Tag: Mystery Blogger Award (Take 4)

Thank you so much to Caidyn & Chantel at BW Reviews for nominating me for the Mystery Blogger Award! It always makes me so happy to get that notification. 🙂

If you’re interested, you can see takes one, two, and three of the award!

WHAT IS THE MYSTERY BLOGGER AWARD?

It’s an award for amazing bloggers with ingenious posts. Their blog not only captivates; it inspires and motivates. They are one of the best out there, and they deserve every recognition they get. This award is also for bloggers who find fun and inspiration in blogging, and they do it with so much love and passion. – Okoto Enigma

HERE ARE THE RULES:

  • Put the award logo/image on your blog
  • List the rules.
  • Thank whoever nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
  • Mention the creator of the award and provide a link as well
  • Tell your readers 3 things about yourself
  • You have to nominate 10 – 20 people
  • Notify your nominees by commenting on their blog
  • Ask your nominees any 5 questions of your choice; with one weird or funny question (specify)
  • Share a link to your best post(s)

I’m going to follow Caidyn & Chantel’s lead and get my best posts out of the way at the beginning. I’m not sure what kind of posts I’m supposed to share, so I’ll just go with three of my favorites.


Three facts about me:

  • I work in the strangest office environment ever. I swear, we are the most dysfunctional group of people and we could probably have a super popular TV show if HIPAA weren’t a thing. Between my boss, my manager, and all the weird patients I deal with on a daily basis, I am desensitized to everything and nothing freaks me out. What takes the cake for my strangest encounter in the last six years is the mother of a grown 25-year-old man stopping me in the hallway and grilling me about where her son’s genital warts came from (sex) and why they had turned into cancer (it’s a thing that can happen if you don’t treat them) and could I just look at the photos and tell her what I think? (“About your son’s penis?” “Yes.” “No, I can’t do that.”) I AM THE BILLER and I can’t believe that I have to say this, but my primary job function is not to examine random penises. So, moral of the story, I have literally heard it all and it takes a lot to shock me.
  • I’m such a pen hoarder. I mean, I love all office supplies, but pens are my weakness. I have about a million and one pens even though I only ever use the same two or three. I’m also really particular about who can use my pens and which pens I’ll let people use. I certainly do not let any of the patients in my office use my pens and I don’t let my boss use them either, because he’ll just walk away with them and never give them back.
  • I currently have Hard Feelings/Loveless by Lorde stuck in my head! It’s been playing on repeat in my head for like a full week now.

5 questions from Caidyn & Chantel:

  • What is your biggest accomplishment?

My biggest accomplishment in life is possibly making the decision to move halfway across the country immediately after finishing college? I don’t know! But I really stepped out of my comfort zone to do it and I honestly have no idea where I’d be in my life if I’d stayed in Wisconsin.

  • Dogs or cats?

I love both, but I actually have a cat, so I have to go with cats. ❤

  • What is one thing you want to do in your life?

So, in general, I find traveling really stressful. But my theory is that I only find it stressful because I’m so worried about whether everybody else is having a good time. Also, waiting on everybody else to make it to the airport is the actual worst. Costa Rica was my favorite trip ever, but I went with six other people and let me tell you, waiting for everybody to get to that airport was a disaster.

To be completely honest, I have only ever enjoyed traveling with one of my friends. But we’ve also only ever gone to NYC together for concerts or just to wander around and there is literally nothing stressful about that. One of my goals is to take a vacation by myself! I don’t know exactly where I would go, but I have two weeks of vacation that I haven’t used yet and it sounds really nice to get away. My manager keeps telling me to go to Vegas, but I have less than zero desire to go there.

  • What’s your biggest pet peeve?

My biggest pet peeve is something that happens to me literally every day at my job, where people don’t like the answer that I’ve given them and so they rephrase their question a million different ways in hopes of the answer changing. I feel like this is maybe just a New Jersey thing because I never saw anything like this before I moved here.

  • What would be your perfect burger (or sandwich)?

I just love burgers a lot, so this is a really hard question. My current favorite is the pub burger at the Rocky Hill Inn. It’s topped with onion rings, bacon, cheddar, and chipotle mayo. It. Is. Delicious. And it has to be cooked medium.

My questions: 

  • What’s your favorite mythical creature?
  • What’s your go-to order at a coffee shop?
  • If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?
  • Sweet, salty, or sour snacks?
  • Would you rather say everything on your mind or never speak again?

Nominations:

This is the hardest part! I know I’m not nominating 10-20 people because wow, that’s crazy.

★ Libby ★ Jacquie ★ Loretta ★ Siobhan ★ Jess & Teagan ★

No pressure, by the way! If you’d rather not do the tag, just ignore me. 🙂

ARC review: To Be Honest by Maggie Ann Martin

To Be Honest by Maggie Ann Martin
Rating: ★★★★☆
Links: Amazon • TBD • Goodreads
Publication Date: August 21, 2018
Source: ARC from BookCon!

Savannah is dreading being home alone with her overbearing mother after her sister goes off to college. But if she can just get through senior year, she’ll be able to escape to college, too. What she doesn’t count on is that her mother’s obsession with weight has only grown deeper since her appearance on an extreme weight-loss show, and now Savvy’s mom is pressuring her even harder to be constantly mindful of what she eats.

Between her mom’s diet-helicoptering, missing her sister, and worrying about her collegiate future, Savvy has enough to worry about. And then she meets George, the cute new kid at school who has insecurities of his own. As Savvy and George grow closer, they help each other discover how to live in the moment and enjoy the here and now before it disappears.

I loved Maggie’s debut, The Big F, when I read it last year. TBH has been at the top of my 2018 TBR ever since it was announced and I was so excited to grab a copy when I was at BookCon! Side note, BookCon was how long ago and I’m just now getting to the ARCs? I’m so sorry.

Anyway, the review.

Savannah is definitely a less likable heroine than Dani was. She’s rude, she’s angry, and she pushes people away. And why shouldn’t she? Her mother is always making snide comments about her weight and trying to get her to tag along with her latest diet scheme. I’d be rude and angry, too. Despite Savannah’s attitude problem, or maybe even because of it, I liked her. I got where she was coming from. She was a refreshing protagonist and reading her story made me so happy.

The family dynamics in this book stressed me out so much, but I also loved them! In addition to her diet-crazed mother, Savannah has a barely-there father who really isn’t that great at parenting… when he even bothers to show up. Her sister Ashley is her saving grace, but since Ashley just left for college, Savannah is more or less on her own with a mother who constantly makes her feel like she isn’t good enough.

Luckily, Savannah’s best friend Grace is a constant positive presence. I loved Grace and the fact that their friendship never took a backseat to the action, regardless of what the action was. There’s a really great side plot about Savannah and Grace doing some investigative journalism, and I loved it!

The last thing I want to talk about is the love interest, George. He was such a cutie pie and I loved him so much. George and Savannah were so cute together, honestly, I was just one big heart eyes emoji while I was reading their scenes together. 😍 The only thing I could’ve wished for was some better communication between the two of them. Savannah jumped to a lot of conclusions and George was pretty closed off about his emotions, but considering that they’re in high school, I’m really not that surprised!

All in all, this is a great contemporary focusing on body shaming and body image that also includes a super cute romance. Highly recommended!

Goodreads summer reading challenge: one and done


Have you read To Be Honest? Is it on your TBR?
Let’s talk in the comments!


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