Last week on FYFA (and in my life):
My two homeschooled kids were on spring break from co-op this week (though we still had some work that we needed to get done), so we had a relatively relaxing week. We watched Pete’s Dragon on Netflix—the original was a favorite of mine when I was a kid, and even though this version was very different (not surprisingly), I really enjoyed it!
We also went to see the new Beauty and the Beast, which I absolutely adored! Even my fourteen-year-old son said it was pretty darn good (he gave it a begrudging 7 out of 10, which is amazing for him when it comes to a musical). I was utterly enchanted by Emma Watson and really happy with the slight adaptations that were made (though I thought they made Beast a bit meaner at the beginning and for longer—they made up for it by adding some more connection between Belle and Beast after the scene where he saves her from the wolves).
Then, yesterday, it was 75 degrees and we took advantage by taking two walks—one for ice cream. 🙂
Here’s what you may have missed on the blog last week:
- Top Ten Quick Reads
- Bite-Sized Reviews of Waking in Time, Redux, Confessions of a High School Disaster, Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, and Mutant Mantis Lunch Ladies
- Watching Bloggers Come and Go. Let’s Discuss! – I take a look at some of my earliest commenters and wonder what happened to them.
- London Bound by C.J. Duggan: Review
Next week on FYFA:
- Reviews of Toward a Secret Sky by Heather Maclean, The Pain Eater by Beth Goobie & The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Sáenz (I’ll probably post all three of these—we shall see!)
- March Wrap-Up Round-Up Link-Up
- My March Wrap-Up
- April Book Blog Discussion Challenge Link-Up & Giveaway
- Let’s Discuss: Something bookish! 🙂
Book Blogger Birthdays and Blogoversaries:
Lots of birthdays and blogoversaries again this week! I hope you’ll go wish these bloggers well on their special days! Make sure you 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.)
- March 31st – Greg @ Book Haven‘s Birthday
- April – 125 Pages‘ Blogoversary
- April 1st – Amanda Marie @ Orandi et Legendi‘s Birthday
- April 1st – The Book Disciple‘s Blogoversary
Nothing this week! (Thank goodness—I’m swamped right now!)
Great Discussions/Goings On Around the Blogosphere:
Here are a few posts I loved this week:
- Cristina @ Girl in the Pages talks about her Goodreads Review Style (and how it’s different from her normal one)
- Cait @ Paper Fury tells us 10 Reasons Why Reviewing Books Is Actually Super Hard
- Michelle @ Faerie Fits talks about Six Types of Retellings You Should Totally Care About
- Jen @ Books that Hook tells us the Pros and Cons of Hosting Blog Tours on Your Book Blog
- Kristen @ Metaphors and Moonlights asks Why Do Some Books Make Us More Emotional Than Others?
Pre-Order Deals:
- Pre-order THE GAUNTLET by Karuna Riazi and receive a (secret) special treat and a chance to win a Moroccan tea set. (ends 3/27)
- Pre-order STRANGE THE DREAMER by Laini Taylor to receive a FREE original signed bookplate (a decorative label hand-signed by Laini Taylor to place in your copy of the book) and an EXCLUSIVE character decal (the first in a collectible series!) (ends 3/27)
- Pre-order DEFY THE STARS by Claudia Gray to receive a FREE EXCLUSIVE sticker! (ends 4/3)
- Pre-order BLACKSOULS by Nicole Castroman and receive a poster, signed bookplate, and bookmark. (ends 4/10)
- Pre-order SPINDLE FIRE by Lexa Hillyer and receive an 8″x10″ framable map (and you’ll also be entered to win a Kindle Fire!). (ends 4/10)
- Pre-order ALEX AND ELIZA: A LOVE STORY by Melissa de la Cruz to receive a custom pin and signed bookplate! (ends 4/10)
- Pre-order ALWAYS AND FOREVER, LARA JEAN by Jenny Han and get custom Lara Jean nail decals, a signed bookplate, and more! (ends 5/1)
- Pre-order A COURT OF WINGS AND RUIN by Sarah J. Maas and receive an exclusive color poster of the official map! (ends 5/1)
- Pre-order GIRL OUT OF WATER by Laura Silverman and receive a signed postcard and playlist. You will also be entered to win one of two prize packs and one grand prize prize pack containing a $25 B&N gift card. (ends 5/1)
- Pre-order IT STARTED WITH GOODBYE by Christina June and get a bonus chapter from before ISWG begins! (ends 5/8)
- Pre-order THE CROWN’S FATE by Evelyn Skye, and you can get a limited edition bookmark and a set of 3 stickers–Team Vika, Team Nikolai, and Team Pasha! Plus, there’s an additional giveaway if you order from Kepler’s. (ends 5/15)
- Pre-order BRANDED by Eric Smith and you’ll get a set of signed postcards of the covers, an Inked and Branded quote postcard set designed by author and illustrator Ashley Poston, and a handful of temporary tattoos! (ends 5/22)
- Pre-order DARK BREAKS THE DAWN by Sara B. Larson and get a signed bookmark (and you’ll be entered to win LOTS of other great prizes!!) (ends 5/29)
- Pre-order ENIGMA by Tonya Kuper receive an Enigma swag pack, including a signed book plate, plus the possibility of lots of other goodies as well! (ends 6/30)
- Pre-order WASTE OF SPACE by Gina Damico and receive a bookmark, a magnet, and a 4″x6″ print of Damico’s original hand-drawn sketch of the spaceship’s schematics. (ends 7/11)
Other Current Giveaways on FYFA:
(Besides the ones listed with this week’s posts)
- March Discussion Challenge Link-Up & Giveaway – Link up your March discussions here and enter the giveaway!
- February Wrap-Up Round-Up Giveaway! – Last chance to enter to win the February giveaway!
Even More Awesome Giveaways on Other Sites:
- Enter to win the March #NOVLbox curated by Claudia Gray, author of Defy the Stars!
- Enter to win one of three When Dimple Met Rishi ARCs!
- Head over to Metaphors and Moonlight for a chance to win a signed paperback of The Immortal Coil
- Head over to Jay Kristoff’s website and tweet about his newest book (he gives you a tweet suggestion) and you’ll be entered to win a signed copy of Nevernight (your choice of cover), along with a signed audiobook of ILLUMINAE and GEMINA!
- Head over to Lisa Loves Literature for a chance to win a Tricksters Series Prize Pack, including: Signed copies of all A.L. Davroe books, A Kindle Fire, and a $50 Amazon Gift Card!
- Lisa Loves Literature is also featuring a giveaway of 2 sets of signed copies of FIRSTLIFE & LIFEBLOOD by Gena Showalter.
- Head over to Pink Polka Dot Books for a chance to win one of five copies of The Most Dangerous Thing by Leanne Lieberman
- Head over to NovelKnight for a chance to win a pre-order of ROAR by Cora Carmack.
- Lots of blogs participating in the March New Release Giveaway Hop!
- It’s Book Briefs’ 6th blogoversary and Michelle is celebrating with a huge giveaway!
- Head over to Happily Ever Chapter to enter to win 50 YA Books in the YALit Giveaway (INT). (Note that you’ll be subscribed to the sponsoring authors’ mailing lists, and there are a lot of them!)
- XPresso Book Tours is giving away a $50 gift card and more in honor of the new year!
- The Bookkeeper’s Secrets is doing a year-long giveaway!
Lots of good stuff! Have any giveaways or great discussions happening on your site right now? Feel free to share them in the comments!
What a great week! I haven’t gone to see Beauty & the Beast…yet! We are supposed to go today. I’m looking forward to it.
Did you see it? Did you love it?
Yes. I loved it!
Yay!
I’m so glad you enjoyed Beauty and the Beast – and that’s great that your son liked it too. 🙂 Yay for walking to get ice cream! That sounds really nice.
-Lauren
Yep, it’s hard to find a movie that the whole family enjoys these days (though my husband didn’t see this one with us—I don’t know if he would have been as entranced).
Book breaks are good–i.e. when you don’t add MORE to the TBR pile! It gives you the illusion that you can catch up in that one week! LOL! At least that’s how I think of it! From my haul only one was new since the other one isn’t being shipped yet until who knows when!
I loved the new Beauty and the Beast too! Like I said in my review, there were three changes that irked me, but other than that I really really liked it and cannot wait to hopefully see it again! After all, I did see the animated one twice in theaters! LOL!
Here’s my STS
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower 🙂
Yes, sometimes it’s nice to have a week where you don’t add anything new. Then anything you read feels like “catching up.” 🙂
I’m getting curious about the movie now. It’s not my favorite fairy tale but everyone is buzzing about it. Sounds like you had a very nice week.
I adored the original animated version, so there was no way I was going to miss the new one. 🙂
I remember Pete’s Dragon, and I have to admit I was curious when I saw the new one on Netflix. And I love it when the ice cream places open up here- the one close by just opened last week so I know it’s spring ha ha!
Have a great week!
We were almost all the way there when it occurred to me that it might not be open yet! Luckily, it was. I’m sure my kids would have given me a hard time if we walked all the way there and had no ice cream reward at the end! 🙂
Ooh, ice cream! YAY. And that’s awesome that your kids loved the new Beauty and the Beast so much!! I have only heard good things about it, hehe, although I’ll probably wait till it comes out on dvd to see it…because I’m slack.? But I definitely want to eventually because Emma Watson is amazing.
Hope you have a great week!
I wait for most movies to come out on DVD, but this was one I HAD to see in the theater.
Sounds like a lovely week! I also saw Beauty & The Beast and thoroughly enjoyed it. They did such a great job with the adaptation!
I agree!
Spring break sounds like it was lovely. So glad you all loved B&B. Hehe..yeah boys and musicals not always so popular. It is great he enjoyed it. Hope the week ahead brings more pleasant days!
I’m always happy when I find a movie the kids can all agree on!
Ice cream! I’m envious. I want some. Also, I think everyone on Earth saw Beauty & The Beast last week. I feel so left out. I’m glad you liked it, though!
It does kind of seem that way, doesn’t it? I often wait to watch movies once they’re out on DVD (or Amazon or Netflix), but I couldn’t wait for this one!
Yay for school breaks and relaxing 🙂 I can’t believe we haven’t watched Pete’s Dragon at home yet! Now I want too more 🙂 I posted my review of Beauty and the Beast yesterday. SO GOOD! I want to watch again and again and again 🙂 HA! funny that your son said that, I understand because I’m not into musical either. 🙂
I adored the original Pete’s Dragon. This version was very different, but we all really liked it!
The original Pete’s Dragon was one of my favorite movies as a kid as well. The new one was okay. I did love the new Beauty and the Beast for sure though! Hope everyone is ready to be back from spring break this week, back into the real world!
I really liked the new Pete’s Dragon, even though it was verydifferent. The original will always have my heart—though I actually don’t know that I think it was a super high quality movie when I look at it objectively.