What I Want to Read: Spring/Summer 2020

Like most (probably all) of you, I've been social distancing/in quarantine/self-isolating at home for about a month now, which has presented me with more time to read. Since we can't go out to the bookstore or the library whenever we please like normal, I've decided to plan what my next few reads are. Obviously I have no idea how long this whole thing will last, so this list of books may not be long enough,  but here are some books I want to read these next few months.

Broken Throne by Victoria Aveyard

I started reading the final book in the Red Queen series in January but still have yet to finish it ― and it's not because it's 480 pages long. Broken Throne is the last in the series but it isn't the final installment in the series. It's full of short stories and supplemental files and documents that go with the first four books. So since it isn't one big story like a normal book, I've had a bit of trouble reading it continuously. So I'm reading it a bit at a time in between finishing and starting other books.

Permanent Record by Mary H.K. Choi

I bought this book early in the year when there was a table full of YA books at Barnes & Noble that were 50% off. I'm about halfway through it at the moment, and I've just reached a big conflict for the main character. Permanent Record tells the story of Pablo and his relationship with mega celebrity Leanna Smart, whom he meets while working his graveyard shift at the bodega. At first, Pablo had no idea who she was but realized it in the middle of their initial conversation. I'm not really sure where the story's headed, but I am intrigued by the characters. Plus, Pablo and Leanna are probably the two most culturally diverse characters I've encountered in a book, which is refreshing.

What I Want to Read: Winter 2018

A new year means new books and a new reading goal! I'm aiming for 30 books this year and plan on starting off with these:

Fierce: How Competing for Myself Changed Everything by Aly Raisman

Image via Goodreads

Aly Raisman is amazing, in case you haven't heard recently (which I find hard to believe given the Women's March and Nassar trial happening last week and this week). So if that isn't enough reason to read her book, Aly tells her stories of struggle and success well. Fans and readers get more of an inside look at her gymnastics career and even her family.

She shares more of her inspiring and motivating words that teach young girls, women, and everyone really to love themselves and not be ashamed of how they look or what others say about them. I think it's one of the best ―if not the best ― memoir/biography a gymnast has written in recent years. Plus, it has a great author's note and resources at the end.

What I Want to Read: Fall 2017

It's officially fall (and has been for a while), and I actually read nearly every book on my summer to-read list, so it's time for another list! I still have a lot of free time since I'm not in school anymore and don't have a job yet, so I want to read as much as I can. I've already read about half of the books in this post but didn't get around to figuring out all of the books I wanted to include in this post until now.

What Made Maddy Run: The Secret Struggles and Tragic Death of an All-American Teen by Kate Fagan

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I first heard of Madison Holleran when her suicide made national news and Kate Fagan wrote about it for ESPNW. As a supporter of the mental health non-profit To Write Love on Her Arms and just a general mental health advocate, I knew I wanted to read this book when I first heard it would be happening. Fagan's ESPNW piece the book began with was such a powerful and well-written piece that told such a heartbreakingly real story.

What I Want to Read: Summer 2017

One of the best things about summer is that I have time to read books for fun. One of my favorite things about graduating from college and being done with school is that I have so much time to read whatever I want.

It's only been a few weeks since I graduated, but I've been taking full advantage of my free time by reading as much as I can. I actually meant to publish this post before I finished any of the books on here, but I enjoyed reading too much to take a break and do this blog post.

Here are the books I've read or plan to read during my first summer as a college graduate (and hopefully, but also sadly, what will probably be my last "summer" ever):

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

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I've wanted to read Perks since high school, but I never got around to it then. I always try to read the book before watching the movie, but in this case, it couldn't wait. But I'm actually totally okay with that because I love the movie and really like the book. I don't know if I'd say the book is better than the movie because I personally enjoyed the movie more, but Perks is definitely a good read.

If you've seen the movie, I'd say the book goes more in depth with the issues in Charlie's life and his mental health in general, along with the culture that was present in the 90s. Charlie is portrayed the same way in the book and the movie, but because the movie dealt with Charlie's mental health and the issues in his life more generally, it was easier for me to relate to (and therefore enjoy) the movie over the book.

Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard

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I actually first heard of this book/series in a monthly favorites video from Dance Moms star Chloe Lukasiak, who loves to read. Chloe seems to have good taste in everything from clothes to dance to pop culture, so I looked the book up after I watched her video. The dystopian story seemed a bit different and unique than others I've read, and Chloe said she loved it, so I added it to my Goodreads. 

I finished reading the first book two weeks ago and thought it was just good, nothing special, until the last few chapters when the plot twist came -- which I suspected something concerning a certain character would happen because there were clues about it everywhere. If you're into dystopian-like stories, I would definitely check this out because it does have something different to it that makes it stand out. I don't think it's necessarily the royalty/monarchy aspect of the society either.

What I Want to Read: Winter 2016-2017

One of the things I'm most excited about for winter break is being able to read whatever books I want. This past semester was a pretty busy one with classes and extra-curriculars, so I've been enjoying the free time to relax and read as much as I can.

I didn't get to do one of these posts for the fall, and I'm behind on my 2016 reading challenge, so I hope to read a lot of books this winter!

What I Want to Read: Summer 2016

One thing I love about summer is that I have three months to read whatever books I want! And three months is a lot of time to read. I'm actually pretty far behind on my reading challenge for 2016 as the spring semester was very busy for me.

So I'm trying to catch up and read as much as possible this summer, even if it means I'm spending a lot of money on books. Besides, I don't think you can ever read too much, and it's honestly better if I'm spending my money on books rather than clothes. Here are the books I'm planning on reading this summer (or already finished because it's been summer for me for a little while now.)

What I Want to Read: Winter 2015-2016

As usual, school didn't allow me to read all of the books I wanted to read for fun, but that's okay! I enjoyed the two books I read for school that I actually did want to read. It's finally the holiday season, and the first snowfall has occurred, so I think it's safe to say that it's winter (even if the calendar doesn't say so yet).

Winter break is just around the corner for me, which means I'll finally have a whole month to read what I want! Here are the books I hope to sit back inside and read while the bitter cold probably rages outside.

Finding My Shine by Nastia Liukin

Image via Amazon

Nastia is my favorite gymnast, so when I found out that she was releasing a memoir, I naturally freaked out. I mean, Nastia and reading combines two of my favorite things! Naturally, I pre-ordered the book on Amazon seconds after she tweeted about it. Since she is an Olympic gymnast and that's her claim to fame, I'm obviously looking forward to reading a bit about that, but I think Nastia's case is a bit different. Finding My Shine is more about how she finds herself after her gymnastics career is over, which actually might even interest me more than reading about how she got to the Olympics since I didn't really start following her until the end of her career. Now she's involved with a lot of other things besides gymnastics that I see on her social media a lot, and I'd like to know more about. Plus, she's one of my inspirations, so I hope to get more of that from this book as well.

What I Want to Read: Fall 2015

A few months ago, I did a blog post on the books I want to read over the summer since that's when I probably get the most reading done since I don't have anything to read for class. All of the books were read except for one. I've never set a reading goal for myself before, so it was pretty successful.

This is the first year I'm doing the Goodreads 2015 reading challenge, somaking lists of what I want to read and when I want to read them will help me accomplish my goal of 15 books. And now that summer's over, it's time to figure out what to read this fall.

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

When I found out that I was going to read this book for my creative writing class, I was pretty excited. The assigned books are a big reason why I took this creative writing class. I heard about this book earlier this year, and it's been sitting on my Goodreads 'to-read' shelf for a little while now. Now I'm finally getting around to reading it, and it doesn't even feel like homework when I'm reading it, because I actually do want to read it!

Image via Goodreads