Transitive Verve

As a longtime reader of romance, I naturally have preferences about what I enjoy in my books, same as everyone else. This isn't meant to be some sort of revelatory list full of deep insight, but just a share-out of what makes me choose to keep reading a book, and what makes me DNF it. I do want to issue a disclaimer, though, that it's a list that comes from a longtime relationship with the genre. I don't think it's fair to be the sort of person who scoffs at romance, who doesn't take it seriously or see the good in the genre or has read it extensively in good faith (hate-reading doesn't count), and THEN come up with a list of what's not great about it--I'm making this list BECAUSE I love reading romance, and I want to see the good things get better, and the bad things decrease.  So without further ado... romance tropes (or even just literary/fiction tropes) that I'm not in love with, in no particular order: Racial insensitivity  - This one is a ...

Hi there! I realized it's been a while since I posted--the new school year has started, and things are busy, busy busy! I've been reading, but I haven't had a chance to sit down and write some in-depth reviews, but I thought I'd share with you what I've read since my last post, as well as some quick thoughts: The Night We Said Yes by Lauren Gibaldi Thoughts at a glance: *** (I liked it) Quick summary: A year after they broke up, Ella and Matt reunite. Matt is not over Ella, and Ella wants to be over Matt. As they relive the magical night that they first got together, Ella tries to figure out whether getting back together would be worth it. Quick review: This was a really cute story! If you're into realistic YA romance (realistic as in, not fantasy or scifi or supernatural), then you'll like this one!   Lifel1k3 and Dev1at3 by Jay Kristoff Thoughts at a glance: ***** (It was amazing!) for both Quick summary:  Eve lives among the ...

It's July, and apparently this is a thing bookish Internet people do :) 1. Best book you’ve read so far in 2019? 2. Best sequel you’ve read? (Well, I read all three of these this year, but yeah!) 3. New release you haven’t gotten to, but want to? 4. Most anticipated release for the second half of 2019? 5. Biggest disappointment? I can't say that I have one! I mean, I've read books this year that I didn't love, but to call them a disappointment would mean that I had high expectations to begin with, lol... 6. Biggest surprise? The plot twist was DEFINITELY one I didn't see coming, and plus, this book challenged me in surprising ways. 7. New favorite author (either debut or new to you)? Stephanie Garber, author of the Caraval  series (new to me) 8. Newest fictional crush? The gang of The Raven Cycle , but I'm a Gansey girl for sure. 9. New favorite character? The entire gang of Aurora Rising . Like, their entire dynamic together...

I only read seven YA books that were released this year. ONLY SEVEN! Y'all, that is shameful ! The only explanation I can sheepishly offer is that I had a lot of major life changes this year that left me with little time and brain space. (I did read other YA that I LOVED that was older, like Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone  trilogy, but that doesn't count for this list. I will probably spend the rest of my life trying to catch up on books that I have to read, and I will never read them all.) Okay, so, I decided to take my seven and then pick my top 5 out of them. What got left off? Surprisingly, the Sarah J. Maas books. I know! They're usually at the top of my yearly lists, but the other books I read were SO stellar, to say nothing of the amazing books that I still did not get to read and will be at the top of my list for 2019 (Tomi Adeyemi, Hank Green, and Justina Ireland, for example). I also read some fantastic adult romance and even a couple non-fiction ...

Like many people, I am big on self-exploration and reflection and "finding myself." I love taking quizzes. I love memes about my Myers-Briggs. (I'm an INFJ, by the way.) It's fun and can be quite illuminating. Enter Potterverse. It has been said that seeing someone reading a book you love is like a book recommending a person, but the Potterverse fandom is 1) large, and 2) has a wide variety of personality types built into it already. Getting sorted into a Hogwarts house is such a big thing that even non-Potter fans have heard of it, and there are countless internet articles sorting anything and anyone (including Myers-Briggs types) into the four houses. There are also countless sorting quizzes all over the internet, and not a single one is perfect, but the one I recognize as canon is the one at Pottermore.com , because it's the official JK Rowling-written-and-approved Potterverse website. You can take the Hogwarts sorting quiz, as well as quizzes to find your ...

So, for the past couple years on this blog, I've recapped my top ten YA books that I've read for the year. Looking back at my 2017, I realized that I haven't read that much YA this year that came out this year . I've read and reread a lot of older books, and I've read a lot of non-YA (like, mainly romance). So I don't really have much of a list for you this year, but it's a list, nonetheless :/ Here are my top FIVE YA books from this year, in no particular order (I read more than five, but definitely didn't love them as much as these): Turtles All the Way Down  by John Green The much anticipated follow-up to TFIOS, TATWD manages to be awesome all on its own in very different ways. Yes, it's a mystery story, and yes, there are plucky, intelligent teenagers, but TATWD takes a very close, personal look at Green's own experiences with OCD and thought spirals through protagonist Aza Holmes. Read my review here . When Dimple Met Rishi ...

A recent issue of Real Simple  magazine featured an article where writers, artists, and other influences described a fictional female character who really helped shaped them as people. Responses ran the gamut from literary heroines and television characters, and even included some whom I would choose as well. I thought I would chime in with a list of my own here, to pay homage to the girls and women who aren't just my favorites, but who actually made me ME. Ramona Quimby Aside from Disney fairy tales, Ramona  books are some of the earliest books I remember reading and getting REALLY into. (I read all the books, I listened to audiobooks, and I even borrowed videotapes of the tv show from the library.) I guess I was "in the fandom" before I knew anything about the idea of being in a fandom. The Quimby household felt very different from mine at that age, when I felt "more Vietnamese" than I did as I got older, but so much of what eventually became my worldv...

Source: wingedcorgi on Tumblr In honor of Mother's Day, here is a tribute to one of my favorite book moms, Molly Weasley. Molly, who raised six boys and one girl on relatively little funds, who still found it in her to take in one more boy (Harry) and at times one more girl (Hermione), who fights (literally fights) for what is right, who took down one of the most notorious Death Eaters to protect her youngest child, who knits sweaters for her family EVERY SINGLE YEAR (as a knitter, I can appreciate this), and who is just all around an amazing mom. *raises a glass* These were all collected from Tumblr, my source for all things fandom.

So, one thing I haven't had a chance to do yet since moving is to check out the libraries here. (Librar ies , plural! I now live in a two-library town!!) This is the first weekend of the spring library sale, so I figured it would be a good time to stop in, get a card, and browse the sale selection. It's been a while since I've attended any library sale at all, and the last time I went to one, it was nice, but I didn't find much there to interest me, and in general, there just wasn't much - it was a stretch for me to fill up my $5 bag. However, that was definitely not the case today. (Also, the books were individually priced, not priced by the bag.) I found sooooo much stuff, and I didn't even get everything that I wanted, so I might have to head back again this week. Now, normally I hate posts about hauls; as a makeup enthusiast, I'm no stranger to haul videos, and I never like watching them because I feel weird about seeing other people show off what ...

Valentine's Day is coming, and if you happen to be unattached, you may be looking forward to spending some time with your favorite book boyfriend. Hell, I'm even in a relationship myself, and I will probably end up spending Valentine's Day with a book. (Though, this is because we choose not to celebrate, so don't feel bad for me or anything.) I thought I would take some time to make a list of some of my favorite dudes. These are the guys who make me swoon every time I read, who are just too precious cinnamon-roll-y for the real world, but whom I love all the same. Note: I fully acknowledge that this post is absolutely heteronormative. Also note: For any teenaged YA guys that I choose, that crush is coming from Teenaged Me. Or I'm projecting them forward into adulthood. I am not literally imagining mid-30s me with a teenage boyfriend, because that would be Not Okay. Also ALSO note: Spoiler warnings for all the books listed below. There were MANY I could...

I can't believe it's that time again! Here are the books that came out this year that I enjoyed most. I did not read nearly as many books as I wanted to read, so if you're looking at my list and wondering where X is and why it's not on my list - it could be because I just haven't read it yet. *hides* Please don't throw books at me. (I mean, unless they're good and you think I should read them. But try not to hit my head.) This list is in no particular order, and even though these are all technically YAF books, some of them have some adult content. (I think you will know what I mean, if you've read some of these.) A lot of these books are continuations of a series, which I know can be frustrating if you've never read them, but hey... now you have some things to put on your 2017 reading list. =P

Hey! A different sort of post than usual: since September, I have gotten SUPER into bullet journaling , and one of the things I've been trying to do every month is to dedicate a page to a literary quote about that month. Here's what I currently have in my BuJo, having now set up everything for the rest of 2016:

Apparently today is National Siblings Day, and what better way to celebrate (beyond reaching out to my own sibling - Hi Khoa!) than to go over some of my favorite sibling groupings! 

I decided to keep close track of the books I read this year for the Goodreads Reading Challenge, which is not something I've done before (and this blog only just began in March!), so this is my first top ten list! These are my favorite books that were released this year. I know there are a GREAT many books that were left off my list (like books from Sabaa Tahir, Rainbow Rowell, Patrick Ness, etc.), and that's because I haven't gotten around to reading them yet! I know, sacrilege! If only there were more hours in the day and more of me to get things done. But these are my top ten that I've read  from this year. Without further ado, here they are, in no particular order: Illuminae  by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff Okay, I know I said "in no particular order," but I'd be lying if I didn't say that this was probably my FAVORITE book from this year. It was clever and unique in terms of its format, but it also just had a fantastic, gripping story. ...