Bookmark Lit Bulletin – February 2015

Posted February 28, 2015 / Bookmark Lit Bulletin, Features, Wrap-Ups / 6 Comments

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The Bookmark Lit Bulletin is a monthly feature where I look back on everything I did and everything I plan to do next. I’ll also be updating my challenge progress here each month and linking up wherever I need to. This month’s bulletin is taking place of what would usually be a Five on Friday post. My life isn’t the most eventful, so it’d be overkill to have those posts two days in a row 😉


look back

life updates

  1.  SNOW DAYS. So many snow days. I actually didn’t have a full week of work in February until this past week, between all of the snow days and the holiday. It was glorious. Working from home for me is a VERY loose term, which is nice… I spent a lot of time jerking around, watching TV, and reading.
  2. We did a good job of hanging out with some friends this month, which happens kind of rarely for us. We had my friend’s birthday trip to Foxwoods at the beginning of the month, a SuperBowl party with Chris’s friends, and a surprise party for another friend a week ago. It’s nice to get out of the apartment sometimes and see people other than each other.
  3. 2015-02-14 20.33.182015-02-17 07.20.41Valentine’s Day weekend was so much fun. Chris and I went to Providence that day, right as the snow was starting, to join up with another couple I went to college with. The four of us love hanging out and have a lot of fun together, so we figured we’d go there for the weekend! They’ve been together for five years and we’ve been together for about 2.5, so we weren’t really caring about doing something special and one-on-one. We got snowed in (“hunkered down”) for most of the weekend and ended up staying through Monday. We had hibachi on Saturday night and went to Dave & Buster’s on Sunday night. Otherwise we just played a loooot of Taboo and watched The Room.
  4. My life has been a mix of busy and boring days lately. We either have three things in a row to do – or nothing at all. It’s okay because we feel like we deserve to relax once we finish all of our plans 😉 Not to mention the fact that the snow is really what’s delaying us getting off our butts…

current addictions

  1. 2015-02-23 14.05.502015-02-22 19.08.26Ben & Jerry’s Speculoos Cookie Core Ice Cream: Remember last month when I thought I was addicted to That’s My Jam? Well, add another fattening treat to my list of things-I-can’t-stop-eating. We recently got a tub of Speculoos Cookie Butter from Trader Joe’s and loooove it. The minute we saw the ice cream, we knew it’d be perfect. And it is. I need some serious help.
  2. Erin Condren Life Planner: Have I mentioned one or a million times how much I loooove this dang planner? I carry the huge thing around everywhere and love it so much. I got my personalized cover in and I’m SO excited about it. I also ordered some other little add-ons that I’m enjoying, like the meal planner, custom stickers, circle stickers, and markers.
  3. iPad Mini: I’ve been considering one for a long time and finally just took the plunge. We were at Target and one I wanted was $250, plus they price-matched Walmart’s sale of $220, plusss my 5% Target card discount. Not bad! I got a case and little tablet stand from Five Below, but just ordered a new one on Amazon… because I have a problem, okay?
  4. Lego Elves: The new Lego series ELVES has made its way onto shelves early and I’m really excited. Chris collects all kinds of Lego sets and I usually stick to some basics. I like the Princess sets (because, duh, Disney!) and some other random ones, but I don’t get excited about Lego Friends at all. BUT I am hyped on the Elves because I love the colors and the little magical aspects to them. They’re fairies without wings essentially, and you all know how I feel about fairies 😉

best booksThis month’s reading was definitely not as good as last month, but I still don’t have a lot of complaints! Here are my top books that I read in February.

  1. feb favesA Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J.Maas: Sigh. So perfect. I can’t wait until my preordered copy arrives and I can love it all over again. I was able to read this one early thanks to the generosity of Andi!
  2. On the Fence by Kasie West: I’m going to be sad when I run out of Kasie West books. I’ve been reading them slowly and hoarding them as much as possible. I still have to read Split Second and otherwise The Fill-In Boyfriend comes out this year. But yes, this one was perfect! I love her writing so much.
  3. Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill: This book was the most adorable. I loved the setting, the banter, the characters… ah, so cute! I highly recommend this one if you haven’t read it yet.
  4. When Joss Met Matt by Ellie Cahill: This definitely leaned more towards the YA side than NA. It was just classified that way because of their age and the few sexual scenes. Otherwise, this is definitely a cross-over kind of book for YA fans who want a little more spice.
  5. Just One Day by Gayle Forman: Lemme share a secret, I added this one to my top five before even finishing it. I prepped this post earlier in the week when I was 30 pages in. You can tell by the fact that it’s still here that it did end up being a favorite… and I knew it from the start! God, her writing is just stellar.

book reviews

book haulfeb haul 1 feb haul 2

blog postsIf you are interested in my thoughts on Fifty Shades of Grey, you can see them on my blog’s Tumblr here. I decided I didn’t want to be that graphic on my YA-oriented blog. I may change my mind and post it here at some point, but for now check it over there if you’d like. I am very much on the “Fifty Shades is Abuse side,” so that’s your warning.

challenge updates

 

  • Fairytale Retelling Challenge – 2/15 – A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas
  • Reread Challenge – 2/17 – None this month
  • 105 Challenge – 26/105 – See full list here.
  • TBR Pile Challenge – 3/12 – Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill, Just One Day by Gayle Forman
  • Library Challenge – 3/30 – My Last Kiss by Bethany Neal
  • Flights of Fantasy Challenge – 6/20 – A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas
  • Audiobook Challenge – 7/35 – Losing It by Cora Carmack, Landline by Rainbow Rowell, Tease by Amanda Maciel
  • Series-a-Month ChallengeTrue Love trilogy by Kieran Scott

fave quotequote“Nobody’s lives just fit together. Fitting together is something you work at. It’s something you make happen – because you love each other… It’s more like you meet someone, and you fall in love, and you hope that that person is the one—and then at some point, you have to put down your chips. You just have to make a commitment and hope that you’re right.”

Landline by Rainbow Rowell

blogosphere loveSome of my favorite posts by YOU cuties this month include:

  • The Love-a-Thon was a big success! Thank you to Alexa for hosting. I loved looking at everyone’s posts and sharing the comment love <3
  • People’s recent Top Ten Tuesday posts about bookish problems were so spot-on! It’s nice to know we all share the same troubles when it comes to being readers and bloggers. I particularly enjoyed Hannah’s, Laura’s, and Lindsey’s.
  • Erin’s post about DNFing books was particularly relevant to me! I used to just “set aside” a book if it wasn’t really hitting the mark for me. I never considered it a DNF and I never liked admitting that it didn’t work for me. I have so many bookmarks in random books I’ll never pick up again.
  • I absolutely loved Jamie’s post about giving authors more than one chance if you weren’t wowed by one or more of their books.

look ahead goals to dosI’m keeping these mostly the same from January, at least until I achieve some of them 😉

  1. Continue reading books that I want to read based on my mood.
  2. Better utilize the library and read from my physical TBR piles this month. It seems counter-intuitive, but basically it means STOP BUYING BOOKS.
  3. Make my OTSP Secret Sister feel special, spoiled, and happy every month until July.
  4. FREAKING FINISH THE PRIVATE SERIES, GODDAMMIT WOMAN.

upcoming life

  1. Birthdays: I just have a lot of friends and family members with birthdays in March and especially in April. I try to keep these things in mind ahead of time, so I can prep some great gifts.
  2. Trip??: Chris and I seriously need to get away at some point. I want to try to plan a trip or two for some points this year. We want to go to Disney and also want to just take a weekend journey somewhere around New England. Hopefully tax return money helps!
  3. Spontaneous adventures: Last month’s trip to the Science Museum took little planning and was a whole afternoon away from our apartment. It was so fun! We want to try to do more things like this. Hopefully once the weather gets better it’ll be easier!

6 responses to “Bookmark Lit Bulletin – February 2015

  1. Oh man I need that ice cream. I am so addicted to Trader Joe’s cookie butter! That sounds so amazing. I also agree with you about Fifty Shades. I did a discussion post on my blog about that a week or so ago. I hesitated about it, but honestly it is such a bookish type issue that is all over the place and I have very strong feelings about it. So I just decided to go for it.

    Cynthia recently posted: Sunday Post and February Wrap-Up
    • I haven’t seen the movie yet but I’ve heard from everyone that it’s not the same 🙁 I’m upset about that because I think the book as it was would have made a great movie. I’ve heard people enjoyed it anyways though. Maybe I’ll just have to pretend the movie is completely separate from the book haha.
      YES I loveeee That’s My Jam, omg.

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