Reading – TandeWrites

Emily Lloyd-Jones, Erin A. Craig, Hannah Moskowitz, Maggie Stiefvater, Reading, Review

My Roman Empire Reads

Posted on April 30, 2024April 28, 2024 by Tegan Anderson

This was originally going to be a list of my favourite books of all time, but I realised that my favourites shelf on Goodreads is littered with books I haven’t read or thought about in five years, I thought I’d focus on the books that still do occupy my brain space to this day, some read more recently than others. And I know the ‘Roman Empire’ meme is dead by now, but I have no other way to describe the impact these books have had on me.

This list is accurate to my taste in books up to the age of twenty-one, as I know there are infinite books I’m planning to read that could potentially replace every single current entry. They are also predominantly young adult and fantasy, just because that’s what’s been scratching my brain right.

This list is in no particular order, except the order in which they appear on my bookshelves.

Let’s begin!

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Reading, Review

Reliving my childhood trauma one Jacqueline Wilson book at a time

Posted on January 24, 2024 by Tegan Anderson

Recently, there’s been a resurgence of people reminiscing on books that left irreparable damage to their childhoods on TikTok and, as someone who religiously read Jacqueline Wilson books before the age of ten, I feel very qualified to contribute to this conversation.

I will only be talking about the books that I’ve read and still have haunting my bookshelves, but I am very aware that there is infinite more Jacqueline Wilson books out in the world that have more vaguely traumatic content, such as the mummified cat, the art teacher, and a girl getting paralysed on a swing. And the entirety of Vicky Angel? Not in my personal top five, but I still think about it often.

This blog is full of spoilers. Let’s begin!

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Reading, Review

My Top Reads of 2023

Posted on January 2, 2024January 2, 2024 by Tegan Anderson

I’ve been reflecting on what I read last year, and I want to spend a little more time talking about my favourite reads of the year and collect those thoughts in one place. I think I did a video version of this in 2022 for what I believed to be the best books of the year (so far), but since then I’ve accepted that some of the books I love to read may not necessarily be the best of books. There will also be a few repeats as I did a post midway through the year with my favourite reads of the year so far. This list will be in no particular order, just vaguely chronological, so let’s begin!

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Reading, Review

Best Reads of the Year (So Far) | 2023

Posted on July 11, 2023July 10, 2023 by Tegan Anderson

I’ve been reflecting on what I’ve read so far this year, and I want to spend a little more time talking about my favourite reads of the year so far and collect those thoughts in one place. I think I did a video version of this last year for what I believed to be the best books of the year (so far), but since then I’ve accepted that some of the books I love to read may not necessarily be the best of books. This list will be in no particular order, just vaguely chronological, so let’s begin!

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Reading

What I Read in 2022

Posted on January 3, 2023January 1, 2023 by Tegan Anderson

I’m still working on a post about my favourite books of 2022, so here I am instead to write a recap of the year! I haven’t done one of these big round-up posts since last year, but Goodreads has shown me all of my reading statistics for the year, and I am still a number nerd.

Reading-wise, this year has been… something. It’s been a little underwhelming as last year was my most ambitious reading year to date, and this year has been spent handling university and life and health rather than reading. However, I’ve still fallen in love with the works of many new authors, and I’ve been making the most of my local library’s app for eBooks.

This year has also been pretty tough. My mental and physical health has been at its worst and I’m yet to fall back in love with writing, the one thing I’ve loved for a huge proportion of my life. And ongoing Covid. We won’t forget about that.

But this blog isn’t going to focus on that: it’s going to focus on all the good books I’ve read this year and how I suddenly need to buy a new bookshelf because the Waterstones half price hardcover sale continues to demolish my bank account.

This post might be long. Let’s begin!

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C.G. Drews, Emily Lloyd-Jones, Reading, Review

Best Reads of the Year (So Far)

Posted on August 23, 2022August 15, 2022 by Tegan Anderson

I’ve been reflecting on what I’ve read so far this year, and I’ve been making reviews for the advanced copies and did the Mid-Year Book Tag for YouTube, but I wanted to spend a little more time talking about my favourite reads of the year so far and collect those thoughts in one place. I did a video version of this last year for what I believed to be the best books of the year (so far), but since then I’ve accepted that some of the books I love to read may not necessarily be the best of books. This list will be in no particular order, just vaguely chronological, so let’s begin!

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Reading, Review

Gallant by V.E. Schwab [REVIEW]

Posted on June 28, 2022June 24, 2022 by Tegan Anderson

“Everything casts a shadow. Even the world we live in. And as with every shadow, there is a place where it must touch. A seam, where the shadow meets its source.”

Do you ever finish reading a book and think “oh that was a Me type of story”? Gallant was one of those for me. I finished reading and wanted to fold myself into the pages and stay there, and I really appreciate stumbling across those kinds of books rather than genuine perfect five star reads. I will say now that I did give this book five stars, but it was for those reasons and the fact that the book hit so many of my niche interests rather than the quality of the story and writing. An honest rating would be closer to 3.5 stars so I am going to take that into consideration for this review.

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Reading, Review

Lakelore by Anna-Marie McLemore [ARC REVIEW]

Posted on January 30, 2022January 30, 2022 by Tegan Anderson

I was given an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, but I preordered it months ago because I’m in love with the concept.

Lakelore is a young adult contemporary fantasy that tells the story of two neurodiverse and nonbinary teenagers. They’re connected through Lakelore, an ethereal world beneath a lake that they both visited when they met for the first time seven years ago. Lore’s only seen the world once, but that one encounter changed their fate. Many years later, Lore moves to the same town as Bastián as they’re once again connected as the lines between air and water begin to blur.

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Personal, Reading

What I Read in 2021

Posted on December 31, 2021December 31, 2021 by Tegan Anderson

I’m still working on a post about my favourite books of 2021, so here I am instead to write a recap of the year! I haven’t done one of these big round-up posts since last year, but Goodreads has shown me all of my reading statistics for the year, and I am still a number nerd.

Reading wise, this year has been exciting. It’s been my most ambitious reading year to date, I’ve fallen in love with the works of many new authors, and I’ve been making the most of my local library’s app for eBooks.

This year has also been pretty tough. My mental and physical health has been at its worst and I’ve fallen a bit out of love with writing, the one thing I’ve loved for a huge proportion of my life. And Covid. We won’t forget about that.

But this blog isn’t going to focus on that: it’s going to focus on all the good books I’ve read this year and how I suddenly need to buy a new bookshelf because I’ve filled my fourth one.

This post might be long. Let’s begin!

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Reading, Updates

Mid Year Book Freak Out Tag 2021

Posted on July 6, 2021July 5, 2021 by Tegan Anderson

We’re already halfway through the year and I’m surprisingly ahead on my reading challenge, but my TBR pile has also doubled in size. I’ve discovered the joy of my local library re-opening after our third lockdown, and some incredible Kindle books for under £1. I’ve also still been borrowing eBooks from my library until it’s safe for me to visit in person more regularly. Until then, my TBR will continue to grow and grow and grow.

Today, I’m doing the Mid Year Book Freak Out Tag, which is great because I’m currently looking at my reading challenge to remind myself what I’ve read, and I have no memory of reading any of them.

Let’s begin!

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