Gabriella M Reads

  It's been a couple of years since I've been able to blog even a little bit. Are written blogs even in anymore? Oh well. It's a new year and time for a whole new reading adventure. Overall Reading Plans In 2024, I hope to simply read. The last few years I haven't read more than sixteen books in a year. Some years it was even as few as five. 2023 I found my spark again and finished a whopping sixty-two books. My goal for the coming year is a small one so I don't set myself up for failure, twenty-four. First Book of the Year For my first read of the year I'm actually switching gears. 2023 was apparently the year of romance. For a change of pace, I'm starting with The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. I've wanted to get into his books for a while and I snagged this one last week when my boyfriend and I were on vacation. We visited a cute local independent bookstore on our travels, a tradition we plan to uphold for coming adventures. If you're ever in Flag

I haven't put much thought into my reading plans for the months of April, May, and June but I kind of like it that way. Being that April is almost over as I write this, I can say it has been a decent reading month and I can't wait to tell you all about it later. While going through some old papers, I found an Amazon gift card and was able to make a few purchases. I am not certain that these will be the books that I read in the next two months, but I am anxiously awaiting their arrival regardless. My gift card purchases include Home Body by Rupi Kaur, Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop by Roselle Lim, With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo, Beach Read by Emily Henry, and Roommaid by Sariah Wilson. I also purchased Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston after hearing so many amazing things about it. I'm happy to say that I am in quite the reading mood and audiobooks have also been a really big help. Audiobooks have made it possible for me to read while I driv

This year I am going to be splitting my TBR into quarters. I think giving myself three months for each TBR pile is best for my success. Since January has already finished, I don't have to worry about it. During round one of the Among Us Readathon I read three books. I was able to finish my read of Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer and I would be willing to read that entire series over again from Edward's point of view. I was full of nostalgia. I haven't really been able to read much, but I had the pleasure of someone reading my next one to me, 2 AM Thoughts was a nice little book of poetry. I really enjoyed it. Lastly, I listened to the audible original, The Messengers. I'm really iffy on that one. I can't tell if I liked it or not. It was just meh for me. As for my reading plans going forward, I am open to a ton of possibilities. I have a ton of audiobooks to choose from, but I think my top pick would be The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon. I am anxious to continue th

Hello Twenty-Twenty! Normally my first post of the year is my reading wrap up of the previous year as a whole. However, this go around that would just be a huge waste of time. In 2019 I only managed to finish seven books; eight, if you consider the book I read that had a second book within. I chose not to read that second book so I did not mark the whole thing as read on my Goodreads account. Therefore, my survey would be either very empty or heavily repetitive. The wise choice is to just skip it altogether. I was very disappointed in my reading last year. Seven books is just a shame compared to my previous reading years. So, in twenty-twenty my goal is to simply read one book a month. Twelve is more than last year while also staying incredibly safe. There are many reasons for my lack of reading, but a major player is college which I will be continuing this year. Wish me luck in both areas of my life. My first book of the year is one I started last year and I am seriously lovi

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

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,

To Read or Not to Read? As y'all have probably noticed I haven't been very active. Work is just a lot right now. My main focus is the kiddos. Unfortunately this means I'm tired a lot and I spend my free time either asleep instead of reading. So what on Earth have I been reading and what do I plan to read if all I do is sleep? Well I've been working on reading two books for the past few months. The first one is Adrift: A True Story of Love, Loss, and Survival at Sea by Tami Oldham Ashcraft, formerly titled Red Sky in Mourning: The True Story of a Woman's Courage and Survival at Sea. I really struggle with reading non-fiction, but something in me had to read this book. I wanted to know how this woman pushed herself to survive. It's taking me a long time to read it, but I am most certainly enjoying it. I really hope to finish it this month. I'm also slowly making my way through Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen M. McManus. Even though I did not read her fi

What to read? I have more time to read this month and I am so stoked! Some of you might be able to tell from the picture that I'm rereading New Moon by Stephenie Meyer right now. I think I like it better than the first time around. I'm really not sure yet. The process of rereading the whole series is steadily moving along and I'm happy with it. As far as what else I would like to read this month, I'm not really sure. I'm in kind of a weird mood. I foresee at least one poetry book in June and I want to try and read I Hate Fairyland Vol 3 by Skottie Young. I would love some graphic novel recommendations from y'all. I'm very new to that side of the book world. I love it and I want more. Maybe I'll read one of my recent purchases. I can't be the only one in the book world constantly buying books and then waiting forever to even read them. On my latest trip to Barnes & Noble I snagged A Stranger in the House by Shari Lapena, Adrift by Tam

As many of you know, I hate making TBR's. I never stick to them because I am very much a mood reader and I cannot predict my moods, try as I might. This isn't always the best for my blogging and I am trying to change it, but you know. So that being said, I have a few ideas for what I would like to try and read during the month of April. The Fall of Grace by Amy Fellner Dominy I've actually already started this, but wasn't able to finish it in the month of March so on we go. Amy is such a kind human and I love a good puzzle. Especially if part of the story takes place in Arizona. I was stoked when she gave me a copy. Midnight Sun by Trish Cook I actually didn't plan on reading this one. I was interested in the movie though. However, one of my coworkers decided that we should read it and see the movie together like she had a week before when we both read Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda. I am always down for more reader friends and could not say no. It

ARC August 2017 As I'm sure you know by now, I'll be talking about ARC August. This is an event hosted by Read Sleep Repeat where we all get together and read our ARCs or Advanced Reader Copies. These can be new ones or old ones. As long as it's an ARC it doesn't matter. Now this is only my second ARC August and to avoid a slump, I'm giving myself a ton of options. My overall goal is to finish at least two. Which may not seem like a lot, but I also want to read some published books as well throughout the month. Being as July isn't over, I could still get to some of these before August but I'm making my TBR anyway. Wish me luck! Tentative TBR: - Submerge by Tobie Easton - The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed - As You Wish by Chelsea Sedoti (I want to read this one around my birthday) - Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer - Change Places With Me by Lois Metzger - A Season for Fireflies by Rebecca Maizel - How It Feels to Fly by Kathryn Holmes - Race t

For the past month or so I've been in quite the reading slump. I went from finishing 9 books in the month of January to finishing only 2 in February. However, I felt like I should make a TBR for March anyway. I know I will not finish all of these books this month, but I would like to at least start them. In fact, I have already started half of them!  The Geek's Guide to Dating by Eric Smith:  I was lucky enough to be sent this book for review from Mr. Eric Smith. I've already started it and I love it so far. For those of you who don't know, this book is a legitimate guide to dating and it's hilariously wonderful. The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider: I chose this book using my reading challenge jar. The challenge was to read a book that was gifted to me and even though I had a few choices, this was the only one that seemed right. It's about that one life changing moment that we all have, specifically a tragic one. Maybe yours hasn't happened