Gabriella M Reads

The Broke and The Bookish Secret Santa Anyone who knows me knows that Christmas time is my absolute favorite time of year and yes, for me it starts before Thanksgiving. For years I've been watching people doing gift swaps on Twitter, but never really knew when or how to sign up. This year I actually found out and was able to participate in a Secret Santa swap! Thank you Jana for keeping it alive solo this year! I signed up a couple days before the deadline and waited super impatiently for my match. I can now reveal that I was Amy's Santa and the presents seen above are the ones that I sent to her. I had the best time shopping for my Santee and I cannot wait to do it all over again next year. In the end I think I spent more than I planned and I learned a huge lesson on shipping things. If you have a large box, go to UPS because you will probably end up paying the $80 that I paid at USPS otherwise. I plan to take the advice of fellow Santa's and use Priority ship...

Twelve Days of Christmas by Debbie Macomber 5 Stars I know that the Thanksgiving/Christmas debate weighs heavy on some people. I'm all for giving thanks and all that, but it shouldn't be only on one day. Thanksgiving food is not my favorite and my family drives me nuts so I'm already in Christmas mode. I saw this book on Amazon for about five dollars and it sounded cute as hell. What isn't appealing about a blogger performing acts of kindness around Christmas time? Debbie certainly was able to put me in a festive mood. This Christmas romance is short, sweet, and just the right amount of cheesy. I loved reading as these two went from annoying one another to loving each other. Julia and Cain are just the sweetest and I was rooting for them from the start. Luckily, the romance does not disappoint. I also appreciate that there is a super cute dog in the book even if he isn't a huge focal point. It was a completely heartwarming experience. Debbie Macomber ope...

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon 5 Stars I finally finished a book! I'm so glad that it was this one. If you weren't here for one of my more recent posts, I recently decided to give the television show Outlander a try. I have always said that it wasn't my thing and that I wouldn't enjoy it at all. Oh boy was I wrong. After racing through the show, I needed more. I'm going to keep this short and super simple because I finished reading this a few months ago and have lost the details in my brain. Diana Gabaldon just has a way of sucking you into her story and keeping you there. I was already so in love with her characters and I knew what was going to happen, but I still could not put this one down! I get that it has some issues. However, I feel like these issues are more of a time period problem. I won't go any further than that. I was so invested in the relationships that Diana created. Not just the romantic ones; the friendships were so fun to read about....

25 Facts About Me Today is the day that I turn 25. I still don't feel like that is my age, but here I am. In honor of such an occasion I decided to share just as many facts about myself. Some of them will be bookish, some of them will just be about me. That way we can get to know each other better. One: I am days away from my second semester at my local community college. It's never too late to go to school. Two: My main love, other than books, is my dog. His name is Vader James. I have not forgotten my other dog, we miss him every day and his ashes are on my bookshelf. Three: I work in as a special needs paraprofessional in a preschool. Four: I waited until I was almost 23 to get my license. Some people need to take their time and that is okay. Five: I am Hispanic, but I do not speak Spanish. Six: I am a woman who has suffered a miscarriage and I feel that pain in my heart every second of every day. Seven: I could watch The Mummy all day long and never tire...

Summer Reading Wrap-Up So I bet you all know what I'm about to say. I failed at my Summer tbr. Big shocker there. However, I have been reading. Hopefully in a few days I'll be able to post a review. I haven't done one in forever! I'm actually quite excited. I had planned to read The Cheerleaders and The Woman in the Window over the Summer, but my slump prevailed and I put them both down for the time being. At this point I had absolutely given up on finding something to pull me out of what I would call a severe slump. It was completely on accident that I am actually reading now. What happened? Well, I was browsing Netflix for something new to try. I always said I wasn't interested in Outlander and that it wasn't my type of show. I hate historical fiction and I know this is more than that, but still it does have that historical element. I've never had access to the show anyway until they put it on Netflix. Needless to say I was very surprised when I couldn...

Tucson Festival of Books 2019 This year I went to the Tucson Festival of Books yet again and I did it mostly solo. My friend Gwen joined me for part of day one, but like I said mostly a solo adventure. I met lots of great authors and was able to get most, if not all, of books signed. I think one of the greatest memories is of Gwen and I having Scott Magoon draw us a shark fighting a velociraptor. Gwen and I also got to meet the incredibly kind and funny Jonathan Stutzman. We joked around and talked about work before finally taking a picture together with Tiny the T-rex. I need to get myself a copy of his new book, Llama Destroys the World. The days were long and I got a bit of a sunburn, but I also had the pleasure of attending half of a Star Wars panel. I say half because I was that poor girl coughing up a storm in the front row and I kindly excused myself so that everyone else could enjoy the discussion. It was fun all the same and I got to see all of the authors ...

Summer Reading Being that I haven't really been able to finish a book since January, I'm planning on keeping my upcoming TBRs very light. Or I at least won't get my hopes up/pressure myself to complete it. That being said, I've been working on reading The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas. I' about 100 pages in, but I have been for a while now. I also recently purchased The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn and started reading it too. I believe I have managed to get somewhere around 50 pages in. With any luck I will be able to finish both of the books mentioned above. However, I have a copy of Something Like Gravity by Amber Smith headed my way and I'm dying to dive in. The Chase by Elle Kennedy also have my attention. I absolutely loved her Off-Campus series so I have high hopes for this Briar U spin-off series. Fingers crossed that it does not disappoint. I don't think I will necessarily get to all of these books or if other books will grab my attention, ...

About the Book Seventeen-year-old Raychel is sleeping with two boys: her overachieving best friend Matt…and his slacker brother, Andrew. Raychel sneaks into Matt’s bed after nightmares, but nothing ever happens. He doesn’t even seem to realize she’s a girl, except when he decides she needs rescuing. But Raychel doesn't want to be his girl anyway. She just needs his support as she deals with the classmate who assaulted her, the constant threat of her family’s eviction, and the dream of college slipping quickly out of reach. Matt tries to help, but he doesn’t really get it… and he’d never understand why she’s fallen into a secret relationship with his brother. The friendships are a precarious balance, and when tragedy strikes, everything falls apart. Raychel has to decide which pieces she can pick up – and which ones are worth putting back together. Add it on Goodreads ! Order now from: Barnes & Noble | Amazon | Book Depository | Book Outlet The In...

So, I'm back! So if you follow me on any social media then you know the beginning of 2019 was rough for me. The day after Christmas my beloved pup was diagnosed with lymphoma. I spent the majority of my time by his side after I found out. He made it to his 9th birthday in February before we finally had to say goodbye at the end of March. It destroyed me. During all of that time I was actually able to read only one book and I finished said book in January. My heart hurt so much that I couldn't enjoy things that I loved. I'm happy to say that my heart is healing and I'm ready to start trying to blog again. A little guy came into my life by complete surprise and I truly believe my Mañana sent him my way when I needed him most. His name is Vader James and he's a handful, but he gives me such love. So here I am. I'm taking baby steps and trying to blog once again. I might do a brief post about the Tucson Festival of Books from March, a summer reading li...

2018 came and went faster than I thought possible. I read a decent amount. I grew as a person and I began to prepare myself for the loss I will face in 2019 (my dog has lymphoma). While I wish I could pause time for us, I'm ready for 2019. I'm cherishing our moments and charging ahead. Enough sad, let's talk about books. As always a thank you to  Jamie  from  The Perpetual Page-Turner  for putting this together. 2018 Reading Stats Number Of Books You Read:  67 Number of Re-Reads:  4 Genre You Read The Most From:  I think I kept it mixed up this year, maybe. 1. Best Book You Read In 2018?  (If you have to cheat — you can break it down by genre if you want or 2018 release vs. backlist) I would have to say You by Caroline Kepnes. I read a lot of great books, but this one put me in a massive book hangover. I can't believe it took me so long to buy a copy and read it. Just wow. 2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You W...