Posts By: Rashika

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

7 Bookish Stores to Spend All Your Money At

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*This bookish list was sponsored by Uber Prints*

A major part of being a bookworm is owning a LOT of bookish merchandise. Be it candles, book markers, prints and all that jazz. This list will feature some of my fav places to window shop, shop and drool at goodies over. List is in NO PARTICULAR ORDER.

1. Frostbeard Candles


At this point, Frostbeard is probably the ultimate place to buy candles from and has been around since before I was born (JK), but I thought I’d feature it anyway BECAUSE THEIR CANDLES make my heart beat faster.

2. Novelly Yours Candles

When you go home for a day to get some stuff done, sometimes one of those things is taking more candle photos 😂 I just couldn't resist! ⠀ 🕯⠀⠀⠀ The Currently Reading candle is still one of my favorites from when I added the Bookish-Type collection to the shop last year in April! I wanted to add a candle to the shop that appealed to #bookstagram as well as readers in general and I had so much fun coming up with the scents for it too! You wouldn't think book pages, coffee, and clean cotton with a hint of fireplace go together but they really blend to make an interesting and unique combination! I really love when unlikely scents combine to make a really neat overall scent! ⠀⠀⠀ 🕯⠀⠀⠀ Who out there already has the Currently Reading candle? I love hearing the reactions when people first get them! I think my favorite one was when someone said it smelled exactly like Barnes & Noble! 😳😍⠀ 🕯⠀⠀⠀ The shop is still closed for a while yet but thank you to everyone keeping it alive with all the pictures you continue to post!! I'm glad I still get to chat with everyone while the shop is on break because I just love this community so much! I also have MANY new and exciting things coming when the shop reopens, in many different ways. I can't wait to share them all with you! I'll continue to share updates and even some sneak peeks or hints on my Instagram story so don't miss those! I'll continue to update until the shop is back open! ⠀⠀ 🕯⠀⠀⠀ So the real question is, what are YOU currently reading?! I started binge reading the Jackaby books and I'm in the middle of Ghostly Echoes now and listening to The Way of Kings on audio! Then I think I'm starting The Valiant as my next read!! ⠀⠀⠀ 🕯⠀⠀⠀ #currentlyreading #amreading #candle #candles #novellyyours #etsy #etsyshop #books #instabooks #bookstagram #bookandcandle #literarycandles #bookishcandles #bookcandle #bookcandles #candleaddict #candlegram

A photo posted by Novelly Yours Candles (@novellyyours) on

Brittany, the shop owner, is also a book blogger which means she knows exactly what it is that we want book nerds want. Her candles look gorgeous and I love the wide range of fandom-y things she has!

3. Out of Print

'Tis the season… ☕️❄️🔥 #OOPholiday

A photo posted by Out of Print 📚 (@outofprint) on

The best thing about this store is that “each purchase helps to fund literacy programs and book donations to communities in need.” They don’t have as many specific fandom things but they have SO MANY FUCKING cute things for classic books and also general bookish merchandise. They make the perfect gifts to friends, family or yourself (because, baby, you’re worth it.)

4. Litographs

NEW #WizardOfOz design based on William Wallace Denslow's original Tin Man illustration!

A photo posted by @litographs on

This store is the epitome of bookish words. They take words from your fav books and turn them INTO ART. Products are a little on the pricier end but also hella gorgeous.

5. Skinny Hues

"Friends don't lie" *ponders ideas for more ST bookmarks*

A photo posted by Skinny Hues (@skinnyhues) on

Crini is super talented and her bookmarks jump out at me because of how esthetically pleasing they are. Super simple yet gorgeous and I want to own them ALL.

6. Happy Hello Co

I didn’t really use magnetic bookmarkers all that much until a friend gifted them to me but they are my literal fav now and Happy Hello Co has some of the cutest magnetic bookmarkers I’ve seen on the internet.

7. Madame Bricolage Press

I am not really into prints but I love those done on dictionary pages. This small etsy store definitely deserves more attention because the prints here are gorgeous. They are less bookish and more general but still super cute!

Uber Prints

Uber Prints is the perfect site for someone who is looking to wear their own designs. If you just wanted to make a t-shirt for yourself and had a specific design in mind that you had not seen anywhere on the internet, Uber Prints would be the place to go to. It is a little on the pricier end but their shirts are really good quality and you get to choose the shirt your design goes on. Its really nice because of the artistic freedom it allows you.

*Note that I received no monetary compensation for this post & that all opinions stated are my own*

Blog Tour: The Warden’s Daughter by Jerry Spinelli

Posted by on 01/19/2017 • 5 Comments

The Warden’s Daughter is honestly unlike anything I’ve ever read by Jerry Spinelli. When I was in middle school, Stargirl was one of the most important books in my life so I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from a historical middle grade novel written by Spinelli. There is still very much the ‘old Spinelli’ in this book but I can definitely see that he has grown and developed as a writer since I last had the joy of reading a book by him.

The Warden’s Daughter is a heartfelt story of loss and just the general need to find one’s place within the world. Cammie has always felt a little incomplete because she never had a mother growing up. She has made it her summer goal to claim a mother…

2 Anthologies You Need to Add to Your TBR right now

Posted by on 01/18/2017 • 2 Comments

1. Here We Are: Feminism For the Real World edited by Kelly Jensen

Here We Are is a phenomenal anthology and one everyone needs to add to their TBR. I mean the point of this post is to grow your TBR by making you add both the books on this book to your TBRs so I may be being a tad redundant in saying that but STILL. READ THIS FUCKING ANTHOLOGY. It’s wonderful. I’ve identified as a feminist for a long time but a lot of what I’ve seen around me has always been white feminism that seeks to exclude me. That doesn’t acknowledge that I am a human being. Reading this anthology was so reaffirming and made me feel like I was part of the narrative. I loved that…

A Middle Grade Novel in the Vein of Grave Mercy: Maresi by Maria Turtschanioff

Posted by on 01/10/2017 • 2 Comments

Maresi is being marketed as YA but is very much a middle grade novel. I mention this because I know a lot of people don’t enjoy MG the same way they do YA but don’t write off Maresi right away. This well-formulated MG novel is clearly a set up for even more energetic, high-stake sequels that are more YA than MG.

I think the biggest draw-back of this novel was the writing. I assume part of it is that translating from one language to another is no easy feat and I don’t want to dismiss the hard work that goes into translating. The writing did however feel a little clunky and like it needed a whole lot more polishing. I was able to move past that and ultimately really enjoy the book.

The…

(Some of) My Most Anticipated Books of 2017

Posted by on 01/04/2017 • 16 Comments

I was planning on doing this post at the end of last year (I cannot fucking believe 2016 was ‘last’ year) but a lot of things came up so HERE I AM with my most anticipated! I also have a giveaway on Twitter for some of my most anticipated books if you are interested (it includes some books not mentioned here but also I am limiting myself to 15 here SO I CANNOT INCLUDE EVERYTHING.) This list is not even the top of the iceberg because there are SO MANY GOOD books coming out this year and IDEK how to handle it. I am going to stick to the first half of 2017 in this list.

 

1. Here We Are… edited by Kelly Jensen

I am SO FUCKING EXCITED FOR…

Xpresso Reads’ Best of 2016

Posted by on 12/29/2016 • 3 Comments

For the end of this year, I am here with some of my favs (and not fav) reads of the year AND I AM NOT ALONE. The #squad got together to bring to you this list of awesomeness. Hopefully you’ll find some books to add to your TBRs or give to friends! 🙂

A book with a title that SCREAMS ‘read me’ A cover that made you swoon because of the gorgeousness A sequel that lived up to book 1 A trilogy that concluded with you dying of heartbreak because you were so sad to see it end. A love to hate romance that made you feel all tingly on the inside A book with a kiss worth dying for A book with a super cute romance A book…

6 Shows I Am Adding to My Watch List (and you may want to add to yours)

Posted by on 12/21/2016 • 7 Comments

Two days ago, I asked the internet for some TV show/movie recs that featured, were produced by or directed by more diverse people so that I could be consuming more diverse media in general as opposed to just reading diversely.

The internet was on point and gave me A LOT of recommendations. I am not making a list of everything that was recommended because that would be a long list but I thought I’d share a couple of shows recommended to me so that you might also add them to your to-be-watched lists! 🙂

1. The Get Down (a Netflix Original)

The Get Down was recommended 5 times and because I live under a rock, I hadn’t heard it prior to this. It sounds right up my ally though and…

A Badass Sequel: The Cursed Queen by Sarah Fine

Posted by on 12/18/2016 • 3 Comments

OKAY SO JUST READ THE IMPOSTER QUEEN and THE CURSED QUEEN and EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY. I dove in expecting to love The Cursed Queen and while I did struggle some with it, it packs just as much of a punch as The Imposter Queen. Both books have their strengths and weaknesses. The weaknesses of TIQ are the strengths of TCQ and vise versa in my opinion.

While both Elli and Ansa are strong heroines, they are also very different from each other and I enjoyed that. Ansa is not as easily likable as Elli was and that was one of the reasons why it took me longer to get into the novel but her journey and her character development is worth it. Even though Ansa is not as…