Tag: fiction
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February Wrap-Up: Reading Slumps, Tears, and Bridgerton Season 4
February is supposed to be a short month, but in all honesty? It felt like 47 business days. Let’s unpack. 📚 WHAT I READ Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel This book held me hostage. Not in a bad way. In a “you WILL sit here and contemplate art, survival, and the fragility of…
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Growing Up a Black Girl In The 90s (And Why Representation Matters)
There are two types of people in this world: I said what I said. Growing up in the 90s and early 2000s felt like living inside a cultural renaissance wrapped in butterfly clips, Blockbuster Friday nights, and theme songs that still activate something in my brain like a sleeper agent. It was a time when…
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Book Review – Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Okay, bookish besties. This is one of those books where I finished it, closed it, stared at the wall for a minute, “Well…that was certainly beautiful.” Did I like it? Yes. Did I love it? Not quite. Let’s unpack. 🌎 WHAT IT’S ABOUT This novel jumps back and forth between the lives of a famous…
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Valentine’s Day Special: Top 10 Romance Tropes Ranked From “Cute” to “Give It To Me Now”
Happy Valentine’s Day to all of my bookish besties who love love, hate love, tolerate love, or only want fictional men. Valentine’s Day is here, bookish besties, and in honor of this sacred holiday dedicated to love, chocolate, and delusional romantic fantasies, I’m counting down my Top 10 Favorite Romance Tropes – from the ones…
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January Wrap Up – Chaotic Reads, Cinematic Spirals, & Main Character Shenanigans
Welcome back to Stories, Sips, and Shenanigans, where I do my best, fall apart a little, read a few things, binge a few shows, and pretend I’m not already behind on three different life challenges. January came in hot, weird, emotional, and dramatic – basically me in month form. Did I read a lot? No.…
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Book Review – The Scammer by Tiffany D. Jackson *spoilers*
AKA the book that stole my peace, my breath, and my whole snow day… Bookish besties…. I originally put this book down because I found the beginning was going way too slow, but once I picked it up again, I spent a whole TWO days finishing it. And I only spent two days because I…
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Book Review – Only For The Week by Natasha Bishop
*Possible Spoilers* A Tulum getaway, a messy bridal party, a healing arc, and a man who actually understands the assignment? Yeah. I inhaled this one. Natasha Bishop delivered a romance that’s equal parts hot, heartfelt, and healing. This story had me yelling at fictional characters and swooning on my couch like “GIRL IT’S HAPPENING!!!” Let’s…
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Late January Check-In: What I’m Drinking, Reading, Watching, and Avoiding Right Now
January feels hella long. Like, aggressively long. Like it started in 2024 and refuses to leave. And now meteorologists are whispering sweet nothings about Armageddon-level snow? I support it. Cancel the plans. If we’re gonna suffer through the longest month known to man, we might as well do it wrapped in blankets with a mug…
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Book Review – The Lost Crown by Sarah Miller
Reread Review – because sometimes a book hits even harder the second time Alright besties, gather ’round the bibliotheque firepit because I’m about to take you back to my origin story as a Romanov Girlie™. If you ever wanted to know, “Ashley, why do you know an unreasonable amount about long-dead Russian royalty?” Well. Let…
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Blogmas Day 17 – MORE Series I NEED to Stop Ghosting – Part 2
Welcome back to my December confessional. Today, we continue the saga of Series I Need to Finish is 2026 – the ones I’ve ghosted, breadcrumbed, emotionally neglected, or stared at one my shelves like “soon…probably…maybe.” Let’s just dive right into the carnage. 1. The Green Bone Saga – Fonda LeeStatus: Haven’t started but might be…
Stories, Sips, and Shenanigans 