Tag: Books

5 Fictional Novels Published in 2020 to Give as Gifts

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Because of the pandemic, I had time to read. Reading has become rare for me because I’m usually busy working or doing something else. Now that I’m stuck at home, I began to read and enjoy reading once again.

This renewed interest in reading has also made me focus on finding new books to add to my library. In 2020, the publication of many books was delayed, but many did get published. Since it’s the time of the year to give gifts, I wanted to list my five favorite fictional novels published in 2020 to give as gifts. I have yet to read all the books on this list, but I know these books are the most popular and are books I’m very excited to read. Because of this, I will not write a paragraph or two about why I like the books.

  1. Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline
  2. Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer
  3. A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
  4. The Ickabog by JK Rowling
  5. The Betrothed by Kiera Cass

Well, that’s all for now! Thank you for reading!

5 Favorite Fashion Books to Give as Gifts for Christmas 2020

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For many years, I collect fashion books. Some of them are for specific collections or fashion houses, others are about fashion styles from specific time periods. Some are coffee table books while others are actually textbooks that are used by colleges and professional costume designers to create historically accurate books. And, like anyone who has a large library of books on a specific subject, I have books I love more than others.

Recently, I started to go through my library of fashion books and realized some of the books in my collection would make great gifts for anyone who wants to give one to a friend or family member for Christmas. I narrowed down the group of books to five of my favorite fashion books that would make great gifts for Christmas. As of December 2020, all the books on this list are still in print and are in my own personal collection. Some may be more expensive than others, but I’m capping the price point of under $100 USD. All the books are currently available on Amazon as of December 2020. Continue reading “5 Favorite Fashion Books to Give as Gifts for Christmas 2020” →

Book Review- Live by Sadie Robertson with Beth Clark

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A few months ago, knowing there would be some major life changes for me, friends of mine suggested that I read Live by Sadie Robertson with Beth Clark. These life changes are good changes, but they also left me confused about where my life is heading and what kinds of long term goals I should have. Knowing this, my friends knew I would feel pretty down and wanted me to have a book besides the bible to read and encourage me. Ironically, my friends’ suggestion of this book came before lock downs and quarantines from the Coronavirus/Covid-19.

Despite this, I didn’t think about reading it until May. It took me a few months to read because I wanted to process the book and dwell on the information in it, but I have finally finished the book to write a review about it. Continue reading “Book Review- Live by Sadie Robertson with Beth Clark” →

Book Review- Flint by Louis L’Amour

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Although this blog has been around for three years, I have yet to write posts about everything I originally planned to. At this time I cannot write posts about everything I originally planned to (Mostly because of the Coronavirus/Covid-19) but there are a few things I can write posts about. One of those things are book reviews.

Recently, while trying to occupy my time with something besides watching the same TV shows over and over again and binge watching YouTube videos, I decided to look through my fairly large book collection to see if there was a book that caught my eye and I could read. The first book that caught my eye was Flint by Louis L’Amour, a well known author of Western novels.

I purchased Flint from Walmart in 2016 right before a music festival was to take place. Although I already read it, the book I read was a borrowed book from a friend. Since it was for sale at Walmart, I decided to buy it so I could have my own copy and take longer to read the book and enjoy it. Although I theoretically should’ve had the time to read my copy of the book at that time, 2016 was a very physically, mentally, and emotionally tumultuous year for me and I didn’t have the energy or stamina to read anything. So, it sat with my other unread books until I rediscovered it last month. Continue reading “Book Review- Flint by Louis L’Amour” →

Books I’m Currently Reading- August 2020

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August was a strange month for me personally, so I didn’t feel motivated to try or do new things. Despite this, I started reading new books and tried to finish others. Here are some of the new books I started to read in August. Continue reading “Books I’m Currently Reading- August 2020” →

Update on Midnight Sun (I Found One!) and First Impression of the Book

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It’s been a few weeks since I talked about looking for Midnight Sun, the newest book in the Twilight saga, but I’m happy to say I found Midnight Sun at my local Walmart.

And I purchased one of the books…

Four days after I found the books on the shelves I checked the books out of curiosity and discovered all the books sold. There was a restock near the end of August, but I haven’t checked other Walmart stores in the area or at my favorite Target to see if they are available there.

As for the book, I already began to read it and so far I enjoyed it more than Twilight. Like is advertised, it is much darker than Twilight. Since the book is told through Edward Cullen’s point of view, and Edward is a vampire, it isn’t as gentle as Bella Swan’s version. Although I’m not a huge fan of vampire novels, or Twilight, I’ve enjoyed Midnight Sun so far. Seeing the romance from a different perspective makes me appreciate Twilight more and makes me want to reread it as soon as I’m done with Midnight Sun.

Well, that’s all for now! Thank you for reading!

Trying To Find Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer In Store

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I’m stuck at home a lot and I anticipate this will continue for many months. After watching all the movies I want to watch, I decided to pick up books to read. I have many books I want to read already at home, but I decided to buy some newly released books as well. One of the books that caught my eye is Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer.

Midnight Sun is a retelling of Twilight. The Twilight series is told from the point of view of Bella Swan, the main character of the series that falls in love with Edward Cullen, a vampire. Midnight Sun is the same story, except told from Edward Cullen’s point of view.

I’m not a huge fan of Twilight (And I wasn’t when the Twilight series was published when I was a teenager) but recently I wanted to give Twilight another try. When I read online that Midnight Sun would come out this year, I thought it was very ironic that I had the strong desire to re-read the series.

After a delay in release due to Covid-19, the book was released in August. Amazon.com’s listing for the book says it would be released on August 4th. After August 4th passed, I checked the listing again and saw that ship in 1 to 4 weeks. I didn’t really feel motivated to buy it on Amazon, so I decided to try to find it on August 7th at Walmart or Target.

Much to my surprise, I couldn’t find it in either store. Continue reading “Trying To Find Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer In Store” →

InStyle Ultimate Beauty Secrets Book Review

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While browsing the book section of Dollar Tree, I found InStyle Ultimate Beauty Secrets. The book is by the editors of InStyle magazine and is supposed to serve as an ultimate guide for using make up, the best skincare for you skin type, and other beauty related need-to-know information. Since I bought it at the Dollar Tree, it cost only $1 USD, so I felt comfortable buying it, reading it, and, if I didn’t like it, I could donate it.

The front cover of the book looks like this…

Continue reading “InStyle Ultimate Beauty Secrets Book Review” →

Books I’m Currently Reading- July 2020

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July has come and gone and it was yet another crazy month for me. Despite the craziness, I still found time to read some books. Although I couldn’t finish all the books I read in July, I am happy I could sit down and read even a few pages. Continue reading “Books I’m Currently Reading- July 2020” →

Comparing Walmart and Target’s Exclusive Versions of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

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When I found out the release date of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins, I made a point to know where I could buy the book. Of course, the book is out anywhere new books are sold, but I realized there are exclusive versions of the book, only sold at a certain store. Sometimes stores have an exclusive version of the book, only sold in the store. This happens with movies, with certain extras only available with the DVD or Blue Ray sold at a certain store, and music, with extra songs only available on a CD sold in a certain store. Of course, this happens to books.

After waiting for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes to be released, I knew of two exclusive versions of the book would be released: One at Walmart and the other at Target. I own both exclusive versions and I wanted to compare both books to find out how similar and dissimilar they are to one another. Continue reading “Comparing Walmart and Target’s Exclusive Versions of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” →