Hello!! Greetings!! I am happily settling back at home after my first semester at college.  These past 12 months (gap semester + starting college) have been such a whirlwind–I feel like my blog has been a tad neglected but I luckily have a ton of post ideas to write this summer so hopefully there will be more content coming soon.  I also had SUCH a blast at BookExpo2019 and am hoping to share a post featuring some of those galleys!  I am also hoping to diversify the blog content a bit and really dive into some more lifestyle posts–outside of blogging/books I’m also really interest in fashion + beauty + health/wellness + social justice…the list goes on.  Let me know if there is a specific type of post/topic that you are interested in seeing!

However, I wanted to focus this post on the books I read for pleasure during my first semester at college.  In addition to reading for pleasure, I took two literature based classes–Literary Places and Literature of Displacement.  A subsequent post will feature all of those books.

personal reads

I. My Life On the Road by Gloria Steinem // Memoir, nonfiction // Purchased

My Life On the Road was recommended to me by a dear friend I traveled with over my gap semester.  I don’t always gravitate towards memoirs so I can’t say I have a ton of experience with them, but I feel pretty certain that this one is pretty special.  Steinem has a way of inviting you along to participate in her journey.  I finished this book completely in awe of her work and invigorated to do work of my own.

I. Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay // Memoir, nonfiction // shared shelves

Well, I guess I spoke too soon with the “I don’t always gravitate towards memoirs” lol.  I’m a huge fan of Gay’s nonfiction work (both collections and in periodicals), thus Hunger was a natural progression in her works.  Gay’s candidness in this memoir is unmatched and her challenges to the way we discuss bodies in our society was a pivotal shift in the conversation about healthcare.  Suberb read.

III. Star-Crossed by Minnie Darke // Romance, contemporary // ARC received from publisher

The premise of Star-Crossed is super cute–it unfortunately took me FOREVER to get into only because of my hectic schedule right when getting to college.  I’m a huge fan of slow burn romances but I didn’t really feel like the execution of certain details in this one were super realistic.  Overall, cute but not my favorite.

IV. White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin Diangelo // Nonfiction // Purchased

A must read for the modern day social justice activist, White Fragility breaks down deep rooted, race-related social concepts and explains their relationships to each other.  Extremely accessible, applicable, and brutally honest.  Diangelo tells it like it is and also tells you how to fix it.

V. Small Spaces by Katherine Arden // Middle Grade, horror // ARC BookExpo 2018

I haven’t read a middle grade since I had to say goodbye to the Tween bookclub I ran all through high school but this was a treat!  I had the opportunity to meet Arden last summer at BookExpo 2018 was moved by the premise of her novel.  Small Spaces is exactly the sort of mystery this Nancy Drew loving, Halloween fiend would have ADORED in late elementary/early middle school. Honestly–I adored it today!  Small Spaces would be a great read for the whole family (especially so you can bond over the scare factor together).

VI. I’ll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson // YA, contemporary // College Library

I’ll Give You The Sun has been on my radar since it was published in 2014 but, like many other books, I hadn’t quite gotten around to it yet.  However, one of my friends found out I read a lot of YA and told me this was one of her favorite books.  I decided to check it out and bring it with me on spring break.  This was a WONDERFUL read and honestly one of my most favorite YA books I’ve read in a really long time–highly recommend.

Overall I read some amazing books during my first semester!  Spring break certainly helped in terms of having time to read for fun–I’m excited to continue reading more on my time off this summer.