Snacks & Paperbacks

Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised. With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met. I found out about this book through the first released footage of the m

“Are you happy with your life?” Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks him unconscious. Before he awakens to find himself strapped to a gurney, surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits. Before a man Jason’s never met smiles down at him and says, “Welcome back, my friend.” In this world he’s woken up to, Jason’s life is not the one he knows. His wife is not his wife. His son was never born. And Jason is not an ordinary college physics professor, but a celebrated genius who has achieved something remarkable. Something impossible. Is it this world or the other that’s the dream? And even if the home he remembers is real, how can Jason possibly make it back to the family he loves? The answers lie in a journey more wondrous and horrifying than anything he could’ve imagined—one that will force him to confront the darkest parts of himself even as he battles a terrifying, seemingly unbeatable foe. This was quite a compelling read that explor

Ten years ago, college student Quincy Carpenter went on vacation with five friends and came back alone, the only survivor of a horror movie–scale massacre. In an instant, she became a member of a club no one wants to belong to—a group of similar survivors known in the press as the Final Girls. Lisa, who lost nine sorority sisters to a college dropout's knife; Sam, who went up against the Sack Man during her shift at the Nightlight Inn; and now Quincy, who ran bleeding through the woods to escape Pine Cottage and the man she refers to only as Him. The three girls are all attempting to put their nightmares behind them, and, with that, one another. Despite the media's attempts, they never meet. Now, Quincy is doing well—maybe even great, thanks to her Xanax prescription. She has a caring almost-fiancé, Jeff; a popular baking blog; a beautiful apartment; and a therapeutic presence in Coop, the police officer who saved her life all those years ago. Her memory won’t e

Depression & Other Magic Tricks is the debut book by Sabrina Benaim, one of the most-viewed performance poets of all time, whose poem "Explaining My Depression to My Mother" has become a cultural phenomenon with over 5,000,000 views. Depression & Other Magic Tricks explores themes of mental health, love, and family. It is a documentation of struggle and triumph, a celebration of daily life and of living. Benaim's wit, empathy, and gift for language produce a work of endless wonder. Oh how much I wanted to love this book. I mean, I absolutely adored her poem "Explaining My Depression to My Mother" and the way she preformed it in that clip. I really felt understood whilst listening to it. I could completely relate to her feelings and how she was experiencing depression. So, having some high hopes of finding someone that understands what it's like and making that pain beautiful with words, I really wanted to love this book.  There were a

To keep track of my goals and progress, I am going to give you all a monthly update each month. In these posts I will tell you about the book(s) I read during the month and update my progress on both the reading challenges. Books This month, I was able to read 6 books, which surprised me! Of to a good start! I started the year of with a book to improve my life, to inspire me to work on myself in the new year: A Beautiful Mind, A Beautiful Life: The Bubz Guide to Being Unstoppable , written by Lindy Tsang. You can find my review here . The second book I read this month was All the Ugly and Wonderful Things , written by Bryn Greenwood. This was quite a heavy book about a shocking love story between a child and a man. It was really intense and made me feel very ambiguous. You can find my review of this shocking story here. After that, I started Far from the Tree by Robin Benway, which is about 3 adopted siblings finding each other. I had heard so many good things about t