teatimelit

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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Spotlight: Taylor Swift Playlistathon Wrap Up

Hello, yes it is another Taylor Swift related post on teatimelit. We really do love Taylor, folks, and you know what? She has blessed us in 2020. Today I’m posting my wrap-up of the Taylor Swift Playlistathon on Twitter, hosted by the lovely  Lisa (@lisamariereads), Daryan (@daryanreads), and Kasey (@kaseycanread). The read-a-thon took place from November 13th 2020-December 13th 2020, featuring prompts inspired by every song on Taylor’s eight studio albums from Debut to folklore (rip us we had no idea another album was coming). 

With a total of 121 prompts, there were lots of options and I personally am the kind of person who will pick a book to read and then see if it fits one of the prompts as opposed to picking the book because of the prompt. I’m big on mood reading, so if I’m not in the mood to read the book I just won’t finish it. That being said, I completed 25 of the prompts, which is actually way more than I had anticipated reading, so I’m really happy with that! 

  • ✧: ARC
  • ✬: An ARC but as now been released
  • ✢: Reread

I have done my best to list all trigger warnings that I can think of from my own personal notes, other reviews, and from websites like Book Trigger Warnings and Trigger Warning Database. That being said, there may be things that I have forgotten and if so I apologize! If you’ve read any of these books and notice that I’m missing some triggers, please please let me know so that I can update the trigger lists!

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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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Introducing: teatimereads

In Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Alice asks “And what is the use of a book, without pictures or conversations?” Over the years, we’ve come to find out there’s a lot of use in books, regardless of whether they consist of pictures or not. While teatimelit is only two months old, we’ve found a lot of joy in writing formal blog posts with recommendations and thoughts of our own, as well as making friends in the book blogging community and other bookish communities. 

In our earliest group chat days, the three of us would each take turns picking and choosing a book for the group to read and discuss each month. It’s always been a lovely thing, messaging each other our thoughts over a nice cup of tea. Through that book club, we’ve gotten to read books that we wouldn’t have heard about or read on our own, including books that have come to mean a lot to us. In reflecting on our bookish adventures, we decided to revamp our love for our book club, and expand it to be an official thing!

We’re very happy to announce that we’ve decided to create a book club for teatimelit named teatimereads, where we’ll select a diverse read to read each month & discuss it together! We’re incredibly excited for our new adventure, and to see what all the tea party attendees will choose for our first book! If you’d like to join us down the rabbit hole, just click on this link!

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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ARC Review: You Have a Match by Emma Lord

From the beloved author of Tweet Cute comes Emma Lord’s You Have a Match, a YA novel of family, friendship, romance and sisterhood…

When Abby signs up for a DNA service, it’s mainly to give her friend and secret love interest, Leo, a nudge. After all, she knows who she is already: Avid photographer. Injury-prone tree climber. Best friend to Leo and Connie…although ever since the B.E.I. (Big Embarrassing Incident) with Leo, things have been awkward on that front.

But she didn’t know she’s a younger sister.

When the DNA service reveals Abby has a secret sister, shimmery-haired Instagram star Savannah Tully, it’s hard to believe they’re from the same planet, never mind the same parents—especially considering Savannah, queen of green smoothies, is only a year and a half older than Abby herself.

The logical course of action? Meet up at summer camp (obviously) and figure out why Abby’s parents gave Savvy up for adoption. But there are complications: Savvy is a rigid rule-follower and total narc. Leo is the camp’s co-chef, putting Abby’s growing feelings for him on blast. And her parents have a secret that threatens to unravel everything.

But part of life is showing up, leaning in, and learning to fit all your awkward pieces together. Because sometimes, the hardest things can also be the best ones.*

*Summary from Goodreads

Title: You Have a Match
Author: Emma Lord
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Genre: YA, Contemporary
Targeted Age Range: Young Adult
Representation: Filipino love interest, lesbian main character, Filipino side character, lesbian side character & minor character
Trigger Warnings: Grief, anxiety, injury (mild), death of a family member, adoption/transracial adoption, parental conflict
Rating:  ★★★★★

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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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