One Sit Reads: Teaching my Mother to Give Birth by Warsan Shire

I first heard of her when listening to Lemonade by Beyoncé; some of her poetry was used in the album. I adored this small volume of deeply personal poetry. Above is a video of one poem I believe really fits our times.

Lord of Shadows Cover Reveal

Go on and get your Fangirl screams and squeaks out of the way....because we now have the official cover for book two of the Dark Artifices Series by Cassandra Clare. Lord of Shadows is set to be released on 5/23/2017.

Here is the synopsis:
Emma Carstairs has finally avenged her parents. She thought she’d be at peace. But she is anything but calm. Torn between her desire for her parabatai Julian and her desire to protect him from the brutal consequences of parabatai relationships, she has begun dating his brother, Mark. But Mark has spent the past five years trapped in Faerie; can he ever truly be a Shadowhunter again?

And the faerie courts are not silent. The Unseelie King is tired of the Cold Peace, and will no longer concede to the Shadowhunters’ demands. Caught between the demands of faerie and the laws of the Clave, Emma, Julian, and Mark must find a way to come together to defend everything they hold dear—before it’s too late.

FanFic's, Emergency Dance Parties, Starbucks and Nerd-dom: Bookbabe reviews Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

I have never had so much fun reading a book in my life. Fangirl has it all. Romance, coffee, nerd-dom and dance parties. In this book we are introduced to Cath; a young college student that is obsessed with all things Simon Snow (the Harry Potter of Cath's world). She is so head-over-heels in love with Snow that she writes a fan fic about him. Cath is a character that I could not help but love. She reminded me of myself so much in my late teens and early twenties. 
As a college student I pretty much kept to myself; I also spent much of my time wrapped up in books and writing. In fact, I fell in love with the Potter series in my early days at college. 
Cath was such an amazing well written and fully flushed out character; what is so wonderful about both Cath and her twin sister, Wren, is that they are so believable. They are characters of depth. Going through things so many of us have gone through during the time of transition from high school to college. 
During this time We are all trying to find our place, trying to figure out where we fit. Cath seems to not want to change. She is happy to just stay in her room and eat protein bars until she can't anymore. However, her roommate is not going to allow this and forces Cath into going out more and interacting with others. Reagan (Cath's roommate) reminds me so much of myself; at my current age. She seems sure of herself, she seems to know who she is and she does not care what anyone really thinks of her. It is through this relationship that Cath meets Levi; who she believes is Reagan's boyfriend. When in fact, he's her ex and only sticks round their room because he hopes to run into Cath. 
Cath and Levi's relationship evolves slowly and sweetly. It reminds me so much of what love can be like when its not rushed and its built on friendship. Cath and Levi's relationship is not without an occasional hiccup that leads to mistrust; but, it all ends up sorted in the end and Levi proves and redeems himself.
One of the the things that really surprised me about this book was the fact that Rowell intertwined real issues into the story. She showed how both Cath and Wren handled the abandonment issues they have. And how they each responded to their father's bipolar disorder. It is Cath's reaction to the sudden arrival of her mother into their lives that really made me love the character more. Like Cath, I was raised without my mom and I felt; at one time, the way that she does in Fangirl. Rowell really wrote one hell of a novel. It was really a pleasure to read. 
I truly hope that she revisits Cath, Levi, Reagan and Wren again. I would love to see what else they get into. 

Quotes that I loved:

"I always get lost in the library, no matter how many times I go. In fact, I thinkI get lost there more, the more that I go. Like it's getting to know me and revealing new passages."

"You're a sad little hermit, and it creeps me out."

"We're skinny bitches on the weekdays and drunk bitches on the weekends"

"I'm not really a book person."
"That might have been the most idiotic thing you've ever said to me."

"Write as if your life depended on it...Write as if your future depended on it"

"There's nothing more intoxicating than creating something from nothing.  Creating something for yourself"

"I spent four months trying to kiss you and the last six weeks trying to figure out how I managed to fuck everything up."