 Star Reads – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by. Kylie Lee Baker | ARC Review

4.5 Star Reads – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Nightshade by. Autumn Woods| Book Review

4 Star Reads – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

3.5 Star Reads – ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫:

3 Star Reads – ⭐️⭐️⭐️:

2.5 Star Reads – ⭐️⭐️💫

2 Star Reads – ⭐️⭐️

Book Tags:

Birthstone Book Covers: May – Emerald

Blog Tours:

BLOG TOUR} A Campus of Fire by. Patrick O’Dowd | Book Excerpt

Let’s Talk Bookish:

Let’s Talk Bookish: Bookish Fandoms | 5/2/25

Let’s Talk Bookish: Motivation to Read | 5/9/25

Let’s Talk Bookish: What is one book that everyone else seemed to love except you? | 5/16/25

Let’s Talk Bookish: Literary Palette Cleansers | 5/23/25

Other:

How was your month?

Let’s Talk Bookish: Pride Month Book Recs! | 6/6/25

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly bookish meme originally created by Rukky @ Eternity Books and hosted by Aria @ Book Nook Bits, where every Friday, bloggers write discussion posts based on a weekly prompt and Dini @ dinipandareads has cohosted since the beginning of 2025.

This week’s topic is:

June 6: Pride Month Book Recs!

Prompts: Happy Pride Month! To celebrate, we’d love to hear about your favourite LGBTQIA+ books, why you love them, and what books you’d recommend for a summer Pride reading list. Are there any new releases you’re looking forward to reading this Pride Month?

**********

To celebrate, we’d love to hear about your favourite LGBTQIA+ books, why you love them, and what books you’d recommend for a summer Pride reading list.

This Poison Heart by. Kaylynn Bayron

The House in the Cerulean Sea by. TJ Klune

The Song of Achilles by. Madeline Miller

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by. Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Guncle by. Steven Rowley

Pumpkin by. Julie Murphy

Are there any new releases you’re looking forward to reading this Pride Month?

I don’t have anything specifically being read for Pride Month, but I don’t do monthly TBR’s. I feel like so many arcs I’m reading have LGBTQIA+ characters already which is awesome. So here is a list of some books that I read recently with LGBTQIA+ characters:

Silvercloak by. L.K. Steven

Well, Actually by. Mazey Eddings

Tenderly, I Am Devoured by. Lyndall Clipstone

June Topics:

~~June 2: Pride Month Book Recs!~~

June 13: Traveling for Literature

Prompts: Many books are inspired by real-life settings. Have you ever visited places inspired by books you’ve read? What places are on your bucketlist? If you could visit any fictional setting come to life, where would you go?

June 20: All About Audiobooks (Jillian @ Jillian the Bookish Butterfly)

Prompts: Do you like to read audiobooks? Where do you typically get audiobooks? Do you have any favorite narrators, or platforms for listening to them? Do you find it easy to access audiobooks, or can it be more challenging compared to ebooks and physical books?

June 27: Mid-Year Check-In

Prompts: Now that we’re halfway through the year, let’s check in! How has your reading year been so far? What reading/blogging achievements are you most proud of? Looking forward, is there anything you want to change up for the rest of the year?

WWW Wednesday | 6/4/25

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam over on Taking on a World of Words.

The idea is pretty simple, every week you dedicate a post to the three W’s:

What are you currently reading?

What have you just finished reading?

What are you going to read next?

Hi everyone! Kids are on summer break – yay! But my son is still getting over a cough. We had the laziest day on Sunday so all I did was read. Now it’s Wednesday and I have a doctor’s appointment. I have been packing for my South Korea trip which happens on Sunday. Just a few more errands to take care of before then and then I’ll be on vacay. I’m excited to go to somewhere new!

What are you currently reading?

The Knight and the Moth by. Rachel Gillig – I haven’t gotten far because I’m reading the hardcover and I need daylight for that (but I read mostly at night). Might have to read this one after my vacation.

Summer in the City by. Alex Aster – same reason as above

Wrath of Dragons by. Olivia Rose Darling (Fear the Flames, #2) – this is an arc and I’m 11% in.

The Homemade God by. Rachel Joyce – 16% in

Tricks of Fortune by. Lina Chern – 13% in

What have you just finished reading?

On Wings of Blood by. Briar Boleyn – ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Bond That Burns by. Briar Boleyn – ⭐️⭐️💫

Love at Full Tilt by. Jenny L. Howe – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Mayra by. Nicky Gonzalez – ⭐️⭐️⭐️

What are you going to read next?

More arcs to knock off my July netgalley list! And then I’ll be moving on the August arcs! I don’t have a lot in August but why did I sign up for so many in September?! I think it’s funny that in November, I only have 1 arc to read. 😅

A Theory of Dreaming by. Ava Reid

Soul of Shadow by. Emma Noyes

Heir of Storms by. Lauryn Hamilton Murray

The Bewitching by. Silvia Moreno-Garcia

What are YOU reading right now?

Weekly Wrap Up | 6/1/25

Aloha friends!

Another week is over and here’s what happened:

+ It is JUNE! 😳 How?….lol

+ My daughter received her academic award (so proud of her)🥰. And she had her class party and had just the most relaxing and fun last week of school. As for my son, he came home from school with a fever on Tuesday, stayed home on Wednesday and Thursday – so he missed his Lilo & Stitch movie field trip with his class (the fever was over but he was dizzy still and didn’t want to chance the school bus ride to the theater). But he did go to school on the last day of school. So what a week…

+ I’ve been packing for my S. Korea trip. My sister wants to book a scalp spa treatment that seem to be very popular there. She also wants to do some skin treatments but I’m skipping that, I’ll just do the scalp thing and I think the deal she found on klook comes with a haircut. I honestly don’t know what to do with my hair – I use box color because I still can’t handle all the white hair around my temples 😅. So my hair frustrates me and I don’t even wanna deal with it! I might get bangs. 🤷🏻‍♀️ But I don’t want to get something done in S. Korea (because it’s affordable) that’s going to be hard for me to maintain when I come back to Hawaii (because of cost – why are hair services so expensive these days?).

+ This week is going to be busy before I leave for S. Korea next week. I have a breast MRI appointment, I have to pick up my son’s Nintendo Switch 2 and then bring him to the orthodontist and buy him clothes for his piano recital that I’ll be missing. I feel a bit anxious – and have been having such weird dreams lately I think because of the anxiety. But I’m sure I’ll be fine by the time I go to the airport because by then it’s all out of my hands and my hubby has to watch the kids for a week 😅. And mind you he was gone for 2 years…and here I am worrying about him with the kids for 1 week. This is the longest he will be alone with them since I gave birth to the both of them!😂🙄. He’s lucky they are older now and mostly self-sufficient!

I hope you all have a great week!