Month: April 2019

April 2019 Wrap-Up & Best of the Bunch

April 2019 Wrap-Up & Best of the Bunch

  My Goings On in April: We went to lots of track meets (my middle daughter is in track). I volunteered at Bernie’s Book Bank with my mom and packed books for kids. I planned a trip to LA in August. We’ll be going on a family vacation and then I’ll be sticking around a few extra days for an SCBWI conference. A perfect blend of business and pleasure! Things I watched:  I rented A […]

Posted April 30, 2019 in Best of the Bunch, Monthly Recap / 53 Comments
Bite-Sized Reviews of Hurricane Season, Release, Grim Lovelies and Story Genius

Bite-Sized Reviews of Hurricane Season, Release, Grim Lovelies and Story Genius

I’ve got four reviews for you today: a MG contemporary, a YA contemporary, a YA fantasy and a non-fiction writing craft book. I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed your fiction addiction! Hurricane Season is a poignant story of the complexities of loving a parent who struggles with mental health issues. Fig is used to having to take care of her dad. She’s used to him embarrassing him in front of her […]

Posted April 29, 2019 in Reviews / 16 Comments
Sunday Post: Book Pre-order Campaigns & Giveaways Galore – 4/28/19

Sunday Post: Book Pre-order Campaigns & Giveaways Galore – 4/28/19

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer ~ It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on my blog and share news about what’s coming up in the week ahead. This past week on FYFA (and in my life): Yesterday it snowed again. Why are we not done with winter? I live in Chicago, not Alaska. On Monday, my mom and I spent a couple […]

Posted April 28, 2019 in Sunday Post / 24 Comments
April 2019 Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up Link-Up & Giveaway

April 2019 Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up Link-Up & Giveaway

It’s time for the April Wrap-Up Round-Up!  The March giveaway ends soon, so head over there for your last chance to enter! This is the link-up AND giveaway for our April wrap-up posts. If you don’t already know about the Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up, read the information below: Every month, at the end of the month, I’ll put up a monthly wrap-up link-up post where everyone can link up their month-end posts. There are no specific […]

I Want to Post It NOW! (AKA One Reason I Almost Never Blog Ahead.) Let’s Discuss.

I Want to Post It NOW! (AKA One Reason I Almost Never Blog Ahead.) Let’s Discuss.

I am always in awe of people who manage to blog ahead. I mean, some of you guys have things scheduled out for months. It’s beyond my comprehension. I always say that I’m just not organized enough to manage blogging ahead, but I’ve realized that there’s another reason as well: I am terribly impatient and I can’t wait to get that post I’ve just written out there. Case in point: I just wrote a goofy little post […]

Posted April 25, 2019 in Let's Discuss / 61 Comments
Reminiscing: The First Ten Books I Reviewed

Reminiscing: The First Ten Books I Reviewed

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Today’s Top Ten Tuesday is an audiobook freebie, but I chose to keep it simple: The First Ten Books I Reviewed I thought it might be fun to do a little reminiscing with this post! I started blogging in February of 2013. As a baby blogger I was pretty much just groping around in the dark with no concept of how to run a blog […]

Posted April 23, 2019 in Top Ten Tuesday / 38 Comments
Sunday Post: Book Pre-order Campaigns & Giveaways Galore – 4/21/19

Sunday Post: Book Pre-order Campaigns & Giveaways Galore – 4/21/19

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer ~ It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on my blog and share news about what’s coming up in the week ahead. This past week on FYFA (and in my life): Happy Easter to everyone who celebrates the holiday! We’re spending a low-key day at church (where most of the family is serving for all the […]

Posted April 21, 2019 in Sunday Post / 40 Comments
The Boy Who Steals Houses by CG Drews: Review & Giveaway

The Boy Who Steals Houses by CG Drews: Review & Giveaway

This book is pure perfection, crafted with Cait’s special brand of lyrical writing, witty banter and heartwrenching circumstances.  Sam’s reality is painful–he’s trying to care for an older brother since all of the adults in his life have failed him. All he wants in life is a home, a place to belong, but for him, that feels like a distant dream. Plus, he’s living with the repercussions of a cycle of abuse passed down from […]

Posted April 18, 2019 in Giveaways (Ended), Reviews / 14 Comments
I’m Addicted to Exclamation Points!! Let’s Discuss.

I’m Addicted to Exclamation Points!! Let’s Discuss.

Of course, my main addiction is fiction (as my blog title so aptly points out), but I’ve realized that I’m addicted to something else as well: exclamation points! Yes, I am one of those terrible over-users of the exclamation point. If I have commented on your blog, I have probably exclaimed over you in egregious ways. Sometimes I’ve used three exclamation points in a two-sentence comment!! It seems like the shorter a comment is, the […]

Posted April 16, 2019 in Let's Discuss / 54 Comments
Sunday Post: Book Pre-order Campaigns & Giveaways Galore – 4/14/19

Sunday Post: Book Pre-order Campaigns & Giveaways Galore – 4/14/19

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer ~ It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on my blog and share news about what’s coming up in the week ahead. This past week on FYFA (and in my life): Well, this is the scene out my back door right now: I know April showers bring May flowers, but I’m a little unclear on […]

Posted April 14, 2019 in Sunday Post / 46 Comments