The Aesthetically Pleasing Book Tag

Well, I'm seriously sad to admit that I started this post back in like September and first I didn't have my bookcase entirely cleaned and organized enough to show it off! I still haven't posted completed pictures of it over on Instagram which is sad because I was doing really good at documenting my build over there! But I'm determined to get this post completed and thrown out into the world today since it is actually Tuesday and I can call it a Tag Tuesday post, plus I feel like my life is somewhat put together at least for today!

I didn't create this tag I actually first seen this book tag on Dreamland Book Blog, and it all just clicked for me to create this for my bookcase. My goal for this post is to pick books that no one really talks about and never repeat the same books for different answers throughout this thing. So let's see what I can come up with! But I really just can't wait to show off this bookcase, guys it really took me all summer to do this! And then all fall to even finish writing this post took way too long! It's now January 2020 and I started this back in September. I'm definitely going to make a post about my journey while building this behemoth!

This is the bookshelf that I built over the summer, it was more like I started buying materials and working on it in May and it was completed in August. It didn't take much work to build it was planning out the build, money for the supplies, and then getting it on the wall took a lot of time to do. But for more information about the building process and what all I did to make this dream a reality check out this (post) where I go more in-depth of it all! So let's get into this amazing tag that took me forever to finish!

1. Best Color Combo on a Book Cover

There are so many different color combos that I really love looking at on my shelf that I had a lot to choose from for this answer but ultimately I had to go with my JD Robb/Nora Roberts shelf. Yes, this is one person and this beautiful lady deserved a whole shelf just to herself! I've been dying to make it out to one of her book signings that she does at Turn the Page bookstore all of the time! I made sure they all fit in this shelf too as you can see most of this shelf is my Naked in Death collection! This series is what introduced me to Roberts and since my love for this series is so huge I started branching out into Roberts others works. Since these questions are supposed to be gears towards one book specifically I should pick one book that as the best colors on it and I'm going to have to go with Under Currents by Nora Roberts. I read this book over the summer and I loved it! I think a lot of her newer books are following the same basics for the covers that you see in both Under Currents and Shelter in Place. 

2. Best Typography/Font on a Book Cover

 

I had to have this book somewhere on this list and I'm so glad that it fell under Typography. This book is one of the first books that I can remember that really pulled me into reading and making me want to read all the time! It was so captivating to my fourth-grade self and I had to keep this series. It's definitely one of those series that I keep more for sentimental values because I haven't read it in years. I think it would be something that I would love to read to my kids one day. So I just knew it had to be on this list somewhere! The font of the cover and the title heads is something that I've always loved! I've always loved the curly writing and it the fact that the title is different fonts makes me love it even more because it is so funky, half of it is cursive and the other half is more straightforward. Even though the writing gives off a little funky vibe the cover itself is pretty simple which makes it so perfect!

3. Best Simple Cover

For the best simple cover, I think Nicholas Sparks books will always win! They are usually so simple with either a beach scene or a bike on the cover but since all of his covers have the same simple feeling towards them it's hard to pick just one of his books. So for this one, I pick Nicholas Sparks instead of one single book. I've been slowly rereading them since I have got my bookshelf together and the books are just staring at me. They are something that I definitely want to do a book vs. movie post because his books are always better than the movies!

4. Best End-Pages

I actually just got this book a couple months ago so I haven't read it yet but just looking at this book the end pages are beautiful! I plan on picking it up soon because the concept is sort of like the book I've been trying to write and I cannot wait to jump into this one! After I read the book it will be on the big shelf, the only reason it isn't on the shelf yet is because I'm lazy and I like having a stack of books in my room beside my bed, I think it helps motivate me to get through the book I'm reading a little faster so I can get to it.

5. Best Map

I'm not happy to admit that I have a lot of different copies of this book, but they are all pretty much in different formats! But this copy is my absolute favorite because of the illustrations and I love these maps at the beginning of the book! They help follow the story because you really jump throughout this world so much that these maps help a LOT! Plus I don't read that much fantasy and outside of the fantasy world there aren't a lot of books that have maps in them, so this one was one of the harder ones for me to do.

6. Best Naked Hardback

I actually found this book for this one by pure luck. I literally had to go through all my books looking at the books and pulling off the dust jackets of all my hardback books! I kept gravitating back to my Harry Potter books because their gorgeous but I swore I was going to do different books for each answer sorry Harry! Finally, I found one of the prettiest naked covers that has something other than just the title of the book! This is so simple with just the tiara on the cover but I love the color combo between the different shades of purple to the silver for the tiara. I mean how could I not pick the freaking tiara! Definitely one of my favorites and I didn't even know what it looked like! 

7. Best Back Cover

I kind of cheated with this book because of the back and front cover kind of blend together to make this one. But in all honesty, this back cover is just as important as the front cover and I loved this book back when I read it. I really want to reread this book now that I'm older. From what I remember the cover shows the two main characters and they are exes on a road trip for college that they planned before they broke up, but while they are on the road the truth about why they really broke up comes out. I know this became a popular-ish trope that people either love or hate but I think this was one of the first books with this type of storyline and, to be honest, its the only one I ever read with it and I loved it! Since then I have read more about a road trip and they can be hit or miss with me.

8. Best Chapter Headers

This one I think was literally the hardest one to find anything for. I love chapters that have chapter headings which have become so hard to find in any books today! So many books today don't really have anything for the chapters other than the number. I think it is getting really rare to have chapter titles or even illustrations with the chapter headers. Books with chapter headers can help differentiate between characters when a book is in multiple point-of-views and let me tell you I need that! I always have a hard time remembering which point of view I'm in and it really pulls me out of the story trying to figure out who is who. When I was younger I read the Clique series and they had the location within the chapter headings and I loved it! So the picture above shows a few different books that had chapter titles and I loved them!

9. Best Illustrations

Harry Potter is one of those series that I can read over and over and just never grow tired of it. But when I learned about the illustrated versions coming out it made me so happy! I love these copies and it kind of gave this series a new life for me! For awhile I was getting the new one every year for Christmas but since the books are getting bigger causing the illustrator to use more time on later books the illustrated ones are taking a little longer to come out but it is definitely on the list to pick up as soon as I can get it, which is still usually Christmas presents for me. I've also loved giving these copies to my friends for their kids' Christmas presents. Now that I have a new series that I'm doing on my blog I can't wait to revisit the Harry Potter world for it!

10. Best Spine

I love Book of the Month spines! I think it's just the small square at the beginning of the spines with the BOTM logo is beautiful and they are amazing. Right now I have a stack that is my TBR (left side beginning the shelf) and then the stack in the middle and end are ones I've already finished! Even though I love my set up on the shelf right now my goal is to eventually fill my other bookcase with all BOTM books. The bookcase below is the shelf I made during the summer of 2018 and I think it would look amazing with all BOTM books on it! Right now this case is kind of out of sorts since I moved all of my books over to my giant shelf. So right now the first crate is the books that I want to make a priority this month, the second crate are books that I've bought throughout the month, and then rest is kind of spillover books that I didn't want to put on the big shelf because I liked how the looked over here more!

11. Favorite Cover on Your Shelves

The whole entire Lunar Chronicles series is one of my favorite series ever! The covers are my favorite because they are kind of simplistic but at the same time, they portray their stories so perfectly. If you've read this series you know what I mean and which book is portraying which fairytale they are inspired by! I love fairytale retellings and I'll always be a sucker for them! This series was just perfect for me! I binge read this entire series and I just recently got the physical copies and yet again this is another series that I'm dying to reread! Seeing them on my shelf now I just want to pick them up and start rereading them.

This picture might be a little confusing because it looks like Cress is the second book but it is the third book. I tried to be a little artistic with it but obliviously I'm a bit goofy, and this one was so hard to take since Cinder couldn't fit on the shelf like that. But I still love this picture so much!

2020 Most Anticipated Books! (First Half of 2020)

I started looking into books for the next year since one of my goals for the year is to read more books as they are released and this is a list of potential buys for the first half of 2020 that I'm currently really excited about and might even pick up as soon as they come out! Originally I was going to do the whole year but as I was looking for books I quickly realized I'm going to have to break this down into the first half of the year since there isn't a whole lot of books that we know are coming out in the second half of the year. I was about to break it down into quarters because as you go through you'll see there start to be less and less books since there isn't a whole of news about what is coming out later in 2020 yet, such as Nora Roberts I know she will have at least one book coming out in 2020 outside of the In Death series, but it hasn't been announced yet. So this list will change over the next year. Plus I just really wanted the whole year to be spread out here and maybe even check in at the end of the year to see what books I actually read!

January 

January 6

It just dawned on me to add books that I already have to this list! I never have books before they are released but I literally just now realized that there are a couple books that I get from Book of the Month that haven't been released yet! I actually got Dear Edward as the December book of the month and I have been too busy playing with my diamond paint kit that I haven't been reading like I planned on this break so this might be my first read of the year! 

January 7

So I'm an awful reader when it comes to deadlines and this is why I've never tried to get books from publishers such as arcs even though I've always wanted one! I don't know why I just thought that arcs are one of those things that makes you a real reader. I know that is totally not true and I shouldn't think this way but in my defense I've just recently learned what arcs even were and I've tried to get one recently, and I only try to get books that I'm legitimately interested in. So I should've already finished The God Game since it was my first ever arc but I haven't even started it yet and I planned on doing it in December and just like Dear Edward I literally just had other things I did instead. I think/hope to start this book today! I just don't like forcing myself to read something I'm not interested in at that moment because I hate reading slumps and that hindsight always puts me in one but I'm interested in this book I just need to sit down and read it!

January 14

I would definitely be lying if I said the cover didn't attract me to the book because it definitely made me look at it! But as I read what it was about it definitely made me want to pick it up! I think it is going to be interesting but I'm always hesitant to pick up a new book by an author I've never read, especially adult books because they are so expensive! So I might wait a little bit for the price to go down before I pick this one up but I definitely want to give this one a try.

January 21

You guys I'm a total sucker for books like this! We have kind of a Romeo and Juliet/Cinderalla Story thing but with restaurants! The two teens are fighting it out over Twitter yet at the same time they are in an anonymous chatroom falling for each other!?!? Like just give me this book right now! 

January 21

Not only is this book beautiful but it sounds similar to Far from the Tree by Robin Benway. It's about a girl that grew up in the foster system and she is about to age out. That's all I really know there isn't much in the synopsis other than that and ever since I read Benway's book I've been wanting to read more that's focused on the foster system/adoptions. It would be beyond awesome if one of these two books would be a Book of the Month picks!

February

February 1

This book sounds interesting to me and I can't really explain why. I've really been in the contemporary mood lately and this was one of Amazon Firsts for January and I couldn't pass it up! This sounds so interesting and something that would be right up my ally as of right now anyways.

February 4

Anything in the JD Robb universe I'll pick it up because I'm obsessed with this series! I finally have the complete series and since this is the 50th book in the series I really want to try and get it signed. I think I'm going to try to go to her book signing but I already have this preordered (which is the first thing I've ever done!) and I'm so excited. The only reason I preordered it is because it was a Christmas present from my fiance but also because it will come with a necklace that is supposed to represent Eve's police badge and one of Big Jack's diamonds, which Eve wears one on a necklace that Roarke gave her! I know when you preorder they usually come signed so I really hope it does if not then I definitely have to drive the 4 hours to her book signing! To say I'm excited about this book is an understatement.

February 4

This sounds so interesting to me because I love politics and scandal and this book seems to have both! I think it will be interesting to see what happens within this senator's families through the documentary that is being filmed. I know it is probably nothing like the Book of Essie by Meghan MacLean Weir but they might have the same basic aspects such as the families are being filmed for TV, but in the Book of Essie the family is on a reality TV show and the children grew up being on the show. In this book, the family is in the political scene because the father is a senator and they are on their annual family vacation and it sounds like they overlook their issues but the cameras catch it all. I'm very curious about it.

February 18

This one sounds more on the thriller side than anything else really on this list but I'm interested in this book because it sounds so much like the real-life situation that involved a girl in the Bahamas that was killed, I can't remember her name but it was a huge profiled investigation that happened while I was in high school. I know it isn't following her actual case but if I'm remembering correctly it sounds similar.

 March

March 3

I've never read anything from this author but after reading the synopsis of this book from Goodreads I just can't pass it up! It sounds so funny and cute and I just can't wait to get a copy! 

March 3

I want to read this book, but I don't think I'm as excited about this one as I was for An Anonymous Girl. After reading the authors' debut novel I was OBSESSED! I needed to read their books and they became an auto-buy for me. I've reread the Wife Between Us so many different times now. So as soon as An Anonymous Girl came out I was THRILLED! But I was left hugely disappointed. An Anonymous Girl was my biggest let down in 2019! So I'm really hesitant about going into this new book. I want to read it but if it is a let down for me again then I don't know if I'll pick up anymore book by these guys and its sad because I loved The Wife Between Us, I think it was my favorite book of 2018 and I'm still obsessed with it today. Hopefully, it was just An Anonymous Girl who didn't click with me versus I just don't like their stories anymore. I'll guess I'll find out on March 3.

March 17

I'm so hoping that this is on the comedic side and I can't wait to read it! I hope it is going kind of like the couple retreat movie where they went away to fix their marriages but this one sounds similar but not exact. I can't wait to read it.

March 30

I've heard about this book for a few weeks now and it sounds really cute, and a perfect winter read. I think it is going to be bittersweet since it sounds like we will be reading in the same woman's perspective but in two different timelines one where she has her fiance and the other where she has lost him. I think it will be interesting to see how they will end, maybe she can pick which life she keeps? I wonder what she is losing when she is with her fiance?

April

April 7

Not only did the cover pull me in but the author did too! I loved the Divergent series, even though I hated how it ended. The synopsis of the book sounds pretty interesting too so I think it would be fun to give this book a try.

 

April 21

I can't wait for this book to come out! I just read the first book in this series at the end of 2019 and it was so GOOD! I am a little hesitant because this is going to be following Katrina who we were introduced too in the first book but she was a side character, but I'm interested in her backstory because she sounded like she lived such a big life and something happened that caused her to basically become a hermit, at least in the public eyes because she avoids all publicity even though she used to be a model. The first book was definitely risque so I assume this one is going to be in the same format. I really loved Rai's writing though and I'm so excited.

 May

May 5

I think where I just finished reading the Right Swipe I'm definitely in the mood for chick-lit or romancy books and I think it really shows on the list I've made this far but this year I've really been into these genres more than any other! I think this one is going to fall perfectly into place for me because I think it looks interesting, cute, and an interesting read.

May 5

This cover sucks and I usually don't mind people on the covers! I don't think this series has anything to do with Cass's Selection series which is probably a good thing. I loved that series but the last few books were rough. I hate when books start following other characters! Since this series should be on its own I think the over should've strayed away from people being on the cover. The Selection series had beautiful covers! So we'll just have to see how this book goes. I did devour the Selection series! But I was also in high school when I read them.

May 19

It seems like 2020 is the year all of the authors from my middle school years rejoin the book world! Just like Roth's books, I loved Hunger Games but I hated the ending. Unlike Roth, Collins is going back into the same world we already know. There isn't much information about the book other than the fact that it is about the 10th Hunger Games. I would love to jump into this book and see if I still love this world just as much as I did as a kid but at the same time, I am a little hesitant. Collins writing wasn't always my favorite and the last Hunger Games book did leave a bad taste. When I say I didn't like how the series ends I'm not talking about the people who died I'm talking about how the last book felt so rushed but at the same time very boring. It was like all of the action happened so fast and the build-up just caused it to all fall flat.

May 26

I just watched a Christmas movie that was about a girl that died and she was ghosting her best friend which made me interested in what this book was about. Spoiler alert it is nothing like the movie! Which is a good thing since the movie I'm talking about doesn't have any relationship to this book. But reading the synopsis sounds really interesting and a light read, and it comes out right after finals and before my wedding so I think it should be one that joins me on my honeymoon!

 June

June 2

The book said it should be for people who loves Hilderbrand's books and let me tell you I'm trash for that author! I love her books so much. This book sounds like a fun summer read and I hope it will be one of Book of the Month picks! 

June 16

While reading the synopsis of this book I think it would be a cute summer read! If this list was ranking them from most excited to least excited I think this one falls towards the bottom of the list. But I still want to pick it up and read it when it comes out. It sounds like it is going to be a fun, cute read.

June 30

Not only does this cover look amazing but it sounds so much like Crazy Rich Asians, which was one of my favorite series summer before last! I've been dying for another book in that world however I don't think we will be lucky enough to get a fourth book so I'm hoping this will be a great constellation prize! Only downfall is this will come out after my wedding! This would've been an amazing book to read while I'm getting married or even on the cruise!

 July

July 28

As I start going into the last half of the year there are going to be fewer and fewer books mentioned since there are always more books mentioned throughout the year for this time frame. This book isn't something that I would pick up based on the cover, but the synopsis sounds so interesting to me and I love books about TV in some way and this one sounds right up my ally. I want to try this book and see how it goes. This book follows a woman who has pretty much sacrificed everything for her career and the way the synopsis went they said that there is some sort of threat to her career that she basically sacrificed everything for. So I want to see how it goes, especially if it is a Book of the Month book.

ShayKay's December 2019 Book Haul

So this month is always a hit or miss with me, and this year was definitely a miss. I didn't listen to any audiobooks this month. I also only got one book this entire month which came through Book of the Month. This book was Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano. This book sounded so interesting to me because of the airplane. It sounded so much like one of the TV shows that keeps advertising lately about a missing flight and everyone came back with these strange powers. I know this is nothing like that other than the plane. I'm so curious about this book and I can't wait to pick it up. My only excuse is that I just had too many other things to do this month that reading took a back seat and I know I say this all the time! But this month I actually did read and you'll see what I did this month in a little bit but in reality, even that only happened in the last week of December and it was so much fun!

As for eBooks I did get a little crazy and get quite a few this month. I picked up A Beginner's Guide to Free Fall by Andy Abramowitz, I believe this was one of Amazon Firsts for December and it just sounds interesting! I've never read a book that has anything to do with roller coasters or even engineering. This one has to deal with both. Plus it was only $1.99 and I couldn't resist picking it up. The next book I found was the Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds. I couldn't tell you how I found it or why but at the moment it sounded good so I bought it. Definitely, an impulse buy and something I want to read. Then the final book I got this month I actually bought full price for because I've been wanting to read it and I was tired of waiting! Is the Kissing Booth by Beth Reekles. This is the book that I did a little different post with and I have to say devoured this book and had so much fun working on my little project with it! Now I just need to finish up the post so I can publish it! I love it when I get a book and just devour it and there is no shelf time between me getting it and then finishing it.

  

ShayKay's 2019 Top 5 Disappointment Reads

This is going to be my top five disappointments of the year. I'm not going to number this one like  I did with my top books because this one is my top disappointments in general, not really much to it, which means the order doesn't show the biggest disappointment. I won't have a hate list because I really don't read a book that leaves me hating it and if I start reading a book and I just don't like it I'll just DNF the book and I'm very picky with what books I get and they are usually already on my radar.

Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes

This was a huge disappointment for me and even left me in a book slump! Evvie Drake was one of the books I got for my birthday and it was definitely expensive but I was so sure about it! The reviews were good, the first chapters were great, and I was really interested in the authors writing style, which she is an author I've never read before. So all of these should've equaled out to be an amazing book! Well, it didn't end that way. The first two-thirds of the book was amazing and I loved it. It was even a could not put down book! But then the stinking thing crashed and burned. One of the first things that threw me was the writing timeline. The chapters were so choppy so it pulled me out of the story because it was like every chapter was later and later in time, which wouldn't have been an issue but the way it was written it made it hard to follow. It sounds like I'm contradicting myself a little bit because I just said I loved her writing. I loved the writing once I got into it but every chapter really threw me a little bit and took me a hot second to get back into it. So I could tolerate it and even like the beginning a lot. But the end of the book just imploded, kind of the same reasons as Little Fires Everywhere the book just sort of fell into a rush and it was rough reading these rush plots. Just slow down and give me more details instead of trying to include everything and rushing everything.

I ended up giving the book 2 out of 5 stars while the rest of the Goodreads community gave it 4 stars. So I think this one has the biggest gap in ratings out of everything on this list. Most of the people loved that it had a real-life feel to it, which I can see and agree with but the timeline is what threw me. There were a lot of people mentioning how it started dragging towards the middle which this could've been what happened to me but I just felt like it was too choppy. Another thing I saw a lot was that there wasn't much comedy which I can see that too but I didn't go into it thinking there would be a comedy I saw it more of rom-com or chick lit.

An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

This book, for me, left me feeling a lot like how Daisy Jones left me feeling. I absolutely loved The Wife Between Us, which was even my favorite book of the year. Guys I literally recommended this book like crazy last year to the point where my friends got it as Christmas presents! I'm seriously in love with that book! So this was one of the first buys of 2019 for me and I started reading it but it went downhill really fast for me. I never felt bored reading the Wife Between Us, and I was always on the edge of my seat. I don't normally read thrillers but the Wife Between Us has really left me wanting to branch out into thrillers a little more. I think the only big complaint with Anonymous Girl is that I just kept getting bored with it and could not get interested in the book which was awful since their first book was amazing! I've kind of decided that I will give their new book a try since they are coming out with a new book but I just don't know. I think if I have the same feelings that I had with Anonymous Girl then I might just think that Wife Between Us is was just a fluke that I enjoyed it so much. Or if I love it then I will think that Anonymous Girl was just a fluke and continue instabuying all of their books. I just don't know. I wanted to love Anonymous Girl so much but it just kept falling flat. I might have to try it as an audiobook but I really didn't enjoy the story that much to motivate me to do that.

Even though I had some tough thoughts about this book I ended up giving it a 4 out of 5 stars but looking back now I really think it should have 3 stars, not 4. On Goodreads, its average star is 4 out 5. I think a lot of the complaints in the comments for this book is the same that everyone had for The Wife Between Us, which was that it was okay but left them wanting more or they saw everything coming. I'm not typically a thriller reader so it was really good and I didn't see any of it coming. One of the things that I saw over on Booktube was that a lot of the thrillers were about a woman killing people and why or why the woman was mistreated, and so on. This was really true in the last couple of years most of the bigger, popular books have had a woman lead and they follow the same basic outline of her being the bad guy in the end.

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

I've heard nothing but good things about Little Fires Everywhere and I just had to read it. But when I picked it up it became really tough. I listened to it as an audiobook and I loved the beginning, the middle was okay, but then the end of the book just ruined it for me. I think the book tried to fit everything into it that left it feeling rushed and it was rough to get through it. I think if the ending would change and make the book feel less rushed it would be a really good book. It has a TV show or movie coming out based on the book and I definitely want to watch it. I think it might be better than the book or maybe show me something that I apparently missed while reading the book. We'll see.

I ended up giving this one 3 out of 5 stars which the book wasn't bad. I enjoyed a lot of the book, I was just left wanting more from it. Not really more maybe more structure because I felt like the author wanted to have everything in this book instead of focusing on a few things and really explaining it. The Goodreads crowd gave it 4 stars and it was even one of the 2017 books of the year for Goodreads. Most of the comments state that the book was slow. I didn't think it was slow, I just think there was a lot of stuff in it. I might need to read another book by her to see how I truly feel about her writing.

Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Daisy Jones was a huge disappointment for me, and I think it was mostly because of The Seven Husbands Evelyn Hugo. Evelyn Hugo introduced me to Taylor Jenkins Reid last year and I devoured it! It was nice reading Evelyn Hugo before it got really big and hyped up in the book world. Evelyn Hugo was so dynamic and gripping that I couldn't put it down! So when Book of the Month was offering Daisy Jones this year I had to get! The first thing I should mention is I usually love when books are written with an article like scenes thrown in and even with some interview scenes. The writing of Daisy Jones is basically in an interview setting and I did not mind it. That wasn't my complaint with this book. I just feel like Evelyn Hugo was so huge and interesting and then we fall into Daisy Jones where it tried to be as big as Evelyn Hugo but left me disappointed. The book was just missing some of the things that really captivated me in it. This is definitely one of the books that I don't mind the story but I wasn't pulled into the story so I didn't hate the book. I was just left wanting more from it. I did really love how it end when we found out who is interviewing the band! I think after the band scenes were my favorite part of the book which is awful since that is literally the end of the book. I definitely recommend this book as an audiobook because it is done in a full cast so every character has their own narrative and let me tell you that made this book so much better for me! So I really didn't hate this book I was just left disappointed which leaves this book as a prime example of what this list is all about. I don't know how this book beat out books like Beyond the Point and Things to Save in a Fire for the Book of the Month book of the year! 

This book ended up getting 3 stars by me and the Goodreads gave it 4 stars. There were also a bunch of awards for this book, which has shocked me a little bit because I don't think it was the best book of the year. It's won Goodreads award along with being Book of the Month book. I just wish there were little more things that we got in Evelyn Hugo in this book. It seems like a lot of people in the comments mention how the book was boring or emotionless which I can totally see both of these things since it is written in an interview style. It really seems like you either loved it or hated it, there was no real middle for this book.

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

When Dimple Met Rishi had so much potential. I even liked a lot of it but the biggest thing for me here is that the book itself kind of forgot its own lot a lot. The book is sold as a girl who convinces her parents to let her go to this summer program where they develop apps. Her goal is to make the best app concept at this summer program and meet her idol. She even actively talks about how she will never let a boy get in the way of her and her goal. But her parents are pushing for her to get married through an arranged marriage instead of focusing on school so much which pushes her to stay away from guys even more. Well her parents sort of set Dimple up by having Rishi attend the same summer program. Rishi goes to this program with the intent of meeting Dimple and finding himself a wife. So Rishi knew everything except that Dimple doesn't know anything about him. Which this love story could have been good if it was splayed out a little more instead you have a little tension then boom she suddenly loves him more than anything and totally forgets about her web design that she was supposed to spend her summer doing. Then all of a sudden everything is okay because Dimple sort of comes out good. I just don't get it. This book was just too much and it made it be a rough read because I wanted it to be good but instead, I get this hot mess of instalove. 

I ended up giving the book a 2 out of 5 stars which were under the Goodreads rating, but only by one star. It seems like most people in the ratings had the same issues, instalove, she completely left her app behind, and it was just really rushed overall.

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ShayKay's Favorite Books of 2019

I've read quite a few books this year and I've decided to do the top 5 books of the year and the 5 disappointments of the year. This post is the top 5 of the year!

5. A Man is no Woman by Etaf Rum

This book was so different from anything I read this year and it was one of the first books I read this year! The book itself was so intense you follow a few different generations within one Arab-American family and there are so many different issues going on throughout the book such as domestic violence and rape. The book focuses mostly on Deya who is 18 when we start the book and she is actively trying to not follow in her parents' steps. Her parents had an arranged marriage and Deya refuses to get married. While we are reading the book we learn about how her parents died and why Deya is refusing to live her mother's same life. It isn't until the end of the book that Deya's mother's intentions were shown fully and we the readers see that Deya and Isra are a lot more alike, and even that the grandmother isn't as evil as we always through. 

It was definitely a hard read but it was well worth it as long as you can read through the intense moments. Just trigger warnings for people since these are themes that do pop up in the book. I love also love books that follow other cultures because it is interesting to me to see the world through different glasses.

4. Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott

Let me tell you I have picked this book up and carried around the bookstore so many times before I finally gave in and bought it! I loved the cover but I couldn't convince myself to get it until I talked to my coworker about it! I'm so glad I finally read this book! This book definitely gave me a lot of Fault in Your Stars by John Green vibes, which means my heart was being ripped apart a million different ways on every single page! I originally read this so I could watch the movie and compare what was different but I still haven't watched the movie which is crazy because I love Cole Sprouse and Moises Arias! Anyways if you want to read this book have some tissues handy because it is intense at times. 

3. Beyond the Point by Claire Gibson

This book follows three main points and the way the book kicks off you just start running. It follows three cadets when they first start at West Point and the book takes you along all three of their lives. They end up being best friends even though they didn't like each other in the beginning but they eventually grow to be like sisters. I will say that Avery was one of the hardest characters to like and over time I ended up loving her just as much as Dani and Hannah. I  think Avery had the most character development.  A little side hint about this book is that none of the three girls go in any of the directions that you think they would if you compare the first part of the book to the last part of the book. They all three grow but I think Avery grew the most. This book is a chunker! When I first got it through Book of the Month I really worried about picking it up because of how thick it was. But I honestly flew through this thing, I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! It was an amazing, inspirational read. Definitely another book that you would need some tissues for.

2. Well Met by Jen DeLuca

This book was a little cliche when you just read the back of the book but as you start reading it ended up being perfect! I don't know if I just read it at the right time or what but I couldn't put the book down and I loved Emily and Simon so much! It was just a nice read and it had so much quirkiness in and I just loved it so much! It is definitely a chick-lit book and I think it was something I just read at the right time. There is another book coming out, hopefully in 2020, but the only thing we know about it is that the book follows Stacy and I just don't know how I feel about that! I hate when series follow different people but I might have to give this one a try just to see what happens. 

1. Things to Save in a Fire by Katherine Center

I seriously don't know where to even start with this book. First off the cover is freaking gorgeous, and I know while I was reading the book I kept thinking that the flowers on the cover looked a lot like fire since that's what the book is about. Cassie is a firefighter that ends up moving from her Texas firehouse that was very progressive and accepting of female firefighters to a Boston fire station where Cassie is the first female firefighter they ever had. Through this story you watch Cassie learn how to survive in a firehouse that doesn't want her there, take care of her mother who disappeared on her when she was a teenager, fall in love, and heal from some pretty tragic emotional wounds. There have been some complaints of some instalove between Cassie and the rookie however the book spans over months and I feel like they fell in love over time not just