#most of my time being sick has been spent catching up on my tbr books

[haneulislearning]

2024년 2월 4일 Journal Entry

Excuse the awful pictures, I tried to make them as aesthetic as I could ㅠㅠ

There is only a little over a week until I am in Korea and studying at my host university, and I am excited but such a nervous anxious wreck at the moment.

My friend and I have been sending instragram posts back and forth of cafes and other places we want to visit, and knowing we would never scroll back through our miles of DMs, I compiled a list of them to go along with my little practice of Korean for the week.

I've been sick these past few days, and have been left with a voice-changing sore throat and cough, so it has been a little hard to get the motivation to do anything even though the time is counting down until I have to go 💀

There is still so much to do before I leave and a lot I need to plan so I'm not gonna be surprised if disappear off the face of the planet again and forget I have this blog.

While it is only one entry, I've started working on my goal of doing small journal entries in Korean more often, and it provides a little more joy if I can decorate it and make it a little more cutesy along the way lol.

There's so much more I want to say but I don't really want this to be too long of a post so I'll leave it here :)

[beyondforks]

Playing Catch Up! Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Playing Catch Up has really been helping me through my ever growing TBR list. I'd like to welcome all other blogs to participate too! If you do, be sure to post your links in the comments section. I'd love to see your Playing Catch U

p Reviews, and I'm sure others would too!! *wink*

Want to know more about Playing Catch Up? I'll tell you all about it here!

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver   Genre: Young Adult (Contemporary/Romance) Date Published: October 25, 2010 Publisher: HarperCollins

With this stunning debut novel, New York Times bestselling author Lauren Oliver emerged as one of today's foremost authors of young adult fiction. Like Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why and Gayle Forman's If I Stay, Before I Fall raises thought-provoking questions about love, death, and how one person's life can affect so many others.

For popular high school senior Samantha Kingston, February 12—"Cupid Day"—should be one big party, a day of valentines and roses and the privileges that come with being at the top of the social pyramid. And it is…until she dies in a terrible accident that night.

However, she still wakes up the next morning. In fact, Sam lives the last day of her life seven times, until she realizes that by making even the slightest changes, she may hold more power than she ever imagined.

I'm not sure how I feel about this book, but days later, I'm still thinking about it so that has to mean something, right? I've been meaning to read Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver for a very long time, and it finally took seeing the movie trailer to light a fire under my butt and get it done. It looked like a movie I'd want to see, soooo naturally, I HAD to read the book first. This book was oddly good. I say "oddly" because the characters, especially the main character, aren't people I liked at all. They were selfish, superficial, and self absorbed. I spent so much time annoyed or mad at Sam.. it was crazy. Sam is pretty dense, and it takes her a long time to learn lessons. It's like she has no idea how to be a good person anymore. Her friends are the same, so they were unlikable in every way. With that all being said, if Sam and her friends were good people, we wouldn't have a story. So, if characters like these bother you as much as they do me, just hold on. There is a point to it all or rather a few points, but I'm not going to tell you what they are. Pretty much the only redeeming character was Kent, and I absolutely hate the turn of events that happen for him, and that whole situation taints the entire book for me. In fact, I'm still on the line between love and hate for this book because of him. There's a pattern to each day Sam relives, and like a puzzle, they start to piece together more and more until you get to the ending. I loved it, and I hated it. It was beautiful, and it was ugly. The words "oddly good" come into play again, because that's just the best two words I can think of to describe this book as a whole. There was an epilogue, but it was more of a continuation of the actual ending. I really wish the epilogue would have given us a look at the future of the characters instead, and it wouldn't even have to be far in the future. A week later, a day, even an hour or so... just to see what the characters took away from everything that took place. Was it all worth it? Maybe. Maybe not. Anyway, that would have been very a nice(and I feel necessary) thing to know. And just a little personal side note. In what world is riding horses considered uncool? Does one even exist? I'm glad that's not my world. That's all I have to say about that. Anyway, back to my review. I have so many conflicting feelings about this book. I really don't know what else so say. So, I'll just end here by saying... it was oddly good.

They say that just before you die your whole life flashes before your eyes, but that's not how it happened for me. To be honest, I'd always thought the whole final-moment, mental life-scan-thing sounded pretty awful. Some things are better left buried and forgotten, as my mom would say. I'd be happy to forget all of fifth grade, for example (the glasses-and-pink-braces period), and does anybody want to relive the first day of middle school? Add in all of the boring family vacations, pointless algebra classes, period cramps and bad kisses I barely lived through the first time around... The truth is, though, I wouldn't have minded reliving my greatest hits: when Rob Cokran and I first hooked up in the middle of the dance floor at homecoming, so everyone saw and knew we were together; when Lindsay, Elody, Ally and I got drunk and tried to make snow angels in May, leaving person-sized imprints in Ally's lawn; my sweet sixteenth party, when we set out a hundred tea lights and we all danced on the table in the backyard; the time Lindsay and I pranked Clara Seuse on Halloween, got chased down by the cops, and laughed so hard we almost threw up. The things I wanted to remember; the things I wanted to be remembered for. But before I died I didn't think of Rob, or any other guy. I didn't think of all the outrageous things I'd done with my friends. I didn't even think of my family, or the way the morning light turns the walls in my bedroom the color of cream, or the way the azaleas outside of my window smell in July, a mixture of honey and cinnamon. Instead, I thought of Vicky Hallinan. Specifically, I thought of the time in 4th grade when Lindsay announced in front of the whole gym class that she wouldn't have Vicky on her dodgeball team. "She's too fat," Lindsay blurted out. "You could hit her with your eyes closed." I wasn't friends with Lindsay yet, but even then she had this way of saying things that made them hilarious, and I laughed along with everyone else while Vicky's face turned as purple as the wrinkled underside of a storm cloud. That's what I remembered in that before-death instant, when I was supposed to be having some big revelation about my past: the smell of varnish and the squeak of our sneakers on the polished floor; the tightness of my polyester shorts; the laughter echoing around the big empty space like there were way more than twenty-five people in the gym. And Vicky's face. The weird thing is that I hadn't thought about that in forever. It was one of those memories I didn't even know I remembered, if you know what I mean. It's not like Vicky was traumatized or anything. That's just the kind of thing that kids do to each other. It's no big deal. There's always going to be a person laughing and somebody getting laughed at. It happens every day, in every school, in every town in America--probably the world, for all I know. The whole point of growing up is learning to stay on the laughing side. Vicky wasn't very fat to begin with--just some baby weight on her face and stomach--and before high school she'd lost that and grown three inches. She even became friends with Lindsay. They played field hockey together and said hi in the halls. One time Vicky brought it up at a party our freshman year--we were all pretty tipsy--and we laughed and laughed, Vicky most of all, until her face turned almost as purple as it had all those years ago in the gym. That was weird thing number one. Even weirder than that was the fact that we'd all just been talking about it--how it would be just before you died, I mean. I don't remember exactly how it came up except that Elody was complaining that I always get shotgun and refusing to wear her seatbelt and kept leaning forward into the front seat to scroll through Lindsay's iPod, even though I was supposed to have deejay privileges. I was trying to explain my "greatest hits" theory of death and we were all picking out what those would be. Lindsay picked finding out that she got into Princeton, obviously, and Ally--who was complaining of the cold, as usual, and threatening to drop dead right there of pneumonia--participated long enough to say she wished she could relive her first hook-up with Matt Wilde forever, which surprised no one. Lindsay and Elody were smoking, and freezing rain was coming in through the cracked windows. The road was narrow and winding, and on either side of us the dark stripped branches of trees lashed back and forth, like the wind had set them dancing. Elody put on "With or Without You" to piss Ally off, maybe because she was sick of her whining. It was Ally's song with Matt, who had dumped her in September. Ally called her a bitch and unbuckled her seatbelt, leaning forward and trying to grab the iPod. Lindsay complained that someone was elbowing her in the neck. The cigarette dropped from her mouth and landed between her thighs. She started cursing and trying to brush the embers out from the seat cushion and Elody and Ally were still fighting and I was trying to talk over them, reminding them all of the time we'd made snow angels in May. The tires skidded a little on the wet road and the car was full of cigarette smoke, little wisps rising like phantoms in the air.Then all of a sudden there was a flash of white in front of the car. Lindsay yelled something--words I couldn't make out, something like Sit, or Shit, or Sight--and suddenly the car was flipping off of the road and into the black mouth of the woods. I heard a horrible, screeching sound--metal on metal, glass shattering, a car folding in two--and smelled fire. I had time to wonder whether Lindsay had put her cigarette out. Then Vicky Hallinan's face came rising out of the past. I heard laughter echoing and rolling all around me, swelling into a scream. Then nothing.

  Be sure to check out more books by Lauren Oliver!

Lauren Oliver comes from a family of writers and so has always (mistakenly) believed that spending hours in front of the computer every day, mulling over the difference between “chortling” and “chuckling,” is normal. She has always been an avid reader.

She attended the University of Chicago, where she continued to be as impractical as possible by majoring in philosophy and literature. After college, she attended the MFA program at NYU and worked briefly as the world’s worst editorial assistant, and only marginally better assistant editor, at a major publishing house in New York. Her major career contributions during this time were flouting the corporate dress code at every possible turn and repeatedly breaking the printer. Before I Fall is her first published novel.

She is deeply grateful for the chance to continue writing, as she has never been particularly good at anything else.

To learn more about Lauren Oliver and her books, visit her website. You can also find her on Goodreads, Twitter, and Facebook.

[haleyfury]

With the fall semester officially over, much of my December was spent reading and watching up TV. Unfortunately, I basically had a cold when I came home from school for winter break that lingered around until Christmas. It went back and forth from going away to getting worse over the course me having it, likely not being helped by my winter break job either.

In short, feeling a bit under the weather gave me more of an excuse to spend some time resting and catching up on all the books and TV shows. While I’m really content with the amount and the actual books I read, I’m also glad I spent a lot of time this month with family and best friends. I had such a great, but very busy fall semester with an already equally busy January and spring semester ahead that it’s been really nice to relax and recharge.

My December reading was primarily split between some (okay, two) fantasy conclusions and plenty of contemporary and contemporary romance.

Archenemies (Renegades #2) by Marissa Meyer | My Rating: 4/5 Stars

I’ve really enjoyed this superhero-inspired series from Marissa Meyer so far, although I feel that Archenemies suffered from middle book syndrome.

The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams | Rating: 5/5

My favorite read of the month, my love for The Bromance Book Club inspired the rest of my contemporary reading in December.

The Queen of Nothing (Folk of Air #3) | Rating: 2/5

I had such high hopes for The Queen of Nothing given my love for The Wicked King, but was unfortunately really dismayed with this trilogy conclusion.

One Day in December by Josie Silver | Rating: 5/5

The only strictly holiday read on my December TBR, I’m so glad I finally got to One Day in December because I loved it so much!

How to Build a Heart by Maria Padian (ARC) | Rating: 4.5/5

I also got a small start of my 2020 review reads with How to Build a Heart, which featured many of my favorite YA contemporary elements with its own twists.

Intercepted (Playbook #1) by Alexa Martin | Rating: 5/5

Hi my name is Haley of Fangirl Fury and sports romance is one of my new favorite genres, much in thanks to Alexa Martin’s Playbook series.

Meg & Jo by Virginia Kantra | Rating: 4/5

Contemporary was the name of my reading game this month, and with the new adaptation out, I had to have some Little Women reimagined reads.

Little White Lies (Debutantes #1) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes | Rating: 4/5

Little White Lies had been on my TBR for what feels like forever, so I’m happy I finally got to it and enjoyed it this month.

Deadly Little Scandals (Debutantes #2) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes | Rating: 4.5/5

While I enjoyed Little White Lies, I absolutely adored Deadly Little Scandals. I think it had something to do with already being so familiar with the characters and the ending of book #1, but I love how the plot and twists began right from the get-go.

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel S3 (Amazon Prime)- The third season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel was my most anticipated show of the year, which made it even harder to have to wait until December! While I didn’t love it as much as season two (my favorite season), it still absolutely delivered and I really enjoyed each episode. I have no idea how season 4 will go, but I’m hoping we don’t have to wait over a year to find out.

Merry Happy Whatever S1 (Netflix)- I always try to watch holiday-inspired shows and movies in December, which led me to Merry Happy Whatever. This show was the right kind of cheesy for me. I felt like I re-entered my Disney Channel days, since the show stars Bridgit Mendler and Ashley Tisdale. I hope there is a second season next year!

Sugar Rush Christmas (Netflix)- Sugar Rush is my favorite baking show, so I was more than excited for its holiday edition. This is one of my favorite shows to relax to and watch with my sisters.

Glow Up S1 (Netflix)- The weekend I felt the worst was spent reading in bed and alternating between three different Netflix shows. One of those was Glow Up, a U.K.- based reality makeup competition. This was a really fun binge-watch and another show I would love to have a second season.

High School Musical the Musical series (Disney+)- Unfortunately, one of my sisters was also a bit under the weather this month. Fortunately though, we spent a day home together catching up on High School Musical the Musical (say that three times fast) series. As someone who grew up with the HSM movies and really had no expectations going in, this show has been such a pleasant surprise. It reminds me of a more PG and cheesy version of Glee.

Virgin River S1 (Netflix)- My sick weekend was also spent watching Virgin River, the romantic drama series based on Robyn Carr’s book series.

Star Wars: A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi (Disney+)- With Disney+, my mom has decided that it is our mission to watch all of the Star Wars movies. I am here to admit that prior to our family watch, I hadn’t seen any Star Wars movies in full. As someone who isn’t the biggest sci-fi fan, I’ve actually enjoyed them way more than expected! I’m not sure I’ll be able to watch the first 8 movies in time to see The Rise of Skywalker in theaters, but I’m hoping so! I also might look into picking up some Star Wars canon books as well.

Burlesque (Netflix)- I was flipping through Netflix one night and had hovered over Burlesque, which ended up starting the movie which then led me to watching the entire movie right then and there. As someone who really enjoys musical movies, I’m surprised I hadn’t watched this one before because I really enjoyed it!

Living With Yourself S1 (Netflix)- While waiting for my family to sit down and watch Empire Strikes Back on Christmas Day, my sister and I randomly put on Living With Yourself and ended watching the first three episodes right then and there.We finished it three days later! I liked it way more than I thought I would and am definitely interested in a second season.

2019 Wrap Ups

ARE THERE MORE THAN 19?: 19 Favorite 2019 Reads

Anticipated 2020 Releases: The Contemporary Edition

Anticipated 2020 Releases: The Non-Contemporary Edition

End of Year Book Survey 2019

If We Were Having Coffee: The Fall Semester Edition

ALMOST EVERYTHING I WATCHED: Favorite TV Shows 2019

Favorite Bookstagrams 2019

2019 Series TBR Results

Reviews & Other Bookish Fun 

ROMANCE  & CONTEMPORARY LOVE: Fall Mini Reviews

ROMANCE READS & A HYPED FANTASY ENDING: December 2019 Mini Reviews

WINTER BLUES CHEER: Anticipated Winter 2020 Releases

HOLIDAY READING RECS: Holiday Books I’ve Read

Holiday Baking Recipe: Inspired by Christmas at the Cupcake Café

Aside from watching what basically feels like everything on every streaming platform, I didn’t do anything too bookish or fangirlish IRL this month. Here’s some bookish & fangirl news that has me really excited though:

The trailer for P.S. I Still Love You dropped!!- We now have the full trailer for my most anticipated film of the year, P.S. I Still Love You. Based on how much I loved the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before adaptation, I couldn’t be more than excited for this movie. Since the first movie delved into book #1, I’m interested to see where the movie picks up book #2 and how similar the story stays. P.S. I Still Love You comes out on Netflix on Feburary 12. The trailer made me realize that its release date is on Wednesday. Since it’s right in the middle of school week, I might make myself avoid Twitter for a few days and come home from school for the weekend and watch it on home vs. my laptop in my dorm room.

The full trailer drop for Schitt’s Creek S6- Schitt’s Creek stole my heart in 2019, and so did the full trailer for its final season. On the one hand, I’m so sad for this show to come to an end, but on the other, I think this season will be such a fantastic conclusion. The final season premieres on Pop TV on January 7.

There’s a premiere date for the Little Fires Everywhere adaptation- The television adapation of Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere will premiere on Hulu on March 18. Since Little Fires Everywhere is one of my all-time favorite reads, this means that I have until then to get Hulu – or once again borrow my best friend’s password.

Thank you so much for supporting Fangirl Fury in 2019. I hope you have a relaxing & joyful holiday season and a happy & healthy New Year. Here’s to reading ALL the amazing books in 2020!

What did you read and watch in December? Have you read or watched anything that I mentioned? Share in the comments 

  WINTER BREAK READS & TV WATCHES: December 2019 Wrap Up With the fall semester officially over, much of my December was spent reading and watching up TV.