A bookstagram caption (see below for the bookstagram post) that I did this week, inspired me to list down [more] K-drama recommendations, this time with their corresponding posters and synopsis.
Anyway, without further ado, here are my favorite on-going and completed K-dramas.
Note: These shows are available for streaming/downloading either on Netflix or Viu.

Reply 1997

Status: Completed
No. of Episodes: 16
Genre: Romance, comedy, teen, drama
Synopsis: Set in the 1990's, "Reply 1997" follows female high high school student Shi-Won, who idolizes boyband H.O.T and her 5 high school friends.

Reply 1988

Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-Joo

At the beginning of last year, if you tell me I'm limiting/resisting myself from buying books, I would have laughed. Me? Someone who really love going to bookstores and browsing titles? Solid no. Because back then: going to a bookstore means buying a multiple books (might as well, right?). As time passes by, though, I get increasingly aware of the all the things I'm hoarding - not just books but in this blog post, I'll focus on books. That's when I decided to only keep the books that I loved. I tend to be sentimental so it is hard for me to part with books but although it's tough, I gave away books from my shelf that I didn't really liked. I bought myself a Kindle sometime last year because of this. It is mostly cheaper buying an eBook and if I ended up not liking it, I'll just remove it from my account.

I have also decided to only buy books that I think I will love. It is definitely a hit or miss because you never really know if you'll like a book until after you read it. For the books that I'm on the fence about, I'll just opt on buying the eBook and if I love it, I'd most likely buy a physical copy - this does not happen often though. My self-imposed Instagram detox (mostly bookstagram) really helped cut my impulses of buying popular books that I know I don't really like. Bookstagram, despite being an awesome community for book lovers, kind of glamorizes buying more books than one can read. Looking back, I was once envious of people who have the latest and popular books (FOMO, anyone?). Then I realized that I don't have to read or buy a book just because it's the talk of the 'gram. I also ditched my auto-buy author (stuff?) this year because, not gonna lie, there are genres and/or age categories that my favorite authors write that I really don't read (i.e. middle grade). I also don't buy books just because of the cover anymore - I stopped doing that years ago. I appreciate when a book has a gorgeous cover but that doesn't mean I'll buy one just because I like the aesthetics of it.

So before buying a book, I ask myself this two questions:

1. Did I really like the synopsis?
2. Will I read this in six months time?

If I answer no to any of the two, then I won't buy it. This goes for both digital (eBook) and physical books. Honestly, this is not as hard as I thought it would be. It definitely helped that I was also saving money.

Anyway, I feel like I've gone off a few tangents here and there but the main point is: I don't buy books (or anything for that matter) just for the sake of buying one anymore. If it is an impulse buy, it will most likely only end up in tbr pile a.k.a. pile-you-won't-be-looking-at-again or at least this is the case for me. This shouldn't be the case, for me or for anyone, as books should be for reading.

ps: I've been writing this post for almost six months and I feel like I've been talking in circles. There's just so many I want to talk about but I think it's not relevant to what I want to say about this topic.
pps: I wrote the draft for this back in October and I was in such a bad head space that I wasn’t able to post this lol.

Every Other Weekend
by Abigail Johnson
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Release Date: January 7th 2020
Genre: Young adult, contemporary, romance
Source: Tour organizer
Synopsis:
What if your safe place…is a person?

Adam Moynihan’s life used to be awesome. Straight As, close friends and a home life so perfect that it could have been a TV show straight out of the 50s. Then his oldest brother died. Now his fun-loving mom cries constantly, he and his remaining brother can’t talk without fighting, and the father he always admired proved himself a coward by moving out when they needed him most.

Jolene Timber’s life is nothing like the movies she loves—not the happy ones anyway. As an aspiring director, she should know, because she’s been reimagining her life as a film ever since she was a kid. With her divorced parents at each other’s throats and using her as a pawn, no amount of mental reediting will give her the love she’s starving for.

Forced to spend every other weekend in the same apartment building, the boy who thinks forgiveness makes him weak and the girl who thinks love is for fools begin an unlikely friendship. The weekends he dreaded and she endured soon become the best part of their lives. But when one’s life begins to mend while the other’s spirals out of control, they realize that falling in love while surrounded by its demise means nothing is ever guaranteed.

Abigail was born in Pennsylvania. When she was twelve, her family traded in snow storms for year round summers, and moved to Arizona. Abigail chronicled the entire cross-country road trip (in a purple spiral bound notebook that she still has) and has been writing ever since. She became a tetraplegic after breaking her neck in a car accident when she was seventeen, but hasn’t let that stop her from bodysurfing in Mexico, writing and directing a high school production of Cinderella, and becoming a published author.

Jane Anonymous
by Laurie Faria Stolarz
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Release Date: January 7th 2020
Genre: Young adult, contemporary
Source: Tour organizer
Synopsis:
Bestselling author Laurie Faria Stolarz returns with Jane Anonymous, a gripping tale of a seventeen-year-old girl’s kidnapping and her struggle to fit back into her life after she escapes.

Then, “Jane” was just your typical 17-year-old in a typical New England suburb getting ready to start her senior year. She had a part-time job she enjoyed, an awesome best friend, overbearing but loving parents, and a crush on a boy who was taking her to see her favorite band. She never would’ve imagined that in her town where nothing ever happens, a series of small coincidences would lead to a devastating turn of events that would forever change her life.

Now, it’s been three months since “Jane” escaped captivity and returned home. Three months of being that girl who was kidnapped, the girl who was held by a “monster.” Three months of writing down everything she remembered from those seven months locked up in that stark white room. But, what if everything you thought you knew―everything you thought you experienced―turned out to be a lie?
Laurie Faria Stolarz grew up in Salem, MA, attended Merrimack College, and received an MFA in Creative Writing from Emerson College in Boston.

Laurie Faria Stolarz is an American author of young adult fiction novels, best known for her Blue is for Nightmares series. Her works, which feature teenage protagonists, blend elements found in mystery and romance novels.

Stolarz found sales success with her first novel, Blue is for Nightmares, and followed it up with three more titles in the series, White is for Magic, Silver is for Secrets, and Red is for Remembrance, as well as a companion graphic novel, Black is for Beginnings. Stolarz is also the author of the Touch series (Deadly Little Secret, Deadly Little Lies, Deadly Little Games, Deadly Little Voices, and Deadly Little Lessons), as well as Bleed and Project 17. With more than two million books sold worldwide, Stolarz's titles have been named on various awards list.