July 2017 Wrap UP + BTAT 2017 Wrap UP

Hey, there internet! It's the last Monday of July, which means it's time for another wrap-up! So without further ado, here we go!

via Goodreads. 

Death Note

Tsugumi Ohba

3 Stars

I have been trying to get my hands on all the books in this series for awhile now. I read 1-4 last month and this month I am patiently waiting for 6 to be available at my library. I don't like this book as much as I liked books 1-4. The story arc changes and It's just not as exciting for me.


So, during this month as you all are aware, the booktubeathon took place! I ended up only finishing two books, but I'll try harder next time! Summer is a really rough time for me to read, I'm not really sure why.

via Amazon

The Diary of a Young Girl

Anne Frank

3 Stars

I read this book for the person on the cover challenge, and I liked it. It was really interesting to see how Anne is in such this big and dangerous time in history, but she's also still a young girl who is going through teenage troubles as well as war troubles. 

via Amazon. 

Make up: Your life guide to beauty, style, and success- online and off. 

Michelle Phan

I read this book as a book I could finish in a day (which I sadly didn't) and I really didn't like it that much. Maybe because it's an outdated book, but Michelle's views are really out of date (such as slut shaming and enforced gender roles)

Well, there you guys go! All the books I read in July. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned next Monday for when we talk about new August releases that you need to be excited about!

BOOKTUBE A THON 2017

Hey There Internet! It's my favorite time of year again, the booktube-a-thon! I can't believe this will be my 3rd year participating! Even though I don't do youtube anymore; I still love the reading challenges and instagram contests! (Psst: follow my book instagram @kelseythebooknerd).

So without further ado, here is my TBR list for this years booktube a thon!!!

1. Read a book with a person on the cover. 

via Amazon

I actually finished this book earlier today because I was reading it on my vacation, but I chose The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank for this challenge.

2. Read a book that has been really hyped up. 

via Goodreads

For this challenge I chose The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh. This book has been super hyped ever since it came out, so I decided to finally pick it up!

3. Read a book you can finish in one day. 

via Amazon.

I chose Make Up: Your life guide to beauty, style, and success-online and off by Michelle Phan because it has a lot of pictures so I should be able to finish the book quickly. I used to be such a big fan of Michelle and I bought the book as soon as it came out. Unfortunatley, I never picked it up! Until now that is.

4. Read a book about a character that is different from you. 

via Amazon. 

The main character in Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown in a girl named Molly, who is adopted by a poor family. I was raised by my birth parents, so this character is perfect for this challenge. 

5. Read a book completley outside. 

via Barnes and Noble. 

This book is short and Robert Frost writes a lot of poems about nature so I figured this would be great to read outside. 

t f

6. A book you bought soley because of the cover. 

via Goodreads. 

I have never in my life bought a book just because of the cover, so I went into a bookstore today and bought the first book I saw with a pretty cover, which was Exit West  by Mohsin Hamid. You can't see it very well in this picture, but the cover has a bunch of sparkles on it! I have no idea what this book is about, but I'll be reading it later this week.

7. And as always...read seven books. 

via Goodreads.

For my seventh book, I picked out the sequel to The Wrath and The Dawn. I wanted to finish up the series while the first book was still fresh in my mind!


Thanks so much for reading! Follow my instagram (@kelseythebooknerd) for updates on how I'm doing during the Booktube-a-thon, and don't forget to check out my writing blog; The Perks of Being a Poet! (theperksofbeingapoet.wordpress.com)

I'll see you all next Monday with my booktube a thon wrap up!

June 2017 Wrap UP

Hey, There Internet! Sorry, I haven't been uploading lately, I've been trying to get my life together but I think I finally have it! So I didn't read a whole lot of books in June because I'm halfway through a manga series, and I always review those after I finished the whole thing because I usually finish one book a day. But here are the books I read in June!

via Wikipedia

The Catcher in the Rye

J. D. Salinger

So I know this book is a piece of classic literature, but I really couldn't get behind it. I even read anyalsis after analysis to see if there was a hidden meaning I missed, but to me I just see a boy whining about the world and complaining until he ends up locked up. I gave it two stars. 

via Wikipedia

Death Note

I'm on volume 4 of Death Note right now, I read 1-3 in June. I love the series so far! It's exciting and has me on the edge of my seat but also is funny and intellectual. Fantastic. 

So that's all I read this month! I promise I will try to read more next month. But until then, I'll see you in my next post! 

5 May Releases to be Excited About.

Hey There Internet! My name is Kelsey, and here are five books coming out in May, 2017 that you should be excited about.

1. Theft by Finding: Diaries (1977-2002) by David Sedaris.

via Amazon

David Sedaris is a well renowned humorist, and these are the diaries he's been keeping for 25 years. I'm a huge fan of David Sedaris so I am super excited to read the inner workings of his mind.

Theft by Finding is available May 30th from Little Brown and Company.

2. Release by Patrick Ness.

via Goodreads

Goodreads Description: "Adam Thorn is having what will turn out to be the most unsettling, difficult day of his life, with relationships fracturing, a harrowing incident at work, and a showdown between this gay teen and his preacher father that changes everything."

Release will by available May 4th from Walker Books

3. Noteworthy by Riley Redgate.

via Goodreads

Goodreads Description: "It's the start of Jordan Sun's junior year at the Kensignton-Blaine Boarding School for the Performing Arts. Unfortunately, she's an alto, which no one is falling over to express themselves in appreciation. The the school gets a mass email: A spot has opened up in the Sharpshooters, Kensington's elite acappela octet. Worshipped, revered, all male. Desperate to prove herself, Jordan auditions in her most convincing drag, and it turns out that Jordan Sun, Tenor 1, is exactly what the Sharps are looking for." 

I've read one of Redgate's previous books, The Seven Ways we Lie, and liked it, so I'm excited to read her newest book. 

Noteworthy will be available May 2nd by Amulet Books.

4. Gwendy's Button Box by Stephen King.

via Amazon

Do I even have to tell you what this book is about? It's a Stephen King! It's going to be creepy and it's going to be amazing. Enough said.

Gwendy's Button Box will be available May 30th by Cemetery Dance Publications.

5. Son of Ares by Pierce Brown. 

via Goodreads

Goodreads Description: "In the future, when mankind has spread across the stars, the hierarchy of man is dictated by the color of one's caste. The golds rule all, but what will happen when one falls for a lowly Red?" 

Son of Ares will be available May 10th by Dynamite Entertainment.

The Cellar

via Goodreads

The Cellar
Natasha Preston
5 Stars!

DISCLAIMER: THIS BOOK CONTAINS DESCRIPTIONS AND IMAGERY OF KIDNAPPING AND SEXUAL/PHYSICAL ABUSE THAT MAY UPSET SOME. IF THAT'S YOU, READ CAREFULLY.

Summer has a perfect life. Lots of friends, a loving boyfriend, and prospects for her future. Then she goes to a party and gets kidnapped on the way there. She is taken to a cellar where she is renamed 'Lily' and forced to live with three other captive girls as a man's 'family'.

This book is really interesting because not only does it tell summer's perspective but it tells the story from the kidnapper's point of view as well. Not a lot of books do that, and it's interesting to see the way her perceives the crimes he is committing. That being said, the book is a little cheesy at times; when summer is on her way to the party where she is later taken, she insists to her boyfriend that she will be fine walking alone in the dark. Irony right?

My biggest problem with The Cellar is really just how stressed out it made me. This book got a rise out of me to the point where I would have to put it down for a minute to fix my breathing. I couldn't even get started on the sequel, because reading the first page just led me to a whole new wave of anxious thoughts. I suppose that proves it's a good story if it can bring such an emotional reaction, but at the same time there is a lot of physical and sexual abuse in this book, so i wouldn't recommend it for people who are sensitive to that kind of content.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book and gave it five stars. The characters are what make this book truly magical, they are all so complex and all have interesting back stories. The book is not that insightful, besides I suppose just to appreciate life because any day you could be scooped into a van by a total creep! Great.

Thanks for reading another one of my reviews, I will be back soon with a review of The Road to Jonestown by Jeff Guinn.

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
Fannie Flagg
4 stars


Evelyn is a middle aged woman who wished she had done more with her life. Every Sunday she vists her mother-in-law at the nursing home, and befriends a little old woman named Ninny Threadgoode, who tells her stories of growing up in Whistle Stop, Alabama, and the cafe her aunt owned.

This book reminds me a lot of The Help or The Secret Life of Bees in that it is about female friendship and spirtual growth. The ending was very sweet, and while I adored all of the characters, there were so many that it was hard to keep up with all of them at times.

I gave this book 4 stars, with it's best qualities being the writing and the characters (Idgie was my favorite), and its weakness being the pace, but I gave the pace a 7/10, so i'm not really sure if that even counts as a weakness. This book is really good, and I reccommend it if you love historical fiction or if you enjoyed The Help.

Blood Brothers- Colleen Nelson

Goodreads

Blood Brothers

Colleen Nelson

2 Stars

DISCLAIMER: I recieved this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All the opinions in this review are mine and mine alone. Special thanks to NetGalley and Dundurn publishing. 

15 year old's Jakub and Lincoln are best friends, and sneak out at night to spray paint graffiti around their city. When Jakub gets accepted to an elite public school, it feels as if him and Lincoln will grow apart. Lincoln's brother comes back from prison, and lures him into his gang, the Red Bloodz. 

This book was alright. It didn't stand out to me, and I found the characters to be very annoying. However the story was very realistic, and displayed the unfortunate situations that children in lower income areas find themselves. The writing was also very simple, but that is what i have come to expect from most young adult literature. Overall, I give the book two out of five stars, with the ease of reading being it's greatest strength, and the insightfulness being it's weakest strength.

Blood Brothers is released on April 25th, and is available whererver books are sold.