Love, Life, and the List by Kasie West

(c) Kasie West and HarperTeen

Let me start off by saying, I love to read books by Kasie West. She has the cutest love stories! I always make sure to read her latest novel. The only one I couldn't finish was "Lucky in Love," due to the main character's compulsion to spend money (something that irritates me in real life). I have not yet read Pivot Point or its sequel (but will!), but have read her other novels.

Love, Life, and the List is a story about growing up. Abby Turner's life is about painting, trying to get her mom out of the house to try and help her with her anxiety, trading sarcasm/witty remarks with her grandfather, and being with her three friends, including her best friend, Cooper. She works for an art curator, surrounding herself with other people's artwork every time she goes to work. She has her sights set on an exclusive art winter camp, but believes she is not good enough until she can sell one of her own paintings. Cue beginning of story!

Warning: the next paragraph may contain spoilers!
Abby is told that she does not have any heart in her paintings. So she creates a list to complete to "grow" her heart. She goes through the list with Cooper, who still doesn't realize Abby loves him (or refuses to believe it, which is more likely). (End Spoiler) As her experiences from the list begin to change her, Abby realizes she cannot keep running from her problems and begins to face each one head on.

I loved this book. It made me laugh (a lot). It made me cry (it did, really)! It reminded me of my own experiences of falling in love and growing up. I highly recommend this book, especially for YA readers, and those who need a little love in their life during this dreary winter season. :)

New Year, New Goals

Happy New Year 2018!

I hope everyone's year ahead will be filled with many great books, unless you are a writer, then both great books and plot lines!

If you do not know yet, my little blog has been published to the "Book Blogger List," a nifty website that allows authors and bloggers to come together via a blog directory. It has many great blogs listed and I am honored to be a part of the team! I can only hope that my posts are entertaining enough to help you find something you may be interested in reading. If you ever have any suggestions or questions, please do not hesitate to ask--comments are always greatly appreciated.

That said, a new year calls for new resolutions. Last year, my goal was to read 100 books. I tried to not count any manga or short stories, but it was tricky since Goodreads counts these towards your overall book count! From my own summarization, I read a total of 50 books, but according to Goodreads, the count came to a total of....*drumroll please* 79 books!


I never thought Goodreads could be as addictive and fun as it has come to be this past year. If you are interested in signing up for an account, you can do so here. You can even keep a private profile if you do not want to share statistics or use the account as a social media outlet. I like that Goodreads counts your books for you--with the option of showing how long you read each book/by rating/by year/etc. (so many statistics!). It also allows you to read and post reviews, join online book discussions and communities, sign up for chances to win Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) books, provide inspirational quotes, give book suggestions based on past books read, provides author biographies, and even allows you to "follow" authors to see when they release new material (or even see what they like to read)!

Anyway...as you can see I am quite the fan! But, even if you do not join in the fun, I implore you to set a goal of your own this year, whether it be in books, learning a new language, visiting some place you have never been before, or trying something new. Life is an adventure, and you only learn by doing! Even if sometimes, it is through the eyes of another person. :)

Let me know one of your New Year's resolutions below in the comments!