Last week on FYFA (and in my life):
Not too much to report about this week. My son and I went to go visit our high school tech campus. They have a video game design program there that we’re hoping he can do next year (or, if not, junior year). It would be perfect for him and he’d get college credit for the programming courses. We’re just waiting to find out how it will all work with our local school district since he’s homeschooled (the nice thing is, it would be free for us!).
Here’s what you may have missed on the blog last week:
- December Recap & 2016 Challenge Wrap-Up
- Top Ten Books I Missed in 2016
- A List of Cages by Robin Roe – 5 Star Review
- Pocket Full of Tinder (and White Heart of Justice) by Jill Archer – Reviews
- Let’s Discuss: Special Niche Genres
- Wrap-Up Round-Up Giveaway!! – Anyone can enter, so head over to win a book from my giveaway/trade list!
Next week on FYFA:
- Pushing the Boundaries by Stacey Trombley – Review & Giveaway
- Let’s Discuss: Something bookish! 🙂
Book Blogger Birthdays and Blogoversaries:
Lots of birthdays and blogoversaries this week. Head on over and wish these bloggers well on their special days! 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 always fill out the birthday/blogoversary form!)
This week’s events:
- January 15th – Lilybloombooks‘ Blogoversary
- January 16th – Girl of 1000 Wonders’ Blogoversary
- January 16th – The Book Sage‘s Blogoversary
- January 17th – Books & Tea‘s Blogoversary
- January 18th – Author S.J. Pajonas‘s Birthday
For #kidlitforaleppo:
The wonderful Maggie Hall sent me audiobooks of her first two books in exchange for a donation for #kidlitforaleppo. I actually thought I was going to be getting audiobook downloads, so I was super excited to get these! I was happy to donate to such a worthy cause, and these books were a wonderful bonus. I’ve heard great things about The Conspiracy of Us Series! Thanks, Maggie Hall!!
For Review:
I decided to accept The Fairytale Chicago of Francesca Finnegan for review when I heard that the proceeds go to Chicago Public Schools. It looks a bit odder than my typical read, but it’s always good to branch out and try new things!
Great Discussions/Goings On Around the Blogosphere:
Here are some posts I especially loved this week:
- Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight talks about “Organization” in the New Year
- Zeee @ I Heart Romance & YA talks about Spoiler Alerts: When is it okay to talk about it?
- Karen @ Kissin’ Blue Karen tells us What She Learned from Visiting 365 Different Blogs
Other Current Giveaways on FYFA:
(Besides the ones listed above)
- January Discussion Challenge Link-Up & Giveaway – Link up your January discussions and enter to win!
Pre-Order Deals:
- Pre-order RIVETED by Jay Crownover and get a first look at the first two chapters of Avenged and a poster with all the Saints on it (ends 2/14)
- Pre-order ULTIMATUM by K.M. Walton and you have a chance to win one of 12 incredible prize packs filled with cool, custom made swag and other amazing prizes. (ends 1/30)
- Pre-order THE SONG RISING by Samantha Shannon and receive exclusive badges and temporary tattoos to #JoinTheRevolution. (ends 3/6)
- Pre-order A CONJURING OF LIGHT by V.E. Schwab for a chance to receive a book hugger signed by V. E. Schwab. (ends 2/28)
- Pre-order LONG WAY HOME by Katie McGarry & receive 3 bonus stories for FREE! (ends 1/30)
- Pre-order CARAVEL by Stephanie Garber and get a special free gift from the author and a signed, personalized copy. (ends 1/30)
- Preorder THE EDGE OF EVERYTHING by Jeff Giles to receive a keepsake metal bookmark! (ends 1/30)
Even More Awesome Giveaways on Other Sites:
- Head over to Riveted for a chance to win Ellen Hopkins’ complete collection
- You can win a Clean Teen Publishing mystery box!
- Head over to Girl Plus Books for a chance to win A Signed Early Bound Copy of Katie McGarry’s LONG WAY HOME!
- Head over to Crossroad Reviews for a chance to win In 27 Days by Ally Gervais
- Head over to It Starts at Midnight for a chance to win Poison’s Kiss by Breeana Shields
- Clean Teen Publishing is giving away a mystery prize worth over $100
- The Dark Legends Giveaway is for a mega box of books, author swag and $100 in Amazon credit
- It’s Ohana Reads’ third Blogoversary and Stephanie is celebrating with a giveaway of one of her favorite books of 2016!
- Milky Way of Books is also three! She’s giving away a 2017 preorder!
- Terri @ Second Run Reviews is giving away One of Her Favorite Books of 2016
- The Bookkeeper’s Secrets is doing a year-long giveaway!
- Charnell @ Reviews from a Bookworm is returning to blogging and celebrating with a giveaway of up to £40 of books from Book Depository (INT)
Lots of good stuff! Have any giveaways or great discussions happening on your site right now? Feel free to share them in the comments!
Oooh! Video game design sounds like a lot of fun! Yay! I hope he gets in.
That’s what he wants to do. His ultimate dream would be to work for Nintendo, which is also what got him interested in learning Japanese.
Nice book haul. I love how the schools are using technology to teach in different ways and allowing earlier classes to count towards college credit. Our district is trying to pretty much do away with senior classes. Many only go half a day or a partial week and work and take college classes off school campus. Times, they are a changin!
Wow! That’s crazy that they’re just starting to do away with senior year altogether! Homeschooling is perfect because we can totally tailor his schedule to what works for his goals.
I hope that class works out for your son! It seems like it would be a great experience. 🙂
Have a great week,
Lauren
I think so too. I’m really hoping we can get it all sorted out and he can do it next year!
Designing video games would be awesome. I hope he gets to do the program. Enjoy your new books, and have a great week!
Thanks! I’m really hoping we can get it worked out because the program is perfect for him!
I still need to listen to Map of Fates. I love the package you received. The video program sounds neat. I hope your son gets it!
Maggie Hall is kind of a genius, of course, because now that I own the first two books on CD, I’ll probably want to own the next one too … 🙂
That would be such a cool course! I hope you guys get it all aligned for him to take it next year.
I would love it if we could work it out for next year. It would be perfect for him!
So many goodies in this post, going to have to bookmark this one for later!
Yes, you don’t want to miss out! 🙂
I love the Conspiracy of Us series! And I actually listened to them on audiobook, so I’m sure you’ll probably enjoy them as well. What a great gift!
I’m excited to listen to them!
A video game design program sounds amazing! That would be fantastic if he can get into that 🙂 Have a great week!
It would be a fantastic opportunity for him! I’m really hoping we can work out the details.
Oh a video game design program! I would LOVE to learn how to program video games. The faact that he is homeschooled will also give him flexibility how much time to invest in program it his game 🙂 How exciting! Now off to read “Let’s Discuss: Special Niche Genres”
Yes, that’s one thing we love about homeschooling—we can totally tailor his studies to the things he’s truly interested in. It makes for a much happier kid. 🙂
A video game design program would be so much fun! My brother took one of those years ago and loved! I only took a programming class in college, but it was so interesting and we got to program a card game for ourselves. But video games sounds so much cooler! I hope he can get in this year or the next. 🙂
This is exactly what he wants to do with his life. At first I was kind of like … video games? Really? But the older he’s gotten, the more I see how working toward something he’s excited and passionate about is just the motivation he needs. Now I’m all gung-ho behind it! 🙂