January 2020 Monthly Wrap-Up (& Some December Updates Too)

Posted February 7, 2020 by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction in Best of the Bunch, Monthly Recap / 34 Comments

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

  • Tweet Cute by Emma Lord| Review
  • The Little Green Monster: Cancer Magic! by Sharon Chappell | 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:

  • 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!

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34 responses to “January 2020 Monthly Wrap-Up (& Some December Updates Too)

  1. 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. 🙂

    Tanya @ Girl Plus Books recently posted: Monthly Wrap Up | January 2020
  2. 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!

  3. 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!

    Esther @ BiteIntoBooks recently posted: Review: Flawless (Pretty Little Liars #2)
  4. 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!

    Kim @ Kimnilegent recently posted: Book Review
  5. 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.

  6. 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!

    Malka @ Paper Procrastinators recently posted: January Reading Wrap Up
  7. 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!

    • 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!

  8. Danielle Hammelef

    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.

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