Spilling The Secrets | May & June, 2017

Well, folks, it's that time of the month yet again! Time for a monthly wrap-up (or in this case, I'm wrapping up two months)! Boy, does time fly! I can't believe we're already halfway through 2017, can you?! It's crazy! But, nevertheless, another month has passed and it's time to reflect...


Not much to report i blogging business aside from that the bloog is still under renovation (as you may have noticed). I have yet to ssettle on a design, so don't get too attached to anything for nnw. But yeah. That's all for now!

• Get to know me via the "Who Are You?" tag!
• Maggie also did the who are you tag!
• Patsy Walker, a.k.a. Hellcat! Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 review
• The Hundredth Queen review
• I recommended some books for all you Ravendors/Gryffinclaws

Patsy Walker, a.k.a. Hellcat! Vols. 1 & 2 by Kate Leth, et. al
This comic is just the cutest! I'm certain I've found a new favorite! Patsy Walkker, a.k.a. Hellcat! was full of adorable characters and fun times. I loved that it wasn't too heavy or overly complex and the guest appearances by other superheroes was so fun! All in all, this comic is a blast!

The Hundredth Queen by Emily R. King
Though this book was entertaining, I felt like it was kind of problematic in regards to the Indian culture it was based off of. It was a quick read and it was fun, but it wasn't full of a lot of substance. I'm not sure if I want to continue with the series ass of right now.

Dividing Eden by Joelle Charbonneau
This book was super fun, but ultimately not too memorable. I felt like it was filled to bursting with fantasy and dystopian tropes and that made it less distinguishable from the crowd. The cliffhanger ending did get me, though, and I'm curious to see how the series develops.

Bombshells Vol. 1: Enlisted by
I think we should have a moment of appreciative silence because I finally finished Bombshells Vol. 1! I mean, it took me so loong to finish this comic bind-up that I'm pretty sure I just must've set a new world record! Anyhoo, this didn't take me a while to finish because it was bad or anything! In fact, I really enjoyed it and plan on getting to the second volume ASAP! This is a great comic and I highly recommend it if you're looking for something super fun!





"Sequels" is the name of the game when it comes to this July's TBR. I'm aiming to knock out several tomes that come later in a series, such as Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare, A Court of Wings And Ruin by Sarah J. Maas, and Blood for Blood by Ryan Graudin. Almost all of the other books are books by authors who have already been published, with When Dimple Met Rishi being the only debut novel, as well as the only contemporary novel on my TBR for July.


Another month, another eclectic music collection. I've been really feelin' the ambient, relaxing sound of late, hence this playlist is a little softer. Despite the generally softer mood, though, Portugal, The Man's new single "Feel It Still" came in first place for me with a rockin', old school-style, easy-to-dance-to jam! Give the playlist a listen and let me know if you're feelin' any of the songs!


I finally (finally!) watched Rogue One and, as predicted, I LOVED it!!! Everything about the movie was so great and I loved that you needed minimal prior Star Wars knowledge to really enjoy it! I must admit, though, it did make me tear up. I loved Jyn and the crew--especially the robot, Bodhi, and Jyn! I do wish we had gotten to know the characters a little better, but from what I hear, the books (which are canon) fill you in on that front, so I might have to pick one up! Anyhoo, Rogue One was a great film and it 100% has my seal of approval and recommendation!


I've aways loved poetry, but for a while there I wasn't reading much of it. Well, I think I can say I'm officially back on the poetry bandwagon! I bought Nikita Gill's book of poetry, Your Soul Is A River and it just reminded me of why I love poetry so much. Fun fact about reading poetry that I learned from my mom (who's a neuropsychologist): There have been studies comparing the minds of people meditating and people reading poetry, and they've found that the minds of people reading a poem are in a similar state to that of people meditating! No wonder poetry is so relaxing! Anyhoo, I just find poetry so calming and healing and I'm so glad I'm back in the swing of reading it.

If you're new to poetry and you're unsure of where to start, I highly recommend checking out a few modern poets, such as Nikita Gill, Atticus, and Amanda Lovelace!

• The adaptation of Patrick Ness's Chaos Walking Trilogy is set to begin filming summer, 2017
• S. Jae-Jones's Shadowsong, the much anticipated sequel to her debut novel, Wintersong, got a cover
• John Green announced that he will be releasing a new novel, titled Turtles All The Way Down

This past month was super busy, but also really fun.

First off, the second issue of Stay Bookish was published! If you missed my last segment of Spilling The Secrets, I am now a writer for the YA literary eZine, Stay Bookish. Stay Bookish was created by Hazel, who runs a blog which goes by the same name. As I mentioned before, we focus primarily on YA literature and we've got all sorts of fun features, including interviews with well known authors such as Becky Albertalli and S.K. Ali, quizzes, playlists, opinion articles, and much more! I'd love if you'd give the zine a look as we've worked really hard to bring y'all a great package!

Back in May The Kennedy Center (Washington, D.C.'s major theater and performing arts center and the official memorial of John F. Knnedy) celebrated JFK's 100th birthday with a day filled with performances that were free and open to the public. So my best friend and I decided to go and we had a blast! We saw the debut performance of a ballet, some bluegrass bands, skateboarders, and aerial dancers perform. I think my favorite part was the ballet we saw, which was absolutely stunning! I had a great time!

In other news, I got to pilot a plane again! My best friend's dad is former US Air Force and he regularly rents planes, so we rented a small plane and flew up through New York City! It was amazing to see the city from above and I got to see the Statue of Liberty for the first time! And for about 20-30 minutes of the trip, I got to fly the plane all by myself! It's technically my second time flying a plane, but this time I wasn't completely terrified, lol! I was able to relax a bit and set my anxiety aside and ya know what?! I actually had a lot of fun!

That's all for life events, but July promises plenty of fun adventures!