Every time I passed by these stumps on my way to class, I always wanted to do a photoshoot there. During the last month of college, I finally got around to it. I texted some friends to ask if they would be interested in shooting with me, met up ten minutes before class, lived out our dreams of becoming carefree woodland people, and then ran to make it to class on time.
– I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review. –
Published by Stories Untold Press on 21 Jul 2017
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In Croswald, the only thing more powerful than dark magic is one secret… For sixteen years Ivy Lovely has been hidden behind an enchanted boundary that separates the mundane from the magical. When Ivy crosses the border, her powers awaken. Curiosity leads her crashing through a series of adventures at the Halls of Ivy, a school where students learn to master their magical blood and the power of Croswald’s mysterious gems. When Ivy’s magic––and her life––is threatened by the Dark Queen, she scrambles to unearth her history and save Croswald before the truth is swept away forever.
To be published by Sourcebooks Landmark on 04 Sept 2018
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How do you stop a murder that’s already happened?
At a gala party thrown by her parents, Evelyn Hardcastle will be killed–again. She’s been murdered hundreds of times, and each day, Aiden Bishop is too late to save her. Doomed to repeat the same day over and over, Aiden’s only escape is to solve Evelyn Hardcastle’s murder and conquer the shadows of an enemy he struggles to even comprehend–but nothing and no one are quite what they seem.
Julia has invited me to visit her in DC several times, but we never made conclusive plans. One summer day, she drove up from DC to Philly to run some errands, and I offered her my apartment to stay overnight. Then we got the brilliant idea that this would be the perfect opportunity to take her up on her offer to visit DC, so the next morning, I hopped in her car and hitched a ride back with her from Philly to DC.
– I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review. –
Published by St. Martin’s Press on 24 Jul 2018
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A fascinating cultural history of New York City’s Bowery, from the author of The Flatiron.
The Bowery, which is the oldest street in Manhattan, was a synonym for despair throughout most of the 20th century. The neighborhood’s name recalled visuals of drunken bums passed out on the sidewalk, and New Yorkers nicknamed it “Satan’s Highway,” “The Mile of Hell,” and “The Street of Forgotten Men.” It was so shameful for so many years that the little businesses along the Bowery–stationers, dry goods sellers, jewelers, hatters–periodically asked the city to change the street’s name. To have a Bowery address, they claimed, was hurting them; people did not want to venture there.
But in the 1990s, as New York was exploding into real estate frenzy, developers discovered the Bowery. Around 2000, they rushed in and began tearing down. Today, the bad old Bowery no longer exists, and instead, Whole Foods, hipster night spots, and expensive lofts replace the flophouses and dive bars.
In Devil’s Mile, Alice Sparberg Alexiou explores the history and future of The Bowery back to its origins, when farmland covered the areas around the boulevard and the area around it was considered outside of town. She’ll explore the years after the Civil War when the Bowery rivaled Fifth Avenue for best Manhattan addresses. And she’ll tell this story as soon as she can, before all its old buildings, and the memories associated with them, disappear.
Oh dearie me. July was supposed to be the month I sorted out all the logistics of my post-grad life, but there’s still so much up in the air. At the end of June, I mentioned how I had decided which city I’d be moving to, but I kept going back and forth about it this past month. In the end, I decided to stick to the city I had chosen: New York City! I haven’t locked down an apartment, but my mom may be flying in to NYC to help me with that process, which I would be eternally grateful for, because I feel so lost (and so poor). I also don’t know whether I should hire movers to move my furniture over, or whether I should just leave my furniture in Philly (I have friends I could give it away to) and buy new furniture in NYC, though I am quite attached to much of my furniture. And I’m still on the job search. I had one interview this past month that went well, but I won’t be going through with that job, and I have another interview later this week.* At this point, I just want to have a job I can be certain about. For my sanity!! I really hope that I can lock down that job, then put all my focus on the apartment search and moving, and once that’s sorted, I need to make a plan. For life. Ya know, the works.
*I would like to share both interview experiences on the blog eventually, like how I shared about my first technical interview, but I may not get around to it until things settles down in September. I know that people always say that they’ll do things later when they’re less stressed or less busy and they never get less stressed or less busy, but I really think that I’ll be good in September, because even if I don’t have a job locked down, at the very least I’ll have moved and settled in NYC. And whilst we’re on that topic, sorry I haven’t been very active in the blogosphere this summer. I had taken a blogging break during my last month of senior year and had hoped to get back into it this summer, but this summer has taken more out of me than anticipated.