Dollar Store Book Haul!

Hello, everybody! I hope you're all having a fantastic weekend so far. Mine has been rather sleep-deprived but whatever, that's why naps were invented. Anyhoo, I recently did a little book shopping in a bit of an unconventional store: The Dollar Store.

I've discovered that every now and then, the Dollar Store can be the greatest bookstore, other times, not so much. Most recently, however, I was able to find some pretty good books for an awesome price obviously, especially since some of the books I found were ones I've been wanting to read for forever. I actually even went back a second time to pick up a couple of other books I thought about buying on my first visit but decided not to for some odd reason. 

Anyhoo, enjoy my dollar store book haul!

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So one of the first books I grabbed was The Boyfriend App by Katie Sise. I remember wanting to read this book a few years ago but when I stumbled upon it at the dollar store, I was reminded of it. I had no idea what it was about anymore but after reading the synopsis of the book, I actually still really wanted to read it as it sounded like it might be super funny and cute. No idea when I'll pick it up but I'm hoping it'll be soon.

The second book I picked up is one that I've been searching for for almost A YEAR but I could not for the life of me remember what it was called or who it was by. It was frustrating only remembering what the cover looked like and what it was about. Side Effects is about a girl with depression who starts having "musical hallucinations" as a side effect of a new medication she's been prescribed. Some moments of her life she imagines as music videos or Broadway productions. You have no idea how happy I was when I FINALLY found this one!

The next two I picked up were a little random but I'd seen them before at other bookstores and I did want to read them, though I never actually bought them. Obviously, when I saw them at the dollar store, I couldn't pass up the deal. Love and Leftovers sounded like it could be a deeper kind of contemporary while Don't Call Me Baby sounded like it could be pretty funny and awkward. I'm excited to read both of them, especially since Love and Leftovers is written in verse.

And lastly, I was able to find Afterworlds which I was SO HYPED about! I've been wanting to read this book ever since it was released but never got around to buying a copy of the book. I kept putting off buying the book after seeing it all the time in bookstores, waiting until I had "time" to read it. Then I released I never have time for reading but I somehow read every day. So, I bought it.

I also went back a couple of days later to grab two more copies of Afterworlds and Side Effects for my two best friends since one of my friends loves ANYTHING about Broadway and my other friend and I pretty much like the same sci-fi/fantasy novels and after telling them about the books, they both wanted to read one or the other. It's pretty awesome having bookish friends.

So that's about it for my little book haul! I love finding books and other things for a great price and I love a good deal. I really hope you all enjoyed this post and please stay tuned (IF YOU'RE INTERESTED) as I have a new album unboxing coming up within the next few days as well as my monthly book haul. Read on, bookworms! See you in the next chapter!

Album Unboxing #1: "Verse #2" - JJProject

Hello, everybody! I'm super excited to introduce a new "segment" to this little blog of mine that I'm personally hoping some of you enjoy: album unboxings. I love music and am very passionate about it. I love pretty much every genre of music, in any language, any artist, I just LOVE music so much! My phone has become more of a glorified MP3 player since I now have so many songs in my library, it's not even funny. 

I also love buying albums and vinyls and have found that some of them are incredibly fun to open, particularly Kpop albums. Yes, I'm still in the deep dark abyss of Kpop and am NOWHERE NEAR climbing out of it. At this point, I'm simply in too deep. Anyhoo, I often wish that more albums of different genres were as fun to open as Kpop albums since they come with much more than just the album itself. I've seen a handful of American albums come in special packages that came with merch such as shirts, postcards, stickers, etc. but not that many. For now, I'll be doing mostly Kpop album unboxings until I can find other albums that I personally think will be fun to open on this blog. I hope you all enjoy so let's get on with the fun!

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If you're still here and actually interested in this album unboxing, I THANK YOU.

WARNING: Excessive fangirl may be ahead.

Anyhoo, I actually pre-ordered this lovely little album a few weeks ago, (before the album cover, song list, or any preview had been released #dedicated) and I'm so HAPPY with what I received! Apparently, there are two versions of this album, the "Tomorrow" version which is what I received and the "Today" version. Funny story is that I actually thought this was a different album I ordered so I was super extra surprised to have pulled this one out of the package. The album also came with a lot more stuff included than what I was expected and compared to other albums I've ordered in the past, it was like Christmas.

There were a couple of little fold out bits on either side of the album (which confused me for a second because like fifteen things fell out of those little fold outs) and I was shook. Anyhoo, it also came with a little photo card thing of one of the members and in the back was the actual album itself. I'm a 90's kid so having CDs out the wazoo makes me happier than a kid in a candy store. Literally not kidding.

So those fifteen things that fell out upon opening the album up and flipping through the booklet, I received a set of mini-photo cards (two packs actually but I accidentally deleted a picture of the other two) and a couple of them were double sided. I literally have a two-inch stack of these photo cards I've received from other albums in the past because I HAVE NO IDEA what to do with them. I've thought about using them as bookmarks but would that be weird? I'm all about shouting your fangirlism from the rooftops but when it comes to bands, I'm very hesitant. I don't want people thinking I'm some crazy fangirl (even though I AM  . . .) When I fangirl over books, music, etc. I go HARD.

The next thing the album came with was this really cool Photo Essay thing which is a booklet full of photography from the set of the music video for the album's single "Tomorrow, Today" which I thought was really neat since I've never received anything like that before. The photography was so beautiful and I especially loved all the scenic pictures of the country side and the nature.

There were also little captions to all the pictures (which I have no idea what they say since I don't know Korean) BUT the pictures are pretty so I'm satisfied. For now. Until it drives me crazy not knowing what the heck the captions say but thank goodness for Google Translate, right?

Last but not least, THE POSTER. I actually got two posters this time round which made me pretty darn happy. The first one is freaking HUGE as you can see as I used the photo essay booklet for size comparison.

I have a few other posters from other albums just stored safely away in a decorative box since I'm actually not a fan of hanging posters on my wall. It makes me feel a little like a creeper having people's pictures up on my wall, is that weird? I know plenty of people who hang posters up with no shame and I seriously ENVY THEM. I barely have two mini-posters hanging on my wall and one of them is only the silhouettes of the band members whereas the other has the band members facing AWAY from the camera and you can't see their faces. Am I the only one with this issue? Yes? Okay then . . .

And the last poster is much much smaller than the last though still a decent size, a little bigger than a sheet of printer-size paper. It's actually my personal favorite poster I own and I left this one tucked into the album booklet to keep safe.

Though I did take a picture of this one on my phone, just for, you know, no reason . . .

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So I hope I entertained at least ONE PERSON with this little album unboxing. I hope to do more in the future but don't worry, these won't happen often as it does take a while for albums like these to make it all the way to my little house. But there will be more, so please enjoy and stay tuned! I love all genres of music and I would LOVE to know what YOUR favorite genres are. If you feel like doing so, please let me know in the comments and maybe recommend some albums to me? I would SERIOUSLY LOVE that! Okay, see you guys in the next chapter!

July Book Haul + Wrap-Up!

Hello, everybody! Well, it hasn't been the best month for posting on this blog here now has it? I promise I'm trying my hardest to get better at posting more often (as I've said a THOUSAND times before) but this time, I'm serious! I WILL get better. 

Anyhoo, it also was actually a good book buying month as I was able to lessen the number of books I purchased. That's always a regular goal for me since I have WAY TOO MANY books I still have yet to read and really can't afford to keep buying more than what I'm actually reading. You understand my pain, right? RIGHT? Anyhoo, I'm quite proud of myself for having bought less books this month and I'll hopefully be able to read even more.

Last month was a bit slower for me reading wise but this month I hope to read as much as possible. I decided that this month I'll only be reading books that I FEEL like reading instead of picking up books that I feel like I should read because I've had them forever. I think that's what's been putting me in a reading slump lately and I plan on turning that around.

Alright, enough rambling. Here's my wrap-up and book haul for the month of July. Read on, bookworms! See you in the next chapter!

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REVIEW COPIES

Me & Milo the Great by Michelle Schlicher

Level Up (Fandom Hearts #1) by Cathy Yardley

One True Pairing (Fandom Hearts #2) by Cathy Yardley

Article Three (Systemet #1) by Anna Jakobsson Lund

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BOUGHT BOOKS:

Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia - Half Price Books - $8.99

Skin and Bones by Sherry Shahan - Half Price Books - $4.99

Confessions of a Hater by Caprice Crane - Book Outlet - FREE with coupon

Illuminae (The Illuminae Files #1) by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff  - FREE with coupon

The Leaving by Tara Altebrando - Barnes and Noble - $9.99

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin - Half Price Books - $3.99

The Darkest Lie by Pintip Dunn - Half Price Books - $4.99

Tokyo Heist by Diana Renn - Half Price Books - $4.99

Nightfall by Jake Halpern, Peter Kujawinski - Amazon - $7.99

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WRAP-UP:

Once and for All by Sarah Dessen

Wesley James Ruined My Life by Jennifer Honeybourn

Article Three (Systemet #1) by Anna Jakobsson Lund

Level Up (Fandom Hearts #1) by Cathy Yardley

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CD'S/ALBUMS:

L O V E by kirstin™ - Target - $7.99

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SONGS/ DIGITAL DOWNLOADS:

No Limit (Clean) by Usher ft. Young Thug - Google Play - $1.29

Come Back Home by BTS - Google Play - $1.29

Youth by Spencer Kane - Google Play - $1.29

Hola Hola by K.A.R.D - Google Play - $1.29

DJ Got Us Falling In Love Again by Usher ft. Pitbull - Google Play - $1.29

Sorry Not Sorry (Clean) by Demi Lovato - Google Play - $1.29

Down by Jay Sean ft. Lil Wayne - Google Play - $0.99

L O V E (EP) by kirstin™ - Google Play - $5.99

Habit by Megan and Liz - Google Play - $1.29

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The Review Chain: Level Up (Fandom Hearts #1) by Cathy Yardley + GIVEAWAY! (CLOSED)

Add It To Goodreads!

Rating: PG-13

Score: ❤❤❤1/2

Genre: Romance, Contemporary

Page Count: 151

Book #1 of the Fandom Hearts series

Publisher: Cathy Yardley

Published: December 30th, 2015

Geeky introvert Tessa Rodriguez will do whatever it takes to get promoted to video game engineer– including create a fandom-based video game in just three weeks. The only problem is, she can't do it alone. Now, she needs to strong-arm, cajole, and otherwise socialize with her video game coworkers, especially her roommate, Adam, who’s always been strictly business with her. The more they work together, though, the closer they get…

Adam London has always thought of his roomie Tessa as “one of the guys” until he agreed to help her with this crazy project. Now, he’s thinking of her all the time… and certainly as something more than just a roommate! But his last girlfriend broke up with him to follow her ambitions, and he knows that Tessa is obsessed with getting ahead in the video game world.

Going from friends to something more is one hell of a challenge. Can Tessa and Adam level up their relationship to love?

Review:

PROS:

1. Upon first reading about this book, I thought it sounded super cute and would be a breeze for me to read since I adore any book that has to do with video games, graphic art and anything nerdy. This book was a combination of all three and I couldn't wait to get my hands on a copy and read it. I was really excited for this book going in and I'm so happy I got that chance to read it and review it for you all! Let's get on into the review! 

2. Special thanks to the author for sending me an e-copy of the book in exchange for an honest review! To start off, I really loved Tessa's character! Not only was she an introverted young woman working in a heavily male-dominated line of work, she was also an ambitious and determined Latina woman working hard to be recognized for her skills in coding. She wanted to work hard and earn respect for what she did and by continuously pursuing her career, she challenged herself in many ways that were at first hard for her such as being social with people, making friends and getting out of the house and out of her comfort zone.

3. I also liked that the relationship evolved quite nicely in my opinion between Tessa and her roommate Adam. At first, they're nothing more than roommates, not even friends. As they both continue to search for their place in their line of work and hone in on their coding skills, they go from roommates to good friends and eventually, a sweet romance blossoms between them. It was entertaining and swoon-worthy to watch their relationship evolve and made for an easy and fun read throughout the book. The characters were also very fun and lively, showing their support for each other in many parts of the book that I really enjoyed.

CONS:

1. I did have a few problems with this short chick-lit read, however. My first issue was that the initial first kiss in the novel was a bit random. It felt a little out of place, like it was kind of just thrown in and never mentioned afterward. It felt too quick and easy especially since Tessa was very shy and introverted and it felt like too sudden of a move for her character to make at the time it happens. 

2. I also would have loved a bit more fleshing out of the supporting characters as I really enjoyed seeing them pop into the story and wanted a bigger presence from them. They added a lot to the book and I wanted to see more of them as I read. I also would have liked a bit more romantic development. I know I said earlier that their relationship developed nicely, which it did, but the romantic FEELINGS on both their parts felt a little out of left-field, too quick, almost over night. There wasn't that slow simmering build-up of romantic feelings that I personally love seeing in romantic reads. If I had seen more of that, I think I would have absolutely LOVED this book. 

Overall, it was a quick and easy read, perfect to relax with. I think if you're a reader who loves a good geeky romance story, then definitely pick this one up and see what you think! I do plan on reading the sequel to this book, which I will be posting a review of later in the month so stay tuned for that. I did enjoy "Level Up" and I hope more readers out there can enjoy the book either as much or more than I did.

Please Note: I would recommend this book to OLDER readers as it does contain mature content.

You Can Purchase The Book Here:

Amazon

Audible

Barnes and Noble

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About The Author:

Cathy Yardley needs to get out more. When not writing, she's usually lurking on social media, playing Fallout 4, or watching D-list movies and adding to her unnatural mental store of character-actor trivia. She's a fangirl of Supernatural, Doctor Who, Sherock, LOTR,  and too many others to name.  She lives with her family in Seattle.  They are considering performing an intervention for her addiction to pop culture.

Author Links:

Twitter

Facebook

Goodreads

Website

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