teatimelit

2021 Reading Goals, Notion & Reading Journal Set Up

I’ve been bullet journaling for over three years now, and have gone through waves of sticking to it for everything, and then not using it at all. Like many others, I’ve fallen in love with how I can keep everything in one space, how I’m not confined to a specific layout, and most of all, how it allows me to use my creative juices while staying productive and organized. Over the years, I’ve amassed a hoard of supplies – washi tapes, blank notebooks that I’ve purchased “for next year”, brush pens, markers, stickers, stamps… you name it.  With the pandemic, and not being able to leave my house aside from going to the grocery store, I’ve found my motivation to bullet journal has waned significantly. After all, there’s only so many things I can keep track of there. I’m pretty known for being incredibly Type A, and for my love of organizational methods. Since I’m trying some new ways of keeping track of my reading journey in 2021, I figured I’d share them with you! This post gets a little lengthy, so grab yourself a cup of tea (or whatever warm beverage you’d like), and settle in! 

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ARC Review: The Meet-Cute Project

Mia’s friends love rom-coms. Mia hates them. They’re silly, contrived, and not at all realistic. Besides, there are more important things to worry about—like how to handle living with her bridezilla sister, Sam, who’s never appreciated Mia, and surviving junior year juggling every school club offered and acing all of her classes.

So when Mia is tasked with finding a date to her sister’s wedding, her options are practically nonexistent.

Mia’s friends, however, have an idea. It’s a little crazy, a little out there, and a lot inspired by the movies they love that Mia begrudgingly watches too.

Mia just needs a meet-cute.

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Review: Rent a Boyfriend

In the name of Zoom quarantine birthdays, a few of my closest friends got together and created a powerpoint & playlist of Taylor Swift songs that reminded them of me. One of these songs was Love Story, which was accompanied by the message “you’re a hopeless romantic and bury yourself in stories.” I’ve always been a hopeless romantic and someone who just loves love, but it’s always been difficult to see the only people getting happy ever afters be cis, white, and straight. Which is why anytime there’s a new romance or rom com novel out where it isn’t centered around a cis white straight couple, I instantly add it to my TBR. I’m not saying that I won’t read books that aren’t diverse; just that I’m less inclined to, and when I’m going through my TBR for a book, it usually isn’t my first pick. When I first heard about Rent a Boyfriend, I was immediately interested — I mean, fake dating to appease your parents, mooncakes, an entirely Taiwanese cast, and that stunning pink cover? Sign me up. 

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teatimereads January Pick: These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

We’re super excited to announce that our first book club pick for teatimereads is Chloe Gong’s These Violent Delights! As you know, Caitlyn and Cossette adored this book, and we couldn’t be happier to take our traveling tea party to 1926 Shanghai. 

The year is 1926, and Shanghai hums to the tune of debauchery.

A blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red, leaving the city helpless in the grip of chaos. At the heart of it all is eighteen-year-old Juliette Cai, a former flapper who has returned to assume her role as the proud heir of the Scarlet Gang—a network of criminals far above the law. Their only rivals in power are the White Flowers, who have fought the Scarlets for generations. And behind every move is their heir, Roma Montagov, Juliette’s first love…and first betrayal.

But when gangsters on both sides show signs of instability culminating in clawing their own throats out, the people start to whisper. Of a contagion, a madness. Of a monster in the shadows. As the deaths stack up, Juliette and Roma must set their guns—and grudges—aside and work together, for if they can’t stop this mayhem, then there will be no city left for either to rule.

Trigger warnings: Mentions and descriptions of blood, violence, gore, character deaths, transphobia, explicit description of gouging self (not of their own volition), murder, weapon use, insects, alcohol consumption, parental abuse. 

Links for These Violent Delights:  Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | Indie Bound 

To find out more about teatimereads please click here. You can also join the server by accessing this link! 

Happy reading! 

Let’s Talk: Bookish Consumerism and the Library System

As a blogger and instagrammer, it’s kind of expected to have lots of books. You need books to make the content needed for those platforms, and the common way in doing that is spending money on books. I’ve recently been thinking about how much I spend as a consumer on books, and how, realistically, it’s not financially viable all the time. 

I’ve recently joined the library nearest to my work, making it the third library I have access to in person and the fourth library I have access to digitally, and I love it. The library is a safe, welcoming space for everyone, and it’s time we give it the hype and attention it deserves.

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Feature: Teddy Spenser Isn’t Looking for Love Excerpt

Today on teatimelit, we’re sharing an excerpt from Kim Felding’s newest book, Teddy Spenser Isn’t Looking for Love, which comes out on December 29th. Many thanks to Carina Adores for this opportunity!

Teddy Spenser spends his days selling design ideas to higher-ups, living or dying on each new pitch. Stodgy engineer types like Romeo Blue, his nemesis—if you can call someone who barely talks to you a nemesis—are a necessary evil. A cute necessary evil. Working together is bad enough, but when their boss puts them both on a new high-stakes project, “working together” suddenly means:

– sitting uncomfortably close on the same plane,

– staying in the same hotel room—with only one bed—and

– spending every waking minute together.

Turns out Mr. Starched Shirt has some hidden depths, and it’s getting harder to ignore the spark Teddy feels with every brush of their hands, with every knowing look. He might not have been looking for this connection with Romeo, but will he ever be ready to let him go?

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Book Recs: 2021 Releases Based off of Your Favorite Taylor Swift Album

Anyone who knows me knows I’m a huge Taylor Swift fan, and in honor of her birthday, and 2020 coming to an end, I wanted to take the time to combine two of my loves: Taylor Swift, and books! So without further ado, here are thirty one book recommendations for 2021 releases based off of your favorite Taylor Swift album. This list also doubles as a list of my most anticipated reads of 2021. I haven’t read most of these, and so I’m mostly going off of the synopsis and any reviews that are already out! 

I’m also doing a giveaway over on my Instagram, where I’ll be picking two winners (one international, one US based) to win a preorder of any book I’ve mentioned here, as well as a Taylor Swift bookmark from carlasalley on Etsy! 

  • ✩: I’ve read an ARC of this!
  • ♡: Author’s debut! 

To quickly access an era, and the books mentioned:

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Let’s Talk: DNF’ing Books

DNF or did not finish, is a widely debated topic in the book community. Some are for it, some are against it. I can understand the division, especially if you have been asked by a publisher to review a book. You’ve been asked to do a task, so you can’t just not read it, right? Well, I’m of the belief that you should be able to have the option of not finishing. Let’s discuss why.

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Discussion: Trigger Warnings

When I get recommended a book, one of the first things I tend to do is add it to my TBR shelf on Goodreads. Usually, I won’t get around to looking at the summary or looking up reviews for it until much later, and sometimes, it slips my mind entirely, until that book is brought up in conversation again later, or until I decide to do my yearly Goodreads shelf-reorganizing. Or other times, I’ll simply be browsing Goodreads, or just going feeds on social media when I see books being recommended and promoted. More often than not, these recommendations come without trigger warnings. 

What are trigger warnings?

Trigger warnings are statements at the start of a piece of media that alert the reader or viewer to the fact that it contains potentially distressing material.

An example of trigger warnings in books that come to mind is The Henna Wars, which has “This book contains instances of racism, homophobia, bullying, and a character being outed.” printed on the inside. I’ve often also seen them simply listed as trigger warning: [ list of triggers ] or tw: [ list of triggers ] on reviews as well. You can view an example of trigger warnings on my One Last Stop review here. 

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Blog Tour + Review: A Universe of Wishes (A We Need Diverse Books Anthology)

From We Need Diverse Books, the organization behind Flying Lessons & Other Stories, comes a young adult fantasy short story collection featuring some of the best own-voices children’s authors, including New York Times bestselling authors Libba Bray (The Diviners), V. E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic), Natalie C. Parker (Seafire), and many more. Edited by Dhonielle Clayton (The Belles).

In the fourth collaboration with We Need Diverse Books, fifteen award-winning and celebrated diverse authors deliver stories about a princess without need of a prince, a monster long misunderstood, memories that vanish with a spell, and voices that refuse to stay silent in the face of injustice. This powerful and inclusive collection contains a universe of wishes for a braver and more beautiful world.

  • “A refreshing anthology depicting worlds where everyone can belong.” –Kirkus Reviews
  • “A noteworthy collection brimming with empowering tales that confirm all readers deserve to have their stories told.” –Shelf Awareness 
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