TBR Book Tag

Hey Guys - 

Saw this Book Tag from Books and Lala on Youtube (Who got it from this link: http://aperfectioncalledbooks.blogspot.com/2014/08/tbr-tag.html) and I figured it would be interesting to do. So take a look below!

How do you keep track of your TBR pile?
I think I have a bunch of ways, one is just books I get from the library,  one is my Goodreads List (for books that are unpublished), one is all the books I have downloaded on my iPad (books app) and my Kindle.

Is your TBR mostly print or ebook?
I'd say that I have about 95% ebooks. I have about 15 print books that are on my TBR and on the bookshelf in my bedroom/apartment. But more of my reading gets done on my Kindle and iPad because I read really quickly and it is easier to carry more books that way. 

How do you determine which book from your TBR to read next?
I am very much a mood reader. So whatever I am in the mood for. When I download books on my iPad, it's usually in an order of when I'm most likely to read it so I usually just go in the order that I have on my iPad.

A Book That's Been On Your TBR List The Longest 
 iPad: The Vincent Boys. This was the first book that I ever downloaded on my books app. While I don't know if I'll ever read it based on how I have these ordered and how many there are, it's been on there for a really long time. 

Goodreads: Truly, Madly. I added this in 2016. 


A Book You Recently Added To Your TBR
iPad: Just Watch Me by Jeff Lindsay. He is the author of the Dexter series and this has to do with a jewel heist. 

Goodreads: Daisy Jones & The Six

A Book In Your TBR Strictly Because Of Its Beautiful Cover
I don't really do that, so I wouldn't say there is anything on there strictly for the cover. While I do initially pick up books because of the cover, I'll put it back down if the description doesn't intrigue me. 


A Book On Your TBR That You Never Plan on Reading
I wouldn't say that I have any books on my TBR that I never plan on reading. Whenever I get them, I have at least some intention of reading them at the time. While my intentions might change, and I might not want to read them in the future, I'll usually delete them from my TBR.  If I had to choose one that I am most likely to not read on my TBR however, it's probably the DaVinci Code. While I love the book, I am not a person who re-reads books. So I am more likely to read everything else on my TBR that I've never read before than re-read the DaVinci Code. 

An Unpublished Book On Your TBR That You’re Excited For 
He Started It by Samantha Downing. I really liked her book My Lovely Wife that I read earlier this year so I am really excited to read this one. I have some ARCs that I'm also looking forward to reading.  


A Book On Your TBR That Basically Everyone’s Read But You 
Where the Crawdads Sing. I downloaded it to read as a part of my work book club, but I actually left the job before the book club ever met, so I never read it. It's been on my list for almost a year at this point and I'm hoping I'll get to it in 2020. 

A Book On Your TBR That Everyone Recommends To You
I don't talk to too many people about books, but my one friend works for Penguin Random House and most recently she recommended to me Ask Again Yes. I'd say that this is probably the only book on my TBR that has been recommended to me specifically. I've gotten some other book recommendations from BookTube, but none specifically for me. 

A Book On Your TBR That You’re Dying To Read
Lock Every Door. Thanks Books and Lala for the recommendation! 

How many books are on your Goodreads TBR shelf?
300 on my iPad, 15 physical books, 50 Kindle Books. 

Love from NYC & Happy Reading! 

Celia

My First 10 Lbs

Hey Everyone -

So I always thought that I would never have a weight and fitness journey to share, but here we are. Over the past 6 months, I've lost 10 lbs. Okay, well 9.5. And I'm excited to share my journey with you! It's been a roller coaster of a journey, but I've finally found something that works for me, and now we're here!

I've always been pretty thin. I played sports in high school and as a kid and worked out a decent amount in my college and career life. But what really killed me was when I used to commute to and from NYC. I spent 2 hrs on the road in the morning and at night, and it made it hard for me to work out as much as I could. But my weight stayed pretty consistent. Until October of 2019. I noticed myself having gained a pretty significant amount of weight and I knew I had to change things.

April of 2019, I started using the Sweat App. At that point I had the time and wanted to make the change. I had heard so many good things about the BBG program from Kayla Itstines and I had always wanted to try it. The other thing is that I have a gym in my building, but I didn't know anything about

But the thing was, whereas I never really ate poorly but now I had a workout regime, and I walked 40 minutes each way every day to work, I was still gaining weight. I just couldn't understand it. I was so discouraged, I would cry and almost didn't want to keep going anymore. So I was talking to my mom only to find out that something called Hypothyroidism (an underachieve thyroid) runs in our family. And the two main symptoms are unexplained weight gain, which I had, and tiredness, which I also had. I remembered a time I went out to lunch with a girlfriend and I was so tired I had to go to bed at 9:30 PM.

To the doctor I went, only to find out yes, I did have Hypothyroidism. That explained my tiredness and why even working out, I was still gaining weight. And in July I was my heaviest ever. About 25 lbs heavier than July of the year before.

So now that I found out one part, I had to figure out the second part. And that was where Kelsey Wells came in. Her PWR Program as well as her as a trainer and the entire PWR community, helped me to find a work out program that I actually enjoyed doing. That made me sore and helped me build muscle, but I wasn't like "ugh I have to do it." So Kelsey, if you read this, thank you. The PWR community that you've built is something that has become so special to my fitness journey. I added in a little extra cardio here and there, but I love its flexibility.

The other thing that that wasn't health or food related that really helped me in my journey was Rent the Runway. It made it so that I had clothes that consistently fit me and I enjoyed wearing, but  there was no pre-existing stigma that these clothes had fit in the past and didn't fit now. It made me feel more confident in myself, and didn't cause me to overeat or anything because I felt like things just weren't going my way or working the way that they should have.

So after everything, here are the progress photos. Besides the fact that my hair is longer, the other thing you see here is a girl that's more confident, happy in her skin and as an added benefit, down about 10 lbs. While I don't have a goal weight moving forward, my goal is to always be the best version of myself I can be.

Love from NYC!

Celia

Library Haul and TBR

Hey Guys! Wanted to switch things up a little bit here and do something that wasn't quite your regular post. So below you'll see a Youtube Video that I did talking through the books I currently have in my possession from both Book of the Month, and YouTube. While I wouldn't consider this a formal TBR as I don't say "I need to read this in January" but when I go to the Library, I generally pick my books with the intention of reading them.


But for those who aren't interested in watching the video - scroll past the video to check out what I've got below!

• Elevator Pitch - Linwood Barclay: This one hits a little close to home as it takes place in my home of NYC. On Monday morning, 4 people get in an elevator at their Manhattan office, and press the buttons of their destination floors. But instead of stopping, it goes all the way to the top, only to then start going back down and then plummet. While Elevator issues in Manhattan are a fairly normal occurrence, this suddenly happens in other parts of the city on both Tuesday and Wednesday so this is anything but random.
• Lost You - Haylen Beck: Libby Reese has lost her son on Vacation. CCTV Footage is seen of him being lead away by another woman, only to find out that he isn't lost, this woman has actually found him. 
• The Other Mrs. Miller - Allison Dickson: The car down the street has been watching Phoebe Miller for weeks, and only they know why. Vicki moves in down the street, and Phoebe begins focusing on her, and not on the car, when she really shouldn't be. 
• The DaVinci Code - Dan Brown: This is the only re-read on my list. I'm not much of a re-read person, never have been. But there's something about the DaVinci Code that is calling me back.  The curator of the Louvre is found dead one night, only to have Robert Langdon, a Harvard Symbologist called in to take a look at the case. It leads him down the path of what we're familiar with as the Holy Grail and how all of this is ultimately connected. 
• That's What Frenemies are For - Sophie Littlefield and Lauren Gershell: This is a Pygmalion re-telling, which involves Julia, and her posh Upper East Side of Manhattan life, and Flame, who is a gym owner. As goes the story of Pygmalion, Flame becomes a celebrity fitness star, and Julia's life begins to crumble around her. 

These two books I got from Book of the Month. Click this LINK and get your first box for just $5! It doesn't change your price, but I do receive a small commission. 

• The Wives - Tarryn Fisher: How Far Would You Go to Find out the Truth About Your Husband? The main character (who's name we do not know) is a part of polygamist family. She only sees her husband 1x a week, and doesn't know any of his other wives. Until one day, when she tracks down Hannah, a woman she knows is one of his wives. Only to find out that she is being abused by her husband, who is also her husband. So what should she do now?
• The Sun Down Motel - Simone St. James: This book might actually not be available yet unless you're a member of Book of the Month. But in 1982 Viv Delaney goes missing at the Sun Down Motel. In 2017, her niece Carly decides to visit the motel and figure out the story of why her aunt disappeared. 

Let me know if there are any other books you think I should read if I like these!

Love from NYC!

Celia

Thanks 2019

Hi Guys - Happy New Year from NYC (again). So this post was actually supposed to be done on New Year's Eve, but I didn’t finish it. So here is it now, just more than a few days late

2019 was the end of a decade. A decade that had its ups and downs, and allowed me to learn a lot about myself, and the world around me. I started it at the end of my Freshman year of college, thinking I wanted to be in business, or work for a sports team. And here I am at the end of the decade,  doing neither of those things. I honestly am in the position of doing a full career change, whether that is doing brand management somewhere, or going to law school.

I don't know if I have it all figured out, but 2019 brought me a lot of good and some bad that I can't overlook.

2019, brought me 2 of the best friends that NYC has to offer, for allowing me to meet people who love me for who I am, even if that means they have to sift the walnuts out of the brownie mix they bought.

2019 also brought me to two brand new places, London and Naples. It showed  me that even if it was just during the day, I could be by myself, and learn a little bit of a new language and get around. That my friends from 20 years ago, are still my friends and I love them just as much I did when we rode the bus together in 4th grade. And finally, I learned that the world is a lot bigger than I ever expected.


In 2019, I lost a job that I thought I was happy in. But when you look back on it, it taught me that it was something I was too afraid to leave. That I never really wanted to be there in the first place, but I stuck it out because the money was good. And not only that, it told me that even though I thought that I was happy, I actually don't know if account management is for me. So today, I sit here, still struggling to figure out where I go from here, but happier than I have been in months.

But no matter the good or bad in 2019, in 2020 those losses will be forgotten, and instead what I've gained will come with me as I take the next step in my life. And maybe that is moving back to NJ to work at Nabisco. Or it's going to law school. But whatever it is, there will be no "what if's" or "can'ts." I'll be driven by the things that make me happy, and the things that make me a better person.

Love from NYC,
Celia

Recent Reads: December 2019

Hey guys! Happy New Year to all of you.

After doing my first two book review blog posts I realized that there was probably a better way to aggregate all of the books that I read over a specific month. I read a ton and have currently read 50 books this year so if I chose to review every single book on this blog, I think that’s the only content you guys would get. So here is my first post of the books I recently read during the month of December.

I generally read over 4 mediums, so it means I am reading a bunch of books at any given time. If you guys are interested I can talk about which I use, and my preferences towards them.

I'll go through the books I've read based on the Star Rating that I've given them. All links are affiliate links that will help me to run this blog but I will only offer affiliate links for books that I've rated 3+ stars, as those are the only books that I would recommend to my readers.

When I am talking through my star ratings, this is what I'm using as a scale. A quick reminder,  just because I don't love something, doesn't mean that it is a bad book. If it is your fav, that is totally okay!

5 Stars: I absolutely loved it
4 Stars: I really liked it
3 Stars: I liked it
2 Stars: It was okay
1 Star: I disliked it, or I did not finish

5 Stars

• There was nothing this month that I absolutely loved. Maybe next month. 

4 Stars

• Complete Me - Geneva Lee. This is the last book in the Royal's Saga by Geneva Lee. It brings you back to Alexander and Clara as well as Belle and Smith. It turns out that Alexander has a family secret and he has to figure out how to handle it both personally, as well as with his wife all before Christmas. It felt very apropos to read this in December as it did have a Christmas Feel to it. I enjoyed all of the other books in this series, and while it took me a while to get to this one, I felt like it was something I felt more of an obligation to read than a real desire. but I'm ultimately glad I did. I really enjoyed it and rushed through the book if only to see what happened at the end. The only thing I didn't love was how the book ended and that would be the reason why I didn't give it 5 stars. While it tied up all of the loose ends, I felt like it ended in a way that would potentially lead to more novels in the series, but the series is also supposed to be over. Purchase this here on Amazon. 

3 Stars

• Everything I Never Told You - Celeste Ng. Review Here
• Twisted Twenty Six - Janet Evanovich. Review Here
• The Lucky One - Lori Rader Day. This was an advanced release that I got from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. It follows Alice who was kidnapped as a child and works on a website called the Doe pages which helps to find missing persons, and Merrilly, who is trying to figure out where her mom’s mysterious ex-boyfriend has gone. Their relationships are interconnected and this story shows how, while exploring each one’s individual lives. I liked the way that they tied everything up at the end, but I didn't love the story. I felt as if it had parts for me that were a bit confusing for me to want to enjoy it. And I think it didn’t help that we were jumping back and forth between Merrilly and Alice. 

Christmas reading (and basketball)

2 Stars

• Wild Game - Adrienne Brodeur. I have to say I expected to enjoy this book more than I did. Based on the description I felt like it was something that was going to be fast paced and exciting. And knowing what the concept of what was happening in the story I felt like that should have been the case (the author was an accomplice in helping her mother cover up a long affair). But in a way it felt like more of a story that someone you know was telling you. I was kind of disconnected from the get go and felt myself struggling to connect with the characters.  Even more so since the story is told in a vein that causes you to have very strong opinions on the author’s mother and could even potentially cause you to feel frustration with the author and her behavior throughout the story. Thankfully it was a quick read and I was able to get through it quickly because I feel like if it was longer, it could have quickly turned into something that I ultimately trudged through or DNF’ed. I'm not a memoir person to begin with, so this memoir did not really drive me to read more. 

1 Star - Thankfully I didn’t have any of these! 

Happy New Year and Love from NYC!
Celia