Last week on FYFA (and in my life):
I’ve been busier than I expected to be this summer. I’m taking my copyediting certificate classes and doing some school with my kids – my daughter needs me to sit down and work with her one-on-one for math – the beginnings of algebra are making her crazy! (Math is definitely not her favorite thing.) My youngest has some cognitive delays and auditory processing issues, so we decided to try a new reading program that really focuses on training his brain to differentiate between slight variations in sounds. I’m excited to try it, but he has to do it for an hour and a half a day, and I feel like I need to sit with him and make sure he stays on task. Once he gets going with it a bit more, though, I’m hoping I’ll be able to do some blogging or something while I’m sitting next to him 🙂
Yesterday was my older son’s 14th birthday, so we celebrated with family (his twin cousins were born the next day, and his younger cousin has a birthday a week later, so we celebrate all the birthdays at once). I can’t believe he’s gotten so old!
I didn’t manage a discussion this week. Oops! Here’s what you may have missed on the blog, though:
- This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab – Review
- June Wrap-Up Round-Up Link-Up – Link up your June wrap-up posts here and then watch for the giveaway here on FYFA on the 9th!
- Bite-Sized Audiobook Reviews – Porcelain Keys, The Accident Season, Vivian Apple at the End of the World, and Every Last Word
- The Memory Book by Lara Avery – Spotlight & Giveaway – Still time to enter to win a finished copy of the book!
- Zero by Morgan Dark – Review & Giveaway – Still time to enter to win a copy of the book!
- July Discussion Challenge Link-Up & Giveaway – Link up your July discussion posts and enter to win the giveaway!
Next week on FYFA:
- June Wrap-Up
- Defending Taylor by Miranda Kenneally – Review & Giveaway
- The Siege by Mark Alpert – Review & Giveaway
- Sunborn Rising by Aaron Safranoff – Review & Giveaway
- Let’s Discuss – something bookish! 🙂
Book Blogger Birthdays and Blogoversaries:
Another week with no blogger birthdays or blogoversaries! This is the first time there have been two weeks in a row! Check out the calendar to see what you might have just missed or what’s coming up. (If you want to be added to the calendar, you can just fill out the birthday/blogoversary form!)
Won:
I read the first book in this series and really enjoyed it, but by the time I tried to read the second one, I was just having trouble remembering everything that was going on and, therefore, connecting. So, I was excited when I won the audio version of the book (thanks, SM Boyce!) because I think the audio might be perfect for this one. I also went ahead and got the first book (Lichtgates) for free on Kindle and then paid just $1.99 to get that one on Audible too. I plan to do a “reread” of the first book on audio and then jump right into this one!
Purchased:
This is another one that I bought cheap for the Kindle (it’s only $1.99 right now!) and then I paid $3.99 to get the audio as well. I’m loving audio books lately, and this is a great way to get them cheap!
Audiobooks from SYNC:
I actually got the first two last week and forgot to mention them! Only picked up one of this week’s.
For Review:
From My OTSP Secret Sister:
My secret sister just goes above and beyond every single month. I am beyond grateful to her, especially for all the handmade things (she made me the light up box for my anniversary). I’m jealous of her craftiness! And I’m really excited to read all of these books that have been on my wishlist for ages!
Other Current Giveaways on FYFA:
(Besides the ones listed above)
- The Clay Lion by Amalie Jahn – Still time to enter to win an ebook copy of this fun time travel book!
- June Discussion Challenge Link-Up and Giveaway! – Link up your June discussions and enter to win!
Pre-Order Deals:
- Pre-order STEALING SNOW by Danielle Paige to receive a compact mirror!
- Pre-order Sarah J. Maas’s EMPIRE OF STORMS to receive a ToG notebook and/or preorder THE THRONE OF GLASS COLORING BOOK and get a ToG coloring pencils set!!
- Pre-order YOU WILL KNOW ME by Megan Abbott and Little, Brown Books will send you a free copy of one of her paperbacks!
Even More Awesome Giveaways on Other Sites:
There are tons of giveaways going on around the blogosphere!
- Novel Ink is celebrating it’s 4 year blogoversary with a giveaway!
- Lots of blogs participating in the Freedom to Read Giveaway Hop!
- Head over to The Eater of Books and check out the cover reveal for Rachel Vincent’s newest book, and while you’re there, enter to win a Signed set of THE STARS NEVER RISE (PB) + THE FLAME NEVER DIES (ARC)
- Head over to I Heart Romance and YA to check out the A-Z Diverse Readathon and enter to win a book of your choice!
- Katie over at Mundie Moms is giving away a box of ARCS from BEA, which includes, – Heartless, A Torch Against The Night, Empire of Dust, Frost Blood, Seven Days of You, The King Slayer and The Lovely Reckless
- Tonyalee over at Lilybloombooks has created a Middle Grade Madness link-up. Link-up your reviews of middle grade books (or comment on linked reviews) and enter to win one! You can link up June reviews on this post.
- Rachel @ A Perfection Called Books is running the Meet the Newbies event where you can win 1 Pre-Order or Finished Copy of Any Debut Novel Featured on Meet the Newbies (INT) – Several of the tour stops also have individual giveaways as well!
Lots of good stuff! Have any giveaways or great discussions happening on your site right now? Feel free to share them in the comments!
I hope you enjoy Code Name Verity and The Omnivore’s Dilemma. I really liked both of them.
I was iffy on whether or not I wanted to download The Omnivore’s Dilemma, but then my mom told me she heard it was really good. I figured, why not? That’s the nice thing about SYNC – they’re free, so it’s not a huge commitment to download them.
Hello! I found you through the Sunday Post and am now following you on Facebook.
I love your blog.
What is an OTSP Secret Sister? That sounds like a lot of fun. 🙂
OTSP Secret Sister is a fun program run by Brittany over at Book Addict Guide (and a couple of other people). You choose a dollar amount and then get matched with someone else in that same dollar amount – then every month for six months, you send your secret sister little gifts (within your price range) and notes. At the end of the six months you reveal who you are!
It’s so great to see you involved with your kids. But it sucks that your summer will be busier than usual. Oh well, that’s life.
Enjoy your books!
Yep, there’s always trade-offs. Right now, I’m sitting next to my son while he’s doing his reading program, though, and I’m able to at least respond to comments and stuff – nothing that takes tons of concentration, but this works fine.
I have got to figure out what I’m going to do for my discussion post in July. I have one idea, but not sure how big of a deal it is, so still thinking. Hope you have a great week coming up! You can check out my Sunday Post in the link below!
Hmmm … well, now I’m curious! 🙂
Good luck with your son’s new program. I sometimes cheat when helping my nieces & nephews with something by having an audiobook playing in one ear.
I Make a Big (for me) Decision | Sunday Summary #9
I’m sitting next to my son now while he’s working on his reading program and I’m able to reply to comments. He needs my occasional help and he needs me to keep him on task occasionally, but other than that, he can do it pretty independently. I just can’t do anything that takes a lot of my concentration or brain power – or that requires me to get up from this chair! 🙂
Ooh nice! Those are some new to me reads! Hope you enjoy each and every one of them!
Here’s my STS
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower 🙂
Thanks, Jessica!
I loved the audio for Code Name Verity. Excellent book with fantastic narrators! My youngest brother turned 16 this year and I cannot believe he is no longer the little tumbling tator tot I raised or the impish little boy he then turned into. It’s so hard to see them grow up! I couldn’t do long division in 4th grade. Our teacher didn’t really teach it, she just ran through it. I was always a “smart kid” and I felt really, really stupid. I had to have an older cousin sit down with me for half a day to learn how to do it. Once I learned how, I felt so much better. Math is just hard for some people. I hope things go well with your math sessions and your son’s new program! It sounds exciting but a little daunting. Good luck in your class!
Math was always my least favorite subject too. I was a straight-A’s kind of girl, and by the time I got up to pre-algebra in high school and got a C on my final (luckily still a B in the class, or I think I might have had a heart attack), I was DONE with math.
Happy Belated Birthday to your son! Your secret sister IS very crafty. That’s so fun! Do you know who yours is yet? It’s been so much fun doing it this round – but I can’t wait for the next round to buy for someone new!
-Lauren
I don’t know who my secret sis is yet – she is VERY crafty! I signed up for the lowest monetary amount this month and figured I’d get something really little each month – she always manages these amazing projects!
Ahhh, Code Name Verity was SO GOOD!!!! I absolutely loved it. And Because You’ll Never Meet Me was a wonderful book as well. Great book haul. Good luck with the reading program for your youngest!
I’ve heard amazing things about Verity – including about the audio, so I decided it was definitely time to jump in!
Wow. 14? How do you have a 14-year-old? 🙂 Happy birthday to him! Sounds like you do have a busy summer. If I had to sit next to my kid for 90 minutes a day while he did things, I would definitely be knitting. You should do that! 🙂 And that’s a lot of birthday at once. And all Cancers too. Phew! That’s a lot of water signs for one family.
Have a great week!
I honestly have no idea how I have a 14-year-old – sometimes I think it’s just a trick. Surely, they should all still be 5! Right now it’s working well for me to reply to comments while sitting next to my son. Guess I’ll be getting more time in for that! 🙂
Now I need to go read about Cancers and see what they’re supposed to be like. I’ve never looked that up for my kids, and I’m curious!
Happy Birthday to your son and that is amazing he is growing up surrounded by so many cousins! That is so much fun! Our families have a lot of birthdays in April and August. Funny thing – me, my Aunt and her great Granddaughter were all born on April 10th, all 3 of us are the first born and are all female lol!