A-Z book tag

Jenny over at Book Coffee Happy did this fun challenge and I decided to take it on as well! I'm doing this at my personal blog since I talk about more than just chick lit here. Anyway, you should also visit Jenny's blog. I always enjoy her posts about life and her thoughts on books.

Author you’ve read the most books from:
Sophie Kinsella. I've read all her books and she has a lot.

Best Sequel Ever:
Everything We Left Behind by Kerry Lonsdale. You need to read Everything We Keep in order for it to make sense.

Currently Reading:
Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner (reading an ARC and it's so good)
I'm Fine and Neither Are You by Camille Pagan
Before and Again by Barbara Delinsky (audio)

Drink of Choice While Reading:
Hot tea, preferably vanilla or mint

E-reader or Physical Book?
Both! I never thought I'd be a Kindle person, but now I love my Kindle.

Fictional Character You Probably Would Have Actually Dated In High School:
Logan from Babysitter's Club series (they all eventually go to HS, right?)

Glad You Gave This Book A Chance:
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (review)

Hidden Gem Book:
Room for Love by Andrea Meyer. It was a sweet romantic comedy that I read about 10 years ago and still recommend.

Important Moment in your Reading Life:
Starting a book blog and knowing that people were buying books because I recommended them.

Just Finished:
The Pros of Cons by Alison Cherry, Lindsay Ribar, and Michelle Schusterman. A fun YA novel that I even got teary eyed from.
My Favorite Half-Night Stand by Christina Lauren (review)

Kinds of Books You Won’t Read:
Stealing this from Jenny because I totally agree: Anything with a topic that truly doesn't interest me. There are too many wonderful books out there...why waste time reading one that I don't find interesting?

Longest Book You’ve Read:
I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb was 900 pages and I breezed through it. Can't wait to see the TV series!

Major book hangover because of:
Too many books to name! I know I had one from Me Before You.

Number of Bookcases You Own:
One in the living room along with two big ones in the basement, but one of those only has half the books that the other does.

One Book You Have Read Multiple Times:
I used to re-read V.C. Andrews books in high school. I have no time to re-read anything now.

Preferred Place To Read:
On the living room couch. It's old and worn out but so cozy!

Quote that inspires you/gives you all the feels from a book you’ve read:
I don't memorize quotes from books.

Reading Regret:
See this list

Series You Started And Need To Finish (all books are out in series):
I don't read series all that often, aside from Shopaholic books. Some books are in a trilogy, but I've read them all. I do need to finish Tracy Krimmer's All That trilogy.

Three of your All-Time Favorite Books:
She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb, Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden, and The Life Intended by Kristin Harmel. (Narrowing down my favorites was soooooooooooooooo hard!)

Unapologetic Fangirl For:
Sophie Kinsella. Notice a trend here? I freaked out when she followed me on twitter.

Very Excited For This Release More Than All The Others:
There are way too many books coming out that I'm excited about. I know that Erin Morgenstern wrote another one and I'm eagerly awaiting that. Also anything new that Jodi Picoult has in the works.

Worst Bookish Habit:
Taking forever to put up reviews.

X Marks The Spot: Start at the top left of your shelf and pick the 27th book:
My bookshelf is a mess, but Lacy Eye by Jessica Treadway. I have not read it yet but a friend recommended it a while ago.

Your latest book purchase:
E-book of Looker by Laura Sims when it was on sale earlier this month.

There's no Z?!? Shouldn't this be A-Y? How about this:
A book I'd like to read that starts with Z:
Zac and Mia by A.J. Betts or Zoya by Danielle Steel

Eight is NOT enough: Thoughts on Russian Doll

Photo courtesy of womentainment.com

A while back, my husband sent me a trailer for a new Netflix series called Russian Doll. It had a similar premise to Groundhog Day, at first glance. Then I heard around social media that it was quite different from that 90's classic rom-com. For one thing, Russian Doll is not a romantic comedy. It's not necessarily a thriller either (like Happy Death Day 2U). It's more surreal than anything else, but it's also a powerful and complex series that I really hope will continue into another season.

It's hard to find a decent synopsis that doesn't give a multitude of spoilers. I found this on IMDb:
On Nadia's 36th birthday she is struck by a car and killed, only to finds herself alive and well, back at her own birthday party earlier that night. When she dies again and her timeline resets, Nadia begins to question her own sanity as she strives to unravel the mystery of why and how this is all happening.

Here are eight reasons you should watch (since there are only eight episodes):
1. It stars Natasha Lyonne. She first comes off as similar to Nicky on Orange is the New Black, but she has more layers and the red curls just top it all off.
2. There's another actress from Orange on this show, Dascha Polanco, who plays a complete contrast to her role as Daya on that show. I was hoping for a meta moment, but it never materialized.
3. The song that keeps playing is rather catchy. My husband and I thought it had a Ben Folds feel to it.
4. A teen actor from the 90's, Brendan Sexton III., is on this show, but totally unrecognizable. See if you can figure out who he is without consulting IMDb. (He was in Empire Records and Welcome to the Dollhouse back in the day.)
5. Chloe Sevigny plays Nadia's mom in flashback scenes. She kind of looks like Sarah Jessica Parker in this role.
6. The visuals are interesting to watch. At first the blue tinted shape on the bathroom door is strange, but then it just grows on you. It's a similar color to the fish tank in Alan's house.
7. It just messes with your mind a lot and there are so many questions and answers to ponder. Another reason I am hoping for more seasons.
8. Something about the bond between Nadia and Alan (Charlie Barnett) just does me in. I nearly cried toward the end of the final episode. I'm shipping them hard and am not ready to let go of either yet. They're both so beautifully broken and strange circumstances brought them together.

Fair warning, some parts are a bit gross. Especially in episode seven. The funny and emotional moments balance those parts out though.

I will NOT be posting any spoilers since I still can't wrap my head around everything, but you're welcome to share your own thoughts in the comments section. (For those of you who haven't seen it, don't read the comments if you are planning on watching at some point.)

Want another reason to watch? Check out the trailer!

Thoughts on A Million Little Things (with spoilers at the end)

Photo from abc.go.com

Last fall, I kept promising myself I wouldn't watch any new shows. Then my friend told me I should be watching A Million Little Things. She explained the premise and I was curious enough to check out the first episode. Then I kept watching until I was caught up and could just check in on a weekly basis. It's marketed for fans of This is Us and it has all the feels like that show does. The cast, aside from Ron Livingston, was a bunch of unknown or vaguely familiar actors, as far as I was concerned. Fast forward a few months and I got a thrill from one of them replying to my tweet recently.

The premise from Wikipedia doesn't tell much, as to avoid spoilers:
Set in Boston, a tight-knit circle of friends is shocked after a member of the group dies from suicide unexpectedly. Each friend realizes that they need to finally start living life as they cope with their loss. The title is a reference to the saying "Friendship isn't a big thing – it's a million little things."

My take (no spoilers):
The series started out with Rome (Romany Malco) standing in his kitchen trying to kill himself with a combination of pills. Then he gets a call that his friend Jon actually killed himself and spits them into the sink. However, he doesn't get rid of his note, which causes problems later on. We learn about Jon through the eyes of his widow, children, friends, and people who are keeping his secrets. Ron Livingston plays Jon and we see him during flashback scenes. Jon's friend Gary (James Roday), who is in remission from breast cancer (yes, men can get it too), meets Maggie (Allison Miller, who looks like a cross between Drew Barrymore and Katharine Heigl) at a cancer support group meeting. He then brings her to Jon's funeral where she instantly becomes friends with Delilah (Jon's widow, played by Stéphanie Szostak) and Regina (Rome's wife, played by Christina Moses). Jon's friend Eddie (David Giuntoli) is having problems connecting with his workaholic wife Katherine (Grace Park), which leads him to seek affection elsewhere.

The initial thing that brought all four men together is that they were trapped in an elevator and started bonding. Jon made a promise to look after all of them and asked them to do the same for him. (At least that's what I remember.) There are other complications on the show, such as Jon's assistant Ashley (Christina Ochoa) keeping secrets for him, Maggie refusing to get chemo for her breast cancer, Eddie and Katherine separating, Delilah and Regina trying to open a restaurant, Rome struggling with depression, etc. I don't want to say any more as to not spoil it. There are some joyful moments as well as some heartbreaking ones. All in all, it's worth a binge-watch, if you haven't seen it yet.

Check out the trailer:

Spoilers below...







Not too late to turn back...








Last chance!


I wanted to share some thoughts with other fans, as well as say who my top five favorite characters are.

Favorite characters:
1. Katherine--At first I didn't know what to expect from her. She seemed quiet and closed off. Then when she started showing more emotion, she really stood out and I started to like her the most. She even helps Delilah, after everything that happened with the affair. I really hope she and Eddie can work things out, as I like them together the more I see glimpses from the past.
2. Regina--She's a very powerful and emotionally charged character and I enjoyed seeing her succeed with the restaurant.
3. Gary--He's another one who grew on me after a while. At first I was annoyed at him for pressuring Maggie into getting chemo, but there are so many things about him to love. Especially how he treats kids and dogs. And, of course, how devoted he is to Maggie.
4. Danny--It's nice to see a pre-teen boy trying to figure things out for himself in regards to being gay. He just seems like a sweet kid.
5. Maggie--She is complex and has a lot of layers, but she's just instantly likable. I love when she was teaching Sophie how to drive. I just find it annoying that everyone treats her like a therapist because that's her job. It's like they take advantage of her friendship to resolve their emotional issues.

I wouldn't say I hate anyone on the show, aside from Regina's uncle, but there are some characters I take issue with. Eddie and Delilah for not only having an affair but also being dishonest about who the baby's father is. Eddie is attractive, so it's hard to stay mad at him. I was also annoyed that even though he was the one who strayed from his marriage, he was also the one saying that he and Katherine should get divorced. And now that things are good between them, he wants to start telling the truth about fathering Delilah's baby. If he had been up front to begin with, it's something they also could have worked on. Now that Delilah is about to have the baby, this is going to ruin things with Katherine all over again. Also, I thought it was impulsive and a bit selfish of him to go off touring with his band. He's a father with responsibilities!

Delilah also annoys me with how she acts all helpless one moment and then all strong and independent the next. She comes off as "cutesy" in a way that's hard to explain.

Then there's Ashley, who has been shifty and secretive while also trying to help Jon's family. The letter Jon wrote was nothing that needed to be hidden for so long.

Everyone else is in a neutral, but good place for me, i.e. Rome, Theo, Sophie, and Jon.

The final episode of the season revealed some interesting information, such as Jon's connection with Barbara Morgan and the revelation that P.J. (Rome's new friend, if we call him that....there's more of a father figure thing going on) is Barbara's son, whom she was most likely pregnant with before she met Mitch. Also that Regina is adamant about not wanting kids, which I hope won't cause a rift between her and Rome.

What are your thoughts? What do you think is in store for season two?