My Goings On in January:
- I started an eight-week workout class on Friday mornings, which is motivating me to be active—at least once a week.
- I went to the quarterfinals of the high school a capella competition in our area (think Pitch Perfect). It was really fun to watch!!
- What I watched:
- We’ve been watching the new season of The Good Place. (We still need to watch the series finale!) I love this show!!
- We went to see Frozen 2 in theaters and really enjoyed it.
- We finished watching all the Harry Potter movies as a family.
- I watched another season of Married at First Sight (season 7, I believe?) when I had a bad week and needing some mind-numbing entertainment. That show definitely fits the bill—it is horrible in many ways, but also weirdly addictive.
Features & Discussions:
I’m including December posts and reviews since I never actually posted a wrap-up in December (because I focused on year-end stuff). January posts are listed first, though.
7th Blogoversary Giveaways!!
Multicultural Children’s Book Day!
Fun with Spam #11
Six Degrees of Separation: Daisy Jones & the Six to The Others Series
The Cybils Awards Finalists! Which Books Do You Hope Will Win?
My 2020 Goals & Challenges
2019 Challenge Wrap-Up
2019 End of Year Book Survey (& Year in Graphs!)
January 2020 Discussion Challenge Link-Up & Giveaway
2020 Book Blog Discussion Challenge Sign-Up – You can join us at any time!
Nicole’s Best Books of the Decade
Fun With Spam #10
My 2020 Reading Progress:
I read 13 books in January, so I’m already ahead on my Goodreads goal (which I lowered to 100 this year to hopefully help me focus on writing).
January 2020 Reviews
- Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim| Review
- Chosen by Kiersten White | Review
- Cub by Cindy Copeland | Review
- Every Other Weekend by Abigail Johnson | Review
- Storm and Fury by Jennifer L. Armentrout | Review
- The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand| Review
- All of Me by Chris Baron| Review
January Best of the Bunch:
(Best of the Bunch is hosted over at Cocoon of Books. We link up our favorite reads of the month!)
My MG choice is Cub—I absolutely loved this wonderful graphic novel!
And my favorite YA of January was Chosen. It made my Buffy-loving heart soar!
December 2019 Reviews
- Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman | Review
- The Toll by Neal Shusterman | Review
- The Door to the Lost by Jaleigh Johnson* | Review
*Dual review with Marilla!
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!)
I barely reviewed anything in December, but I still needed to make sure to honor The Toll by Neal Shusterman—once again, his series hits my All-Time Favorites list!
2020 Goals Progress:
Progress: 3/21-30 Discussions (Chatty Kathy)
The Cybils Awards Finalists! Which Books Do You Hope Will Win?
My 2020 Goals & Challenges
2019 End of Year Book Survey (& Year in Graphs!)
HOST/SIGN-UP LINK – Feed Your Fiction Addiction & It Starts at Midnight
My Bookish Goals for 2020:
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My Writing Goals
- Update Convenerimus based on feedback from sensitivity reader and send it back to my agent. DONE in January. I’m back on submission!
- Finish first edit of my Selfish Giant retelling. I finished 11 new poems for this verse novel in January. In February, my goal is to write 15 more.
- Attend one writing conference and at least one online class. I’m attending the NY SCBWI conference in February (I leave today!).
- Read writing craft books and resources. Skipping this in February, since I’m attending the conference and I’ll already have a lot to think about.
- Edit A Memory of Magic. Not on the schedule for February because I’m focusing on Selfish Giant.
My Reading/Reviewing Goals
- Review (requested) review books within two weeks of publication. So far, so good.
- Review two backlist review books per month. Done.
- Here’s the spreadsheet I created specifically for my backlist ARCs and review copies. (This was adapted from one of the tabs on Val @ Reader Voracious’s 2020 spreadsheet). Hopefully seeing this list here monthly will help keep me on track!
Wrap-Up Round-Up!
Don’t forget to link your January wrap-up posts up to the Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up. And enter the giveaway!
I bet the a capella competition was fun! I enjoyed Storm and Fury. Not quite as much as the original trilogy (the Dark Elements trilogy) but it was still a lot of fun. Armentrout rarely disappoints me. Hooray for already being ahead on your GR goal. I think I’m currently 3 books ahead… thanks to audio books. 🙂
Audiobooks definitely help me with my reading goals!
Good luck with all those ARCs! I finally ordered The Toll, but it’s been delayed for 3 days because of the snow. When it finally stops snowing, I’m going to get so much mail. I hope you’re having a great February!
I hope you love The Toll!!!
I like it that you’re doing a Friday Workout Class! How’s that going? I think Friday morning is a great choice as well.
I decided I want to sport more too, so I play handball with various who need substitutes the last few week and upcoming weeks. I feel so much better when I work our frequently! I also decided to do some yoga and going to pick up running again. Yay for being-active-goals!
The workout class has been going well. I need that extra motivation to actually get moving. 🙂
I am such a sucker for a good book cover, and I’m not going to lie, I’m drawn to The Toll! It’s so minimalist and pleasing to the eye. Looks like I’ll be adding this to my To Read list. Also, good on you for sticking to your guns and completing your goal! Good luck with the rest!
The book is even better than the cover, so I definitely recommend it!
i rarely did the monthly wrapup because i did the sunday post. i haven’t even done that in months, so i’m debating how i will handle it all. hope you enjoy your conference
Yeah, I do both, but I can definitely see why some people don’t. Thanks for visiting my wrap-up, though!
13 books for the month is good. Keep it up. Have a great weekend.
Thanks! I’ve been happy with my reading lately!
I still need to see Frozen 2. I also need to start walking. But the weather here is still too cold. I might start going back to Weight Watchers maybe. I agree with you on Chosen, but still need to start reading Scythe! Have a great time at the conference! Can’t wait to hear all that you learn!
I loved Frozen 2—you should definitely watch it. And read Scythe! 🙂
I’m so sad The Good Place is over. Bring tissues for the finale! Happy February!
Oh, I know—it was so sad!!
I love watching a capella. It’s amazing the sounds they can create with just their voices. Gold star to you for joining and doing that workout class. I really need to do something, but motivation is as scarce as my time.
I love watching a capella—this is the first time I’ve gotten to see a competition in person.
Wishing you all the luck with your 8 week workout class, here’s hoping you enjoy it! And also with going through your arcs! It sounds like you’re already off to a fabulous start for 2020!
Thank you! I’m enjoying the class—it’s good to have a little extra motivation to get up and do something.
I went on a Harry Potter binge over my winter break this year! I still haven’t read the last book yet, so the last two movies are waiting, but hopefully soon! What a fun family activity!
Hope you love them all!!
I’m up to the finale of The Good Place and I don’t know if I’m ready for the show to be over. I’ve loved watching it so much since I discovered it almost a year ago! Listening to an a capella competitions sounds like such a cool experience! I need to see if there are any such competitions nearby, because I’d love to go!
I also just requested Cub from my library. I love middle grade graphic novels, so I’m shocked I haven’t heard of this one before! And I hope you have a fabulous time in NY! I can’t wait to hear all about your trip and experience at SCBWI!
The Good Place finale was incredibly bittersweet!
Great job on your reading in January. I want to check out Cub. It looks really cute. Good luck with all of your writing goals this month too. 🙂
-Lauren
Thanks, Lauren!!
I’ve never watched the Pitch Perfect movies… I keep meaning to watch them (as people seem to love them) but something else always comes first. I bet the competition was fun though. 🙂
The Good Place is a show I binged from S1 and finished just in time for the final season finale. I loved it. It was so weird but fun and easy to escape into.
Your January seems to have been a good one so I hope February continues the trend!
We binged a lot of The Good Place too. It’s one time where it’s kind of fun to be behind the rest of the world because it means you get to enjoy them all at once. 🙂
It sounds like you had a very good start to the year and yay for the workout class to get you moving at least once a week. I love working out so I fully support this. And I think the acapella competition must have been so cool ^.^
Well, don’t applaud me too much because I ended up only attending four of the eight weeks. I was in NY for one, and then the instructor was sick, and then my daughter had a doctor’s appointment, and then my dad had a stroke. So much for my healthy start to the new year!
Although I didn’t watch every episode, my husband binge-watched each season of The Good Place. I caught enough of it to know what was happening. I haven’t seen Frozen 2, but I will when it streams. I must read Cub, especially if it was your top MG pick. I like your ARC spreadsheet–very easy to read and well organized.
That ARC spreadsheet has been saving me this year!
I keep not watching the season finale of the Good Place cause everyone said it was so good, and I’m not ready for it to end.
I use the same spreadsheet from Kal, I keep forgetting to update it though
Oh, I’m like that with book series, so I can definitely relate!