Hungry Hearts: An Anthology of Food, Love, Culture & More!

I've been building up to this for a while, but finally, here it is! My review of the anthology Hungry Hearts: 13 Tales of Food & Love! Anthologies take me a while to read & review because I always have to take notes on them as I read, but I'm glad I've managed to make …

Hungry Hearts Food Crawl Kickoff! Interviews, #OwnVoices Reviewers, & More! (+INTL Giveaway!)

Friends! CW from The Quiet Pond & I had a mini-epiphany together on Twitter one day. We were both so excited for Hungry Hearts and wanted to share our love--and what better way than with #OwnVoices bloggers for this diverse anthology?! We are so happy to be bringing to you the Hungry Hearts Food Crawl--like …

Descendant of the Crane by Joan He: SO. MANY. TWISTS.

5 stars Princess Hesina of Yan has just become queen after what she believes was her father’s murder. Yet, investigating the suspicious circumstances comes with a cost, namely treasonous magic from a soothsayer. Hesina must navigate both her own personal investigation into the murder, as well as the political games inside the imperial court and …

Paperback Crush!: 2019 Paperback Cover Changes I’m In LOVE With

I love seeing hardcovers as much as the next person, but I've grown to appreciate paperbacks for so many reasons. (I actually like using all formats at once, and there's pros and cons to each, but my love for paperbacks has been growing.) Not only are they more affordable (and therefore accessible to teens and …

If You Liked… #11: Diverse Historical Fiction Edition

Because I have Rachel dragging me (it's ok i secretly love it) about not reading Outrun the Moon, I thought I'd make this edition of If You Liked... all about some awesome diverse historical fiction! I missed the If You Liked... post in December because I was so busy talking about some of the best 2018 books I read, so I …

Best of 2018: Favorite Diverse Books

To end 2018, every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday left in the year will be dedicated to a list of 6 books that absolutely wowed me this year. Today is all about diverse books, and 2018 did so well with all the diverse books that came out, I'm quaking??? Like, there were so many amazing …

The Double Standard Applied to POC in the Book Community

This is a post largely inspired by what went on with Tomi Adeyemi and Nora Roberts. If you're not familiar with the situation, that's fine. If you are, please don't bring mob drama to my doorstep. Because although this post draws on what happened between Tomi Adeyemi and Nora Roberts, there is a bigger takeaway …

What Qualifies as “Diverse”?

A couple weeks ago, I came across a conundrum. I had read a book, and there were people of color featured in it, but it felt unequivocally white. There were some characters of color, but they were trussed up in medieval style clothing and medieval culture with lords and ladies and princes, princesses, too-tight corsets, …

13 Diverse Romcom Contemporaries That Will Make You Aww

I am a huge sucker for romantic comedies. In YA, I don't really like seeing full blown romances because nearly every time, they're not convincing to me. I don't know any teenagers that I immediately think "That's the couple that's truly in love. I bet they'll be married for 84 years." Sorry, but no. Which …

American Panda by Gloria Chao: Interview, Review, & Giveaway!

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for American Panda by Gloria Chao! This is such an amazing #OwnVoices contemporary, and I have a lot of fun things lined up for you! There's an interview with the author, and even a giveaway (which you should definitely enter! or maybe not so I can win) …