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Today I have the pleasure of bringing you a collaboration with Lilian @ green tea with books! Lilian blogs about all things bookish and literary: reviews, recs, TBR, tags, and basically everything in between. She was kind enough to collaborate with me to bring you a post about 12 of our book recs and anticipated reads for summer. Below you'll find Lilian's post, and when you're done reading, hop on over to her blog to read my part of the collab. I hope you enjoy! :D

*sidenote: all the titles are links, btw, even though they're not in bold. ;)


Hey there, Nicole’s readers! I’m so excited to be collaborating with Nicole today, and I hope you are too! Today I’ll be talking about three of my anticipated reads for the summer as well as give you some recommendations for your summer!




With all things Hawaiian (Maui! beach! sand! islands!), Sand Castle Dreams is the perfect read for any summer. I read Porch Swing Girl with a friend awhile back, and I really enjoyed it! Sand Castle Dreams released a couple of months ago and I'm so excited to read it!

Sometimes we have to face our greatest fears in order to become whole again.

Returning to Maui after one of the most challenging summers of her life, sixteen-year-old Olive Galloway is ready for things to return to normal—or, at least, a new normal.





Nicole talked about this book too, but ahhhhHHHHH yOU'rE kIDDiNg me the fantastic Abbie is writing a book?

Guys, I'm not joking when I say I've been waiting for this for a LONG TIME. And when you read the blurb, you'll swoon and want to eatread it immediately. It's releasing on August 7th, 2019, and I couldn't be more excited!!

It's also yellow, which screams summer to me. ;)

When 16-year-old poetry blogger Tessa Dickinson is involved in a car accident and loses her eyesight for 100 days, she feels like her whole world has been turned upside-down.





if you search up "beautiful covers", The Girl Who Could See would be the first one to pop up (probably not, haha, but it's so gorgeous and has #reputation on Goodreads). I'm not sure if it's exactly got a summer vibe, but I keep hearing about it and I. must. read. it, if only for the beautiful cover. :D

All her life Fern has been told she is blind to reality—but what if she is the only one who can truly see?

Fern Johnson is crazy. At least, that’s what the doctors have claimed since her childhood. Now nineteen, and one step away from a psych ward, Fern struggles to survive in bustling Los Angeles. Desperate to appear “normal,” she represses the young man flickering at the edge of her awareness—a blond warrior only she can see.




Now I'll share three reads for your summer. Each of these books are so great and I hope you'll add them to your TBR!



True to You was such a fantastic book! If I had to use an author's writing style to describe the writing style that I like to read, it would be Becky Wade's. She's a new author for me, but once I read one of her books, I read all the others in that series in three days. xP Her covers are all so gorgeous and I would definitely recommend picking up her books!





This book was so good! Here's a snippet of my review: I absolutely adored this book. What a completely enchanting, inspiring, and heartfelt read. So, so many things made this book a five star read for me, but I think the characters were at the head. Their struggles were written so well, but they also had strong character traits that really made me want to root for them (read the rest).




kay, I need to get my own copy of this book (it's a problem). xD I absolutely adore books that feature reality TV shows and Krista really hits the nail on the head with each one of her books. This book is a modern retelling of the Bible story of Queen Esther, AND IT'S SO GOOD. There are so many great spiritual morals in this book and definitely make it a must read.



And that'll be it for my part of this collaboration! Make sure to check out Nicole's reads and recs!


Don't forget to check out Lilian's blog for all sorts of bookish content (as well as pretty graphics <3) and don't forget to read my post while your over there. ;)

DNF: the fateful acronym that sometimes ends up as the single tag for a book. In 2018, I probably DNF'd more books than I ever have before, so today I've selected five books to tell you why I didn't finish them and what I'm going to do next with them, because just tossing them in the DNF pile just isn't enough for unsatisfied me. So who's ready for another bookish post?



Some tidbits about this book: This is a WWII story about a blind French girl growing up during WWII and a German boy who has been inducted into the Nazi political group. The story follows their lives through the German occupation of France. The entire time, there is this mysterious stone that is rumored to bring tragedy to whomever is in possession of it. It is the girl's father, a museum curator, who is trying to keep the stone away from the Nazis.

Why I DNF: This book is huge—it looks like I could finish in maybe a couple of weeks, but no. It's one of those books where there's a lot more on the inside than anticipated. So I ended up returning it several times to the library because one loan period just wasn't enough and then someone else checked it out and...well, I kind of forgot about it because I discovered Heist Society. #obsessed

So now what?: I've really wanted to read a good historical novel, so I re-checked it out. Hopefully one loan is enough to finish it since I got a school library loan which almost never expires, ha ha.



Some tidbits about this book: This is a fantasy about a girl who is one of the very few people in her world that can read and write. Reading is forbidden, and so the people pass down stories and histories through verbal storytelling. She is in possession of a very precious book, supposedly the last in existence, that holds all the secrets of her world's magic. But she's being hunted, and so she's on the run with her friend who can't speak and they're wrapped up in a complicated, intriguing plot.

This book is really interesting because there are little words on the bottom of the page by the page number, and as you read, you can keep track of them and they spell out a message that I assume will be important later in the story. All the mystery and codes are very engaging.

Why I DNF: Um, well, I actually don't have a great excuse for this one. I mostly didn't finish it because I didn't read it in one sitting and I own it. So I can read it any time, right? (Library books are majorly distracting.) For a more substantial reason, I liked the plot but I didn't feel as if I was getting enough answers soon enough. I like getting fed answers throughout the story that lead to more questions, but I feel like this was all questions and not many answers.

So now what?: I plan on finishing it. I loved the world-building and the little intricacies. It really came alive to me and I'm eager to find out where this plot is going.

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Some tidbits about this book: This is a story about a girl named Natasha from Jamaica. She was brought to the United States as a child. It also stars an Asian boy named Daniel who's lived in New York his whole life and has some angst issue with his brother. I didn't get very far in it, but basically the two of them meet and then he tries to get her to fall in love with him in a day--the day she's supposed to be deported.

 Why I DNF: I really liked the concept, and the characters weren't bad either. But there was waaaay too much rough language for me to keep reading. I probably got to chapter ten (they're short chapters) and at that point I was pretty uncomfortable, so I started skipping David's chapters because he was the one who said all the bad words, and then Natasha said something really crude and I was not okay with that so I was done. :|

So now what?: I'm not planning on finishing this one. Maybe if the movie is better I'll see that, but for now this one isn't making a comeback.



Some tidbits about this book: This is the fourth and final book in the Jackaby series, a story about a supernatural detective and his assistant in the early 1900's. Abigail Rook is finally at the end of the line with her employer, Jackaby, and they have to hunt down the Dire king. Fun stuff. I'm not sure where it went after that, but the previous books were very mysterious and adventurous.

Why I DNF: I started reading it—very exciting—and then I just put it down. I'm not sure what happened, but I just lost interest and didn't feel like finishing it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So now what?: I might finish it in the future, but I'm not burning to know how things turned out. I assume it was a good ending, and either Charlie or Jackaby died, but I highly doubt it was Jackaby. Maybe I'll be in a mood for supernatural come September. Right now I'm really craving a historical novel or a cute contemporary... ;) (If you have any suggestions please tell me! I have no idea where to begin. XD)



Some tidbits about this book: The first book in the Harry Potter series, it follows Harry on his adventures in his first year at Hogwarts. He fights monsters, discovers a secret precious rock, and faces down Voldemort for the first time, all while discovering his immense powers as the Chosen One.

Why I DNF: I read this series when I was twelve, and I loved it. So I thought I'd give it a re-read, but it was. so. freaking. boring. I got to chapter fourteen and Harry hadn't even gone to school yet.

So now what?: Frankly right now is not the time for me to give this series a re-read. The next time I read it will probably be to my children. In like, ten years. But sooner resurrection is not an impossibility! XD

It's finally 2019! It doesn't feel much different from 2018 to me, but a new year always has some sort of surprise in the future. So I thought maybe this would be a good time to highlight some of my high and low points of 2018 and then get into best reads of 2018, similar to a post I did last year.

• I took a trip to Washington DC for the first time with my family. We decided to tour the Smithsonian museums and some of the government buildings, and it was so so so cold. and cool, but mostly cold. Literally it was like 17 degrees outside and we decided to walk to all the monuments. O.o However, I loved riding the metro everywhere; that was super fun. :D
• I went to prom! First time, and it was super fun. My mother made this fabulous dress for me since we couldn't find anything cheap enough or worth altering. Prom was also my very first date. O.o So...I guess this is a sign I'm growing up? XD
• Girls camp in the summer was super lit but also extremely challenging. I went as a junior counselor for the first time and lets say that things didn't exactly go to plan, but I learned so much out of that experience, especially how to love people and not judge them.
• Youth conference to Palmyra, New York was also an amazing journey. I made a couple of new friends, and while the trip was mostly the bus ride up there, seeing the sights was like a spiritual bolster that I really needed. 
• Starting dual enrollment classes was also a major highlight for me. I loved my first semester, especially my English class and my math class. I set ambitious goals for this year education wise, and now I'm on a pretty good path to college. I just have to keep my grades up this year. ;)
• I took the ACT three times, and the second time they lost my test scores (>:[]) but I let it slide since on the third time I finally reached the score I wanted. :D I was actually pleasantly surprised because I got higher than I had expected. (Grateful for that timer breaking during the science portion!)
• I binged way too much Merlin last year, guys. Way too much. 
• My brother left on a two-year church mission. I'm super excited for him and proud of him too, because I know it's been a difficult year for him, but seeing him happier than he has ever been in his life is worth letting him leave. <3 
• I would say that my mental health has improved a lot this year. I'll talk about that more in a future post, but for now let's say that the worst phase I had was way back in the summer. Since then, I haven't fallen into any depressed stage for longer than a couple of days. :D

Wild Pennings reached thirty-eight subscribers this year! That may not seem like much, but it's a lot to me. Hopefully this year we can grow our little club some more. :)

The two most popular posts of the year were...



Five Struggles of a Blogger with Online Social Anxiety, with 14 comments and 125 pageviews, and 10 Middle-Grade Books YA Readers can Enjoy Too, with 22 comments and 117 pageviews.

I did my first collaboration with Lila Kims @The Red-Hooded Writer. We shared our experiences about pantsing and plotting our stories, and how it affects our writing. You can read Lila's post here and my post here. Thank you for working with me, Lila! :D

I started an Instagram account for Wild Pennings! You can check it out through this link or see my feed scroll by at the bottom of the home page. :)

Wow. I reviewed only four books this year...hmmmm. I don't know how I feel about this. I'll have to up that number this year and out-do myself. XD

Thank you for a wonderful 2018 of blogging! This blog would literally not exist without you. I've almost given up several times, but reading your comments and interacting with you guys motivates me to keep writing and expressing myself through blogging. Cheers to another year! :)


And now that highlights are out of the way, it's time for—*drum roll*—best of 2018!


Why does it not surprise me that it's another Ally Carter series. Y'all know how I rave about her books but this one maybe beats them all. I love how the series is written episode-style, so it's better of your read them in order, but it's not impossible to grasp if you read them out of order (like me, oops). I also loved the characters; they were stereotypical, but they fit the flow of the story well and made it fun and cozy. I wasn't a fan of some factors, but I honestly could not figure out half of hte plot twists. So if you like a twisty, unpredictable, mysterious action story, this is for you.



Not too much romance, and plenty of family bonds and history. It was slow but enchanting and I loved every second. Most importantly of all, this book made me think and feel. You can read my full review here.




I learn something every time I read this book, and I'm glad I read it again. I was at camp and going through a rough patch emotionally and needed a pick-me up. Reading this book reminded me how to care about other people and see the good qualities behind the surface. Later in the year, I bought a second copy just because mine is so worn. ;)




I don't remember the titles of many books that set me on edge, but hmm...The Alex Rider books always give me a thrill. So let's say Point Blanc. Honestly loved the action and suspense and it's been so hard to find good action books lie those.




I don't know if this counts as a genre...but I have officially fallen in love with The Silver Eye web-comic by Laura Hollingsworth. Definitely one of the best things I've discovered this year, but it's agony to wait for a new page each week. I guess that's why there's binge-reading. XD

The characters are complex and relatable, and somehow she manages to make me love every single one of hte,, even the villains, who I SHOULD be hating. D'X The story is an epic fantasy. which I haven't read much of for a couple of years, but this really helped me engage back into that genre. Also the artwork is just gorgeous.



I didn't have any issues with this book about the story or the characters or the cleanliness. In fact, there really isn't any major reason why this book is on here other than the author repeated Ryan's name about every other sentence and it drove me nuts. I honestly couldn't finish it because I was so aggravated. Mentioning a character's name more times than necessary is a pet peeve of mine, especially when the character is the only one in the scene. It is middle-grade, so if you want to read it, the story wasn't bad and the characters were okay. The thriller part was taking too long for my taste, but ugh. No. I cannot handle the name thing. Thinking about it makes me slightly riled. X'D



I think the only classic I can remember reading this year was Wuthering Heights. As much as I hated the characters, I loved the story and the ending was an unexpected surprise. Also Emily Brontë has the most beautiful story-telling voice.

You know you're ready for fall when you spend thirty minutes pulling together a gorgeous Pinterest board to substitute for the nonexistent Florida autumn.

ANYWAYS, as you can tell I am sooooo ready for everything fall brings...including books! There are lots of books that I could read during the rest of the year, but for some reason they feel seasonal to me, and autumn is the only time I feel like reading them. If that happens to you, welcome to the club. XD So here are some books I hope to read this fall! I say "hope" because I #avoidcommitment,


I actually mentioned this one in this post about my library haul from last summer, but I didn't read it...*cough* didn't even start *cough* But the color scheme is soooo autumn-y (shallow, I know) so hopefully I'll be able to get through it this time!



I got halfway through this book and then quit reading it about February, so I'm going to finish it because it was a lovely book, despite everyone being a perfect demon. We'll see how this ends. *shrugs* Also, it's one of my goals on my classics lists! I haven't read a classic for a while, so finishing this one will meet the goal for the month.


Time for a re-read! Stabby knife-throwing girls, smol cinnamon roll boys with strange talents, and murder mystery? Of course I'll come back eventually. It's been a while since I read it, but I needed some time before a re-read so that the original creepy feeling settles back in effectively. ;)



Y'all, I can't get enough of this book. Anyways, it's been a few months so it's not on the top of my reading list right now, but if I have time, I will be reading it again.  I need some more of that young Texas charm. 10/10 recommend.


I've been wanting to read this one since it came out but for some reason haven't? But now that I've seen plenty of reviews, I'm going to give it a try. I guess I just couldn't stand the fuzzy possibility of it being better than the Scorpio Races. XD
 


It has been four years since I read this series, so it's due for a re-read. (The draw to read it again makes me feel so nostalgic!) I just put the first book up here, but my sister and I are hoping to read the whole series together in October and watch the movies after we finish the books. She's already on book four, so I have a lot of catching up to do, but let's get this party started.


This time I really need to re-read the series before I read this book because everything is a messy jumble of memories, and it probably wouldn't be healthy to read this one and be like, "WHAAAAaaaAATttTT??" the entire time. Call me clueless. I deserve it. XD


Luckily, I remember what happened in the first book, so this should be easy-peazy. I don't know if I'll actually get to read it this fall, but I'm going to try. I'm so exited for it to come out!! Do any of you read Brandon Mull's books?


These are books that I hope to own or hope my library acquires. I don't think it's likely that I'll read them this fall, but it doesn't hurt to hope. Maybe I''ll get to go on a spree. If you've read these, what are your opinions, and would you suggest them?

Good evening! I was going to write a post for the fourth, but I missed it because I was a little #lazy. So, to all of you Americans, Happy Late Independence Day!! I hope y'all had a blast. (Haha, ten points to anyone who gets the pun.) So then, since I said I would try to post twice this month, I was going to write a post for a new series called As-of-Recent, but I didn't finish that either since recap posts like that take a loooong time to pull together. And then the most magical thing happened. I went to the library. Yes, the magic always happens in the library.

So I thought that since I had to post this week about something before my hiatus starts, what better than to do a library book haul? Y'all like talking about books, right? Don't worry, I have some other posts planned out for when I get back, but it's been a while since I wrote a bookish post so we'll go with this for now.

NOTE: I go to the library at least twice a month, but recently I've been getting fewer books and giving myself the whole month to read them so I can manage my reading habits better. I called this post a "haul" but it's more of like a pitiful excuse for a sad, slacking bookworm to get in some fun reading before school starts again.


I don't know if this is a common trend in bookworms, but I really like checking out books that have coordinating color schemes. So thus the title of this post, with accents of gold and black.

The first book I got was The Traitor's Game by Jennifer A. Nielsen. I absolutely adored The Ascendance Trilogy she wrote, so I was super excited for her other books. Funny story: my library has only the third book in The Mark of the Thief series, and so I've been waiting forever and silently cursing the ordering system for my library to order the first. (WHO FREAKING ORDERS THE THIRD BUT NOT THE FIRST TWO?? WHY!!) So when they got The Traitor's Game about a month ago, I really only saw the "book one" tag on the spine before I snatched it up. Yes, I accidentally checked this one out. Oops. I started it, but then returned it because I had also checked out a bunch of Ally Carter books and those were basically by life about then. Thus leads me to checking it out now, because I hate to leave books unfinished. They're like lonely souls no one cared to learn about. well that got depressing quickly.

The first two chapters were kind of slow, and I'm not particularity enthralled with the main character, but I have faith that it will get better. I have a foggy memory that the beginning of The False Prince was similar, and yet I loved it.


The second book I got was The Hazel Wood. I vaguely recall reading a Paper Fury review on it, but I honestly have no idea and am too lazy to go search it up. It looks intriguing though. Let me know if you guys have read this before and what you thought of it. I would also appreciate questionable content recommendations before I start.


By this time, I realized that these two beauties had matching color schemes, so I obviously had to find a third to complete my shelf. Now I was going to check out another Ally Carter book (surprise surprise) or an Alex Rider book (I haven't finished the series yet), but I decided they could wait. Actually, they didn't have the second Heist Society book and I died and my sister checked out the fourth Gallagher Girls book before me THE LITTLE TRAITOR. In the midst of my despair, I forgot about the Alex Rider books. 

I decided to grab Pax, which I've been eyeing for a while but I heard it was sad and didn't know if I was willing to sacrifice the rest of my soul but OH WELL. It's for the color scheme, people. Anything to make it match. My little brother confirmed that, yes, it is sad from the get-go and so I now know that I will no longer have a soul by the time I finish these because these books keep eating it up and I have no soul left to give. #thismightbeaproblem


So what the heck does cacti have to do with this? Well...I also found this cute book, and while it broke the color scheme, it was the most adorable size (I'm known to check out library books based solely on this criterion) and it's about a girl without arms. Sounds fun.

So far, I've been loving it. The setting takes up several chapters to establish, but it's not boring at all. There's a lot of entertaining banter and background info. There's also supposed to be a mystery, so I'm excited. I'm seventy-five pages in and so far so good. Plus cacti are cute. That has nothing to do with how great the book is, but it's a fact, therefore you should listen to me. XD

haha, I'm sorry about the quality of these photos. Next time I'll use my DSLR. XD

Also, here's a reminder that I'm going on hiatus next week, and you're invited to join me! I'm taking all of next week, from the 8th through the 14th, entirely off from blogging and social media. If you would like to join me in this challenge, please do! I can promise that it will be so beneficial for you in so many ways. Here is the post I wrote about my personal experience from last month.

I hope you all have a lovely week! I will be at summer camp part of the time, as a youth camp leader/counselor, and I am! so! excited!!! I will see you all next Sunday. :D