Playlist Book Tag | Pray For the Wicked Edition📚🎧🎶

Hello my beautiful BookNerds!!

So I have been meaning to post this like ALL summer, but just got so caught up with school and work, that I hadn’t had time, but today is the day!!

So I saw this video on Youtube a few months ago, where Hannah from A Clockwork Reader, paired books with the songs from Panic! at the Disco’s latest album, “Pray For The Wicked.” After listening to the album, I was in LOVE!! It has been on repeat all summer, and so I decide to do the tag too! Here is the original video, if you guys would like to check it out. I love her choices, but my goal was to pick completely different books, although her choice for Twilight to be paired for “The Overpass” is perfection. So, the way this is how it works: I listen to the song, and based on the lyrics, or vibe of the song,I will pick a book that goes with it. Seems easy enough! I will briefly explain my selections below. Here we go!!

1. “Silver Lining”- Squirrel Girl Meets the World by Shannon Hale. Squirrel Girl’s unbeatable optimism and spunk, makes her outlook on life so upbeat, just like this song. Why settle for silver when you can have gold?

2. ” Say Amen (Saturday Night)”- The Outsiders by SE Hinton. This is perfect! All Ponyboy did was pray for Saturday night, in order to hang with the fellas and the greasers were unapologetic about who they were and what they did.

3.”Hey Look Ma, I Made It”- Patina by Jason Reynolds. Patina runs track because her mother can’t. Her mother is in a wheelchair due to being an amputee as a result of progressed diabetes. The whole book Patina is trying to make her mother proud.

4.”High Hopes”- Beauty Queens by Libba Bray. This is one of my all time favorite books! “High Hopes” fits as the center of the book is on Miss Teen Dream beauty pageant contestants, as they a re stranded on a deserted island. Who has higher hopes for survival, all while staying pretty than Miss Teen Dream contestants? No one!

5. “Roaring 20s”- Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger. I chose this book, based on this lyrics “Everyone here is a trophy/ And I’m sipping bourbon/ The future’s uncertain.” This fits Holden Caulfield to a tee. Everyone is a phony.

6.” Dancing’s Not A Crime”- Drama byRaina Telegemeir. This middle grade graphic novel has middle school drama, while literally talking about drama (club). There is a school dance scene in the book that is a huge plot twist/ turning point for the novel.

7.”One of the Drunks”- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.These lyrics ” Searching for a new high, as high as the sun, uncomfortably numb” to me, summarize how Guy Montag feels once he starts stealing and hiding books, especially after the woman who decided to burn with her books, than leave without them. These feelings grow stronger, the further the novel goes.

8. ” The Overpass”- Raven Boys by Maggie Steifvater, “Sketchy girls and lipstick boys. Need I say more? Lol. I just feel like this fits so well!

9.” King of the Clouds”- A Darker Shade of Magic by VE Schwab. I feel like this is KL’s song. He trusts no one, (until Delilah), he gets bored where he is out and goes out to the different Londons to escape. It’s a song of restlessness, that definitely resonates with KL.

10.”Old Fashioned”- Girl On A Train by Paula Hawkins. This is actually my favorite song, even though this was was just okay to me. Haha. My favorite line is when the beat changes and Brendon Urie says “Get boozy, boozy, boozy.” I don’t even drink! Lol. This line made me think of this book, as the main character, Rachel, is a lush. Actually she’s definitely is an alcoholic, as it does affect her daily activities and way and quality of life. Any who, that line goes along with Rachel’s Gin and Tonic breakfasts.

11.Dying in LA- Caraval by Stephanie Garber . This song embodies the mystery, Magic and false reality that Caraval is, The lure and the appeal of the mysterious and glamorous island isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. The paradise quickly turns as Scarlett finds that this game to save her sister, Donatella is more deadly, devious and demented that she ever thought.

So that’s my long ass word vomit on which books I would pick. What do you think? Do you agree with my picks? Do you have even better suggestions than the ones I chose? Let me know! Also, this was way more fun than I thought it would be, so let me know of any other albums I should try and make book pairings for. Thanks for reading and as always: “Get up, go out into the world, and do awesome shit.”

– Hollie 😊

P.S. I am also switching up the format a little (again 🙄). Let me know what you think! Should I keep ending it like this or go bad to the “dorkily and [insert post related adverb here] yours”? Any and all suggestions re welcome.

P.P. S Please forgive my horrible pic. I swear it was clear in editing mode, before I posted it! 😬😅🙃

Double Standard🤔📚

They make a good point. Why is it like that?!

Anti-Social Bookworm

Need I say more? Lol.

📓May Bujo Recap📓

Hello my Beautiful BookNerds,

So, this isn’t really book related, but I thought I’d share anyways. I’m a beginner bullet journaler and any ideas would be greatly appreciated! So, here is my May recap! This month’s theme was underrated 90s cartoons, so I included Daria, The Weekenders, Jimmy Neutron, As Tomd by Ginger, Recess and Codename Kids Nextdoor. Sorry for the dark photos, I’m also a very amateur photographer. Haha. I am also trying out different weekly spreads to see which fits best for me. Also, forgive me my mistakes! Lol. If you have any questions, let me know! Also, what is one of your favorite underrated cartoons? OH! And my theme for June will be Disney Channel Original Movies!! So, let me know your favorites!! I’ll try to include close them!

Bullet Journaling and Dorkily Yours,

Hollie 😊

🙃Mood Reading📚

Hello my Beautiful BookNerds!!

So, I have been in a weird mood lately and my library book haul reflects it. Lol. I have a comic book, a graphic novel, YA, middle grade, fantasy and a murder mystery! Here’s hoping that one of these will get me out of my funk! Do you mood read or do you stick to a set TBR? Also, have you read any of these? I know I’m late to the Grisha-verse, but the important thing is that I’m getting there, right? Lol. Let me know!!

Deeply Funkified and Dorkily Yours,

Hollie 🙃

❄️Winter BiAnnual Bibliothon!📚

Hello My Beautiful Book Nerds!

So this year, I am going to be taking part in the Winter BiAnnual Bibliothon hosted by a slew of super cool BookTubers! I have always wanted try one of these, and I FINALLY the stars have aligned and I have the time in my schedule to do one! If you are interested, follow their Twitter account @BBibliothon or their YouTube Channel, here, to get all the details and join in on the conversation and fun! They will have different video, instagram and blogging challenges and giveaways along side the reading challenge, which seems so cool and I can’t wait to participate! As of now, they have Days 1-4 for the blogging challenges, so you can plan ahead. I will try to do most of the blogging challenges, as well as the reading one, but we will see. Y’all know I’m a slow reader, so to do 7 books in 6 days is quite a challenge for me, but I’m gonna give it the ole college try! Lol. I do plan on blogging about the experience, in general, and giving my thoughts, struggles, triumphs, and takeaways from this whole thing, so stay tuned for that. So here is the reading challenge and the books that I’ve chosen and we will see how this goes! 😬🤞🏾

READING CHALLENGES:

1. Read the group book: OTHERWORLD by Jason Segel & Kirsten Miller

2. Read a sequel

3. Read a book you’ve never heard of before

4. Read a book about mental illness

5. Read a book that was mentioned in another book/movie/show etc.

6. Read a book under 200 pages

7. Read a backlist title

So, that’s the Reading Challenge and here are my picks:

1.) Obviously 🙄, I’m going to try and read the book OtherWorld by Jason Siegel and Kristin Miller

2.) Our Dark Duet– Victoria Schwab- sequels to This Savage Song. This is part of the “Monsters of Verity” duo-logy and the first one was sooo good, I can’t wait to dive into it’s sequel!

3.) Nyxia– Scott Reintgen- I got this in one of my LitJoy Crate bookish subscription box, and I still haven’t read it and I cant even try to fake a synopsis for you, because I honestly don’t know. ANYTHING about it, other than a pretty cover. Lol.

4.) Four Weeks, Five People by Jennifer Yu- I got this recommendation off of EmmaBooks’ YouTube Channel, when she was going over her TBR for the challenge and thought it sounded neat.

5.) 1984– George Orwell- I oddly, have never read this book. This book was mentioned/referenced in one of my FAVORITE cartoons, and probably just tv shows ever, Daria! If you love that show as much as I do, or are curious about other books she read or referenced, there’s an article titled “Daria Morgendorffer’s Reading List,” please, enjoy!!😊

6.) You Are Here– Jenny Lawson. I read one of her other books last year and loved her, this is like 142 pages, so I’m in!! I have no idea who she is or like what she does in life as far as is she’s a comedian or actress or something, but she is hilarious. I guess I could google her, but nah, I’m good. Lol.

7.) Astrophysics for People in a Hurry– Neil DeGrasse Tyson. I have the hugest nerd crush/nerd boner for Neil DeGrasse Tyson, and he released this gem of a book last year, and somehow I have yet to read it, so now’s the chance!!

***It is important to note that the challenge states that you can double up on books, meaning you can use 1 book for 2 challenges. I may take advantage of this, if time runs out. If I do double up, I will use You Are Here for my under 200 pages, as well as mental illness book, as Jenny Lawson candidly talks about her multitude of diagnosed mental illnesses from depression to OCD to avoidant personality disorder and the list goes on. Also, I might use 1984 as both my back list book, as well as the book mentioned in a tv show, book or movie. That, however is my plan B, but I am hoping not to need to use it. 🤞🏾

So, that’s all that I have for now! Wish me luck and let me know if you are going to be doing the challenges too!!

Dorkily and Ready to Smash This Challenge, yet Anxious and Breathing Heavily Yours,

Hollie😊😬😅😥🤞🏾

My Bookshelf Dilemma 📚

Hello My Beautiful look Nerds!

So, I saw this online, and I feel like this is kinda like my bookshelf. Like, I don’t have the “pretend to have read” section, but it is “read” and “not read” and a huge disproportionate of not read on my shelves. How do you guys read all the books on your shelves? Do you make it a goal or add it to your reading challenges? I’ve seen like a book jar, does the work? Or do you have self control and you don’t buy books until you’ve finished the first one and have read all the books you own? Let me know!

Dorkily and Feeling Bookishly overwhelmed,

Hollie ☺️😥

Hello My Beautiful Book Nerds!!

So, just a quick announcement: I have a twitter account now! Feel free to tweet me and help me figure out what I’m doing over there! I’m @DorkieHollReads. Also, please leave your twitter handle in the comments, so I can follow you, too! That’s all for now!

Dorkily and Tweetingly Yours,

Hollie ☺️

👋🏾Bye Felicia: The Tale of How I Got Rid of Books 📚😢

Hello My Beautiful Book Nerds!

Today, I am going to talk about my latest book unhaul. For those of you who don’t know what that is, it’s when you get rid of books. It’s the opposite of a book haul, so they added the negative prefix “un” and yeah, you get the point. Anyways, so last year I read Marie Kondo’s The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up and no lies were told with that title. I learned so much and have adapted so many new habits for it. I am naturally disorganized, I like to say that I have organized chaos, but let’s be real, it’s just chaos and I am a hot mess, and need help. Lol. Part of the KonMari method is to take everything off the shelf and then go one by one and feel the item, and ask yourself if it brings you joy. While this was effective for me to let go of clothes, I always feel joy when holding a book, so it was ineffective in this realm. I then watched a video by Samantha from ThoughtsOnTomes, and she has a book specific guided lesson on getting rid of books, because, who wants to let go of their children, amIrite? The link to her super helpful video is here. So, I was truly honest with myself and was able to part with the 37 books! You may notice that a lot after cookbooks and Charlaine Harris and there is a reason for that. Both genre/ series of books were part of a phase of my life that I am over and not going to return to. Almost a decade ago, I was set on going to culinary school, and trying to absorb multiple techniques, cuisines, etc. I bought every cookbook I laid eyes on. Eventually, I ended up finding a different major that I love and have since gotten a degree in. While I still love cooking, I don’t need nor will I or have I used the cookbooks that I am giving up. Same goes for Charlaine Harris. Over a decade ago, I was OBSESSED with the show True Blood. I stopped watching after like season 5 (?) whichever was the season where we find out that Sookie was a fairy (What is the spoiler statute of limitation?). Anyways, I was so pissed that I stopped watching, not caring to see what happened after that to what storyline they gave Crystal, who was the first Were-Panther I had ever seen. (Like really, I waited like 5 years to find out that Sookie is freaking Tinker Bell?! WTF?!) I then vowed to read the books to see if they explain this tomfoolery that I was watching. I bought a book and realized it was number 6, then I realized there are like 30 in the series and she’s still writing! I’ve tried to grab some here and there, but honestly, I’m never going to read them all. I’ve had the first book for over 5 years now and have yet to crack it open, so chances are, it’s not gonna happen.

I’d like to say that I was Uber mature and was able to quickly identify and part with these books, with an heir of nonchalance, but y’all know me better than that. It took me like 2 days, cuz I wanted to sleep on some of my decisions and even still, I have some books that I am on the fence about now, that I probably should have gotten rid of, but didn’t. I watched the aforementioned video like 3 times and asked myself all the questions and went through all the processes and it was still so hard. One thing that got me through it was : sleeping on it, taking my time and the idea that I would be making room for new books. Also, after I got rid of them, I felt a little bit freer as I didn’t have that guilt of seeing that unread book everyday, and having it mentally slide further and further down my TBR list as new books come out. I’m not the only one who feels their books are silently judging them, am I?

Have you done a book unhaul or unload or whatever you want to call it? How did you do it? What was your motivation? How many books did you get rid of? Let me know! I want someone to share in the struggle, trauma, and cleansing of this experience with me. Haha.

Dorkily Yours and 37 Books Lighter,

Hollie 😊😢

New Year, New Blogger 💁🏾📖

Hello my Beautiful Booknerds!

So, I have been AWOL for quite a bit and THIS is the year that I FINALLY get my blog and life together! Lol. I know I say that a lot, but I got this! Last year I finished my BA, set a new career goal, got a new job and had applied to a Teaching Credential Program. Whew! While my year was hectic, I still found time to read, but I didn’t blog or IG or Litsy as much as I would have liked. This year is the year I figure out the Social Medias. Lol. I am going to make a valiant effort to not only blog more, but Litsy, Instagram and figure out Twitter. I also, will be doing a couple of Reading Challenges, I’m in a book club, and will post more reviews as well as other bookish things that I come across in my little slice of the world. Just to catch up a bit, I read 50 books last year, which is a HUGE deal for me, because I am a slow reader, but Audiobooks for the win! If you would like to know which books those are, they are on my GoodReads account (DorkieHollieReads), so feel free to click that link and see what all I devoured last year!

Last year I started a Bookstagram account (Dorkieholliereads) and it has been going okay. I’m still getting the hang of it and it has sparked an interesting in photography for me, but I would like to post on their more often, as well as do some Bookstagram Challenges to liven up my feed. I also, joined Litsy, it’s like if Bookstagram were its own app. It’s pretty cool so far, and I can never have too many book recs, so I’m in! I’m sorry if this sounds more like a shameless plug, but I really am trying to be more diligent with my social medias and connecting with you all. Also, if you have any idea how Tumblr works, holla at ya girl! I don’t quite understand how it works or what I’m doing on it. LOL.

Anywho, Thank you all for hanging in there, even when I was an absentee blogger. You all are amazeballs and look forward to having great conversations with you all in the comments section!

Dorkily Yours,

Hollie 😊