Let’s Talk Bookish:  Following the Reader | 9/12/25

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:

September 12: Following the Reader

Prompts: What makes you want to follow a bookish account on social media? What makes you want to follow a book blog? Are you very discerning or do you follow back whoever follows you? Do you prefer or find it easier to engage with other readers on one platform over the other (i.e. blogs vs. bookstagram or booktok)?

**********

What makes you want to follow a bookish account on social media? What makes you want to follow a book blog?

Right now on tiktok because I’m building my following, I’m basically following anyone who follows me – unless it’s an account that doesn’t post anything. I pretty much do the same for book blogs but I feel like even though I follow people here on wordpress, I don’t always see the blogs.

Are you very discerning or do you follow back whoever follows you?

Pretty much follow back unless I check the account and I don’t really vibe with their content. But for booktokers, bookstagrammers or book bloggers, it’s usually a follow back.

Do you prefer or find it easier to engage with other readers on one platform over the other (i.e. blogs vs. bookstagram or booktok)?

I feel like booktok is so much easier to find new followers and comment and such. I love how people are authentic on there, don’t have to make their videos or photos pretty or anything. I feel like bookstagram years ago had more engagement and now it’s so different – I basically only see accounts that have 1,000+ followers. Smaller accounts, not so much. I think I post the least on bookstagram just because I have to make pretty posts (and I’m lazy lol) it’s easier on booktok. Blog engagement I think is in the middle – it took me years to build up a good following but I love the community!

September Topics:

September 5: In Which Season Do You Do Your Best Reading? (Jillian @ Jillian the Bookish Butterfly)

Prompts: Is there a month, quarter or other specific time of year when you do your most reading and why do you think that is? Does this tend to fluctuate every year or is your reading pretty ‘steady’?


September 12: Following the Reader

Prompts: What makes you want to follow a bookish account on social media? What makes you want to follow a book blog? Are you very discerning or do you follow back whoever follows you? Do you prefer or find it easier to engage with other readers on one platform over the other (i.e. blogs vs. bookstagram or booktok)?


September 19: Favourite Genre Recommendations

Prompts: What is your favourite genre(s) and what makes it your favourite? If someone wanted to try your favourite genre(s), what are five books that you would recommend to them and why those books specifically? Has your favorite genre changed over time?


September 26: Are Published Books Losing Quality? The Impact of Social Media Platforms and Trope-Based Marketing

Prompts: Reading has become increasingly more “popular” due to platforms like booktok and bookstagram, which tend to promote certain types of books. It has also given rise to the “trope only” marketing trend. Do you think the hype that’s been created on these platforms has impacted the quality of books that are published these days? Do you think it’s impacting only certain genres or do you notice it across all genres? How do you think this will impact book quality and publishing in the years to come (i.e. is it just a phase or will it continue)?


WWW Wednesday | 9/10/25

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?

Already the second week of September and I think it’s weird that I’m reading horror arcs and Christmas romance arcs! 😅. I wish holiday romances got published in November rather than in September/October. Anyway hope everyone is having a good week!

What are you currently reading?

Hekate by. Nikita Gil – 25%

Tusk Love by. Thea Guazon – 4%

Fevered Star by. Rebecca Roanhorse – audiobook – 47%

Great Big Beautiful Life by. Emily Henry – audiobook – 18%


What have you just finished reading?

Thief of Night by. Holly Black – ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (audiobook)

Katabasis by. R.F. Kuang – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

The Austen Affair by.. Madeline Bell – ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

We Who Will Die by. Stacia Stark – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

You Make it Feel Like Christmas by. Sophie Sullivan – ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

And the River Drags Her Down by. Jihyun Yun – ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫


What are you going to read next?

The Scammer by. Tiffany D. Jackson

The Crimson Throne by. Sara Raasch and Beth Revis

Immortal Consequences by. I.V. Marie

Yours For the Season by. Emily Stone

Heartsick by. Kristina Forest

Eldritch by. Keri Lake

What are YOU reading right now?

Top 5 Classics I Meant To Read | Top 5 Tuesday | 9/9/25

Top 5 Tuesday was created by Shanah at Bionic Book Worm, and now being hosted at Meeghan reads.

This Week’s Topic is:

Top 5 Classics I Meant To Read (but never got around to)

Loved the movie and all the adaptations, but still haven’t read the book

Persuasion by. Jane Austen

At twenty-seven, Anne Elliot is no longer young and has few romantic prospects. Eight years earlier, she had been persuaded by her friend Lady Russell to break off her engagement to Frederick Wentworth, a handsome naval captain with neither fortune nor rank. What happens when they encounter each other again is movingly told in Jane Austen’s last completed novel. Set in the fashionable societies of Lyme Regis and Bath, Persuasion is a brilliant satire of vanity and pretension, but, above all, it is a love story tinged with the heartache of missed opportunities.

********

I don’t know why I never picked this up when the movies came out – I was obsessed with them! My hubby has the books but I just never picked them up.

The Lord of the Rings by. J.R.R. Tolkien

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, the Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him. After many ages it fell by chance into the hands of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins.

From Sauron’s fastness in the Dark Tower of Mordor, his power spread far and wide. Sauron gathered all the Great Rings to him, but always he searched for the One Ring that would complete his dominion.

When Bilbo reached his eleventy-first birthday he disappeared, bequeathing to his young cousin Frodo the Ruling Ring and a perilous quest: to journey across Middle-earth, deep into the shadow of the Dark Lord, and destroy the Ring by casting it into the Cracks of Doom.

The Lord of the Rings tells of the great quest undertaken by Frodo and the Fellowship of the Ring: Gandalf the Wizard; the hobbits Merry, Pippin, and Sam; Gimli the Dwarf; Legolas the Elf; Boromir of Gondor; and a tall, mysterious stranger called Strider.

*********

Another Austen book I love because I’ve watched the movies and show adaptions but never read….and I should since it’s on my shelf.😅

Sense and Sensibility by. Jane Austen

‘The more I know of the world, the more am I convinced that I shall never see a man whom I can really love. I require so much!’

Marianne Dashwood wears her heart on her sleeve, and when she falls in love with the dashing but unsuitable John Willoughby she ignores her sister Elinor’s warning that her impulsive behaviour leaves her open to gossip and innuendo. Meanwhile Elinor, always sensitive to social convention, is struggling to conceal her own romantic disappointment, even from those closest to her. Through their parallel experience of love—and its threatened loss—the sisters learn that sense must mix with sensibility if they are to find personal happiness in a society where status and money govern the rules of love.

***********

Do you remember when there was a War and Peace show with Lily James (Cinderella – 2015)…by the way where is Lily James?! I loved her! Anyways, I watched the series War and Peace because she was in it and loved it. I attempted to read the book and maybe got 1/4th through and gave up 😅.

War and Peace by. Leo Tolstoy

War and Peace broadly focuses on Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812 and follows three of the most well-known characters in literature: Pierre Bezukhov, the illegitimate son of a count who is fighting for his inheritance and yearning for spiritual fulfillment; Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, who leaves his family behind to fight in the war against Napoleon; and Natasha Rostov, the beautiful young daughter of a nobleman who intrigues both men.

As Napoleon’s army invades, Tolstoy brilliantly follows characters from diverse backgrounds—peasants and nobility, civilians and soldiers—as they struggle with the problems unique to their era, their history, and their culture. And as the novel progresses, these characters transcend their specificity, becoming some of the most moving—and human—figures in world literature.

*********

Of course another Jane Austen book! I loved the movie but never read the book.

Mansfield Park by. Jane Austen

Taken from the poverty of her parents’ home in Portsmouth, Fanny Price is brought up with her rich cousins at Mansfield Park, acutely aware of her humble rank and with her cousin Edmund as her sole ally. During her uncle’s absence in Antigua, the Crawford’s arrive in the neighbourhood bringing with them the glamour of London life and a reckless taste for flirtation. Mansfield Park is considered Jane Austen’s first mature work and, with its quiet heroine and subtle examination of social position and moral integrity, one of her most profound.


Weekly Wrap Up | 9/7/25

Aloha friends!

Another week is over and here’s what happened:

+ It’s September! So that means I had to spend some time getting my car maintenance done and safety check. I waited about 3 hours but at least I got to sit and read!

+ Football (NFL) is back! And the Philadelphia Eagles won their first game, so I’m happy.

Blog Posts:

Books I Finished


Currently Reading:

Fevered Star by. Rebecca Roanhorse (audiobook)

Hekate by. Nikita Gil

Immortal Consequences by. I.V. Marie

Thief of Night by. Holly Black (audiobook)

You Make it Feel Like Christmas by. Sophie Sullivan

Shows/Movies/Music I Watched/Listened To:

  • The Summer I Turned Pretty (Amazon Prime Video) – Season 3 – a boring episode, but it made me dislike Jere even MORE.
  • Football

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

Let’s Talk Bookish:  In Which Season Do You Do Your Best Reading? | 9/5/25

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:

September 5: In Which Season Do You Do Your Best Reading? (Jillian @ Jillian the Bookish Butterfly)

Prompts: Is there a month, quarter or other specific time of year when you do your most reading and why do you think that is? Does this tend to fluctuate every year or is your reading pretty ‘steady’?

**********

Is there a month, quarter or other specific time of year when you do your most reading and why do you think that is?

I actually don’t know! I feel like my automatic answer is fall (but hello I live in Hawaii – it doesn’t get cold here! 😅). But fall is BUSY – holidays, my kids school projects, etc….so…maybe winter? Because the sun sets faster and I do my best reading at night.

Does this tend to fluctuate every year or is your reading pretty ‘steady’?

Now, if the topic was when do I read the most…according to the arcs I was given this year, it seems like major publishing dates occur in July and September. So I will say according to this year alone, I had so many arcs to read for these 2 months out of the whole year. December is such a dry spell – is everyone just busy? 😅

August Topics:

September 5: In Which Season Do You Do Your Best Reading? (Jillian @ Jillian the Bookish Butterfly)

Prompts: Is there a month, quarter or other specific time of year when you do your most reading and why do you think that is? Does this tend to fluctuate every year or is your reading pretty ‘steady’?


September 12: Following the Reader

Prompts: What makes you want to follow a bookish account on social media? What makes you want to follow a book blog? Are you very discerning or do you follow back whoever follows you? Do you prefer or find it easier to engage with other readers on one platform over the other (i.e. blogs vs. bookstagram or booktok)?


September 19: Favourite Genre Recommendations

Prompts: What is your favourite genre(s) and what makes it your favourite? If someone wanted to try your favourite genre(s), what are five books that you would recommend to them and why those books specifically? Has your favorite genre changed over time?


September 26: Are Published Books Losing Quality? The Impact of Social Media Platforms and Trope-Based Marketing

Prompts: Reading has become increasingly more “popular” due to platforms like booktok and bookstagram, which tend to promote certain types of books. It has also given rise to the “trope only” marketing trend. Do you think the hype that’s been created on these platforms has impacted the quality of books that are published these days? Do you think it’s impacting only certain genres or do you notice it across all genres? How do you think this will impact book quality and publishing in the years to come (i.e. is it just a phase or will it continue)?


Monthly Wrap Up | August 2025

August was a long month that went by quickly because my kids went back to school. So we are back in the school routine again! I did read a lot, apparently I had a lot of arcs for September to get through. I have 3 more arcs for September to finish!

I read 26 books and posted 20 book reviews in August.

Books I Read – 26 books:

  1. Endless Anger by. Sav R. Miller
  2. What Fury Brings by. Tricial Llevenseller
  3. The Robin on the Oak Throne by. K.A. Linde
  4. Witch of the Wolves by. Kaylee Archer
  5. Blood Moon by. Britney S. Lewis (audiobook)
  6. The Dragon and the Sun Lotus by. Amelie Wen Zhao
  7. The Dating Prohibition by. Taj McCoy
  8. The Dead of Summer by. Ryan La Sala
  9. Heir of Storms by. Lauryn Hamilton Murray
  10. Dream of the Shadows by. Logan Karlie (audiobook)
  11. Well Fell Apart by. E. Lockhart
  12. The Nightblood Prince by. Molly X. Chang
  13. Witch You Would by. Lia Amador
  14. Girl, Goddess, Queen by. Bea Fitzgerald
  15. Broken Souls and Bones by. LJ Andrews
  16. Sweet Heat by. Bolu Babaloa
  17. The Fallen and the Kiss of Dusk by. Carissa Broadbent
  18. A Scar in the Bone by. Sophie Jordan
  19. Coffin Moon by. Keith Rosson
  20. Wild Reverence by. Rebecca Ross
  21. A Forbidden Alchemy by. Stacey McEwan
  22. A Steeping of Blood by. Hafsah Faizal
  23. The Executioners Three by. Susan Dennard
  24. Charlie Quinn Lets Go by. Jamie Varon
  25. The Weaver Bride by. Lydia Gregovic
  26. While the Dark Remains by. Joanna Ruth Meyer (audiobook)

Reviews I Posted On My Blog: 20 Books

5 Star Reads – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4.5 Star Reads – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

4 Star Reads – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

3.5 Star Reads – ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫:

3 Star Reads – ⭐️⭐️⭐️:

2.5 Star Reads – ⭐️⭐️💫

Girl, Goddess, Queen by. Bea Fitzgerald | ARC Review

2 Star Reads – ⭐️⭐️

Book Tags:

Birthstone Book Covers: August – Peridot

Blog Tours:

Other:

How was your month?

WWW Wednesday | 9/3/25

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?

It’s September! We are officially in the “ber” months. Can you believe it? I can’t. I think I’ll have more room to read books that aren’t arcs very soon.

What are you currently reading?

Hekate by. Nikita Gil – 8% – I did NOT realize this book would be poetry, so imagine my surprise when I started reading it! 😅

The Austen Affair by.. Madeline Bell – 13%

Katabasis by. R.F. Kuang – 37%

Tusk Love by. Thea Guazon – 2%

Fevered Star by. Rebecca Roanhorse – audiobook – 31%


What have you just finished reading?

Endless Anger by. Sav R. Miller – ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Blood Moon by. Britney S. Lewis – ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

The Weaver Bride by. Lydia Gregovic – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Dead of Summer by. Ryan La Sala – ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Witch of the Wolves by. Kaylee Archer – ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫


What are you going to read next?

You Make It Feel Like Christmas by. Sophie Sullivan

We Who Will Die by. Stacia Clark

The Scammer by. Tiffany D. Jackson

The Crimson Throne by. Sara Raasch and Beth Revis

And the River Drags Her Down by. Jihyun Yun

Immortal Consequences by. I.V. Marie

What are YOU reading right now?

Weekly Wrap Up | 8/31/25

Aloha friends!

Another week is over and here’s what happened:

+ My son turned 13 on Wednesday! He had presents and cake, but today we are going over to his grandparent house to have more food, cake and presents with them and they rest of the family.

+ It’s a 3 day weekend, it’s always nice to have one more day to sleep in!

Blog Posts:

Books I Finished


Currently Reading:

Witch of the Wolves by. Kayless Archer

Fevered Star by. Rebecca Roanhorse (audiobook)

Hekate by. Nikita Gil

The Austen Affair by. Madeline Bell

Immortal Consequences by. I.V. Marie

Shows/Movies/Music I Watched/Listened To:

  • The Summer I Turned Pretty (Amazon Prime Video) – Season 3 – what an episode – Conrad was not having huh? lol
  • Chief of War (Apple +) – episodes 5 and 6, war is coming!
  • The Life of the Walter Boys (Netflix) – season 2

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

WWW Wednesday | 8/27/25

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?

Today’s is my son’s 13th birthday! Which means he is doing his Bar Mitzvah in July 2026 😬 I’m already stressed after the information session we got about the whole process. But my heart is so full today – he’s such an amazing young man and still gives me his cheek to kiss (he’s taller than me 😩) when he tells me goodnight every night. 😭 Time flies…but anyways, how is your week going? 😊

What are you currently reading?

Blood Moon by. Britney S. Lewis – this is an audiobook – 60%

Hekate by. Nikita Gil – will be starting this since it will be published next month

The Austen Affair by.. Madeline Bell – 1%

The Dead of Summer by. Ryan La Sala – 63%

Endless Anger by. Sav R. Miller – 7%


What have you just finished reading?

What Fury Brings by. Tricia Levenseller – ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

The Dragon and the Sun Lotus by. Amelie Wen Zhao – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

The Robin on the Oak Throne by. K.A. Linde – ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Wild Reverence by. Rebecca Ross – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫


What are you going to read next?

The Weaver Bride by. Lydia Gregovic

You Make It Feel Like Christmas by. Sophie Sullivan – I’m not in the mood for Christmas but this one publishes next month!

We Who Will Die by. Stacia Clark

Witch of the Wolves by. Kaylee Archer

What are YOU reading right now?

Weekly Wrap Up | 8/24/25

Aloha friends!

Another week is over and here’s what happened:

+ My son is going to have his Bar Mitzvah next year so we have to attend “bootcamp” today to get all the information about the process, what he will need to do, what we need to do as parents, etc…

+ My daughter is almost done with swim classes but I’m signing her up for another six weeks, starting in mid-September. I love seeing her go from being scared in the first two classes to really building up her confidence each week!

+ We’re also going to the theater to watch K-Pop Demon Hunters today. Me and the kids have watched it about 5 times on Netflix, my daughter’s school plays the music during recess and lunch recess, and my son has been trying to make his hair like Jinu’s. My husband has walked in on us watching it twice but he always caught the ending – so he bought tickets claiming now he has a chance to see the full thing on screen.

Blog Posts:

Books I Finished


Currently Reading:

Blood Moon by. Britney S. Lewis (audiobook)

The Dead of Summer by. Ryan La Sala

Endless Anger by. Sav R. Miller

Witch of the Wolves by. Kayless Archer

Shows/Movies/Music I Watched/Listened To:

  • The Summer I Turned Pretty (Amazon Prime Video) – Season 3 – what an episode, what a mess! But I’m there for the drama.
  • Love Next Door (Netflix) – my son and I watched 3 episodes.

Listened to:

  • Conan Gray – Wishbone
  • Soulidified – One and Only
  • Doja Cat – Jealous Type

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