amarisafloria

I've been meaning to pick up Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng for a while now, and one of my goals for 2019—that I never mentioned, oops—is to read more books that include Asian representation. (If you have any recs, please let me know!) I'm a little nervous because I've heard this is a character-driven story, which I struggle with, but I want to challenge myself in this area. Note to self: it's okay to take your time!!!

Another one of my goals for 2019 is to finish series I've started, and Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo fits the bill. Apparently I really loved Shadow and Bone, which I remember approximately 10% of ...

I would love Gmorning, Gnight!: Little Pep Talks for Me & You by Lin-Manuel Miranda to be the first thing I read in 2019! It's the perfect little book to finish in one sitting and I can avoid the stress of getting through ~book number one~ 😌

The Wicker King by K. Ancrum is another book I am nervous for. I have absolutely no idea what it's about, but it's on this list because I'll be reading it as part of the Dragons & Tea Book Club created by Melanie and Amy!


The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker // January 15th
"One night in an isolated college town in the hills of Southern California, a first-year student stumbles into her dorm room, falls asleep—and doesn't wake up. When a second girl falls asleep, and then a third, Mei finds herself thrust together with an eccentric classmate as panic takes hold of the college and spreads to the town. A young couple tries to protect their newborn baby as the once-quiet streets descend into chaos. Two sisters turn to each other for comfort as their survivalist father prepares for disaster. Those affected by the illness, doctors discover, are displaying unusual levels of brain activity, higher than has ever been recorded before. They are dreaming heightened dreams—but of what?"

Famous in a Small Town by Emma Mills // January 15th
"For Sophie, small town life has never felt small. With her four best friends—loving, infuriating, and all she could ever ask for—she can weather any storm. But when Sophie's beloved Acadia High School marching band is selected to march in the upcoming Rose Parade, it's her job to get them all the way to LA. Her plan? To persuade country singer Megan Pleasant, their Midwestern town's only claim to fame, to come back to Acadia to headline a fundraising festival. The only problem is that Megan has very publicly sworn never to return. What ensues is a journey filled with long-kept secrets, hidden heartbreaks, and revelations that could change everything—along with a possible fifth best friend: a new guy with a magnetic smile and secrets of his own."

Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love by Dani Shapiro // January 15th
"In the spring of 2016, Dani Shapiro received the stunning news that her father was not her biological father. She woke up one morning and her entire history—the life she had lived—crumbled beneath her. Inheritance is a book about secrets—secrets within families, kept out of shame or self-protectiveness; secrets we keep from one another in the name of love. It is the story of a woman's urgent quest to unlock the story of her own identity, a story that has been scrupulously hidden from her for more than fifty years, years she had spent writing brilliantly, and compulsively, on themes of identity and family history. It is a book about the extraordinary moment we live in—a moment in which science and technology have outpaced not only medical ethics but also the capacities of the human heart to contend with the consequences of what we discover."

Undying by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner // January 22nd
Trapped aboard the Undying's ancient spaceship and reeling from what they've learned there, scavenger Mia and academic Jules are plunged into a desperate race to warn their home planet of the danger humanity's greed has unleashed.

I love making goals. I've always been terrible at following them, but I think I've been making a lot of permanent changes recently that allow me to stick to them a little better. (For example, waking up at 6:00 AM to get an earlier start!) I'm still human so no day is perfect, but I'm looking at 2019 full of hope. We're finally done with wedding planning, which was a big reason for my slowdown in reading. And while I'm starting my masters program (part-time) in January and keeping my job at the library, I'll still have a more solid routine than I did this year.

Here are some of my bookish and blogging goals for 2019, which you will (hopefully) be hearing all about throughout the upcoming year.

Read 100 books.
This will include graphic novels and comics, so I think I can swing it. I know I'm being *very* optimistic, but I also want to challenge myself since I didn't set any goals in 2018. In previous years, I wanted to make reading from my shelves a priority—but the problem was feeling too restricted. I had good intentions: read what I own and reduce the number of unread books, but I think that's what made me avoid reading. So for 2019, these 100 books can come from anywhere. I want my focus to be on reading what I want to read in the moment and not forcing myself to read something just to say I've read it.

Go through all the books I own and get rid of the ones I don't plan to read.
I purchased A LOT of books from Book Outlet right after I discovered their irresistible prices a couple of years ago, and I've only really read a handful of them. Since then, my reading tastes have changed and I'm a lot pickier about the books I pick up. I don't want to keep things I'm not going to get to, so I have to be a lot more harsh and realistic in 2019. I know I spent my money on these books, which is why a part of me is still holding on—but it's been done and if I *really* want to read something I've given away, I can always borrow it from the library.

Finish five series.
There are SIXTEEN (yes, you read that correctly) completed series I'm currently in the middle of... so it's time to start cleaning up this mess, lol.

For every book I read, share a photo on Instagram and tweet something to document it.
I almost deleted this because I highly doubt I'll be able to keep it up, but I really want to get better at updating my social media accounts. Plus, I'd really love to look back at my year in December and have a visual representation of what I've read. So I'm considering it to be an investment for my future self.

Publish at least one post on amarisafloria.com each week.
I'm always on and off with this blog because I don't want to be judged for my grammar/writing "skills" (or lack of) but I'm throwing my hands up and saying WHATEVER. It's hard work and it takes me *forever* to write one post, but it serves as a reading journal for me and I know I'm going to appreciate it in the long run.

Fix broken links/images and update formatting on all posts.
I've been working through this at a snail's pace, I don't even remember where I left off ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Check in with these goals every month in a recap post.
This one is a little meta, but I've found that I'm much more on top of my goals when I'm constantly reviewing and checking myself.

THIS SONG WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE BY LEILA SALES // 3 STARS
I've been sitting with my thoughts on this one for a while now, and I still can't pinpoint exactly how I feel ... This Song Will Save Your Life follows Elise, a girl who contemplates suicide after being rejected by her classmates and bullied at school for too long. I love that Elise discovered an underground dance club and was able to, unexpectedly, find friendship and acceptance there, but I had a hard time empathizing with her throughout the entire book. She was mean to everyone, including the people who cared about her, and she didn't initiate conversation with anyone but expected them to do so with her. We know she wants to be popular and liked, but she would make fun of the girls she chose to sit with at lunch, even when they tried to include her in their conversations ... that just didn't sit right with me. I think I was just really irritated by Elise's attitude and personality, but the story was okay and it read fast.

UNEARTHED BY AMIE KAUFMAN AND MEAGAN SPOONER // 3.5 STARS
Aside from the slow pace, I really liked this "Indiana Jones in space" story. The beginning drew me in immediately, with the serendipitous introduction of two totally different characters on the planet Gaia: Mia, a scavenger looking for desirable alien tech she can sell, and Jules, a scholar hoping to study the mysterious artifacts left behind. As much as I enjoyed the mystery behind all the puzzles and what the characters were in this foreign place for, I still felt a bit underwhelmed. You can tell that everything was well thought out down to the details, but I was missing the thrill and heart-pounding excitement until the last couple of pages. I also thought it could've done without the romance, but I didn't hate it. Unearthed would do really well as a movie, and the set up for book two is SO GOOD. There's no way you won't want to read its sequel once you finish that last chapter. Luckily, I don't have to wait that long—Undying comes out at the end of January!

A VERY LARGE EXPANSE OF SEA BY TAHEREH MAFI // 4.5 STARS
A Very Large Expanse of Sea sends such a strong and honest message—every time I try to come up with something to say, I delete it right away because it doesn't convey how good this book is. (Currently beating myself up for not writing anything down after I finished reading it. But here is a small list of things I loved.) I loved reading from Shirin's perspective, a sixteen-year-old Muslim girl who is TIRED of being stereotyped. While this is a big theme, it doesn't swallow up the whole story. It affects Shirin's life, but it doesn't define her. We get to see her breakdancing with her brother, talking to a cute boy on AIM, interacting with her parents, etc. We see her life in 360. I *love* that Tahereh Mafi writes these really cute moments without being too cheesy or over the top. And I love that Shirin is willing to own up to her mistakes regardless of the circumstances.


I also read The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O'Neill in November, but I already talked about it earlier this month in my Gettin' Graphic post! And I'm saving Snow White: A Graphic Novel by Matt Phelan to discuss in a future feature ... 😏

Y'all, she's back! I first introduced Gettin' Graphic back in 2014 (yes, *four* years ago) and never continued on with it. Story of my life. But I'm starting this up again because 1) there are so many good graphic novels and comics I've been meaning to pick up and share with you guys, plus 2) I want to have a separate place to highlight these differently-formatted books I'm reading. (I was going to call 'em a different "genre," but the internet says that's a no-no. Got it.)

If you have any graphic novel or comic recommendations, please let me know below!



THE TEA DRAGON SOCIETY BY KATIE O'NEILL

Release Date: October 31, 2017
Publisher: Oni Press
Format: Hardcover // 72 pages
Rating: 5 stars

From the award-winning author of Princess Princess Ever After comes THE TEA DRAGON SOCIETY, the beloved and charming all-ages book that follows the story of Greta, a blacksmith apprentice, and the people she meets as she becomes entwined in the enchanting world of tea dragons. After discovering a lost tea dragon in the marketplace, Greta learns about the dying art form of tea dragon care-taking from the kind tea shop owners, Hesekiel and Erik. As she befriends them and their shy ward, Minette, Greta sees how the craft enriches their lives—and eventually her own.

The Tea Dragon Society follows a girl named Greta who returns a lost Tea Dragon to Hesekiel, a tea shop owner, and ends up learning how to take care of them. These Tea Dragons grow tea leaves out of their horns and antlers "that, when brewed correctly, has magical properties." It was such a lovely reading experience! I want to frame every page in this book and put it up on my walls. The art is *gorgeous* and the coloring matches the story and atmosphere so well. Even if you picked this up to flip through and look at the illustrations, it would be worth it. There are a few pages at the end of this graphic novel that describes each Tea Dragon and some other fun tidbits, which I loved referencing whenever we were introduced to something new. The ending feels like it's open to a sequel, so I'm crossing my fingers that it'll happen one day!

Also, side note/a funny thing that happened while I was reading this: I was reminded I forgot my tea downstairs, lol.



everyone's a aliebn when ur a aliebn too by Jomny Sun
Release Date: June 27, 2017
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Format: Hardcover // 304 pages
Rating: 4 stars

Through this story of a lost, lonely and confused alien finding friendship, acceptance, and love among the creatures of Earth, we will all learn how to be a little more human. And for all of us earth-bound creatures here on this planet, we can all be reminded that sometimes, it takes an outsider to help us see ourselves for who we truly are.

I don't know how else to describe everyone's a aliebn when ur a aliebn too besides sweet and innocent. The main character, Jomny, is sent to earth—or, as aliebns call it, "Earbth"—to find out facts about humans. (The funny thing is that he actually doesn't encounter any humans, but that's besides the point of this story.) It's basically a book presenting many truths (and some ... could-be truths?) about life in a funny and simple way. The illustrations, and even misuse of grammar, perfectly matched the feel of the story, but it wasn't anything *spectacular.* I do think that this is a hit or miss, depending on your style of humor, so I'm happy to say I was on the side of enjoying it.

Another side note: I'm pretty sure my auto-correct is all out of whack after typing all my favorite parts down in my Notes app 😂

Joe and I started watching Limitless (the TV show) together, and I have to say it's really good! He actually watched it by himself first, but he knew I'd like it so now he's re-watching it with me. Each episode is very packed, in a good way. Case in point: I thought we were on the last episode of the season but when I went to check, it was only the SIXTH one. It follows this guy named Brian Finch who is given a drug that allows him to use every neuron in his brain. It has deadly side effects, which he begins to experience, but a mysterious senator gives him an immunity shot—with strings attached, of course. He ends up working with the FBI, who gives him more of this drug to continue taking so he can help them, but they have no idea how he's immune. So I guess they're trying to figure out why he can handle this drug (and I say "I guess" because this part doesn't take up too much of the storyline, although I have a feeling it's going to blow up toward the end of this season) while Brian is solving cases with them. If you like White Collar, I think you'd like this show. It's a shame they cancelled it after the first season though. I guess I'll find out why soon?

I finally visited my local library! (The one I work at is farther away.) It takes me about twenty minutes to get there by foot, but I don't mind at all because the road there is actually a nice trail. It was a surprise—a good one—because you can't get this in the city. Which I've lived in my whole life. Normally, you have to take a car if you want to get somewhere like this. But now I can walk there! Add that to my happy list.

I tried to work on cleaning and organizing my desktop computer this past week in preparation for 2019 (yes, I am a "new year, new me" kind of person) but not much happened because it's littered with stuff I've saved to read. Mostly recent, but some from literally *years* ago. So it's not exactly unorganized ............ I guess the new goal now is to READ STUFF I'VE SAVED IN A TIMELY MANNER.

My reading is slowly getting back to normal. THE SLUMP IS LEAVING ME. I started a little bit of The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine and already in the first chapter, it feels like a fairy tale. Of course, I haven't continued since lol ... but at least I am thinking of the book positively, and I *am* looking forward to diving back in. But I finally have the Harry Potter boxed set, so I gotta get to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix first!!!

• Finish reading James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl and start Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
• Start writing wedding thank you cards (I've really been putting this off ...)
• Finish moving all photos from phone to computer to prep for end-of-year posts

• Rachel from Hello, Chelly shared some of her favorite underrated YA contemporary romance stories, which includes some of my favorites too.
• Madalyn from Novel Ink shared book gift guides based on Hogwarts houses! Here are the ones for Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Hufflepuff and Gryffindor coming soon :)