Gisela's Booked.

Reader • Traveler • Cafecito drinker 📚| Supporter of Self Care Sundays 🌱| Florida Things | Stay Curious 🌝

[giselasbooked]

“I want to read it all, I want to play it all, see it all. That world out there. What’s it like?” “It’s pretty grand, sometimes. But sometimes it disappoints you too.” • This book is the perfect cure for the Next Year In Havana book hangover I had. I started the book yesterday and I’m already HALFWAY THROUGH! 🌴 • #TheSummerWives #giselasbooked #BeatrizWilliams #bookstagram #SummerReads (at Honeymoon Island State Park)

[giselasbooked]

“No need to hurry. No need to sparkle. No need to be anyone but oneself. “ ✨ Some Monday Motivation from Woolf to be kind with yourself. It will be the reminder I take with me into this week after a weekend of relaxation with friends. Also, look at this cactus.🌵🌴 • #FloridaThings #giselasbooked #exploreyourbackyard #Strangestadventures #VirginiaWoolf (at Tampa, Florida)

[giselasbooked]

“Not knowing when the dawn will come I open every door.” | Here’s to opening all the doors! And also opening this book which I’ve been getting through slowly every morning for the past few months. 🌞☕️ • #EmilyDickinson #bookstagram #giselasbooked #bringcoffeeplease (at Winter Park, Florida)

[giselasbooked]

Disclaimer: As always with series such as these, I find myself writing more ranty-fangirl reviews instead of a super insightful literary-type review. Bare with me bookish friends. I really tried to take my time to read this book, but about halfway through I gave in to desire and sped through to the finish line and I am suffering a serious book hangover right now. I always get this way after finishing a series. I'm always a little sad to see the characters I've read about for years just go. BUT... That ending was super satisfying AND I hope I'm not reading into things wrongly (see what I did there-haha) but I think Victoria Aveyard left the ending a little open? And it might be the start of something new? Perhaps a spin-off?! Now about the characters- I really like Mare, and I think that might be an unpopular opinion but I absolutely like her a lot. She's gutsy, she stands up for what she believes in and doesn't let her love life get too much into the way of that. She's grown throughout the series and it is evident especially in the last book. Girl is making her own choices, keeping up with General Farley (another favorite of mine because she is completely bad-ass and I want to be her best friend), and not taking any crap from men. really enjoyed Maven and Cal's POVs. Maven's mind is just as topsy-turvy as anyone could guess and Evangeline's POV's were pure gold! The only point of view I didn't care too much for was Iris's. They were fundamental to the story, I'll give her that, but dear lord I couldn't wait to get to Evangeline and Mare's and anyone else's POV fast enough. There is so much more I want to say, but I'll just be ranting on and on. Before I finish, I have to applaud Victoria Aveyard. The book as a whole was amazing, and I didn't want to put it down- but what I really loved were the one-liners that put into perspective difficult situations that we must all face. I wrote so many down. So thank you Victoria Averyard, for having the courage to stick it to the man. It's actually 4.5 stars.

[giselasbooked]

“The years are long, but eventually, always, fortunes shift. The people rise. Such is the way of things. Either let change come willingly, help it along, or face the wrath of such force.” | I finished this book two days ago and I still have not been able to bring myself to write a review. The book hangover is real. ⚡️ • #Bookhangover #Bookstagram #giselasbooked #Warstorm #LighteningGirl #RiseRedAsDawn #sendmehelp

[giselasbooked]

Book hangovers are serious business- especially after finishing an epic fantasy series. My heart is still reeling but the cure might be some Netflix and a book in a completely different genre of the one I just read. Queue in Social Creatures. 🎭 • #Bookhangover #Bookstagram #giselasbooked #someonesendhelp #SocialCreature

[giselasbooked]

Trigger Warning: FYI this book deals with the topic of suicide. “How had it begun? Like everything: with mothers and fathers. Because of Lydia’s mother and father, because of her mother’s and father’s mothers and fathers.” There isn't much I can say except my heart breaks. Celeste Ng writes about familial interactions exceptionally. Every thought the characters had, the words that they shared, the words that they didn't- it all feels so close to home. There is nothing in the book that shouldn't be there. It is all necessary. Hearing about how people move on after the loss of a loved one is horribly sad, but it was the listening to the events that lead up to Lydia's suicide (not a spoiler) that truly broke my heart because there is nothing you can do but watch the tragic events unfold. We learn all the situations- from the falling in love and marriage of Marilyn and James, an interracial couple (when interracial marriage was still illegal in places like Virginia!), the struggles of Nath and Lydia growing up as mixed children, to the youngest child Hannah being completely overshadowed by her brother and sister.

I cried so many different times in this book. This book was painful but needed. Please have a box of tissues or a friend to hug nearby. <3 “What made something precious? Losing it and finding it.”

[giselasbooked]

“The world we want to build has to outlive us.” ⚡️ Started this monster of a book today and I’m already hooked and I guess I’ll just say bye to my social life? . #WarStorm #Imnotcryingyourecrying #bookstagram #RiseRedAsDawn #LighteningGirl

[giselasbooked]

I was on the fence about giving it a 4 but I don't really believe it deserves a 3, so just pretend that it is a 3.5. The first few chapters are a bit boring, and I couldn't get through some of the details, BUT it definitely picks up and the rest of the book was a breeze to get through! The Cafe by the Sea was the type of book I needed after reading many "serious" books (and currently listening to another serious read that is breaking my heart). We go on a journey with Flora, who is freaking hilarious, from her adopted home of London to her home on an island long off the coast of Scotland called Mure. What follows is a story about finding out where you belong, the ties that will forever bind us, and discovering long hidden passions. Seriously though, I wanted to eat everything Flora baked or cooked in the book!! Side Note: The author includes a few recipes in the back, which I'm super eager to try out! I'm also a sucker for anything folklore or mythical related. This book had it's fair share of selkie and sprite stories! "You can live in many different places. I would like to think you will step into many different worlds, many different places, and feel happy in all of them."

[giselasbooked]

“Long ago, I had learned that you could imagine anything you wanted, that the space inside your head belonged to you. Furnished and decorated and inhabited only by you, so that your insides teemed and seethed while your outward aspect remained serene.” - Beatriz Williams, Coco Beach | I wasn’t secretly seething in this picture, but I was thinking about the blueberry muffin I was about to eat. 🌴 • #FloridaThings #Coffeeshoptales #giselasbooked #CraftandCommon #BeatrizWilliams (at Craft & Common)

[giselasbooked]

“Sometimes, it was enough just to be with someone who understood.” | Back to reality means back to British Book Club with a beachy theme this time. You think being home I would be grounded and happy with my routine, but this book is only fueling my wanderlust more. Scotland again anyone?🌤🍃 . #BritishBookClub #TheCafeByTheSea #JennyColgan #bookstagram (at Orlando, Florida)

[giselasbooked]

“There are moments when you can’t believe something wonderful is happening. And there are moments when your consciousness is filled with knowing absolutely that something wonderful is happening.” - Rainbow Rowell | This was one of those moments people. I absolutely knew that something wonderful was happening being surrounding by people who get my weird and being in a new place. 💫🍃 . #PortlandMuseumofArt #fangirl #ShhJustLetItHappen #giselasbooked #RainbowRowell (at Portland Museum of Art)

[giselasbooked]

“I take pictures because I want to remember this place and all the things it made me feel. What does it feel like? I ask myself. Like cold air in your lungs after too much warm air.“ @tarrynfisher | 🌲🌊 Port Townsend has been an Helena sized adventure so far. ♥️ . #PLNRetreat #PortTownsend #giselasbooked #Shhjustletithappen #FindMagic (at Port Townsend, Washington)

[giselasbooked]

I enjoy long romantic walks through the bookstore. ♥️ | First things first when arriving in Portland- Powell’s and they are not kidding when they call it city of books. I got lost quite a few times. . #Powells #CityofBooks #giselasbooked #shhletithappen #bookstagram (at Powell's City of Books)

[giselasbooked]

4/5:

Brilliant, phenomenal, freaking hilarious. I was cracking up the whole time! Semple used emails, doctor's notes, FBI intel, letters, Bee (Bernadette's daughter) narrating to tell the story of how Bernadette goes missing. Bernadette is both hilarious and heartbreaking. I feel for her and I also want to shake her. But I love her despite all those feelings. I don't want to give too much away, just know this book includes: the techy world of Microsoft, crazy over-bearing PTA moms, a Russian tech mob, a trip to Antartica, an FBI investigation, and one daughter searching for her mother. I can't wait for the movie.

[giselasbooked]

“Everything was beautiful. Anything was possible. The whole world has been split open like a peach. And these poor people...Were they too old too see it? All they had to do was reach out and pluck it and raise it to their lips, and they would taste it too.” - Lauren Groff, Florida Stories | The Florida heat is just getting started and I’m seeking shade wherever possible.🌴🌞📚 . #bookstagram #floridawhyyousohot #laurengroff #winterpark #floridathings (at Foxtail Coffee)

[giselasbooked]

“ I see this land flowing with books... Widespread literacy. Books everywhere...” - Erika Johansen | Thank you Tonjanika for showing my love of books through your photos and including my favorites. ♥️ They are all beautiful and I felt so at ease even with my awkwardness! | In this photo I’m holding one of my favorite books of all time. (Also my mother is grateful for the formal photos. 😅) . #TheQueenOfTheTearling #ErikaJohansen #bookstagram #topshelfbooks (at Mead Botanical Garden)