From Junie B. Jones to Morally Grey Men

Blasting in my ears at the Library:  

So I have a Kindle Unlimited account and it is truly the best money I have spent...... ever. 

Growing up, I didn't have the love for reading that I do now. The private school I went to was very adamant about literacy and summer reading. It was full on book reports that we had to turn in before school even started. So, imagine my disdain at being forced to go to the public library, find a book to read ANDDDDD actually finish. I also believe it had to do with the fact that I wasn't very on par with the grade reading level either. Then one day, I happened to stumble across a colorful cover and discovered HER. Junie B. Jones, my queen as I live and breathe.
My mom finally got me my own library card because I had just started devouring those books. She was a brat (like me) and made plenty of mistakes, but by the end of every book there was always some kind of resolution or character growth.Which, in my opinion, is important with children's books because it allows the kids to understand that changing is okay and frankly unavoidable as they grow up. Finding Junie helped me understand that not all books are boring, you just need to find the right one.

Which led me to.....JOHN GREEN.... AND THE 2010 YA DYSTOPIAN ERAAAAAAA

I would like to thank my Mommy personally for funding my book addiction. I was at Half-Price Books and Goodwill just scouring for books to read. This was also the time that Dystopian YA got super popular (Hunger games was my flavor of YA angst). I remember dragging my family to The Hunger Games and The Fault in Our Stars movies the moment they hit the theaters. (Okay? Okay.) (⇦ That was some true love in my 14-year-old eyes). Once this era hit me in middle school, I began to learn about my tastes and interests.

(AT THIS TIME I WOULD LIKE TO DISCLOSE THAT I WAS READING FAN FICTION LIKE A MADWOMAN UNDER MY BLANKET ON A SCHOOL NIGHT AND REFUSE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT WATTPAD WAS ALSO THE REASON I STARTED TO LIKE READING. THAT IS A STORY FOR ANOTHER BLOG POST) 

It wasn't until I graduated from high school that my reading intake began to dwindle. College took up all my reading time, and not to mention all the reading you have to do in college! I was an English major, so there would be times I  would have to read three or four different passages for one class alone. I want to say it wasn't until the flipping plague hit the world, that I began to read for fun again. Let's be real, quarantine was kind of nice because we got to slow down a bit and do nothing for those two weeks. Then it became hell because I was stuck in a house with my family for wayyyyyy too long. 

Now that the world is mostly back to normal, I do what any other twenty-something girl does with her time, scroll on TikTok. With any sort of media that we consume through our phones, it sets algorithms made personally for me. So a couple months ago I had found myself on BookTok and everyone is raving about Sarah J. Maas and Rebecca Yarros and whatnot right? Well I start to get these small romantasy authors that I can't help but look up and they all say the same thing....available in Kindle Unlimited. I was like okay, okAY, OKAY!!! Let me look this thing up and see what all the fuss is about. Oh my god. 

There was a sale going on at the time that I looked into the prices and I couldn't pass up three months for eight dollars. This was where I fudged up....I did not leave my room or sleep for at least a week because I was just chowing DOWNNNN on some romance books of all types. I had mafia bosses, rich vampires, why choose alphas, shapeshifting krakens, and many, many morally grey men. I DON'T REMEMBER THE LAST TIME I WAS READING SINGULAR BOOKS IN A DAY. It got to the point where I was collecting badges and awards for being such a "bookworm". I was like mmm....no, I am reading about krakens stealing their human mates to live in their underwater castles to dote on them for the rest of their lives.

To sum up my very long-winded rant about books.....you should invest in Kindle Unlimited. YOU DON'T EVEN NEED TO BUY A KINDLE, JUST DOWNLOAD THE APP. You will not regret it because I guarantee you, you will hit your reading goals for the year. I think just within the last few months of owning the membership I have read about 30 books. Yes, they vary from 150 to about 500-ish pages, but it's still a book. It's like having access to a whole other library on your phone that knows exactly what you like and gives you new suggestions. To all the Kindle Unlimited authors...... Thank You. 

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