Posts By: Rashika

Thursday, March 29, 2018

11 Hate-To-Love Romances We Deserve

Posted by • 2 Comments

I am self-certified garbage for hate to love romances and any book that promises even a hint of one usually gets a spot high on my enormous TBR. This post compiles some of my favs but is by no means comprehensive because honestly, I’ve read too much to be able to keep track of everything. EVEN THOUGH I TRY.

1. The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You by Lily Anderson

Retelling of Much Ado About Nothing, a classic love/hate romance but maybe even better? The angst is beautiful. Don’t @ me.

2. Act Like It by Lucy Parker

Read it upon a friend’s recommendation who promised to disown me if I hated it and lucky for her, I didn’t. The hero is a total grump.

3. Married by Morning by Lisa Kleypas

4. Magnolia by Kristi Cook

Super underrated and also a psuedo Romeo-Juliet retelling.

5. The Hating Game by Sally Throne

This blew up two years ago and for a very good reason! Also set in the publishing world.

6. And Then He Kissed Her by Laura Lee Guhrke

I absolutely adore this book and wish I could read it again for the first time. This is also set in publishing?? But it is a historical romance. I feel like best chick-flick comparison is Two Weeks Notice.

7. Once Upon a Marquess by Courtney Milan

It is a truth universally acknowledged that I will read pretty much anything Courtney Milan writes but the fact that this was a second chance romance as well as a hate/love romance made me squeal with delight.

8. Walk of Shame by Lauren Layne

This isn’t as intense of a hate/love but it is still so adorable and I love it. Fair warning, the only rep POCs get in this book are in the form of hired help which is annoying as fuck.

9. Angelfall by Susan Ee

Angelfall is old school YA (can you believe something that came out in 2011 is old school now????) but the banter in it is to die for. No exaggerations.

10. 52 Reasons to Hate My Father by Jessica Brody

Also old school but it is currently on its way to becoming a movie and the script is being written by the same peeps who wrote the script for Legally Blonde so……..

11. Call Me Irresistible by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Heroine breaks up wedding between her best friend and the hero, hero is mad. And somehow, things don’t end up badly. There is some good banter and I stayed up until 4:00 reading this so that should say everything.

 

What are some of your favorite hate-to-love romances? What are some of your favorite romance tropes??

 

 

An Emotional 24 Hour Journey: I Have Lost My Way by Gayle Forman

Posted by on 03/26/2018 • 0 Comments

I Have Lost My Way was my first book by Gayle Forman even though I’ve wanted to read a book by her for the past 5 years. I guess I am just going to have to go back and read more because I am in love with her writing style. I finished I Have Lost My Way feeling satisfied and warm gushiness from the good vibes in the book. However, upon hours of reflection, I can see that this book is not perfect for a number of reasons.

For starters, I was slightly uncomfortable with the way Forman wrote Harun’s story. Harun is a gay Pakistani-American. Throughout the book, we see his struggle with those identities and I felt like that struggle wasn’t really Forman’s to write about? I felt like she did…

Continue Reading »

9 Books I Read For Class That I Didn’t Hate

Posted by on 03/23/2018 • 4 Comments

I think the general assumption is that if you read a book for class, you probably aren’t going to enjoy it all that much and I think that there is some truth to that, especially depending on what kind of class it is but in my 15 years as a student, I think I’ve been lucky to actually enjoy quite a few of the books I had to read for class.

1. American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

I’ve read this book multiple times for pleasure, but the first time I ever read it was actually for school! I didn’t know how much this book would come to mean to me over the years but I loved it then and I love it now.

2. The Journey by Francesca…

Continue Reading »

11 Authors I’ve Read the Most Books By

Posted by on 03/22/2018 • 5 Comments

Honestly, this list is gonna expose me so hard but you know, its okay. There are only a couple authors on here I no longer read and/or support.

1. Meg Cabot – 26 Books

I am incredibly proud this queen graces the top of my list because I love Meg Cabot and I will continue to read books by her till the end of time.

2. Anne Stuart – 20 Books

Umm. Yeah. This was a time in my life. I used to adore Anne Stuart and her books but tried picking one up again a couple months ago and I could not get into it. I still think she has a couple of strong books though that are worth reading.

3. Karina Halle – 16 Books

Also a time…

Continue Reading »

Dear Great-Grandma

Posted by on 03/20/2018 • 3 Comments

Dear Great-Grandma,

I am not the best at writing letters that are also going to be on display but you know, I am trying. I recently read The Night Diary, which is currently the only book I am calling a favorite of this year and I’ve read 86 books so far. Reading it has made me incredibly pensive because the entire time I was reading it, I kept thinking that I was reading your and grandma’s story too. Sometimes its disheartening that something that impacted my family and 16 million other people so much isn’t really talked about. Everyone always talks about the liberation of India with pride or the end of a colonial rule but they always forget about the 14 million people who were displaced. The 14 million people…

Continue Reading »

Cute but Needs Work: How the Cowboy Was Won by Lori Wilde

Posted by on 03/16/2018 • 0 Comments

When one of my mutuals pointed out How the Cowboy Was Won was an Emma retelling, I was all aboard. I adore Jane Austen novels and I especially adore retellings of them. I don’t think I’ve seen many literary Emma retellings so it’s amusing that this year, there are two on my TBR!

So. Anyway. I have a complicated relationship with this book. There are parts of it I really liked but there were a bunch of things that rubbed me the wrong way and I haven’t seen many reviews talking about some of the things that bothered me which makes me more inclined to be critical. I want issues to be talked about. SO. ANYWAY. I am going to start with the good stuff first and break this review down…

Continue Reading »

The Book I Wish I Had When I Was in Middle School: Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi

Posted by on 03/14/2018 • 7 Comments

I never read Rick Riordan’s books. The short story is that there was no real reason to why I didn’t pick the books up. The longer (and a little pointless) story is that when The Lightning Thief first came out, it had a completely different cover then what it has now. I was in the middle school and our librarian told us all about it. I grew older but it stayed in the corner of my mind, I was in eternal search of the book with the white cover and never realized until a year ago (seriously!!!) that that book was the same one written by Rick Riordan that was so beloved now. Anyway, long pointless story short, I am weird and specific about what I read.

So I missed Rick…

Continue Reading »

5 Bookshelves I’ve Been Eyeing

Posted by on 03/12/2018 • 9 Comments

When I am daydreaming, I like to get ahead of myself and imagine the kind of bookshelves I’d buy if I have money and didn’t just want to store my books but rather showcase them.

1. The Read Your Bookcase bookshelves

I’ve been eyeing these bookcases for a time now and I am not entirely sure whether or not I think they are aesthetically pleasing, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want it.

2. This bookcase that is shaped like a tree

I’m a minimalist kind of gal (even though I own like 400 fucking books) and this bookshelf just looks so relaxing and clean.

3. Honeycomb Shelves

THEY ARE SO ADORABLE AND SO //different.// I don’t know if they could fit all my books but that doesn’t even…

Continue Reading »