my favorite books of 2017

Something I'm really proud of from 2017 was that I read 115 books and I completed the PopSugar 2017 reading challenge. It was my second year of reading over 100 books (a big accomplishment all on its own!) and completing the challenge allowed me stretch out my reading, and get in some books I've have on my to be read list for forever. I'm already ahead of my 2018 challenge, and going along with PopSugar's 2018 challenge rather well! If you want to see what I'm reading, I'm here on GoodReads.

Since I read so much, I thought it would be good to share my favorite books that I read. I read a lot of really great books in 2017, and I won't be talking about them all, just the top books that really stood out to me. These aren't just books published in 2017, because I'm not always great about reading new releases in a timely fashion.

Presented, in no particular order, my favorite reads of 2017!

1. The Encyclopedia of Early Earth and The One Hundred Nights of Hero by Isabel Greenberg

I decided to group these two books by Isabel Greenberg since they compliment each other so well. Greenberg creates a beautiful world, partially inspired by Earth, with its own peoples and mythology. I recommend starting with The Encyclopedia of Early Earth because it gives a really beautiful overview into this world. The One Hundred Nights of Hero is a retelling of "One Thousand and One Nights" with a great twist: Cherry, a pure maiden married to an awful man, is in love with Hero, our storyteller. The reader gets to experience Hero's stories, many of which are classic tales with a feminist twist, as well as following the story of Cherry and Hero. These books are so delightful. I love Greenberg's art and style of writing, and certainly hope she revisits this world soon!

2. Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao

When I read the description of this book: "An East Asian fantasy reimagining of The Evil Queen legend about one peasant girl's quest to become Empress--and the darkness she must unleash to achieve her destiny." I was SOLD. I, clearly, love fairytale inspired books, and this one was no exception. Dao's writing was so lush and Xifeng is such a fascinating and complex main character. She knows she is destined for greatness, and you get to witness her realizing all the horrible and difficult decisions it takes to get there. I cannot wait for the rest of this series!

3. Electric Arches by Eve Ewing

First of all, this cover is GORGEOUS. What a striking image! I don't read a lot of poetry, which I want to remedy, and this was a great collection to start with. I just loved these poems, and I don't know what more to say except for READ THIS. "Shea Butter Manifesto" "why you cannot touch my hair" "Thursday Morning, Newbury Street" "Origin Story" "On Prince" "sonnet" and "The Discount Megamall (in memorium)" were all excellent. My favorite however was "Affirmation". I need to work on a hand lettering of it!

4. Everyone's a Aliebn When Ur a Aliben Too by Jomny Sun

This book is so darling! It's worth reading all in one sitting because this book will take on a rollercoaster of emotions. I've followed @jonnysun on twitter for a long time. I love his style of tweets; he makes great jokes and also provides a lot of heartwarming sentiments. This book is about an alien named Jomny who comes to Earth to observe humans, and learns a lot about life and love along the way.

5. One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter by Scaachi Koul

These essays were phenomenal. Koul writes about her life as the daughter of Indian immigrants with a sharp wit and excellent observation. She delves into how her parents' anxieties and neurosis affected her, dealing with racism and shadism, the onslaught of online harrassment she's faced, and just so much more. Every chapter ended with an email her dad sent her which were absolutely perfect. My life has been very different from Koul's, but this was still so wonderful to read.

6. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

This book got a lot of hype (I think the movie rights sold before the book was published!) and it deserved every last word of it. This book is a take on the Black Lives Matter movement. Starr Carter witnesses her best friend fatally shot by the police and has to deal with being the only witness. What follows is an amazing coming of age story with heightened circumstances. Starr deals with friend and family drama, her love life, code switching between her home and school life, and deciding whether or not to speak up. Thomas is an excellent writer and makes Starr such a great, dynamic character. I cannot wait for her new book coming out this year!

7. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

I listened to this on audiobook around Halloween which was the PERFECT way to read this book. I was so drawn in by the narration and constantly on edge. The language was beautiful and lush and I was desperate to find out what was happening. I really like that you know so little about the narrator, otherwise her naivety would have seemed a bit more ridiculous.

8. Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han

I was a little disappointed by P.S. I Still Love You as a sequel to To All The Boys I've Loved Before. However, when I heard Han was writing a third book I was excited to get back to Lara Jean's world. This book was so sweet and transported me right back to my senior year of high school. This book read like a series of vignettes which I think fit the vibe perfectly. Also, the first book is being adapted into a film this year and I cannot wait!

9. March: Book One, March: Book Two, and March: Book Three by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, illustrated by Nate Powell

This is a trilogy of graphic novels by John Lewis about his experience joining the civil rights movement. These were powerful and strong, reminding us that the past is not as far away as we might like to think. You meet so many figures from the Civil Rights era, and John brings great heart to the story. The first volume was framed around President Obama's first inauguration, which Representative Lewis attends and it was so powerful.

10. Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly

I LOVED the film Hidden Figures and when the book it was based on came on sale, I knew I had to get it. I don't read a lot of nonfiction unless it is memoir based, so this was completely different for me. I loved getting more backstory on the women who worked at NASA and what they did to help shape our nation. I know there's so many more stories like this out there, and I hope we get the chance to bring more light to the stories of other hidden figures in history.

11. Monstress, Vol. 2 by Marjorie Liu, illustrated by Sana Takeda

This series in phenomenal! This artwork is unbelievably gorgeous and the world building is INCREDIBLE. It's fantasy, steampunk, magical, and driven by a great cast. It's honestly best not to know a lot about this series and jump right in.

12. The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

Like THUG, this book also had so much hype surrounding it. I heard the audiobook was incredible, and it WAS. I love historical romance and YA, so this was a great blend. Monty, Percy, and Felicity are such great characters (I'm looking forward to Felicity's story!). There was also a ton of adventure and the characters traipsed all over Europe! It's really fun and if you can get the audiobook, do it!

13. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

I had heard so much about this book back when it won the National Book Award, so I was excited to finally pick it up. It's written in free verse which is totally different than what I typically read. Her poetry is gorgeous and lyrical, and Woodson taps into that perfect childlike view of the world.

14. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

One of my favorite booktuber's Hannah lists this as her favorite book of all time, so I had to read this. Like a lot of other books I've read this year, this prose is so beautiful. It's the tale of two apprentices to magicians being pitted against one another in a magical contest, which takes the form of a traveling circus. The book is styled in a series of vignettes tracing this traveling circus and this magical competition. The romance is just heartbreakingly perfect. It's definitely a great book to revisit time and again.

15. When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

This is the kind of book you pick up and just know that you're going to cry. Kalanithi writes about his life and his cancer diagnosis, reflecting on what he's learned. He's a great writer and it's so heart-breaking to know that someone of his talent (in literature and medicine) is gone. I was just shattered by the end written by his wife about his final days.

16. The Mothers by Brit Bennett

Here's another novel to add the list of BEAUTIFUL writing. Bennett's debut is just fantastic. She weaves the story of our three main characters beautifully, telling an excellent story focusing on the intricacies of family and relationships. The "mothers" refers to the church mothers in the community who act as a Greek chorus of sorts. I just wanted to luxuriated in her writing. This was almost too short!

17. The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta

Melina Marchetta is one of my favorite YA authors. Her contemporary works are filled with such great characters that have such intricate internal psyches. I love her teenagers, and Tom Mackee is probably the most tragic of them all. The family dynamics are complicated and don't back away from the difficult intricacies we face with our loved ones. There's grief and love, both romantic and platonic. It was a great companion to Saving Francesca, and I liked this one a little bit more!

18. Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls, and Everything in Between by Lauren Graham

I love celebrity memoirs, especially on audiobook. It feels like you're having a conversation with them. I adore Lauren Graham, and I just knew I was going to adore this. I'm a big Gilmore Girls fan, and this was just a perfect little audiobook.

19. And Then He Kissed Her by Laura Lee Guhrke

Like I mentioned, I read a lot of historical romance and this was probably my favorite from 2017. Emma and Harry had such a great dynamic with one another, especially when Emma wises up and decides to pursue what really matters to her. The dynamic between them so was His Girl Friday, and I am such a sucker for good bickering. And WOW some of these scenes were so sexy.

20. Where Am I Now?: True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame by Mara Wilson

Like I said, I love a good celebrity memoir! Wilson details her life as a young child actress who starred in some beloved family films. If you're expecting some really fun memoir with a ton of cute and funny stories, you'll get some of that! But you'll also get a lot more. Wilson's mother was dying of cancer during Matilda leading her to have some really conflicting memories of what you would think was a wonderful time in her life. She also talks a lot about her anxiety and mental health. I unexpectedly cried and desperately wanted to comfort little Mara.

21. The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

I had the great fortune to attend a talk by Nicola Yoon this past Sunday! She talked about her writing process, her books, and why she's part of #WeNeedDiverseBooks. It was a great experience, and I'm glad I got to attend. She's a fantastic author and I loved The Sun is Also a Star. It takes place all in one day and pushes the boundaries about whether or not we can fall in love at first sight. The book bounces back and forth between our two main characters as well as bystanders, inanimate objects, and larger concepts (like fate). It was really beautiful, and the ending made me sob. It took me by total surprise, and I had to take a while to recover.

22. Saga, Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughan, illustrated by Fiona Staples

I'd heard excellent things about this series, and wow was it great. It's a space opera following around forbidden lovers and their child. It's absolutely wild, and I don't know how to describe it properly, but I love it!

23. The Martian by Andy Weir

I really liked the film, and decided to try this out on audiobook. It was such a great format, considering Watney's narration is a log of his daily activities. Even though I knew the ending, the suspense held up really well; in fact, already having a visual probably helped me better understand more of the scientific descriptions.

24. The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner

It's hard to pick my top favorite of the year, but I think it's The Queen of Attolia. I read the first three books in the Queen's Thief series, and this one was by far my favorite. Gen and Attolia are my new favorite book OTP. Seriously. These books are so wonderful, and I can't believe I'm only just reading them! I don't even have coherent things to say about this book except to read it! You will not regret it!


It's a long list, but I'm really happy to go back and reflect over the books I loved last year. Also, I doodle a quick hand-lettering art for my blog title. It was really simple, and I just scanned it in to create the piece, but all in all I like how it turned out! I'll probably try for something more complex later on, but for now it looks much better than just plain text.

some highlights from the week

A part of my "create" ideas was to experiment more with makeup. I love makeup. I have all my life. I remember as a little kid loving to help my mom put on her makeup. I'd brush my hands all along her modest collection of lipsticks (the majority were MaryKay). When I started acting, we'd always have to wear loads of stage makeup, and while it looked ridiculous, I adored it. I became obsessed with beauty gurus on YouTube and watched hours of hair and makeup tutorials, fantasizing about all the products I wish I could buy. When I started a my first ever part-time job, I spent my paychecks on gas for my car, meals with friends, and makeup and nail polish. I was always hitting up the drugstore and doing so much research on what to buy. One Christmas in high school, my mom bought me the Urban Decay Naked palette, and I was so excited to have nice, expensive eyeshadows.

The problem is: I've gotten lazy. I still wear makeup, but I'm really complacent. I stick with the basics, which is fine! But I want to have fun with makeup. I want to use my eyeshadow palettes because 15 year old me would be so jealous of all my nice expensive makeup. I want to wear bold lips more frequently and not be embarrassed by it. Not that I'm truly embarrassed, but I tend to stick to things that are more subtle. Or I'll be more daring, and then take it off and redo my face. (I mean - I'll still be professional at work, of course)

Today, I wanted to show off some highlights from my makeup experimentation, aka three of the highlighters from this selection of highlighters. I haven't gotten the chance to properly try all of them yet (my broken ankle has been inhibiting so much of my life), but I've had a little bit of fun with them so far. This set was on sale for $25 which was a TOTAL steal, and although everything is trial size but one, there's still a lot of product in each. Plus, I got to sample some brands like Becca, which I was curious about and had never tried.

             

High Beam by Benefit

High Beam is a product I've always been curious to try, but have been timid about. It's so intense and until about 6 months ago, I never wore highlighter! This stuff is INTENSE. I mean you can see the glow is strong. I think with a light hand you can get away with it on a daily basis, but you have to be careful. I really want to try this for a night out, because it could really *shine.* My mom did comment to me that I looked like I was glowing, so it was super effective. This was the only full size product from the set, so I'm happy to have loads of this, because I think it's gonna be fun to play with.

             

 Moonstone by BECCA

I only recently learned about the brand BECCA, when I heard Chrissy Teigen was collaborating with them. Since then, I've been really curious, especially since I heard such wonderful things about the brand. Let me tell you, the hype is real. I LOVE this highlight. I don't have any face brushes with me, so I used my fluffiest eyeshadow brush, which I actually loved using. It was perfect for my nose and brow bone, and worked well on the cheek bone too! The formula was nice and silky with excellent pigmentation. I definitely want to try more shades from BECCA, as well as the blushes and bronzers.

            

Exposed by Tarte

This is actually what I wore today! This highlighter by tarte was definitely the most subtle of the ones I've tried so far. It's definitely going to be perfect for an everyday use. I know the tarte amazonian clay blushes and bronzers have a strong following behind them, and I think for good reason! The formula is great and really easy to apply lightly and layer it on. I have one amazonian clay blush, and am definitely looking forward to trying more more this line.

I can't wait to play around with the rest of this set and share my opinions of them. Sephora has a lot of great sets like this that allows you to sample a number of brands and get a sense about what you like out of that kind of product. For example, this Benefit kit I bought myself on my birthday, which had a great couple of products to try (including a highlighter I love!) plus the makeup bag was so cute. My darling roommate bought me a stocking stuffer of a lip kit, which looks like it is out of stock but this one is somewhat similar, although my theme was "bold." It's a fantastic way to sample new brands and try on colors you wouldn't normally pick for yourself!

[I am not sponsored by Sephora or any of these brands, but if they are interested, I am more than willing to sell out]

25 Before 25

Right after I graduated college, I drafted a list of 25 things to complete before I turned 25. It was a rough time in my life because I did not have a job offer before graduation, and my anxiety and depression which had been slowly building in the year towards graduation started to tailspin during the summer of 2016. Everything turned out alright, I was working by August in a job in my field and was able to make rent and student loan payments! But I was pretty desperate at the time to look towards a brighter future, so I created a list.

(Here's me the weekend before graduation!)

A few days ago, I rediscovered it in the notes in my phone. I think the last time I had thought about the list was a week after I initially wrote it, and it's been forgotten ever since. There are actually a few things I've managed to complete: host a Friendsgiving (my roommate and I had one in 2017), cook something complicated (this isn't really defined, but I've done a couple strenuous meals!), keep less clutter (again undefined, but I've thrown out a lot of nail polish and makeup I was hording and I've donated a lot of clothes and have even more to donate), take a vacation with friends (these were more weekend long excursions than proper vacations, but I'm in my early 20's so it counts!) and find a good therapist (although my broken ankle has disrupted our sessions). At first I succeeded with journaling regularly in 2016, but I totally failed in 2017, so I'm not quite sure if that's a success or failure.

I turn 25 in October and somethings on this list are not realistic. Donate my hair: I didn't donate but I did do a big chop which is basically the spirit of me convincing myself cutting my hair was a good idea (and it was!). Adopt a dog: as much as my heart wants this to come true, my roommate and I are likely to renew our lease and are not allowed pets. Which sucks. Run a 5k: My broken ankle is making this a tad unrealistic. Whenever the boot is removed (hopefully in March, but we'll see) I'll most likely have physical therapy. While I'm in good shape, I'm not a runner so I don't know how hard training will be in my recovery. Visit a new continent/country: my friend and I were discussing the possibility of traveling to Europe in the fall, but I'm not mad at myself if this doesn't happen. I'm not made of money! Go to 10 concerts: look, I just didn't understand how little money I would have!!! See Hamilton: AGAIN with the I have no idea how finances work!!!! Additionally, there are somethings I'm just not as interested in completing in such a rushed timeline.

Basically this was a hastily put together list by a 22 year old who was terrified of all the changes she faced. Graduation was an emotional rollercoaster. I accomplished something huge, but I also was staring at an unknown future. My close friends were moving away. I would have to start making loan payments in six months. Transitioning out of college is hard because it's such a huge life change, but that's not quite what this post is about. Instead, I want to make a more realistic list of things I can accomplish by the time I turn 25 (which is in ten months, OMG)

1. Visit a new city
2. Read 50 books
3. Watch 20 films directed by women 
4. Host a dinner party
5. Knit a scarf
6. Take the LSAT
7. Apply to graduate school
8. Go on a road trip
9. Attend 5 concerts or shows
10. Do a major closet reorganization
11. Buy succulents and actually take care of them
12. Visit a beach
13. Find a place to volunteer
14. Journal regularly
15. Take a watercoloring class
16. Start a taking Zumba again
17. Help my mom adopt a dog
18. Practice my lettering and calligraphy regularly
19. Hit my savings goal
20. Visit 10 new restaurants in Pittsburgh
21. Listen to new music every month
22. Read more poetry
23. Cook 10 recipes from my Pinterest "to try" page
24. Cook a meal for my mom
25. Use a face mask once a week

I think these goals are all doable, and will align nicely with some of my overall goals for the year. I'm already on my way with the books and films, so hopefully I'll have some success!

C R E A T E

This year, I've decided to follow the advice of writer Ashley C. Ford (one of my favorite twitter follows!) and pick a word to define my year. I spent the last week of December thinking about what my goals for the upcoming year was and what sort of things I want to accomplish. I finally decided on the word:

CREATE

This past year has not been good for my creative muscles. I've barely been writing. I don't really draw or hand letter anymore. I keep thinking of art projects, but not really making any real effort towards them. I don't like it. My mom went on a cleaning spree of the house while I was prone on the couch with my broken ankle, and she unearthed a lot of old journals from when I was younger. There were all kinds of diaries, school and art journals, with a ton of creative energy poured into them. My mom started lamenting that I never drew anymore. So it became clear: 2018 will be a year of creating.

It's one of the reasons I started writing here. I want a place to flex some of my writing muscles besides just my journal, which I am going to push myself to write in more. I went through a really strong kick in 2016 where I wrote a lot, but I really lost momentum in 2017. But not this year!

I'm also going to try and bullet journal. I have a planner, but I've just been so enamored with bullet journals for so long, and I think it's time to just dive in. My mom also found a basically empty sketchbook, which I want to fill with a lot of hand-lettering and practice. I also want to sign up for a watercolor class later this year. I really want to better myself at it, and I know I'll need more instruction than just what I can self teach myself off youtube.

I want to play around with makeup more. I have so many beautiful eye palettes, which I rarely use. I love eyeshadow and it's just time to experiment and have some fun. I've always adored makeup, and I used to play around with eye shadows a lot more, but frankly I just get a bit too lazy with my makeup. That's okay, but I just want to have more fun with my makeup!

There's so many more ways I think create can apply to this upcoming year. In fact, I'm excited for the end of the year when I get to reflect on what it was that I created. It doesn't have to be amazing Insta worthy moments, just enough to satisfy my creative muscles and bring me happiness. 

Here's to you 2018! Time to create something.