Thursday, December 28, 2017

2017 Reading Review


There are only 4 days left in 2017 and I wanted to share my progress on my reading goals for the year. I'm currently at 137/140 books for the year and I'm so close to reaching my goal. I'm currently reading two books, so that I can reach the goal. I also made a list of books at the beginning of the year that I wanted to read, and I managed to read 4/6, which is good enough for me.


And finally, I wanted to share my top 10 books of the year (in no particular order):

1. A Court of War and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas
2. Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare
3. Geekerella by Ashley Poston
4. Skin & Earth by Lights (cheating and counting this as 1, because the graphic novel will be out in May)
5. They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera
6. Warcross by Marie Lu
7. Renegades by Marissa Meyer
8. Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
9. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
10. Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo

And that's a quick wrap up of my reading in 2017. If you're curious about the specifics of all the books I read this year, my Goodreads page has all the information. - Jessica

Monday, December 25, 2017

Merry Christmas


Merry Christmas and happy holidays! Here's a quick post with some photo's of this year's Trail of Lights. I wasn't able to get a ton of photos this year because my sister was more concerned with getting to the section of food trucks, but anyways I still really liked the above shots. - Jessica

Monday, December 18, 2017

Snow Day


It snowed in Austin for the first time in almost 4 years, earlier this month. Usually when it snows in Austin, it happens over night, but this time there were actual snow flurries falling down from the sky in the middle of the day. Unfortunately I didn't get to go outside and play while it was snowing, because I was working (booo!) but I did spend a good chunk of time crying on my way home, because everything looked so pretty. All of these pictures are from the next day, unfortunately all the snow was melting, but I still got some good shots.


And as usual, I had to take a lot of corgi shots. Fawkes and McCoy really liked playing in the snow, but they were not in the mood to take pictures.


So it was really only like an inch of snow and it had melted by noon, but as someone who has lived their whole life in an area that rarely snows, I get really excited by just a little bit. - Jessica

Thursday, December 14, 2017

San Francisco


My family is originally from the Bay Area, so when we would visit relatives in the area, we would always take a day trip to San Francisco. I always loved these trips because the city is filled with so much culture and diversity. I recently got to revisit the city and it had been almost four years since I've been back. Usually trips with my family to San Fran involve the touristy attractions (the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39, Chinatown...), but I never tire of seeing them. 


Views while walking on across the Golden Gate Bridge. We always tend to luck out and visit the city on clear days.


The amount of succulents I saw while in California was insane. I thought they were everywhere in Austin, but they truly are everywhere in the Bay Area. 


There's so much to do in Fisherman's Wharf, I always loved going and eating ice cream at Ghiradelli Square and eating clam chowder. If you're ever at Fisherman's Wharf, I highly recommend visiting the Musee Mechanique, it's a fun place to kill time and play antique arcade games. I also freaked out when I saw this Sorting Hat fortune telling machine, cause I have no self control when it comes to cool Harry Potter things.


Here's some random shots from Pier 39. I didn't get any good shots of the sea lions, because they basically act like giant dogs.


We capped off the day by walking from the pier to Chinatown, and browsing the shops there. I have only ever been to San Fran during the summer, so it was really cool to see all the Christmas decorations up. This was an extremely last minute trip, but I would have loved to have seen Aladdin and gone to the Museum of Ice Cream, cause you can never spend enough time in San Francisco. But overall, this was a really fun day trip. - Jessica

Saturday, December 9, 2017

Books I Read In November



I had a decent month in November in terms of reading. I read 8 novels and a comic, which wasn't my best month of the year, but I still got to do a lot of reading despite being busy with life. So here are the books I read and some of my thoughts and opinions on them...

Before She Ignites by Jodi Meadows - This book follows, Mira, a princess who has been thrown into prison, after learning about the illegal trafficking of dragons. This was a solid start to a trilogy, it covers a lot of backstory and sets up nicely for the sequels. I really liked the characters and I'm interested to see how this trilogy will continue.

Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao - This book follows Xifeng, who has been told from birth that she will become the empress, but in order to do so, she has to follow her darkness and hurt the people she cares about. This book is basically an Evil Queen retelling, and that element of the story is so well done, and I absolutely loved how the fairy tale aspect provided set up for the sequel. This is definitely a slow build novel, but the writing was so well done that I did not mind. I'm really looking forward to the release of the second book next year.

Made You Up by Francesca Zappia - This book follows Alex, who has schizophrenia, and how she copes with her mental illness and how it affects her life. I really enjoyed this book, I ended up listening to the audiobook in a day, because I wanted to know what would happen. The mental illness aspect of the book was really well handled. My only issue with the book was the development of the romance, but that didn't prevent me from loving this book.

Skin & Earth (Issue 5) by Lights - This is the second to last issue in Lights debut comic series, which ties into her latest album. I found that this issue took an unexpected turn, but I still absolutely loved it. As always, the art in this series is beautiful, and I listened to each song, while reading the corresponding chapter. I'm highly anticipating the release of the last issue (on Wednesday!), to see how the world and the story wraps up.

Release by Patrick Ness - This book takes place over the course of a day, following Adam, who is struggling with his sexuality and his religious family. This was a solid coming of age novel, with a little bit of magical realism thrown in (and in typical Patrick Ness fashion). This book just served as another reminder that I need to read all of Patrick Ness' books.

Renegades by Marissa Meyer - This is the first book in a duology, and the main premise is a superhero and a villain falling in love. I absolutely loved this book, and one of my favorite elements was the representation. Nova, one of the protagonists, is half Filipino and even though this ends up being a minor detail in the books, it is so fulfilling to see characters that have the same background as I do. I really loved the world that Meyer creates and I can't wait until the last book comes out.

Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust - This is a Snow White retelling and it focuses on the relationship between both the princess and the queen figure. I really enjoyed this book, it has such a unique application of the fairy tale elements, while still maintaining a sense of individuality. I also loved the added LGBTQ+ elements. This was a great standalone read.

Whichwood by Tahereh Mafi - This is a companion to Mafi's Furthermore and follows a girl that washes the bodies of the dead. Just like in Furthermore and Mafi's books in general, the writing is absolutely beautiful, and it was my favorite part of this book. I was not as invested in the story or the main character in this book, as I was in Furthermore, but I still really enjoyed this book.

Undercover Princess by Connie Glynn - This book follows Lottie, who finds out that she is rooming with a princess, and in order to protect the princess' identity, Lottie starts to pose as her. This book was all over the place, there are elements of fairytales, boarding schools, mysteries, magic and romance. That being said, it was still a fun read and I'm looking forward to following the rest of the series.

And those are all the books I read in November. I only need to read 10 more books in December to hit my reading goal, which I'm optimistic that I can achieve! - Jessica