(I plan to do a “Currently…” post every other Tuesday. You should join me! Find the origins of the idea HERE.)
Loving
Mount Vernon! We made our third trip the other day (we’re trying to visit during each of the four seasons), and it was beautiful as usual. George Washington’s home is one of our favorite D.C. spots. If you’re ever in the area, definitely give yourself a day to check it out.
Reading
I recently finished Marie Rutkoski’s The Winner’s Kiss, my most anticipated release of the year, and it was just… perfection. It made me feel a million feelings and the end was just so satisfying. Plus, it’s a NYT Bestseller! Check out my more detailed review in March’s Reading Wrap-Up. Now I’m reading Emery Lord’s latest release, When We Collided, and it’s lovely so far.
Watching
Nothing much, honestly. The older I get, the less patience I have for TV and I just haven’t had time for movies lately. That said, despite my ranting at the end of the last season of Game of Thrones (*sob*), I am looking forward to April 24th and the first episode of Season 6.
Listening To
I just finished All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely, and it was fantastic. Powerful and important and, unfortunately, timely. I’m so impressed with how layered the characters are, and how complex Rashad and Quinn’s relationships with family and friends turn out to be. Plus, the audiobook narrators are exceptional. Big recommend.
Thinking About
My WiP. It’s coming along, word-count-wise, but oof… it’s a mess. I keep reminding myself that I can’t fix words that aren’t written, but I’ve never dealt with a first draft this shitty. Hopefully by the time I’m done drafting I’ll have figured out what this story’s actually about. I did come across this line, though, written months and months ago — She smells like fields of lavender. She tastes like strawberries. She kisses like a freaking champ. — and I kind of like it. I’m hoping that, eventually, I’ll kind of like the rest of the book.
Anticipating
So, so excited about the Gilmore Girls revival — especially now that Entertainment Weekly has released photos from the set. Can’t wait to be reunited with Lorelai, Rory, Luke, Sookie, and the rest of the gang!
Wishing
That you’ll check out the following Goodreads lists: YA Novels of 2017, YA Debuts 2017, 2017 Debut YA/MG Novels, and Books Published by Swoon Reads. Kissing Max Holden has found its way onto all of them, which is so exciting! Maybe you’d like to vote for my debut, or add it as “To Read”. 
Making Me Happy
Longtime friends who flew across the country to visit, and were willing to participate in a 10 mile trek through D.C., during which dozens of tourist attractions were viewed. We’re having an awesome time with Kari and Patrick!
Did you post a “Currently…” this week?
Let me know in the comments, and I’ll be sure to visit!
Katy Upperman ~ Author 
Gilmore Girls! 🙂 YAY! I can’t wait. And can you believe we’ve never been to Mount Vernon? We’re going to take our families when they’re here at the end of the month/beginning of May…
Thanks for doing the “currently” posts. I did one today too 🙂
Have a great time with Kari and her husband!
I think you’ll love Mount Vernon! Spring seems to be a great time to go, too. Can’t wait to check out your post, Elodie!
So excited to read the edited Kissing Max Holden. I have it listed as “read” on Goodreads, but it’s definitely on my TBR list, too. 🙂 Also, I’m so with you on Game of Thrones!
Here’s my post: http://www.lizparkerwrites.com/2016/04/currently.html
MAX will be different (stronger!) when it comes out, so I’m excited that it’s still on your TBR. 🙂 Can’t wait to check out your post, Liz. Have a great week!
Ohhh, I love Mt. Vernon AND Gilmore Girls AND The Winner’s Kiss. Which makes me think I’m going to love Kissing Max Holden too. xo
Yay! I hope so! Clearly you have excellent taste. 🙂
My copy of WHEN WE COLLIDED came yesterday…can’t wait to dive in! Emery has become one of my favorite authors. ❤ And I just finished TWK – so perfect! The series is the perfect balance of romance, politics/strategy, and father/daughter conflict. My heart broke for Kestrel over her relationship with her father…that girl has been through a lot. Also, I kind of want to soak up Marie Rutkoski's writing style and learn from it. I think she's one of the most talented writers I've read in the last few years!
Also, Sookie officially coming back to Gilmore Girls is the best news!!! 🙂 I'm more excited for the revival than before, if that's possible! Have a great week, Katy!
http://kaitlinbartlett.blogspot.com/2016/04/currently-lots-of-books-fantastic.html
Totally agree with you regarding Marie Rutkoski’s writing. She’s freaking brilliant! She’s doing an event at the Bethesda library in May and I’m totally going to go. I hope she’ll talk about her process because I’m SO curious. And yay for Sookie! Can’t wait to check out your post, Kaitlin. Have a great week!
I can’t wait to really get into THE WINNER’S KISS. I’m still really close to the beginning and would love to just sit down and devour it. It makes me so happy to hear that you loved it as much as you did. I’m super excited about Gilmore Girls coming back. I hope they really do it justice. Hubs and I are watching the last season of GoT again to prepare ourselves for the upcoming season. Can’t wait!
I hope the words start flowing the way you want them to with your current WiP, and that they start feeling less shitty to you. Though, I’d be willing to bet that your words aren’t nearly as shitty as you think they are. 😉
I did up a Currently… post today too. It was like pulling teeth getting it done, and there’s an awful lot of Gemma-related stuff, but I did it! Phew!
Oh, you’re being far too generous about my shitty words. Actually, the words are fine on a sentence level. It’s the plot that’s the problem which, you know, is pretty huge. 🙂 Regarding THE WINNER’S KISS — I had literal physical reactions to that book; it made me feel SO anxious. But of course I loved it, and I hope you do, too. I’m so glad you posted today, Jaime! Can’t wait to check it out!
GILMORE GIRLS!! Yes! So excited for the revival!
I’ve seen so many people hyping up The Winners series–glad to know it lives up to the excitement. I finally ordered THE WINNER’S CURSE (so I’m way behind!), haha… but I waited until the last book came out so I didn’t have to wait between books if I fell in love! 🙂
I’ve also seen lots of people hyping THE WINNER’S CURSE books and to be completely honest — it’s totally deserved. I’m often underwhelmed by books that get tons of attention, but not this one. Totally on the bandwagon. 🙂 I hope you’ll love the trilogy, too. Let me know!
I just picked up When We Collided from the library yesterday! I know it’s going to be so good!
I’m not so far in yet, but I’m already loving the writing style. Emery’s yet to disappoint. 🙂 Have a great week, Jennie!
My copy of THE WINNER’S KISS got here yesterday and I can’t wait to start reading it. I’m relieved to know you loved it, because I’m always worried about liking the last book in a series, and I have especially high hopes for this one.
I’m sure something awesome will come out of this draft even if it feels rough right now. The line you shared sounds promising. Just change the last bit to “She writes like a freaking champ” and pin it up somewhere to remind you that you’ve got this! 🙂
Ha — I love the idea of leaving a positive note about writing for myself. I might just have to try that. 🙂 I hope you enjoy WINNER’S, Erin. I loved that it surprised me, but felt perfectly satisfying, too. Let me know what you think, and have a great week!
I’m reading When We Collided right now too. Really enjoying it.
That line from your WIP is love! Since mine is also a mess (I’m trying to untangle and feeling better than I was two weeks ago but… ugh.)
I’m getting better at currently… two entries in a row. YAY!
Yay for another Currently post! I can’t wait to check yours out! We’ll have to compare WHEN WE COLLIDED notes once we’ve both finished. 🙂 Have a great week, lady!
I used to love doing walking tours around D.C with visitors, there’s so much to see.
Im very excited about the Gilmore Girls revival too.
Good luck with the WIP
I joined in again this week (almost back on track with semi regular blogging!) https://alexabarry.com/2016/04/12/currently-5/
I’m so glad you’re here for another week, Alexa! We definitely got our walking in over the weekend. It’s nice to live in a place where we can “stay-cation” with friends, and as well as seeing some favorites, we got to check out a few new places, too. Hope you have a wonderful week!
Looks like y’all have been having a lot of fun! Love the line from your WIP. And I’m going to have to check out that audio book.
OMG OMG OMG….GILMORE GIRLS!!!!!!!!!!! They need to hurry up! I read somewhere that they wanted to release each “season” separately, b/c “that’s what the fans want”. Um…NO!
Ha — no way! I want to binge watch all four seasons! But… I can see how it’d be kind of cool to watch the seasons during the correct time of year. Also, it’d give us something to look forward to for that whole year. 🙂 Hope you’re having a great week, lady!
So excited for Game of Thrones! I can’t wait. 🙂 I am Team Lannister, though, which is so not a popular opinion!
Really?! Team Lannister? Interesting. I’m Team Jon Snow — *if* that’s even a team anymore. 😬 Excited and very nervous about the new season!
I think Cersei, in particular, is very strong. The way the show is designed tricked people into thinking the Starks were the “heroes,” but there are no heroes and very few villains. In rewatching and thinking about it, Cersei is basically put into horrific situations and does her best when she’s trapped in a terrible marriage and life. Jaime is honorable, even if it’s not traditionally so. He loves Cersei and has never been with another woman. Yes, it’s incest, but he’s very loyal to her and to Tyrion. Tyrion is witty, but under it, he’s been abused terribly. Even Tywin was noble in his own way. Tywin and Ned Stark were very similar in their values. We just met Ned first and were told we should think of him as the hero. The Lannisters have done very little that was bad, yet are portrayed as the villains. Why? Because Baelish succeeded in making the Starks and thus the viewers believe they had done something. Baelish killed Joffrey. He killed Jon Arryn. He framed Tyrion. He started the war between the Starks and Lannisters. Meanwhile, the Lannisters are “evil” because Cersei is forced to marry Robert, who abuses her, and she had the misfortune of loving her brother.
I’ve always loved Tyrion and I’ve liked Jaime for a few seasons now, since his time with Brienne. Cersei — against all odds — is growing on me. The walk of shame she did last season made my heart hurt. But she’s just so ruthless! I’ve got a soft spot for Jon Snow because he’s so GOOD. And I loved Robb for the same reason, but we all know how that turned out. 😢 Can’t wait to see how the coming season plays out!
So I commented and COULD NOT FIGURE OUT where my comment went … and then it turned out I accidentally commented on an old “Currently”. Whoops! So here is is again!
Playing along! Gets me out of my typing and not publishing rut. I just put the whole Winner’s trilogy on request at my library. Sounds right up my alley – I did adore Ruby Red but I haven’t read it in forever. Might have to pick it up again.
Ha! Well, I’m so glad I’m seeing your comment now. 🙂 I’m thrilled that you’re going to read the WINNER’S books, and I hope you love them as much as I do. Have an awesome week, April!
I must get to Mount Vernon someday soon! Also, I too am looking forward to this season of GoT, despite how angry last season made me. Guess they’ve got me hooked!
Hope your first draft is treating you much better now!!