Life Updates, TV Binges, and Winter Break Reading!

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Hello hello! It’s been a while, hasn’t it? While I did have posts going up semi-frequently throughout the months of September and October, I hit a bit of a dry spell when I reached November. That was when my pre-planned posts ran out, school got crazy busy, and I fell almost completely off the face of the earth, haha!

BUT, I had an incredible semester, and as always I’m happy to be home on break and relax! So, here’s an attempt at filling you in on my life in the past three months, and a peek at what’s to come!

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Life Updates

This was my first semester as a Graphic Design major (freshman year was spent in foundations), and I had a blast! I was finally able to do more work that I really loved, and I think it showed. I got a lot of different exposure to all kinds of design. I can proudly say that I’ve designed two full books, and I going to be working on hand binding one myself during this break!

My parents visited in October for our Parent’s Weekend, and we traveled to Newport, RI for the first time. This was also the first time I’ve been to the ocean and beach in like, 10 or 12 years?! I had the time of my life! It’s such a beautiful New England town.

Welcome to the new Books & Cleverness!

It’s been a while, but it’s still Emily, the same cat-crazy, coffee-loving, book-nerd that was here before. I hope you like the minimalist look for the new site. I find it quite clean and refreshing!

2017 Resolutions, Wintersession, and New Ideas

Hi everyone! Last time I posted I was back at home, still on break, cuddling with my cat, and it was still 2016. Now, I’m back at school, just started Wintersession, and it’s 2017.

The first thing I want to talk about is my 2017 reading and blogging resolutions! I mentioned in my first post back after 6 months that I let a lot of release dates slip by me – books unread, reviews unwritten. Well, my friends, my goal for 2017 is to not let that happen again. Before I read anything else, I’m going to move through my pile of ARCs until they’re all read. I also plan to purchase the few eARCs that I’d requested and then let expire so that I can keep my promise to review them for the publishers. Since coming to college my incoming book flow has definitely slowed way down, which I think is actually a good thing. If you asked me if I could name some upcoming releases I’m excited about, I wouldn’t be able to tell you more than a couple. That’s how out of the loop I’ve been. So, considering I’m in college for another 5 months or so, the same will be true for my near future, allowing me to read what I’ve already got.

Second, you’re probably thinking, “Hey, Emily? I though college life is so busy that you don’t have time for anything but work?” Regular semesters: YES. Wintersession: NO. It’s my first Wintersession at RISD so I wasn’t sure what exactly to expect, but I can tell you after a week, it’s about a quarter of the rigor a regular semester. We only have to take one studio class, and can choose to take a liberal (I was going to take Fiction into Film, but it was later canceled, so no liberal for me). Wintersession is the time when RISD encourages freshmen to test out their future major, so I’m taking a Web Design class in the Graphic Design department! I’m so excited about what I’ll learn for so many reasons. One of them is that I’ll finally be able to design and code the blog layout of my dreams for Books & Cleverness!

So now that you know I’ve got some free time, you can expect some posts from me here in the next 5 weeks! I actually just started and finished a book yesterday! I’m planning on writing “review digest” posts, where I feature a few books that I’ve read recently and share my thoughts. I’ve been finding it extremely hard to write full-length reviews for books lately.

That’s about it! I’m so happy that I’m getting the chance to return to the book blogging world again for a short while. While I can truthfully say that I didn’t really miss it while I was engulfed in first-semester work, I can say that now that I’m back reading again I feel like my old self.

Talk to you very very soon!

Hey, remember me?!

This honestly feels so strange sitting down and writing a blog post after about 6 months. So much has happened and changed in my life since I wrote my last post about my high school graduation. I’ve barely picked up a book to read for pleasure, and blogging hasn’t even entered my mind until this past week. So, what’s been happening?

Well, this past summer was crazy and went by way too fast. Dorm shopping and preparing for college consumed all of my time.

September came around and I moved to RISD to start my freshman year of college. It has been the best experience of my life. I’ve proven to myself that I can do anything, after having doubts about moving 6 hours away from home and dealing with migraines. I’ve been feeling healthier and happier than ever before. I get to do what I love every day and be surrounded by others who are incredible and feel the same way I do. I’ve made so many amazing friends. RISD is an extraordinary place, and I’m so glad that I’ve made it my home for the next 4 years.

But, with all of that comes an extremely rigorous workload. I have no time for anything but working, eating, and sleeping. Hence, radio silence here on the blog.

I’m home for about 2 weeks for Christmas break and decided that I would try and make up for lost time on my reading, and check in with you guys. I let a lot of ARC pub dates pass me by which I’m pretty bummed about. I feel awful not fulfilling my promises to the publishers. I’m still getting lots of books in the mail as well, which makes for nice surprise texts from my mom letting me know I’ve gotten a package at home!

This week I want to read a few books, so we’ll see what I decide to go for. As of right now, I’m almost done reading the Fantastic Beasts screenplay. I saw the movie and loved it, and am now reading the screenplay before I go see it again!

I’m so out of the loop in the book and blogging world. What’s been going on? Any releases I should check out — upcoming or recent? Let me know!

I don’t know if I’ll be posting any more until I’m done in May, but I hope that I will!

But until next time,

I disappeared for a while there, didn’t I?

HI PEOPLE! I can’t tell you how great it feels to be typing a blog post right now. I took a hiatus without really meaning to for almost a month. I told myself I would be reading and posting, but the reality was I haven’t read a book for pleasure since I wrote that last review. It was crunch time for APs, including AP Art, which was a whirlwind. I will honestly admit that I didn’t really feel like reading anything either. Instead, I binge-watched all six seasons of Gossip Girl. You know, productive.

But now I can officially say that I’m finished with APs FOREVER, and am basically just doing busywork for the rest of my classes until graduation! AH! What that means for us: I HAVE TIME TO READ AGAIN!! I’m out of what I’m calling my life-slump, and back into reading, which of course means, blogging, too.

I started reading The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi yesterday, and will have a review and Q&A with the author as a part of the blog tour on Friday. I’m soooo excited because I’m really loving this book! I’ll also be catching up on other review copies I’ve sadly neglected.

I’ve gotten a ton of books in the month I’ve been gone. Most of them were eARCs that I just recently got approved for that I requested a looooong time ago. Others were physical ARCs that were unsolicited. And a few were book-retail-therapy during exam week. I’ll definitely be posting a haul very soon, but first…

This Saturday I will be at the Rochester Teen Book Festival again, and am planning on buying lots of books. I’ll be holding off on that book haul until after that. I’m really looking forward to it as I’m going with my friend, and there are tons of amazing authors going to be there (I’ll recap, don’t worry). Also, I’m currently planning to meet up with fellow book blogger Jamie @ Books and Ladders, which I’m super excited about!

So, life is good. I’m at the homestretch for school, and I’m ready for some relaxation and reading in the summer sun! You will definitely be hearing more from me very soon! Thanks to everyone for sticking with me through it all, and HELLOOOO! to all my new followers!