In My Mailbox #13: Early Spring 2020 Releases

Welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

Right after I got back from my vacation to Las Vegas on December 26, I came home to three packages of new 2020 releases! These are all books that I requested and am very excited to read! A few of them you may have already heard of, but the others may be new to you, which is always exciting!

img_6013

The first book I received was WE ARE THE WILDCATS by Siobhan Vivian. Truth be told, I don’t know much at all about this novel (but if you are interested, click the title and it will take you to the Goodreads page link!), however I have read quite a few books from this author before and have really enjoyed them, so I figured it would be sweet to grab an ARC of this one and see if the pattern continues! Thanks to Simon and Schuster Canada for the ARC!

img_6009

The next book I received was THE STARS WE STEAL by Alexa Donne. While I am not normally a huge fan of SFF books, the tagline for this one is “The Bachelorette goes to space…”, and since I am a HUGE Bachelorette fan, I though I’d give this one a try! Thanks to Raincoast Books for this ARC!

img_6010

The third book I received was THE MAP FROM HERE TO THERE by Emery Lord. I heard about this one during the latest Raincoast TeensRead Preview, and it sounded like something I would love! I’m so happy I have an ARC of this one and can’t wait to read it! This book comes out in just a few weeks, so stay tuned for a review around that time. Thanks to Raincoast Books for the ARC!

img_6007

I then received THE BEST LAID PLANS by Cameron Lund. I believe this book is categorized as YA, but I would say just from reading the synopsis, this should probably go under the new adult category. One of my unofficial goals for this year is to read a few books from the NA genre, and I think this one will be a good place to start! Thanks to Penguin Teen Canada for the ARC!

img_6006

The final book I received is DANCING AT THE PITY PARTY by Tyler Feder. This book is actually a graphic novel, and ended up being my last book read in 2019! Review spoiler: I LOVED IT, but I’m going to save the rest of my thoughts for my review! Thanks to Penguin Teen Canada for the ARC!

img_6018

Those are all of the ARCs I received to start of 2020! One of my goals for this year is to be more selective with ARCs, so you may not be seeing these posts as frequently as you did last year. Regardless, I still hope you enjoy them!

Good Night Book Owls!

Most Anticipated Releases of 2020!

Welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

Believe it or not, I have been preparing for this post since the beginning of last year! Each time I heard of a new book that I was somewhat interested in, I wrote it down on my phone in preparation for this post! I am SO excited to read all of the new releases planning on coming out this year! Similar to last years most anticipated releases post, these will be organized by expected month of release. If you are interested in finding out where I usually find out about these books months in advance, my answer is simply Instagram, Twitter, and emails from publishing houses!

February

43615530

March

45046742

April

50208350._SX318_SY475_

45134200.jpg

May

46258515.jpg

June

48425934

July

46729772

August

46802836

Those are the covers of my most anticipated releases of 2020! If I find more books that come out after August, I will make an updated most anticipated releases of the second half of 2020! What are your most anticipated releases this year?

Good Night Book Owls!

2019 ARCs I Need to Read in 2020!

Welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

As I shared in an earlier post, I unfortunately wasn’t able to finish several of the ARCs I received last year. In my bookish goals for 2020 post, I shared that this year I am determined to stop requesting so many ARCs, especially since I have quite a few from last year that I want to finish. These are all of the ARCs I still need to read and review, and a lot of them you have recommended me to read already!

img_6038

The first ARC I need to read this year is CHARLIE THORNE AND THE LAST EQUATION by Stuart Gibbs. This book seems like it will be so fun to read, and I am really looking forward to doing so very soon! Thanks to Simon & Schuster Canada for the ARC!

img_6044

The next ARC I need to read this year is SLAY by Brittney Morris. I have selected this book as our book club pick of the month, and am planning to read it this month! Thanks to Simon & Schuster Canada for the ARC!

img_6040

The third ARC I want to read this year is FRANKLY IN LOVE by David Yoon. I read the first 50-pages of this book in September last year, but had to read something else and didn’t have a chance to pick it up before the end of the year. However, I am eager to finish it and find out why everyone loves this one so much! Thanks to Penguin Teen Canada for the ARC!

img_6042

I then want to read BREAK IN CASE OF EMERGENCY by Brian Francis. There was so much praise for this book that was shared at HCC Frenzy Presents in the summer of last year, which made me very intrigued. I am really looking forward to reading this one! Thanks to HCC Frenzy for the ARC!

img_6069

THE BABYSITTERS COVEN by Kate Williams was one of my most anticipated releases of last year, so I am disappointed that I wasn’t able to squeeze it into my 2019 reading plans. I hope to read this one at some point this year and absolutely love it! Thanks to Penguin Teen Canada for the ARC!

img_6039

The next ARC I hope to read very soon is A TALE OF MAGIC by Chris Colfer. This too was one of my most anticipated releases of the year, especially since I loved Colfer’s “The Land of Stories” middle grade series. Truth be told, I was never in a mood to read fantasy at any point last year, so I hope that changes this year when I read this book. Thanks to HBG Canada for the ARC!

img_6070

Even though I am not a diehard fan of our real-life royal family, I am still looking forward to reading AMERICAN ROYALS by Katharine McGee! I have heard a lot of great things about it, and I hope to read this one very soon! Thanks to Penguin Teen Canada for the ARC!

img_6071

The last ARC I need to read this year is THE LIARS OF MARIPOSA ISLAND by Jennifer Mathieu. I read MOXIE by Mathieu early last year and loved it, so I hope I love this one just as much! Thanks to Raincoast Books for the ARC!

img_6116

Those are the 2019 ARCs I need to read this year! If there are any ARCs you think I should get to first, let me know in the comments!

Good Night Book Owls!

Alyssa’s Reviews – One Of Us Is Next by Karen M. McManus (ARC)

Welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

It is currently November 4, 2019, when I am writing this, and it is crazy to believe that when you are reading this we are already a few weeks into 2020! Pure insanity! Last year, I managed to read all of Karen M. McManus’s books, and throughly enjoyed her first two publications, so it’s no surprise that I enjoyed this one as well!

Synopsis (Goodreads.com):

Come on, Bayview, you know you’ve missed this.
A ton of copycat gossip apps have popped up since Simon died, but in the year since the Bayview four were cleared of his shocking death, no one’s been able to fill the gossip void quite like he could. The problem is no one has the facts.
Until now.
This time it’s not an app, though—it’s a game.
Truth or Dare.
Phoebe’s the first target. If you choose not to play, it’s a truth. And hers is dark.
Then comes Maeve and she should know better—always choose the dare.
But by the time Knox is about to be tagged, things have gotten dangerous. The dares have become deadly, and if Maeve learned anything from Bronwyn last year, it’s that they can’t count on the police for help. Or protection.
Simon’s gone, but someone’s determined to keep his legacy at Bayview High alive. And this time, there’s a whole new set of rules.

While this book is being marketed as a sequel for McManus’ first book “One of Us Is Lying”, I would argue that this is more of a campion novel. If you read a spoiler review of OOUIL, you could easily read this book without confusion. One of my biggest reasons for not reading many sequels is simply because I do not remember all of the characters and their relationships that take place during the first book, so I was very happy to find that this book focuses on the secondary characters in OOUIL with just a touch of the main characters spread throughout it.

I really loved all of the characters in this novel. I was truly invested in each of their stories, and I enjoyed reading from all of their perspectives. Sometimes when I read a three-person POV, I am only interested in one or two of the characters points-of-view, but in this book, I genuinely enjoyed reading from all three! I liked how they were all somehow connected to the “Bayview Core Four”, but they were all very different characters at the same time.

While Karen M. McManus’s writing is some of my all-time favourite YA writing, I will admit that at times the story seemed to drag on. I am somebody who wants to see all scenes of a novel connect and contribute to the flow and conclusion of the story, and I do not think all of the scenes were very relevant in this book.

That being said, the final plot twist in this novel was SHOCKING. It will probably be one of the most hyped and talked about ending twists of 2020… and for good reason! This is one plot twist that I would have never predicted, which is really surprising since this book falls in the YA category.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and rated it 4/5 stars. Thanks to Penguin Teen Canada for the ARC! Be sure to pick up a copy of this book as soon as possible, as it officially releases in stores today!

Good Night Book Owls!

2020 Bookish Goals

Welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

One of my favourite blog posts of last year was my 2019 Bookish Goals post! A lot of you really enjoyed that one, so I wanted to bring it back for 2020! Many of these goals will be repeats, as I want to try to complete my unfinished goals. However, I still have a lot of new goals I want to strive to complete this year!

GOAL #1: Goodreads 2020 Reading Challenge: 45 Books

This year, I hope to read 45 books! Last year I completed my goal of reading 45 books quite early, and I ended up reading 58 books total! I was tempted to set my goal at 50 books, but I think 45 books is a great goal for 2020!

GOAL #2: Read a Variety of Genres

Just like last year, I want to read books from a variety of genres. For the past few years, I have mainly only been reading books from the Mystery/Thriller and Contemporary genres, but this year I would like to read a lot more non-fiction novels, as well as a few SFF books.

GOAL #3: Post more Consistently on Bookstagram

In 2019, I created my bookstagram account, and I’m SO proud of how it went! However, I would like to post a lot more consistently. There are times where I would post once a day for two weeks, and then not at all for the next two. I hope to create a schedule of when I should post, which will help me be a lot more consistent. If you aren’t following me on Instagram, my username is @ReadingReadingReading!

GOAL #4: Be More Selective with ARCs

This year I am determined to stop requesting a ton of ARCs, especially since I didn’t get to quite a few of them from last year (you’ll see them in a future post!).

GOAL #5: Read More eBooks

I would love to start using my iPad to read a lot more eBooks. I have the Libby app on my iPad, which is essentially a digital library from my local library branch. Therefore, there is no excuse to not read more on my iPad!

GOAL #6: Post more consistently on my blog!

Over the past few months I have not been very consistent when it comes to writing and sharing blog posts, even though I put together quite a large posting schedule. I hope to stick to my 2020 schedule and post quite a bit more than I did last year!

GOAL #7: Read Harry Potter!!!

And finally, as all of my bookish goals posts end off with, I would love to finally read the Harry Potter series! I’m not 100% sure if I will have a chance to read them this year, but I will try my very best!

Those are all of my bookish goals for 2020! What are some of your goals?

Good Night Book Owls!

January 2020 TBR!

Welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

I’m about 15 hours into 2020 and it is going very well so far! This month is going to be quite the journey, as I have several exams and projects to finish for my second last semester of high school. Thus, I don’t think I’ll have a lot of time to read this month. However, I have a few books picked out to read whenever I have some downtime this month!


The first book I hope to read this month is THE WIVES by Tarryn Fisher. I first heard of this book from BooksandLala on YouTube, and I added it to my TBR when she first mentioned it back in the summer. When I went to Indigo yesterday, I found the book on sale for $15, and I couldn’t resist it! I am SO excited to start this one, and hope it is another crazy domestic thriller I will love!

The second book I hope to read this month is THE RIDE OF A LIFETIME by Bob Iger. I am an absolute Disney fanatic, and when I heard that the CEO of my all-time favourite company was coming out with a book, I couldn’t resist picking it up. This book was actually gifted to me by my parents of Hanukkah, so I have already read the prologue of the book. I’m very excited to read this one the whole way thru!

The last book I hope to read this month is THE HATING GAME by Sally Thorne. I have had this novel on my shelves for over six months, and I have been craving a nice rom-com novel for the past few weeks. My Mom read this one quite a while ago and loved it, so I hope to love it as well!

Those are the three books I want to read this month! Obviously I hope to read more than just three novels, but those are the main three I’m going to try my hardest to complete. What are you planning on reading this month? Let me know in the comments! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Good Night Book Owls!