aerialovely

  • ← back to tiffany julia
  • the lovely shop
    • Cut Files & Templates
    • Printables
      • Cards & Ephemera
      • Full Journaling Kits
      • Journaling Printables
      • Papers
      • Stickers
    • Ebooks + Zines
    • Music
  • courses
    • view all courses
    • free classes
  • journal archive
  • Login
0
✩ life

25 books in 2015 update

August 7, 2015

If you remember, at the start of the year I set an intention to read at least 25 books in 2015. Well, I’ve been trying my hardest to accomplish this. Last year, I didn’t really read as many books as I had hoped (though I did read more than I thought I did), so for this year, one of my goals is to “read read read.” I’ve been so busy these past two years working and investing my time in other projects that I haven’t been making time to read. Even when I have downtime, I always fill those gaps in my day with television or movies. So this year, I’ve at least been a bit more conscious when it comes to making time for reading, and even though I’m a bit behind in my goal, I’ve been making progress at least! So, I just want to recap what I’ve read so far with a few mini reviews on the eleven books that I’ve finished.

Dreamland by Sarah Dessen and Life by Committee by Corey Ann Haydu are two that I read and have written about already on this blog. I’m not going to include them in this batch of mini reviews, so check out their individual posts for my reviews of them both!

The Things You Kiss Goodbye by Leslie Connor (2014)
ISBN: 9780060890919

I really wanted to like this one. But the relationships in this book are damaging and unlike Dreamland, I didn’t much like the main character to care that much. I basically read it because I had started it and wanted to finish it. You just can’t “kiss” certain things goodbye, and I think that was the point of it at the end, the lesson that the main character learns…at least I hope it was. I wasn’t all too invested in this one.

You Are Here by Jennifer E. Smith (2012)
ISBN: 9781442434394

This is one of Jennifer E. Smith’s earlier books and while I haven’t exactly gotten around to reading her more famous stories about love, this one was great. I’m a sucker for road trip stories and this one was just up my alley. I’ve been putting off reading this book for a while, because I’m not too fond of the dual perspective 3rd person narrative, but it worked for this book. It’s all about figuring out who you are and where you fit in, in the world, in your family, etc. Great read.

The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen (2013)
ISBN: 9780141348292

Not my favorite Sarah Dessen novel, but this one was okay. Probably one of the few that I really don’t like the love interest, which was interesting and different. Dessen’s books are never boring and while this one isn’t as exciting as a few of her other books, it was a decent read. The whole point of this one is that there’s a great big world outside of small towns and no matter your circumstances you can always achieve “the moon and more.” I promise that’s the last cliched line I’ll write in this post!

Falling Into Place by Amy Zhang (2014)
ISBN: 9780062367884

This one was great. I believe Amy Zhang was only seventeen when she wrote this, but that’s not what’s so great about it. Falling Into Place was so brutally honest that it made me wonder if teenagers now are these vile, soulless, albeit stupid creatures made out in this book. This book deals with the main character’s suicide, how and why it happened and how it affects the lives around her. It’s written in 3rd person, following the lives of several characters. Be warned, the structure isn’t quite linear. It sort of jumps around a bit, but each chapter is so short that it’s easy to keep up with the timeline of events. Definitely worth a read. Excellent debut novel!

We Should Hang Out Sometime by Josh Sundquist (2016)
ISBN: 9780316251006

I absolutely loved this book! It’s an autobiography of sorts. Reminded me A LOT of Teen Angst…Nah by Ned Vizzini, which was beautiful. Enjoyable read. The story is sort of like High Fidelity, expect John reminisces on all the girlfriends that never actually became girlfriends and explores the possible reasons why those relationships never came to fruition. This book comes out in January 2016 and is available for Pre-order.

Angel Killer by Andrew Mayne (2014)
ISBN: 9780062348876

Love love love this book by Andrew Maybe! Seriously, if you enjoy mystery and magic and crime thrillers, this is the book for you! It’s like the movie Now You See Me, because the criminal is a serial killer illusionist and the cop after him is a certified born and bred magician. This book plays out like a legit movie in your head. It’s so great. The sequel is called Name of the Devil and it just came out in July 2015!

Burn For Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian (2013)
ISBN: 9781471116889

I didn’t really intend to read this, let alone own it, but I got it at BEA in 2013 and it was sitting on my shelf for awhile before I actually decided to give it a go. I wish I had known that it was the first book in a series before I began reading it, or else I probably wouldn’t have read it! It’s basically a revenge book. Three girls–not friends, mind you–come together to destroy three different people’s lives in ways that only make sense in the teen world. It was a fun read, I’m not going to lie, but now I have to get the sequel, Fire With Fire, just to find out what happens next!

Me and Earl and The Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews (2012)
ISBN: 9781419719608

One of the greatest cancer stories I have ever read in teen fiction. Seriously, this book was downright hilarious! Not that it wasn’t serious, as all cancer stories are, but man was this book funny. What a great portrayal of a couple of friends trying to deal with their friend’s cancer. It’s so honest and blunt and it doesn’t glorify cancer or make it seem that the patient’s life is significant in any way like other cancer stories do. This isn’t a romance novel. It’s more of a coming to terms with how shitty the world is sometimes to good people, and how people are horrible to each other, and embracing the fact that sometimes you need friends to help you through life, even if you don’t believe in friendships. Just a great read!

trulymadlyfamously

Truly, Madly, Famously by Rebecca Serle (2015)
ISBN: 9781447250371

This lovely BEA teen book read that I’m seriously hooked to is the sequel to Famous In Love. I just had to read it when I got it from BEA this year, so while it wasn’t on my original 25 Books in 2015 list either, I’m still including it. This series is about a girl who gets the lead role in a Twilight-esque movie franchise and has to learn the ropes of being famous while in love with both of her costars. It basically reads as the real life romance of Bella, Edward and Jacob, just without all the vampire/werewolf stuff. There’s nothing remotely remarkable about this book series expect for the fact that it’s seriously addicting. This book, the sequel, comes out November 2015 and is available for Pre-Order.

TAGS:booklove

Leave a Comment Cancel Comment

Previous Post
geoscrapping: documenting your travels on the go online class
Next Post
some thoughts on my new york city
tiffany julia
Get To Know Me

Get To Know Me

Hi! I'm Tiffany, an art deviant living in New York City. Welcome to my site of life, crafts and love.

Current Location

Current Location

new york, ny

Currently Reading

The Missing Element: Inspiring Compassion for the Human Condition

Debra Silverman

.
55%

We Hope This Reaches You in Time

R.H. Sin

.
22%

Writing Down Your Soul: How to Activate and Listen to the Extraordinary Voice Within

Janet Conner

.
42%

Life

Journaling

Memory Keeping

Unraveling

Wanderlust

site information

Please do not take anything from this site. All content is © Tiffany Julia at aerialovely.com, unless otherwise stated. Please read my site policies for more information.

buy me a sweet treat

Follow on Feedly

View
Open
Started on this piece last night while catching up on a whole backlog of videos from @februaryandjune (my Watch Later list is LONG). Been wanting to dive deep into slow stitching for a while now and my gosh it's such a meditative practice! I've always added random stitching to my snippet journal covers, but never like this. I just went with the flow and did whatever felt right. This piece will probably turn into a journal cover, but for right now, it's just a piece of layered fabric that I'm stitching to my heart's content! So far there's no machine stitching on here and hopefully, it stays that way. I am going to add some beads to it though. Already have a few laid out and waiting to be threaded. Felt very drawn to the blue/green/teal scheme for this one, but I've got some gorgeous pink/coral/beige linens that are calling to be made into a similar piece. I'm thinking I might do a series of them...IDK! That would keep me occupied for a while. Hopefully, by then I'll be all caught up on watching Youtube videos! xx
View
Open
Gathering some pretty things to start on something new:

✩ Antique linens
✩ Fabric ribbons
✩ Embroidery floss
✩ Morganite chips
✩ Aqua glass beads
*need to find some pretty papers to match

I have an idea but haven't figured out how to begin, which means that I just need to do it and start from where I am.

I hope you all had a great holiday weekend. xx
View
Open
I'm quite behind in sharing my journal pages, but here are my March pages in my #unravelingjournal. 

March was all about learning about myself. I like doing this every year to take stock of who I am. I usually review my personality types—Myers-Briggs, Enneagram, Love Languages, my birth chart, etc—and journal my thoughts and revelations. I'm always amazed at all the new insights I gather when I do this—I call them epiphames. Because we know all of this about ourselves already, but depending on where we are in our personal journey, studying ourselves over again always brings with it new insights and ah-ha moments we hadn't recognized before.

I've been really interested in Astrology lately, so for this month, I reflected on my birth chart again. I recently learned about two things—The Four Elements and our North and South Nodes—how you can find out your own from reading your birth chart and what they mean.

I share what I've learned about myself over on my blog, but in a nutshell, I have to be more like Water. I have to learn the practice of stillness and the art of letting go.

I have to learn how to flow. xx
View
Open
Books 4/20: Yesterday I was The Moon by Noor Unnahar
Rating: ✩✩✩

I've been collecting a lot of poetry books lately. A few weekends ago, I purchased four collections from Strand and one of those books was Noor Unnahar's Yesterday I Was The Moon. I've been wanting to read her work for a very long time now, so I was happy to have found a copy at Strand. IDK, I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. But it was still a nice read and I love the tile poem very much. xx
View
Open
Stillness—the act of intentionally pausing; of being mindful and present.

I feel like we're all one of three people: one focused on the future, stuck in the past, or living each day in the present. I don't think either is good or bad but the latter is definitely ideal. I feel those who are constantly living for the future forget the good they have now, and those living in the past can't recognize the good right in front of them. The balance between the two is living in the present. Being mindful of all you have and being grateful for it.

I struggle a lot with "living in the moment." I wouldn't be surprised if we all do. Life comes at us fast. There's always something that we need to do, see, or take care of. It's difficult dealing with what's going on in your life plus what's going on in the world. Sometimes we don't have time to slow down and pause. And honestly, I don't think we'll ever have enough time. That's where the intention comes in and when mindfulness comes to play. Like Ferris said, "If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

I've enjoyed exploring stillness, this intentional pause to take note of the things presently around me. I find it so hard to do living in a busy city like New York. There are just too many distractions and too much noise. Everything is always "go, go, go" and it feels odd to just stop. I personally struggle with being stuck in my past, something I work hard at being mindful of. My mind can sometimes spiral down that hurt hole and get stuck on what someone did to me or what awful luck I've had—things from my past that I never had any control over in the first place. I try to be mindful of this and I've noticed that practicing gratitude for what I have now helps pull me out of that spiral. 

I've learned that I need to take more time out of my day to pause. It's almost like when you're packing your bag for a huge trip. You're on automatic as you're packing but you always need to pause and take stock of what's on your list. I think we should all pause and take stock of the greatness in our lives right at this moment. It's far better than what we've lost or what we don't have yet because it's here. xx
View
Open
Oh hey, it's #thursday3 and I've got a new portrait of myself that I haven't shared yet...

✩ I took out my paints the other day because I had a whole basket of acrylic gouache that needed to be added to my swatch book. I sat down and swatched them, then purposely left them all out because I will only use things if they are out in the open on my desk. I gessoed a page in my current journal too AND since I had all of that prepped, last night I actually got messy in my journal! Worked on the Expand prompt from Messy May. Honestly, it felt very good to create an art journal page again!

✩ I've been looking for places to escape to this summer. I really just need to get out of the city and since I work remotely, I definitely could take advantage of traveling and working from wherever I am. Been looking at places in New England because it's easily accessible by train. Not looking to drive long distances (if at all really, which also sucks because this country is just built like that). But IDK, it's probably not just me, but everything has gotten so ridiculously expensive and it seems like everywhere I look the crime rate has gone up (and what I mean by this is gun violence), and society, in general, has gotten more mean-spirited, and it all just makes me want to just stay home and never go anywhere ever again and save up my money so that hopefully one day I could buy myself a small home in the middle of the forest and live peacefully amongst nature. I want to say that my brain is exaggerating about how bad it's gotten out there, but also...no.

✩ I've been very deep into my personal self-care/spiritual practice lately. Working through @lizelayne's Water Your Soul course has been a delightful pause in my day. I'm reading @debrasilverman_astrology's The Missing Element, which is very enlightening, and I've been listening to the audio lectures of @alanwattsorg. LOTS of journaling happening in this corner. I sometimes wish I had more time in my day to do more of this. But lately, I've been having to find little pockets of time to read, work on a lesson, or listen to a lecture while I work. But it's been good.

Anyway, I hope everyone is well. Happy May the 4th!  xx
  • privacy
  • terms
  • about
  • contact
  • treat me

© 2022 aerialovely is loved and cared for by Tiffany Julia