Month: January 2020

February TBR

Posted January 31, 2020 / Book Lists, Features, TBR Lists / 6 Comments

My monthly TBR feature here shows my progress based on last month’s TBR, my plans for this month, and anything else I might be thinking about from a reading perspective. Sometimes I feature a little poll at the bottom so you guys can help me figure out a certain title I should read from a group of books. Last month’s progress: I seriously stayed true to my TBR in January – wowee. I’m impressed. I usually take a lot of care in curating my “first month of a new year” TBR, so it makes sense that I worked it and stuck with it. I’ve already gotten started on one of the books on here because my library due date (digitally) is 2/3 and I wanted to be mostly done before the beginning of the month. Anyways, January was good! I got behind on my reading challenge once or twice but was always able to get ahead later. Review Copies Man, the beginning of the year really comes at you quickly! I suddenly had some February releases I really needed to hop on. STARTING OVER AT BLUEBERRY CREEK, BEEN THERE MARRIED THAT, and FOUL IS FAIR all come out in February. IN FIVE YEARS comes out in early March so it’s not too far out, but definitely want to get to this one in February. And as for the backlist title, I’m really trying to push myself to read ALL EYES ON US finally because I keep missing it and it fits a later challenge. […]

My 10 to Read in 2020

Posted January 30, 2020 / Book Challenges, Book Lists, Features, TBR Lists / 8 Comments

I made a little challenge in a few years ago called the Must Read in 2016 Challenge – we all set out to read a very specific list of books that we REALLY needed to read in 2016. The idea was to include books from previous years that you were excited to read and never got around to, so you were resolving to READ THEM OR ELSE. It was not successful for me in any way because dang I STILL have not read some of those books. I’m working through my Rainbow Try a Chapter Unhaul personal challenge for this year, which has me picking 2-3 books per month based on a predetermined color (of the cover/spine of the book), reading a chapter, and deciding if I’ll immediately keep reading it or unhaul it. Nonetheless, there are plenty of books otherwise that I still really need to READ OR ELSE. It feels like I’m making TBR posts every damn day on this blog because of my challenges, readathon, monthly reading plans, etc., but this post is really just a quick way to share some books I genuinely hope to read in 2020 because it’s about damn time. In fact, it’s far PAST time. I saw Hannah posted the ten books she’s targeting to read in 2020 based on a hashtag/challenge from Kayla of Idle Wild Reads (#my10toreadin19). I don’t want to formally sign up for anything or include this in my list of challenges, but I thought it would be […]

Review Round Up | Supernova, American Royals, and One of Us is Next

Posted January 29, 2020 / Book Reviews / 4 Comments

In an effort to cut down on posts and burnout, my Review Roundups will feature 2-4 books I’ve read or listened to recently. Sometimes they’re newer releases and sometimes they’re all backlist titles. My ARC reviews usually get the solo treatment. Enjoy the mini reviews! Like with the other two books in this series, I wish this was shorter by about 100 pages. There were some repetitive internal thoughts throughout and it just makes me think that more editing would have removed some and gotten this to a reasonable length. There’s no reason for this series to be the length it is! The pacing is super off. I think the first two books had a bit more twists throughout to keep things interesting but this one really didn’t get going until the final third. My favorite thing through reading all three books was watching Nova slowly think for herself and realize what was important. She started out as a such a villain on the side of the world’s biggest anarchist, and then realized that maybe she didn’t have to be that way. It genuinely took a while and was spaced nicely and naturally throughout the trilogy. Other than that, everyone was so boring. They were all about their powers and that’s about it. I couldn’t tell you anything about their personalities or interests otherwise. Just boring superheroes. Overall though, this book was a really good conclusion to the trilogy. Definitely wondering if a spinoff will happen based off the ending… I’ll always […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #272: Covers

Posted January 28, 2020 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 8 Comments

2020 Illustrated Romance Covers I Love Top Ten Tuesdays were started by The Broke and the Bookish and are now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, where we make lists of our top ten books (or something else!) based on that week’s prompt. The topics are provided ahead of time and can be found here. Book links bring you to Goodreads or my review. You KNOW I am here for a cover-related freebie! There were a lot of potential spin-offs for this one but I decided to target something specific that I had been thinking of highlighting for a long time. I love the new trend of illustrated book covers for adult contemporary/rom-com titles lately and they’re increased tenfold for 2020. I thought I’d highlight these this week!

2020 Planners, Spreadsheets, and Organization

Posted January 27, 2020 / Goals & Planning, Personal / Information / Etc. / 8 Comments

Alright y’all – new year, new planners and spreadsheets! I’ve posted countless organization-related posts over the years that can be found in this category on my blog. I’m keeping some spreadsheets and planners the same as last year and bringing some new things to the table as well, so let’s get into it! Planners (Digital and Paper) Artful Agenda – Digital Life Planner I wrote a whooole post on this when I first got the Artful Agenda, so feel free to check that out for an overview. I use this to sync with my Google calendars (blog posts and personal) and can include other tasks, meals, and to-do lists/notes pages. Below are two screenshots. The first is part of the monthly view: And below includes the daily page layout, next to the calendar section. (For more pictures, definitely check out the post I linked above.) There are priority tasks, other tasks, meals, water intake, and an automated daily quote. The section at the bottom has a title you can edit, so I made mine into a place where I can track groceries and/or things I need to pick up that day. I also use the “other tasks” section for my internet and blog-based tasks; the “priority tasks” section is mostly for ~real-life~ tasks. Bullet Journal for Reading/Books I’m still doing a bullet journal this year for my 2020 reads! Again, I made a whole post about this with my pages before I filled anything in, so check out that post […]

Five on Fridays [4]

Posted January 24, 2020 / Five on Fridays, Weekly Memes / 5 Comments

Five on Friday displays the the top five things that have been on my mind this week! It could be book-related, but it may be music, movies, TV, personal life, food, etc. I’ll generally be posting these biweekly and linking up with Friday Favorites (hosted by A Little Bit of Everything, Grace and Love, and Momfessionals). Previous posts can be found here! Podcast: CounterClock It’s been 20 years since emergency responders found Denise Johnson inside of a burning home. An investigative journalist, Delia D’Ambra, revisits her small coastal hometown in North Carolina to dive deep into a 22-year-old cold case murder and arson that’s marred the image of where she grew up. This investigative series reveals new clues, never-before-heard interviews and tracks down potential suspects in the case. The only way to understand Denise Johnson’s story is to go move counterclockwise in time; to go backwards to the point her clock finally stopped. (CounterClock website) It’s no secret that I’m a true crime procast junkie and I’ve shared them randomly throughout the years. I actually have a roundup coming sometime soon to catch you up on all the ones I’ve enjoyed since my previous roundups back in 2017. Anyways, I heard CounterClock was coming because its produced by the Crime Junkie podcast group. The pod is hosted by someone else, who I enjoy, and the investigation into this cold case is essentially reopening in real time. It’s about a woman who was found dead (from stab wounds) in a burning […]

Pondathon Sign-Up and Tracking/Etc.

Posted January 23, 2020 / Book Challenges, Features / 2 Comments

What is the Pondathon? The Pondathon is a co-operative and story-driven readathon hosted and run by CW from The Quiet Pond. The aim of the Pondathon is to read books and collect points to protect the friends over at The Quiet Pond from the encroaching malevolent forces that threaten our friends in the forest. Have fun participating in the Pondathon readathon by joining one of five teams, each with a unique way to collect points and signing up! You can also follow the story of the Pondathon as it unfolds, and participants can also complete ‘side quests’ during the readathon to collect extra points. The readathon takes place from January 24th 2020 to March 7th 2020. More information about the readathon can be found here. Information about Joining the Pondathon To join the Pondathon, simply sign up anytime between January 18th 2020 to March 5th 2020. Choose a team, create your own animal character for the Pondathon and create a character card! Create a blog post, bookstagram post, booktube video, Twitter thread, or whatever medium you wish, with ‘#Pondathon’ in the title or your tweet. Share the character you have created and your character card! Link back to this post so that others can find this readathon and join in. Share your updates on your blog/bookstagram/booktube and social media. You are more than welcome to tag @thequietpond or @artfromafriend on Twitter or Instagram in all your updates! We’d love to see all of the beautiful and awesome characters that you […]

January Adult Contemporary | ARC Reviews: You Were There Too and Mermaid Inn

Posted January 22, 2020 / Book Reviews / 2 Comments

I really enjoyed Oakley’s sophomore novel but STILL have managed to skip her debut. Regardless, I knew I needed this one. It reminded me of an adult version of my YA favorite Dreamology, where the main character has recurring dreams with a man/boy and then finds that they actually exist in real life… and they’ve been dreaming about her too. Mia has been dreaming of Oliver for years and discovers he’s also been dreaming of her too. They don’t share/live out the same dreams at the same time but they do have similar ones sometimes. This was a heavy book (major trigger warning for miscarriage and infertility) – definitely heavier than I expected – but very impactful. The first line of the synopsis says “heart-wrenching” but I didn’t expect this level of it for some reason. I really enjoyed the rare pops of chapters we got from other points of view (Harrison, Whitney, etc.). It added a little something different to the story. I did enjoy reading Mia’s point of view though. I felt her struggle and knew there was really no easy solution to her problems. The book just felt so REAL and raw, following the ebbs and flows of her relationship(s) in a way I could understand and empathize with. Like I said though: it made for a pretty hard read, and not every decision she made was perfect or logical. I didn’t agree with everything she did or said along the way. I’m a huge fan of […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #271: Bookshelf

Posted January 21, 2020 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 14 Comments

Recent Additions to my Shelves Top Ten Tuesdays were started by The Broke and the Bookish and are now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, where we make lists of our top ten books (or something else!) based on that week’s prompt. The topics are provided ahead of time and can be found here. Book links bring you to Goodreads or my review. I actually don’t buy very many books, so this went back pretty far! I try to keep many books on my Kindle and purchase only favorites to display (or ask for them as gifts!). For Review or Gifted Books below received in exchange for an honest review and/or were gifted from friends where mentioned The Hand on the Wall by Maureen Johnson | I was sent a copy of this finished hardcover from the publisher and I was SO excited! I actually received the second book from them as well. I was hoping to read this ahead of the pub date but my reading life has been weird so far this year. I will probably be reading it as we speak though! Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe by Heather Webber | Cristina ended up with two copies of this one so she sent her extra my way, along with an adorable photo of us from her wedding that I can’t wait to hang up somewhere!! When We Were Vikings by Andrew David McDonald | I received this book from the publisher via Big Honcho and am definitely intrigued! It’s a little different […]

Blog Tour: Tweet Cute

Posted January 20, 2020 / Book Reviews / 4 Comments

BUY THE BOOK HERE! Book Review I was so excited when I was asked to join the TWEET CUTE blog tour! I’ve been looking forward to this book ever since it was first announced, and the early glowing reviews from friends only furthered my interest. Needless to say, I had high hopes and expectations… so luckily this book delivered. The story follows a few different elements involving our lead pair getting to know each other, so try to keep up. Big League Burger is a rising star in the fast food business now, but Pepper remembers when it was just a family-owned burger joint in Nashville, owned and operated by her parents. When business takes off and they start franchising, competing with the likes of McDonalds and Burger King, she moves to NYC with her now-divorced mom to run the show. She’s often responsible for the lighthearted, witty tweets and jabs from the company on social media. Enter Jack, the son of family-owned NYC deli Girl Cheesing. It’s been in the family for generations and he’s due to take over (not his twin Ethan, but that’s a whole other thing!). When he discovers the Big League Burger has not only stolen their grandma’s NYC-famous grilled cheese recipe, they’ve also stolen the name of it too, he starts an unexpected Twitter war with the burger company… and therefore Pepper… in the process. Meanwhile, the two are unknowingly chatting it up anonymously on an app that Jack developed for their private school. AND on […]