Tag: hot dog girl

Monthly Wrap Ups, Uncategorized

2022 Wrap Up!

theblindscribe

Happy Friday bookish people! My goodness the end of the year has arrived very quickly and it is time to do my yearly wrap up. For this year I am going to show a picture of the book cover of every book I have read this year all broken down into categories determined by the star rating I gave the book.

overall, this year I have only managed to read 49 books, compared to over 100 last year.

2 star

This year I read no books that I disliked so much that I gave them one star, it was close but I eventually decided the books in the two star category are:

In my 3 star category are:

4 star ratings

and finally… my two books I read this year that I rated five stars are…..

Book Tags

Folklore Book Tag

theblindscribe

Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all having a good day today. The book tag I am doing today is the Folklore Book Tag which I found on laurensboookshelf.com but was created by lisa @A Whisper of Ink. It looks like it will be a very fun tag so I am looking forward to sharing my choices here.

The 1: A book with an ending that left you speechless

Ooh that’s starting with a difficult one… I think I am going to go with Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell because the first book in the series ends in a way I wasn’t expecting but obviously I can’t say how it ends here because of spoilers

Cardigan: A book that makes you feel happy and sad all at once

I am going to go with The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner, there’s two different timelines within this book and both of them constantly made me feel happy and sad when I read it.

The last Great American Dynasty: A book with a fascinating and well-told story

I have to choose Cecily by Annie Garthwaite for this one, it is one of my favourite books of 2022 so far and it is haunting and just overall brilliant.

Exile: A book you wish you hadn’t read

I am afraid this has to be The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, I just did not enjoy it and I still own the rest of the series.

My tears ricochet: A book that made you cry uncontrollably

Books don’t make me cry like that, I might tear up but not cry uncontrollably so I don’t really have an answer for this one.

Mirrorball: A book that feels like it was written just for you

This is definitely The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern, I love the magic of this book and it feels like it was the perfect book for me.

Seven: A childhood book that makes you feel nostalgic

The Faraway Tree series by Enid Blyton, I always loved this series as a child and I still love to reread them now.

August: A book that reminds you of summer

I honestly can’t think of a book that makes me think of summer, I am sure that as soon as I post this book tag three of them will come to my mind but right now I have no answer.

This is me trying: A book that deals with loneliness and sadness

the first book that comes to mind is Holding Up The Universe and I read that when I was in secondary school a while ago and I can’t remember it all that well.

Illicit Affairs: A book that gave you a book hangover

most recently Hot Dog Girl by Jennifer Dugan, I’m not sure why other than I didn’t love the book but I didn’t read for nearly two weeks after that book.

Invisible String: A book that came into your life at the exact right time

Caraval by Stephanie Garber definitely, I read it at a time when I was searching for a really great book about magic, fates and sisters.

Mad Woman: A book with a female character you adore

I know I have just used it but I have to go with Scarlett from Caraval, she is a headstrong yet caring female character.

Epiphany: A book that was haunting

Ooh another one I don’t have an immediate answer for… I think I have to choose City of ghosts by Victoria Schwab

Betty: A book couple that fills you with yearning

Audrey Rose Wadsworth and Thomas Cresswell from the Stalking Jack the Ripper series by Kerri Maniscalco

Peace: A book character you’d die for because you love them so much

I think I would have to say Elisabeth from Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

Hoax: A book that you thought you were going to love but didn’t

A Line to Kill by Anthony Horowitz. I loved Moonflower Murders by the same author but this one just didn’t have the same enjoyment unfortunately.

That’s it for the Folklore Book Tag, I hope you all enjoyed it!

Book Reviews

Book Review: Hot Dog Girl by Jennifer Dugan

theblindscribe

Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you are all having a good day today. Today I am bringing you a book review for my last June read which was Hot Dog Girl by Jennifer Dugan.

In this book review I will give star ratings to four categories and I will write a little bit about each. I will try to keep it as spoiler free as possible. I hope you enjoy my book review.

Hot Dog Girl Plot:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

I was really excited to first get into this book. It had been on my wishlist for a long time until a friend sent me it and I was excited because, although it was a romance novel which isn’t my usual genre, it was set at a fun fair type location in a small town and I mean the cover showed a girl dressed up as a hot dog. I thought there would be some great comedy elements to it. There were a few of these and I was surprised how there were also serious topics running through the story too which balanced it out nicely. Honestly I wanted to see more of the setting, it was mentioned in passing but it never seemed to be as big a feature as it felt like it should have been. That is something I felt the book was overall, the story was okay but each of the elements could have been explored more. For me, if I read romance I like a good build up, this book didn’t allow for that.

Hot Dog Girl Characters:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

The two main characters in this book were Elouise and Seeley who are best friends. For the first half of this book I loved the characters, they had well thought out distinct personalities but by the time it got to the second half of the book I couldn’t understand their motivations anymore and for me personally there seemed to be a lot of actions that came out of nowhere and I lost any connection I had to the characters.

Hot Dog Girl Writing and Dialogue

Rating: 4 out of 5.

This was definitely a high point for this novel. The writing style changed depending on the tone it was creating and that really helped me as a reader sense the emotions that would be felt.

Hot Dog Girl Overall

Rating: 3 out of 5.

I gave this book three stars overall because it was an okay story but I wasn’t as invested in it as I think I could have been.

Blurb/Synopsis:

Elouise (Lou) Parker is determined to have the absolute best, most impossibly epic summer of her life. There are just a few things standing in her way:

* She’s landed a job at Magic Castle Playland . . . as a giant dancing hot dog.
* Her crush, the dreamy Diving Pirate Nick, already has a girlfriend, who is literally the Princess of the park. But Lou’s never liked anyone, guy or otherwise, this much before, and now she wants a chance at her own happily ever after.
* Her best friend, Seeley, the carousel operator, who’s always been up for anything, suddenly isn’t when it comes to Lou’s quest to set her up with the perfect girl or Lou’s scheme to get close to Nick.
* And it turns out that this will be their last summer at Magic Castle Playland–ever–unless she can find a way to stop it from closing.

Jennifer Dugan’s sparkling debut coming-of-age queer romance stars a princess, a pirate, a hot dog, and a carousel operator who find love–and themselves–in unexpected people and unforgettable places.

That’s it for this book review, I hope you all enjoyed it!

Monthly Wrap Ups, Uncategorized

June Wrap up!

theblindscribe

Happy Friday bookish people! It is the first of July, we are starting the summer with an okay month of reading. I didn’t read as much in June as I thought I would, other things just kept getting on top of me and I was struggling a little bit with how much there was that had to get done immediately. Anyway, June was still good. I managed to read a few books, I went to Belgium and back in a weekend, and I had my first meeting with a potential guide dog and if you want to read about this I will be posting on Friday’s throughout July about what it has been like going through the guide dog process. But we are here today to see what I read in June so let’s get into the wrap up.

  • Uprooted by Naomi Novik – I did not read. I wasn’t really feeling much fantasy this month.
  • Mad Woman by Louisa Treger – I did read this! I was kindly sent a copy of this book by the author and I have posted my review of this book already, probably my favourite read of June
  • The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake – I did not read this
  • Hot Dog Girl by Jennifer Dugan – I am currently reading this book, a few pages before I go to bed each night
  • Ariadne by Jennifer Saint – I did not read this
  • Nine Lives by Peter Swanson – I did not read this
  • Lockwood and Co by Jonathan Stroud – Another book I am currently in the middle of reading
  • A Darker Shade of Magic graphic novel 1 – I did read this
  • Finlay Donovan Knocks Em Dead by Elle cosimano – I did not read this
  • A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee – I did not read this
  • A Darker Shade of Magic graphic novel 2 – I did read this
  • The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex – I did not read this
  • Book Lovers by Emily Henry – I did not read this
  • Beggars Abbey by V L Valentine – I did not read this
  • The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi – I did not read this
  • Lore by Alexandra Bracken – I did not read this
  • Stay Sweet by Siobhan Vivian – I did not read this

So from my TBR I read 3 books and I am in the middle of two, which I should finish before the end of June. Outside of my TBR I also read the third A Darker Shade of magic graphic novel so altogether I read 6 books which isn’t too bad.

That’s it for this month’s wrap up, I hope you all enjoyed it! What did you all read in June?

Monthly TBRs

June TBR!

theblindscribe

Happy Thursday bookish people! Today I am bringing you my TBR for June. This month there is a month long readathon created by Maddie at BookBrowsingBlogs on Youtube, the readathon is called whateveryouwantathon and there are four different teams with dome different prompts. I am following the prompts of the Sunset Scholars.

My June TBR:

  • A book featuring dragons: I chose Uprooted by Naomi Novik, I don’t think I have any books with actual dragons in – except for Lord of the Rings – but from what I remember of the synopsis this book has a character called the dragon.
  • Red on the cover: I chose Mad Woman by Louisa Treger
  • Host Fave: I chose The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake
  • Less Read genre: I chose Hot Dog Girl by Jennifer Dugan
  • Shiny Cover – I chose Ariadne by Jennifer Saint
  • Previous TBR: Nine Lives by Peter Swanson
  • The/An/Of/A/And: Lockwood and Co by Jonathan Stroud
  • Under 300 pages: I chose the first graphic novel for A Darker Shade of Magic
  • Continue a series: Finlay Donovan Knocks ’em Dead by Elle Cosimano
  • Academia: A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee
  • 2021 release: I chose The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex
  • A different format: I chose the second A Darker Shade of Magic graphic novel
  • Book about Books: I chose Book Lovers by Emily Henry
  • Recently Hauled: I chose Beggars Abbey by V L Valentine
  • Favourite Genre (Fantasy!): I chose The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi
  • One word title: I chose Lore by Alexandra Bracken
  • S’s on cover: I chose Stay Sweet by Siobhan Vivian

There are also a few prompts that are things like cozy reading time and complete a personal reading goal which I didn’t put in the list because they can be completed with any of the books.

That’s it for my June TBR, I hope you all enjoyed it! What are you reading in June?