My Goings-On in January:
I now share so many details in my Sunday Posts about everything that’s been going on that it feels really redundant to share here as well. And, I mean, mostly we’re just staying home. So I won’t share unless something exceptional happened during the month. Only two things stand out to me this month:
- I finished my stint as a Cybils Awards round 1 judge and we picked our finalists in the Middle Grade Speculative Fiction category. Watch for the winner, which will be announced soon!
- My friend Megan E. Freeman and I were chosen as co-mentors for round 8 of Author Mentor Match! Mentees are going to be announced next week!!
- Also, this isn’t my news, but Megan’s debut ALONE came out on January 12th, and I am so incredibly excited for her!
Features & Discussions:
January 2021 Discussion Challenge Link-Up & Giveaway
2020 End of Year Book Survey (& Year in Graphs!)
The 2020 Cybils Awards Finalists! Which Books Do You Hope Will Win? Did Any Favorites Not Make the Cut?
January 2021 Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up Link-Up & Giveaway
Inspiration or Perspiration: Is It Time to Make a Blogging Schedule?
My 2021 Reading Progress:
I read 11 books in January, which Goodreads tell me is 3 books ahead of my 100 book yearly goal.
January 2021 Reviews
I was actually really surprised I only managed to post five reviews in January. Guess this is the reason I need to get on a blogging schedule. Hopefully it will help!
- Alone by Megan E. Freeman | Review
- Admission by Julie Buxbaum | Review
- Meow or Never by Jazz Taylor| Review
- The Canyon’s Edge by Dusti Bowling | Review
- You Have a Match by Emma Lord | 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!)
I chose ALONE as my best of the bunch, but since I know I’m probably a bit biased in favor of Megan’s book, I’m also adding THE CANYON’S EDGE. They were both absolutely incredibly verse novels!
2021 Goals Progress:
Last year’s goals basically just gave me something to feel guilty about for most of the year, so I’m giving myself a break this year. The Discussion Challenge is my one and only goal for 2021.
Progress: 1/21-30 Discussions (Chatty Kathy)
I only posted one actual discussion this month, but I did also post about the Cybils Finalists and my year-end wrap-up.
2020 End of Year Book Survey (& Year in Graphs!)
HOST/SIGN-UP LINK – Feed Your Fiction Addiction & It Starts at Midnight
December 2020 Reviews
Since I didn’t post a December wrap-up (because of the year-end one), I wanted to make sure the books I reviewed in December got their due credit!
- The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel by Sheela Chari | Review
- The Time of Green Magic by Hilary McKay | Review
- When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller| Review
- The Lost Wonderland Diaries by J. Scott Savage | Review
- The Sisters of Straygarden Place by Hayley Chewins | Review
- Rival Magic by Deva Fagan | Review
- Quintessence by Jess Redman | Review
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!)
My favorite that I reviewed in December was an easy pick: WHEN YOU TRAP A TIGER was utterly gorgeous and made me cry.
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’m making a concerted effort to write a review as soon as I’m done reading a book, so hopefully, my stats for February will be more book reviews than other posts.
I hope you’ll have a great February, Nicole!
I actually read quite a bit in January, but I am behind in writing reviews. However, I’ve taken a lot of fun photos for Instagram so I’m on the right track. LOL
-Lauren
I loved both Alone and The Canyon’s Edge and now can’t wait to read When You Trap a Tiger as I always read the award winning books.
When You Trap a Tiger won all the awards at the YMAs so I’ll have to check it out!
Also congrats on the mentorship match-up!
I need to get that Dusti Bowling book. I keep seeing great reviews for it and I loved the Aven Green books.
I’ve wanted to read When You Trap A Tiger since before it came out. I loved the author’s other book. I hope you have a good February!
Happy February!
Nice month, and these January covers look so good. Enjoy your next month of reading!
Congrats on being chosen as mentor! I hope one day to have a MS ready to submit 🙂 I’ll check out Alone. It sounds super cute
I look forward to seeing the CYBIL winners. Congratulations on being chosen as a mentor! That is such great news, Nicole! I just saw mention of Alone on Twitter and was looking at that one. It sounds good! I hope you have a good February! l
That Cybils award thing is pretty cool! I wish I could still do my state awards for similar reading. You got some good books this past month too.
I can’t wait to hear how your blogging schedule pans out! And every single time I see the cover of Meow or Never, I smile so huge. It has to be the cutest cover ever ♥.
Ah I think it’s so, so amazing that you are a mentor for AMM! I hope that it has been going well for you and that you’ve been having a lot of fun! 🙂
Happy February! <3