Book Review: Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay // my most anticipated read of 2020

Title: Patron Saints of Nothing

Author: Randy Ribay

Published: September 10, 2019

Pages: 432

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Amazon / Barnes & Nobles / Book Depository / Goodreads

Growing up, I was reluctantly proud of being half-filipino.

Even though I was also half-Indian, my mom was undoubtedly more successful than my dad at ensuring that my siblings and I were connected to her homeland and Filipino culture (sorry, dude ✌️). We used Filipino honorifics like “Ate” and “Kuya” in our household, regularly went to fiestas and novenas organized by family in the area, and visited the Philippines every two or three summers.

3 Movies To Watch This May // rapid fire recommendations for asian and pacific islander heritage month

I am in no capacity a movie buff.

Truly, the only reason I can’t count the number of movies I’ve watched this month on one hand is because the number is zero 😅. But, I’m not letting that stop me from recommending a meager number of three movies that you should watch before May ends!

(They’re perfect for celebrating Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month 😏!)

Book Blogs You Should Follow // blogs i love (part one/infinite)

This post has been a long time a-coming.

I’ve been meaning to start a series on here to highlight blogs I love on my long and growing list, so here she finally is, folks. Hopefully this will be a monthly feature because I’m pretty 💩 about doing tags and need another way to appreciate you all.

leslie knope’s approval, the highest honor?

Here is an incomplete list of book blogs that never fail to entertain me, make me think, or bring a smile to my face. Some I’ve been following for years, others I found recently, and while I mercilessly comment on a handful of them 🥰, I remain a timid, silent follower of the rest lol 🙈:

Do You Follow The Hype Train? // my opinion on reading hyped books

Are you a passenger on the hype train?

Train metaphors ✌️😅.

i watched this gif too many times than i’d like to admit.

Every month, Rukky from Eternity Books shares weekly bookish discussion topics for her awesome Let’s Talk Bookish feature. I always look forward to the discussions and am finally participating in today’s: The Hype Train! Rukky provided some great guide questions, so I’ll keep this intro short 💃:

Check out Rukky’s blog and the discussion topics! Her posts are always so fun and thoughtful!

Mini Audiobook Reviews: Sadie by Courtney Summers and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson // a YA mysteries agni kai

Two YA mysteries in a fight for their honor, but only one can come out alive…

sorry, this really isn’t that serious 😅. anyways,

I found myself in the mood for some ~ mystery ~ last week and settled on listening to Sadie by Courtney Summers and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson. Instead of reviewing them in two separate posts, I thought I’d just do it in one ✨. Both books were popular YA mysteries, and while their plots and formats had similarities, other elements like their subject matters weren’t as comparable 💃:

(But… if we were really talking agni kai… which book, if any, do you personally prefer 😅?)

Book Review: Members Only by Sameer Pandya // a racist joke and belonging in a divided world (my first ARC review!)

Title: Members Only

Author: Sameer Pandya

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Expected Publication: May 12, 2020

Pages: 338

Genre: Fiction

Amazon / Goodreads

Dr. Raj Bhat seemed like the last man who should be accused of being any type of racist, including the “reverse” type.

An anthropology professor and first generation Indian American, Raj had committed his life to understanding humans and educating students about people’s differences and similarities, all the while troubled by feelings that he was a perpetual foreigner in the eyes of many.

When an African American couple interviewed to join the elitist, all-white tennis club Raj was a member of, a place where his insecurities felt glaringly pronounced, Raj delighted at the prospect of it becoming the more diverse environment he craved. In an honest attempt to connect to the pair over their shared “otherness”, Raj made an ill-fated, racist joke. A few days later, another incident had Raj denounced by his students for spreading “anti-Western bias”.

During the ensuing week from hell, Raj desperately attempted to make sense of his fragile world as it splintered from polarized racial discussions and the inner and outer forces of self-preservation.

Should You Join Book Twitter? // the pros and cons of book twitter based on my first impressions

Twitter scares me. 

But first, what is Twitter and Book Twitter?

i bet we were all real curious about that stock price too 😯💸.

Book Twitter is an expansive micro-community within Twitter composed of book junkies—from authors, publishers, book-related media companies to formal and casual readers like librarians, bloggers, booktubers, and instagrammers.

If you’re anything like me, you may have your reasons for not joining Book Twitter.