New Year Bookish Resolutions for 2016

Every year I make resolutions, or goals, for the year. I don't make any grand resolutions like losing weight or eating better (because come on, I love food too much), but small ones that in the long run will benefit me and make me grow as a person. Same goes for this year's reading goals:

1. Cut down on my TBR.
Every year I buy more than I read. I want to cut down my TBR list by about 25%. I don't know math too well so I don't now if it'll get accomplished, but my goal is too bring down the pile by the end of the year. (Note to self: create a separate category on Goodreads for this specific goal)

2. Read to my kids at night.
I usually am good at this, but with a newborn and my kids getting older and therefor rowdier, it's hard to get them to sit still and listen. I am not a patient person so it's hard for me to read to them if they're not listening. But the bf and I came up with a way I can read to the older ones (who beg me to read to them at night) separately from the smaller ones. Hopefully it'll work. I'm lucky that I was able to instill the love of reading this young and I would feel extremely guilty if it stops because of me.

3. Be more open to different genres.
Like most people, I have a favorite genre (true crime, psychological thrillers) and I read a lot of Young Adult and Chick Lit. Every once in a while, I do pick up something different and am always pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed it. And I'm tired of being "pleasantly surprised". I want to have more of an open mind. I've been stuck in the same genres and in my comfort zone. Which brings me to my next goal.

4. Read more classics (total of 5).
I'm not a big fan of classics. Other than poets, I don't read too many authors that have published best selling memoirs and don't know too many of them other than ones I read in high school. So in relation to expanding my reading, I think this will be a perfect excuse to pick up classics.

A few other small but noteworthy goals is my reading challenge. I don't know how much my new Goodreads Reading Challenge will be. I did read 50 this year, somehow I found time, but Fifty seems like a lot only because having kids every day is unpredictable as much it is a routine- it's a paradox when it comes to children. But I do want to read as much, if not more, next year. Also, I went to a few author events this year, and I want to continue that next year. Maybe my kids will enjoy it more, too. Overall, I was more than happy with how my reading went this year. I read a lot of ebooks this year, but bought more physical books. Which doesn't make sense, I know, hence goal #1. Anyway, what are YOUR goals for 2016? Happy New Year and Happy reading! ;)

Top Five Books In 2015

Hello everyone! Before the year officially ends, I wanted to write down my favorite reads of 2015. I managed to read 50 books this year (which is huge feat for me) but it wasn't enough to get me a top 15, so I chose five books that either I couldn't put down and read in one or two sittings, or a book that caught me by surprise- in a good way. Another reason I probably didn't pick 15 books is that I may be too harsh of a critic. Well, not harsh but it's hard for me to rate a book a complete 5 stars. I enjoy most of the books I read and I rate them 3 or 4 stars, 4 stars meaning I enjoyed it and will recommend it to a friend, 3 stars meaning I enjoyed it but it's forgettable, you know what I mean? I don't like rating books lower than 3 but in case I do, a 2 star rating means that I had to force myself to get through the book and can't pick up another one because it caused a reading slump- and that is NOT good. A five stars would mean it changed my life, it changed my perspective on things, it's a book that causes a hangover, a book that I don't want to stop reading and when I do get through it, it's one I want to hold for the rest of my life. There aren't a lot of those, but every once in a while I get a five star book and I can't stop talking about it.

The following five books didn't all get 5 star, but they were ones that I loved and had other people read. Some hit a little closer to home which is why I probably hold dear to my heart and others just surprised me by how beautiful it was. 

5. Room by Emma Donaghue

4. Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover

3. Confess by Colleen Hoover

2. The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay

1. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz

What were YOUR favorite reads of this past year?

Wrap-Up #2 | December

Hello! I hope everyone is having a lovely holiday season thus far :) I know I am! Well, kind of. I'm trying to get out of my football blues since my football team lost and is now officially out of the playoffs :( anyway, in regards to reading, I did get some reading done early this month but was too busy with Christmas shopping and celebrating family birthdays and watching football that I only managed to get through two full books and a few of short stories/novellas. I wanted to stick with the Holiday theme because of December, but I kept DNFing a lot of the short stories I picked up because they were too cheesy or just wasn't my thing, but looking back at my Goodreads shelf for December, I actually read more short stories/novellas than I thought. 

A Christmas Gift by Stella Wilkinson ***

A Family For Christmas by Mona Ingram ***

All Played Out by Cora Carmack ****

Bah, Humbug! by Heater Harrocks ***

A Chocolate Chip Christmas Kiss by Martha Rowe Sconnely ***

The Christmas Bake-Off by Abby Clements ***

Christmas Without Holly by Nicola Yeager ***

Ex-Mas by Kate Brian ***

The Heart of Christmas by Bill Garrison ***

Her Christmas Bonus by Rain Danvers ***

Mistletoe In Manhattan by Talli Roland ***

Second Chance Christmas by Shawn Inmon ***

Unexpected Gifts by Bronwyn Green ***

Aside from All Played Out, the stories were cute and funny, which is what I was looking for, but they lacked depth. I couldn't relate to the characters nor did I get attached to the story. I guess I got what I was looking for since I did want something simple and cheesy.

I won an ARC of My Kind Of Crazy by Robin Reul and I am looking forward to reading that in the new year. Oh, which reminds me, I will be participating in a New Year Readathon that I came across on Instagram, but I have yet to pick which books to read, so look out for that post. I also am coming up with a few Reading Resolutions for 2016 that I will be posting soon as well. Until then, I hope you all have a safe and happy New Year and as always, happy reading! :)

Wrap-Up #1 | November

I am very proud of the amount of books I read last month. I have finally found time to read that is uninterrupted and quiet. I also don't feel guilty for not spending time with the bf or my kids. All the books I read last month were amazing. They were at least four stars and above. They were all quick reads for me, and a couple were heart warming and beautiful.

'All Broke Down' by Cora Carmack ****

'Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe' by Benjamin Alire Saenz *****

'Confess' by Colleen Hoover ****1/2

'November 9' by Colleen Hoover ****

'Nowhere But Here' Katie McGarry ****

'The Sea of Tranquility' by Katja Millay ****3/4

'The Trouble With Flying' by Rachel Morgan ****

(all out of FIVE stars)

I don't know if I was in a good mood last month because of the holidays or what but I couldn't go wrong with any book I read! It's been a while since I've had a good month. This month I'll be reading nothing but Christmas books. Last year I bought "My True Love Gave To Me: 12 Holiday Stories" by all those amazing authors, but I never got around to finishing it so I'm hoping I can get through that one, too, on top of a few other books I have on my Kindle that I've been holding on to for quite a few Christmases now.

Welp, that sums up my reading plans for the last month of 2015. Hope you all have a safe and happy holiday season! And as always, happy reading :)

Review: Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

"Hi, I'm the guy who reads your e-mail, and also, I love you . . . "

Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder know that somebody is monitoring their work e-mail. (Everybody in the newsroom knows. It's company policy.) But they can't quite bring themselves to take it seriously. They go on sending each other endless and endlessly hilarious e-mails, discussing every aspect of their personal lives.

Meanwhile, Lincoln O'Neill can't believe this is his job now- reading other people's e-mail. When he applied to be "internet security officer," he pictured himself building firewalls and crushing hackers- not writing up a report every time a sports reporter forwards a dirty joke.

When Lincoln comes across Beth's and Jennifer's messages, he knows he should turn them in. But he can't help being entertained-and captivated-by their stories.

By the time Lincoln realizes he's falling for Beth, it's way too late to introduce himself.

What would he say . . . ? 

I've only read one of Rainbow Rowell's books (Eleanor and Park) and it definitely lived up to the hype it received. This one, while I enjoyed it, it wasn't anything excited or worth gushing over. I thought it was going to be much more fast-paced because those were the kind of books I was reading but this one slowed me down and it took longer to finish than I expected. I loved the ending, though. It was what I was hoping would happen, but all the anticipating just made it seem like it dragged on and on. I love how her Rowell's writing sort of plays out like a movie. I can envision the characters and what they look like with such detail which is why I decided to read another one of her books. I also own 'Landline' but for some reason am having a hard time getting through it. If you're looking for a slow and steady read that includes some romance and some witty humor, pick this one up. 

Happy December!

Happy Holidays, everyone! It is my favorite time of the year :) the weather is nice and cool - well, as "cool" as it can get in Southern California. It's time for hot chocolate and cute coats and boots. Both basketball and football are always on. And besides my birth month, December is when I'm at my most happiest.

Anyway, I decided to finally, FINALLY, start and keep a book blog. I have an Instagram account (@herlovesbooks) where I've been pretty consistent this whole year with posting pictures of all sorts of books, including ones that I've read, and I found that writing long posts is pointless. A lot of people don't even read the caption, they just see pretty pictures of books and double tap. Can you blame them? I love to look at pretty books, too!

I've started and deleted so many book accounts the past few years, I've lost count of how many I had. I just cannot find the time to dedicate to my blogs. Which is why I started an IG account in the first place; it was just easier for me to post a picture with a quick caption about what I've read or books I've purchased. But I've read so many great books lately (like last month for example, all the books I read were at least four stars. Reviews on those will hopefully be posted this month) and I wanted to share my thoughts and go in more depth and I didn't feel it was appropriate to put a long paragraph on the app. So I've kept my thoughts on these books to myself. I also have a Goodreads account but I don't write too many reviews on there. Don't ask me why, I really have no reason.

You're probably wondering why I decided to start a blog in the month of December of all months - it's the most busiest time of the year. While that may be true, I just felt like right now is the right time for me, mainly because of what I said earlier, last month I read a bunch of great books and I felt like I needed to write down my thoughts somewhere so that someone will pick up the book also and get the same feels as I did! As a mom, the Holidays are always stressful and chaotic, but so much more awesome than it was when I was younger, not because they weren't great, my Christmases are memorable in the best ways possible, but because I get to relive them through the innocence that are my kids' eyes. The same look they get when I buy them new books. I've gotten them into the spirit of the holidays and into reading. What more could I ask for?

Well, this post has been long enough. Welcome to my new blog and thank you for reading my first post :) Happy Holidays and Happy reading, always!