November 2018 Recap

November was a whirlwind. My first month at the new job is in the books. It’s been stressful. I kind of underestimated my aversion to new things and new people and leaving an agency I had a long history with and co-workers I’ve known for over a decade to a place where I didn’t know anyone has been more challenging than I thought it would be. However, the people are nice and I really like my boss. I’m looking forward to the day when I know what I’m doing everyday. I had a nice Thanksgiving. I got to spend it with my niece (who will be turning one this month) and she is just so sweet and fun.

   

I also got to see Adriana Trigiani speak in November. She came to one of the branches in our library district and my boss asked me if I wanted to come with her when she stopped by the event. (This is the type of thing I expected when I envisioned working at a library.) We could only stay for an hour because we had meetings back at the office, but I’m so glad I got to go see her. She was a trip. I haven’t read any of her books before, but I’m definitely going to check some out.

Books Read: 10

Adult: 7
YA: 3

Favorite Book I Read This Month:

I Owe You One by Sophie Kinsella

  Books Reviewed: 5

On Magnolia Lane (Blue Ridge Romance #3) by Denise Hunter – 4/5 Stars

In Dog We Trust by Beth Kendrick – 3.5/5 Stars

My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite – 4/5 Stars

My Favorite Half-Night Stand by Christina Lauren – 4/5 Stars

Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty – 4/5 Stars

Books Read in 2018 Overall: 137

Funny Fridays:

November 2

November 9

November 16

November 23

Other Posts:

October 2018 Recap + Life Updates + It’s My Birthday!

Top Ten Tuesday: Backlist Books I Want to Read

Top 5 Wednesday: Largest Books on my TBR

Top 5 Wednesday: Books I want to read before 2019

Top 5 Wednesday: Bookbloggers/Book Friends I’d Want at Friendsgiving

Reviewing the Unreviewed: November 2018

Book News

Erin Morgenstern is publishing her second book!!

The Night Circus is one of my favorite books of all time and I have been very impatiently waiting for Erin Morgenstern to write another book. And now she finally has! The Starless Sea will be published in November 2019 and I have zero chill about it.

Dark Age (Red Rising #5) by Pierce Brown publishing date pushed back (again)

You should all know by now what a fan I am of the Red Rising series. This 5th book in the series was originally supposed to come out last year, but got pushed back because Iron Gold ended up being pushed back. It was supposed to come out in February 2019, but it was announced recently that it will now be released in July 2019. While I am disappointed, I trust Pierce Brown to know when it’s ready to go and will anxiously wait.

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June 2018 Recap

June was a pretty good reading and blogging month for me, as you’ll see below, so I’m going to take a moment to talk about some life updates. My parents’ dissolution was completed this month. It’s been a very stressful several months and there has been a lot of changes in our family and I’m glad we can all finally move on. My mother has been staying with me, in my one bedroom apartment, for over 7 months. (I’m not sure what the qualifications are for sainthood, but I’m pretty sure I meet them haha.) She is finally going to get back to her condo soon and I think we’re both pretty pleased about that. Maybe one day I will do a whole post about the events that led up to all of this. I think it could be kind of cathartic. It’s felt like a poorly written Lifetime movie. Anyways, on to the books!

Books Read: 14

Adult: 12
YA: 2

Favorite Book I Read This Month:

The Promise (DI Imogen Grey #4) by Katerina Diamond

  Books Reviewed: 9

The Book of Me by Peng Shepherd – 3/5 Stars

Tell Me Lies by Carola Lovering – 4/5 Stars

The Paris Wedding by Charlotte Nash – 4/5 Stars

Providence by Caroline Kepnes – 2.5/5 Stars

Find You in the Dark by Nathan Ripley – 2.5/5 Stars

One Small Thing by Erin Watt – 4/5 Stars

The Date by Louise Jensen – 2/5 Stars

Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage – 3/5 Stars

Our Kind of Cruelty by Araminta Hall – 3.5/5 Stars

Books Read in 2018 Overall: 82

Funny Fridays:

June 8th

June 15th

June 22nd

Other Posts:

May 2018 Recap

Top Ten Tuesday: My Summer TBR

Top Ten Tuesday: Series I’ve Given up on / Don’t Plan to Finish

Reviewing the Unreviewed: June 2018

Bellarke

I’ve never been a huge fan of the show The 100, but I’ve watched it – mostly as background noise – since it’s been on. I’ve always shipped Clarke with Bellamy and that has basically been the only reason I’ve stuck with the show for so long. However, I’ve really been enjoying this season so far and decided to go back to the beginning because I don’t remember who a lot of these characters are or how they got there. Between the current season and the first couple of seasons I’ve re-watched now I’ve become, like, a #Bellarke super fan. I spent so much time on Pinterest lately looking at Bellarke pins. It’s a problem, but I can’t help myself. I ship them so hard!

Looking forward to July

  

There are 2 author events I’m really excited about in July. As part of my favorite Summer tradition, Linda Castillo will be in the area for her book tour. (Look for my review of her latest book on July 2nd). She is also holding a writing seminar while she’s here that I’ve signed up for. I am also going with book buddy Amanda to see one of my favorite authors, Linwood Barclay!

May 2018 Recap

Like I’m sure most other bloggers do, I drafted this post awhile ago, to finish editing closer to the posting date. However, as I tried to add pictures I’m having a lot of problems with WordPress. Once a picture is added, it will not let me edit it. I can not select the picture to re-size it and whenever I try to click on it, the whole page shifts up or down. Am I the only one this is happening to? I’m also having issues with Goodreads. I finished a book and marked it as read, but it would not let me enter a Finish date, which means it doesn’t update my reading challenge. Again, is this just me? I’m so frustrated right now. Sorry this post looks like crap.

Books Read: 15

Adult: 10
YA: 5

Books Reviewed: 10

Paper Ghosts by Julia Heaberlin – 2/5 Stars

Hangman (Detective William Fawkes #2) by Daniel Cole – 4/5 Stars

The Favorite Sister by Jessica Knoll – 2/5 Stars

Hot Asset (21 Wall Street #1) by Lauren Layne -4/5 Stars

Brightly Burning by Alexa Donne – 3.5/5 Stars

The Ever After by Sarah Pekkanen – 3.5/5 Stars

Just One of the Royals (The Chicago Falcons #2) by Leah and Kate Rooper – 3/5 Stars

Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier – 4/5 Stars

Listen to Your Heart by Kasie West – 4/5 Stars

Nearlyweds by Beth Kendrick – 4/5 Stars

Books Read in 2018 Overall: 68

Funny Fridays:

May 4

May 11

May 18

May 25

Other Posts:

April 2018 Recap

Kindle Unlimited Review

December 2017 Recap

Happy New Year! December seemed to fly by. I had a better reading and blogging month than November. I also had several life things I wanted to highlight.

First off, I want to sing the praises of RC essential oil. My mom is obsessed with Young Living essential oils and recommends them for pretty much everything. Some of them I like, some I don’t care for, but RC has kept me sickness free so far this winter. There was all sorts of sickness going through the office over the last couple of months and usually I’m right in the thick of it. But, I’ve been putting on RC every morning and night and whenever I feel like my throat is starting to get sore and it’s taken care of it. I really recommend this! And if you decide to buy some, you should buy it from my Mom (I can give you or sponsor/enroller ID # to order from the website) and she can follow up with you. She loves talking about oils!

Ok, other notable things for December. I have a new niece! Morgan was born a couple of weeks early, but she is doing great. She lives a couple hours away, so I’ve only seen her once, but I plan on going back down sometime this month for another visit. I also got to meet up with Brandie from Running on Words and Wine for the first time and it was so cool to meet one of my favorite bloggers! We lent each other a few books, which was also amazing. Christmas was good, despite being very different this year than in years past.

Books Read: 10

Adult: 6
NA: 1
YA: 3

Favorite Books I Read This Month:

     

Foolish Hearts by Emma Mills, Love, Life, and the List by Kasie West, and The Bird and the Sword by Amy Harmon.

  Books Reviewed: 4

Blog Tour and Review: The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen – 4/5 Stars

Shoot the Moon (Seeking Mansfield #2) by Kate Watson – 3.5/5 Stars

Bargaining with the Boss (It Happened One Night #1) by Jennifer Shirk – 3.5/5 Stars

Foolish Hearts by Emma Mills – 4/5 Stars

Books Read in 2017 Overall: 134

Funny Fridays:

December 1

December 8

December 15

December 22

Other Posts:

Top 5 Wednesday: Bookish Things I’m a Grinch About

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Favorite Books of 2017

Happy Jolabokaflod (The Christmas Book Flood)

Merry Christmas!

My Most Disappointing Books of 2017

Top 5 Wednesday: 2018 Wishlist

Reviewing the Unreviewed: December 2017

End of the Year Survey: 2017

October 2017 Recap

October was kind of a rough month for me. Work was pretty awful. A lot of new fee changes that we weren’t really trained on or understand went into effect and we’re all kind of scrambling to figure things out. There was also some pretty significant family drama. Lots of big changes ahead. If you are a praying person, please say a prayer for my family if you think of it. And a special thanks to Deanna for letting me vent to her! …In book news I am proud of the number of reviews I ended up posting, but I didn’t read as much as I would have liked. I took part in a book tour – just my second in the 4 years I’ve been blogging. I decided that I won’t be signing up with that particular tour host again. I found the information and graphics they provided hard to use (though I will take responsibility that it was probably my own user error that I couldn’t get them all to format correctly) and they did nothing at all to promote my leg of the tour. I only saw a couple of tweets from them during the whole tour actually. Maybe that’s normal for blog tours? Please share your experience with various blog tour hosts in the comments, if you have any.

Books Read: 9

Adult: 8
YA: 1

Favorite Books I Read This Month:

      

I read all of the DS Imogen Grey series this month and I love them!

  Books Reviewed: 7

13 Minutes by Sarah Pinborough – 3.5/5 Stars

There’s Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins – 1/5 Stars

How I Lost You by Jenny Blackhurst – 2.5/5 Stars

The Secret (Imogen Grey #2) by Katerina Diamond – 4/5 Stars

Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe by Melissa de la Cruz – 3/5 Stars

The Angel (Imogen Grey #3) by Katerina Diamond – 4/5 Stars

My New Crush Gave to Me by Shani Petroff – 3/5 Stars

Books Read in 2017 Overall: 118

Funny Fridays:

October 6

October 13

October 20

October 27

Other Posts:

September 2017 Recap

Top 5 Wednesday: Non-Horror Books that Scared Me

Reviewing the Unreviewed: October 2017

Fall TV Disappointments:

I have not found one new show that I liked enough to watch past the pilot. I tried: Young Sheldon, 9JKL, Seal Team, Valor, Ghosted, and The Good Doctor. After watching Once Upon a Time to find out how they explained having Hook on the show without Emma I am now done with that show. The only reason I watched it the last couple seasons was because I was a Captain Swan shipper. I also am finding  the second season of Riverdale pretty disappointing so far and am really hoping it gets better soon.

August 2017 Recap

I didn’t think that I had a very good reading or blogging month until I was preparing this post, but I actually read much more and posted much more than I thought I did. So yay for me. The most exciting thing to happen this month was that I got to go with Amanda to two different book events to see Karin Slaughter and Lisa Scottoline.

I also won a contest for an ARC (and “swag”) of Renegades by Marissa Meyer! I’ve started the book and am enjoying it so far. The “swag” were some pens and a slap bracelet. Are slap bracelets back in? I remember them being very popular when I was a kid…until people kept getting cut by them. This one has a rubbery exterior so I think it’s safer than what we had back in my day. I don’t really know what I’ll do with it, though.

Books Read: 17

Adult: 10
YA: 7

Favorite Book I Read This Month:

   Take a Bow by Elizabeth Eulberg (link to review is below).

  Books Reviewed: 7

What to Say Next by Julie Buxbaum – 4/5 Stars

Ready to Run (I Do, I Don’t #1) by Lauren Layne – 4/5 Stars

Better Off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg – 4/5 Stars

Take a Bow by Elizabeth Eulberg – 4.5/5 Stars

Fallen Heir (The Royals #4) by Erin Watt – 3.5/5 Stars

Dead Woman Walking by Sharon Bolton – 4/5 Stars

Sociable by Rebecca Harrington – 2/5 Stars

Books Read in 2017 Overall: 97

Funny Fridays:

August 4

August 11

August 18

August 25

Other Posts:

July 2017 Recap

Top 5 Wednesday: Second Book is Best

Chocolate Book Tag

Top 5 Wednesday: Favorite Bromances

Summer of Mystery (Authors)

Book News:

Emery Lord is writing a sequel to The Start of Me and You

My favorite Emery Lord book, The Start of Me and You is getting a sequel! Unfortunately we have to wait until 2019 for The Map from Here to There, but it’s always exciting when the author of a beloved standalone decides to continue the characters’ stories.

July 2017 Recap

I had my best reading month I’ve had in awhile in July. That is mostly due to taking a week of vacation from work where I read 7 books. I didn’t go anywhere, did some shopping and some cleaning, and lots of reading and it was just the relaxing break I needed. Also notable in July I got to see Linda Castillo on book tour for the fourth year in a row and she remembered my name when I went up to get my book signed! Book Nerd’s dream right there. In life news, my dad went to the ER due to chest pains and ended up being admitted for a few days and had a couple of stent procedures done. He had an emergency bypass about a decade ago and has had to have a few stents put in over the years, but this is the first time it was an emergency like that again. Thankfully, all went well, there is no heart damage, and he is pretty much back to normal.

Books Read: 14

Adult: 10
YA: 4

Favorite Books I Read This Month:

    

  Books Reviewed: 9

(I can’t even the remember the last time I reviewed this many books in 1 month!)

One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus – 4/5 Stars

He Said/She Said by Erin Kelly – 3/5 Stars

Waste of Space by Gina Damico – 3.5/5 Stars

The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter – 4/5 Stars

Emma in the Night by Wendy Walker – 3/5 Stars

The Marriage Pact by Michelle Richmond – 4/5 Stars

Down a Dark Road (Kate Burkholder #9) by Linda Castillo – 4/5 Stars

Illuminae (The Illuminae Files #1) by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff – 3/5 Stars

Trust by Kylie Scott – 4/5 Stars

Books Read in 2017 Overall: 80

Funny Fridays:

July 7

July 14

July 21

Other Posts:

June 2017 Recap

Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag: 2017

Get to Know Me Tag

Reviewing the Unreviewed: July 201

Book News:

The Raven Cycle TV Show Being Developed for Syfy

The Raven Cycle being adapted for tv is a little bit of old news, but it was announced that it is going to by on the SyFy network and that Catherine Hardwicke is producing. Fangirls will remember Hardwicke as the director of the first Twilight movie and I have to admit this makes me a little skeptical of how good the Raven Cycle will be. Fingers crossed, though!

Looking Forward to August:

 

I’m very excited to go to two different book events with my book buddy, Amanda, this month. We are going to see both Karin Slaughter and Lisa Scottoline!