It feels a little weird to do a December wrap-up after I’ve already done a yearly one, but somehow I have this incomplete feeling if I don’t talk about what went on in December! So, here it is…
My Goings On in December:
- I finished my rough draft of my YA novel and started plotting a new MG. I’m setting the YA aside for a while to let it percolate. (It’s sure to get better on its own if I just ignore it, right?) The new book I’m plotting is … get this … a fantasy retelling of The Selfish Giant. In verse. Am I insane? Probably. (Definitely)
- I attended lots of gymnastics meets. I’m surprised at how much my daughter can still do after three years away from the sport. She’s never going to be a star varsity gymnast (she wasn’t at that high of a level when she quit), but she’s really enjoying doing it again in a lower-key environment.
- Things I watched:
- I watched more of Sabrina’s Chilling Adventures but burned out on it a bit.
- I finished the newest season of iZombie with my mom.
- I watched Dumplin’ on Netflix. Really enjoyed this one! And also a bunch of Netflix Christmas movies. The one with Vanessa Hudgins was fun, but the others that I watched were all pretty horrible. Why is Netflix’s standards so much lower when it comes to Christmas movies?
Instagram:
I’m still an Instagram failure. I managed to get up a measly 3 posts in December.
Features & Discussions:
Are You An Email Hoarder? Let’s Discuss
2019 Book Blog Discussion Challenge Sign-Up – Join us for the 2019 Discussion Challenge!
Briggs Book Tag
My (Everlasting) Quest to Catch Up on Review Books. Let’s Discuss.
December (& Year-End) Wrap-Up Round-Up & Make Me Read It Giveaway – Link up your December and year-end wrap-ups here!
My 2019 Reading Challenge Sign-Ups
My 2018 Reading Progress:
I ended up at 153 books for 2018. I’m quite happy with that, considering I was also writing.
December 2018 Reviews
I didn’t end up posting many reviews in December, but I did read a whole slew of verse novels that I’ll probably be reviewing in January. The end of the year just gets so busy!
- After the Fire by Will Hill | Review | Rating: Fed My Addiction
- Watersnakes by Tony Sandoval | Review | Rating: Fed My Addiction
- Into the Bright Unknown by Rae Carson | Review | Rating: Fed My Addiction
- House Arrest by K.A. Holt | Review | Rating: Absolutely Addicted!
- Navigating the Stars by Maria V. Snyder | Review | Rating: Devoured It
December Best of the Bunch:
(Best of the Bunch is hosted over at Cocoon of Books. We link up our favorite reads of the month!)
This was another easy one. I probably should have also included this in my Top Ten for the year, but … I sort of forgot about December when I was writing that post. I really loved this book!
2018 Reading Challenges/Goals Progress:
Status: 30/31-40 Discussions Posted
Wait a second. I was actually pretty darn close to my goal here. I thought I’d totally failed! And if you count my spam posts or my spoiler-filled discussions of the Three Dark Crowns books, I was actually over the goal. So, yay me!
Are You An Email Hoarder?
Briggs Book Tag
My (Everlasting) Quest to Catch Up on Review Books
Epic Reads Meet-up Recap
The Dear Evan Hansen Tour Recap
Anderson’s Bookshop’s 15th Annual YA Literature Conference Recap
Things I Didn’t Know About Publishing (And Things I Know I Still Don’t Know)
Book Box Subscriptions. Yay or Nay?
Goodreads’ YA Books Lists.
I Love Me Some Purple Prose.
Where to Find Book Series Recaps. (Since most books don’t have a synopsis.)
The Mid-Year Book Freak-Out Tag
The WIFYR Workshop Experience
Goodreads’ Mid-Year Book Lists.
A Break in Our Regularly Scheduled Programming (& Reasons I’m Excited for WIFYR)
Some Changes Around Here
My Personal Connection to Pride Month, Some Recent LGBTQ+ Reads, and Integrating My Faith and LGBTQ+ Issues
Top 10 Writing Tips I Learned at WIFYR
My Newly Organized Bookcases!
My First Time Switching Between an Audiobook and a Print Book.
The Rain on Netflix: Danish or English? (Subbed or Dubbed?)
Why Is Voice in Writing So Hard? And Do You Think About It When You Read?
Expectations About POC Names in Books.
Great Reasons to Get to Know Your Bookish Friends Better
Top 10 of 2017: Books I’m Looking Forward to in 2018
2017 End of Year Book Survey
My Writing & Reading Goals for 2018
My Book Outlet Weakness (& Why My Latest Haul Is All Your Fault)
Which Types of Reviews Are Most Effective? Let’s Discuss!
HOST/SIGN-UP LINK – Feed Your Fiction Addiction & It Starts at Midnight
My 2018 Goals Progress:
- COMPLETE – Complete a second edit of my MG novel. Done!
- COMPLETE – Attend a writing workshop. I went to WIFYR in June and to the SCBWI Prairie Writer’s and Illustrator’s Day in October.
- COMPLETE – Read more writing craft books/materials. I definitely accomplished this in 2018. I plan to keep it up in 2019!
- COMPLETE – Finish the first draft of YA novel. WOO HOO!!!
- COMPLETE – Read one review book for every one that I request/receive. ) I received 6 books for review this month and only posted reviews for 3. But I also read one that I decided not to review and another that I reviewed on Goodreads and Amazon and I’m still debating whether or not it’s going up on the blog (since it’s an adult book, and I’ve shifted my focus to all YA and MG lately). So I ended up ahead for the year! (In 2018, I received 88 books for review and read 92, so I ended at 4 ahead.)
- COMPLETE – Read more middle grade. I reviewed 1 MG book this month, but I also read 5 others right at the end of December—all verse novels. (I read and/or reviewed 38 MGs in 2018, which is WAY better than the 9 I read in 2017.)
- Work out! I did pretty well with this through the year, but I totally failed in November and December. 2019 is a new year!
Wrap-Up Round-Up!
Don’t forget to link your December and year-end wrap-up posts up to the Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up. And enter the giveaway!
I just finished House Arrest the other day. Wow! That was really emotional, and I know I was hard on the book, because of the ending, but I loved it until the very end. I guess I can find solace in that fact that a sequel exists.
Yeah, the ending was tough, but I loved the book. I need to read the sequel still.
Good luck with the book! Congrats on completing so many of your goals. I also failed at working out in November and December. I regret it now. I did 2 strength workouts last week, and now my shoulders hurt so much that I can barely lift my arms. Have a great January!
I STILL haven’t gotten back to working out, which is bad news. I think I’m moved back to my “giving up” phase. Ugh!
Way to go rocking all of those goals! I am so impressed! Here’s to a successful 2019!
Thank you!!!
Congrats on making your goals! Best of wishes with your new novel and with making your other goals for 2019!
Thanks so much!
Hah! Yes, it will definitely get better if you ignore it, which is basically what I’ve done with mine. It was still pretty rough when I submitted my story to Swoon Reads, but I wanted to know how people felt about it in general. I’ve slowly started edits, which is actually quite painful, and stop to work on something new pretty often. Good luck with your writing!
I really enjoyed Dumplin’! I haven’t read the book, so I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. I’m still on the fence about Sabrina, but from what you said I’m assuming small doses is best.
Happy reading!
Lindsi @ Do You Dog-ear? ?
I feel horrible because I had really good intentions of reading your book on Swoon Reads—I even started it, but then I had review books that I had to get read on a deadline and I never got back to it. I apologize! You’re really brave for putting your book up there and getting that feedback. That’s a huge step in the right direction!
Don’t feel bad! We’re all busy and have other things that require our time and attention. I’m just thankful for the feedback I’ve received and I’m looking forward to applying it to my writing. <3
Great job on all of your goals, especially finishing the first draft of your YA! I’m going to start breaking down some writing goals this year so that I can hopefully have a finished book by the end of the year. We’ll see! 🙂
-Lauren
You can do it!!!
I used to do a weekly wrap-up and then I whittled it down to two a month, but I have decided to make it once a month in 2019, so I will be linking up with your monthly feature! ?
I read a lot more MG in 2018 because so much of it has become violent, and some authors have been including sexual tension and making out and I want to make sure these things get pointed out on Goodreads and Amazon. I have even more MG reading planned for this year. ?✨
If you have been studying MG written in verse have you seen Missing Mike, and Root Beer Candy and Other Miracles by Shari Green? They are wonderful. ????
Happy New Year! ?
I’ve heard of that one, but I haven’t read it yet. Thanks for the recommendation!
Great job with all your goals! Looking forward to more great posts.
Thank you!
Congratulations on finishing the rough draft of your YA novel and I hope writing the MG goes well. Good on your daughter for going back to gymnastics and enjoying it as well again 🙂 And I am impressed with how many of your reading goals and challenges you were able to complete. Pretty much all of them except one and that is brilliant 😀 You are NOT an Instagram failure! Instagram is hard and I think if you do so much as one post you have totally earned applause <3
Ha! Thanks. I have realized that Instagram is not my strong point, and I’m okay with that. I have a lot to keep up with, so I’ve mostly let Instagram go.
Ahh congratulations on finishing your YA draft, that’s amazing! Best of luck for the plotting of your new book, that sounds exciting! 😀
I really liked Dumplin’ as well 🙂
And you did so well with all of your goals, that’s incredible, I’m so happy to see that 🙂
I hope you’re having a fantastic January <3
Thank you! There’s always a sense of accomplishment when you get a draft done. 🙂
You ended the year on a high note completing all your goals! Plus the rough draft of your YA and the 2nd edit of your middle grade too. ?? The satisfaction of completing goals is such a YES! feeling. Can’t wait to see what you have planned for this new year. Thanks Nicole! ❤️❤️
I agree that it’s so nice to be able to say that you accomplished your goals.
I still need to watch Dumplin’! I wanted to read the book first but I don’t know if that’s going to happen. But right now I started Fuller House…I feel like I’m the last one to start this series lol. I’m on episode 3 and already love. ♥
I watched a bit of Fuller House, but it never quite clicked with me. I might try it again sometime, though.
Oh wow in verse? That has to be so hard. Good luck!
We’ll see how it goes. I’ve wanted to write a book in verse for a long time, but I kept holding back because I didn’t feel “qualified.” But I’ve read a lot of verse novels now and a lot of advice on writing one, and I’ve realized that most authors feel that way when they start out.