Tag Archive for: happenings on and off the blog

Weekly Recap #23: Week of 10/15-10/21

 

It’s time for another weekly recap post of all things happening on and off the blog. This week I’ll be linking to the Sunday Post, which is hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer and to Stacking the Shelves, which is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews.

Well, all of my work deadlines are behind me so needless to say, this has been a great week!  I’ve had plenty of downtime and have just been enjoying the fall weather, napping a lot, and getting caught up on all of the shows that have been stacking up on my DVR.  I haven’t tried many of the new shows yet but of the ones I have, I really enjoyed the first few episodes of “The Brave” on NBC.

And today’s my birthday. Yay!  I have no idea what I’m doing today yet, but I’m hoping to spend some quality time with my son and my hubby (and hopefully snag a few new books too!).

On the blog, I’ve got a few blog tour posts coming up this week, one for a YA fantasy called Marked Beauty and one for a YA contemporary, Dear Martin.  Both reads were quite good so I look forward to sharing those reviews.  I also have a new giveaway up on the blog to celebrate reaching the 1,000 twitter follower mark.  If you haven’t already, make sure you enter.  The prize is a book of your choice (up to a $20 value) from The Book Depository.

Anyway, I think that’s it for me.  Have a great week, everyone!

 

WHAT I POSTED LAST WEEK

 

 

 

WHAT I’M READING THIS WEEK

 

   

UPCOMING REVIEWS

 

    
       
 

STACKING THE SHELVES

 

   

 

TOTALLY RANDOM

 

Weekly Recap #22: Week of 10/8-10/14

 

It’s time for another weekly recap post of all things happening on and off the blog. This week I’ll be linking to the Sunday Post, which is hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer and to Stacking the Shelves, which is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews.

Just one more day until my last big deadlines of the year! I’m happy to say that this past week actually ended up not being nearly as stressful as I thought it was going to be.  My coworkers were a lot more proactive than usual and even though we were really busy, everything went very smoothly.  Hopefully that trend will continue through tomorrow!

We also had our first soccer playoff game yesterday, which didn’t go as we had hoped so our season is now over.  It wasn’t the way we wanted to end, considering how well our team had played all season, but the better team definitely won yesterday.  I’m still really proud of my son, since this was his personal best season yet.  I’m waiting now to hear from him if he’s done until next spring or if he wants to play in the winter indoor soccer league.

Not too much else is going on honestly.  On the blog, I’ll be posting my 50th Netgalley review tomorrow so that’s a pretty exciting milestone for me.  I’ve also finally reached the 1,000 follower mark on twitter so I’ll be posting a new giveaway sometime soon to celebrate. 🙂  I’ve also been looking around for new challenges and readathons to participate in this fall and winter and so far, the one that has appealed to me the most is Caffeinated Book Reviewer’s HoHoHo Readathon so I’ve been looking for books for that and plan to sign up soon.  If anyone knows of any other good challenges or readathons, let me know.  I’m kind of new to them so I don’t necessarily know what’s out there to choose from.

Anyway, I think that’s it for me.  Have a great week, everyone!

 

WHAT I POSTED LAST WEEK

 

 

 

WHAT I’M READING THIS WEEK

 

      

UPCOMING REVIEWS

 

        
      

 

STACKING THE SHELVES

 

 

TOTALLY RANDOM

 

Source: Pinterest

Weekly Recap #21: Week of 10/1-10/7

 

It’s time for another weekly recap post of all things happening on and off the blog. This week I’ll be linking to the Sunday Post, which is hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer and to Stacking the Shelves, which is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews.

This past week was one of those weeks where I felt like I was just constantly distracted and trying to go in about 10 different directions at the same time.  Upcoming work deadlines have had me bringing work home several nights this week and then trying to fit that in around my son’s soccer games and homework. Thankfully my work deadlines are fast approaching (10/16) and then that stress will be behind me.  Soccer has been going well. We just finished the regular season with a 6-1-1 record and will have our first playoff game in a week.  My son hasn’t scored anymore goals, but he is still having an outstanding season. I’m really proud of him, especially since he wasn’t even sure he wanted to keep playing this season.

Another big distraction has been starting to plan my November trip to NYC.  Since I’ve already done most of the obvious touristy things on previous trips, I’ve been doing a lot of research trying to come up with some new things to do and places to go.  We’re thinking of touring Harlem this time if we can find a tour that we like the sound of.

Netflix was calling my name a lot this week as well. I had a few of those evenings where I just needed something mindless to do so I vegged out and binge watched the rest of Shameless, season 3 of Fuller House, and then watched the Jane Fonda/Robert Redford movie Our Souls at Night.  Man, those two still have the best onscreen chemistry!

Needless to say, I got a little behind on my blog commenting.  I meant to get all caught up today but then spent most of the day reading and napping instead, haha.  I hope to be caught up before the end of the day tomorrow though.  I also have a few reviews that I need to get written because while I was hibernating and reading, I finished Crooked Kingdom as well as the cozy mystery Murder Over Mochas.  I also started Emery Lord’s The Names They Gave Us and Hillary’s new book.  I think Hillary’s book is going to take me a while to get through, just because of all of the emotions that it stirs up, but so far, I’m finding it to be an interesting read.  Very raw and honest.

Anyway, I think that’s it for me.  Have a great week, everyone!

 

WHAT I POSTED LAST WEEK

 

 

 

WHAT I’M READING THIS WEEK

 

       

UPCOMING REVIEWS

 

        

 

STACKING THE SHELVES

 

 

TOTALLY RANDOM

 

Weekly Recap #20: Week of 9/24-9/30

 

It’s time for another weekly recap post of all things happening on and off the blog. This week I’ll be linking to the Sunday Post, which is hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer and to Stacking the Shelves, which is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews.

Happy October, everyone!  This is my favorite time of year.  The temperatures are finally cool enough that I’ve been able to get outside and comfortably walk around my neighborhood.  The leaves are changing colors and Halloween decorations are starting to pop up everywhere.  October is also my birthday month, so yay!  I may do a birthday giveaway on the blog to celebrate, so stay tuned for that.  I’m also still hoping to do one when I reach (and keep) 1,000 twitter followers.  I’ve reached 1,000 three times this week but then always seem to drop a couple (those pesky marketing bots), but we’re definitely getting close to that giveaway as well.

Aside from enjoying the fabulous fall weather, soccer has once again dominated my week.  After that amazing game where my son scored the three goals, his team has really struggled, earning their first loss of the season followed by a tie.  That was a bummer not just because they had been playing so well, but also because it meant we ended up with extra practices this past week to try to get back on track before we start playoffs next weekend.  I did try to read while sitting at the practices, but that was kind of a fail.  I did manage to finish and review The Rules of Magic and All the Crooked Saints this weekend, and also finished Dear Martin, which I’ll be reviewing later this month for a Blog Tour.  And at long last, I have finally started reading Crooked Kingdom!

Not too much else is going on right now, although I am planning a short trip to NYC in November.  New York is my favorite place to visit so I’m really looking forward to that and am curious to see if I’m able to get my blogging act together enough to schedule some posts for while I’m away, haha.

Anyway, I think that’s it for me.  Have a great week, everyone!

 

WHAT I POSTED LAST WEEK

 

 

 

WHAT I’M READING THIS WEEK

 

       

UPCOMING REVIEWS

 

        

 

STACKING THE SHELVES

 

  
 

TOTALLY RANDOM

 

Weekly Recap #19: Week of 9/17-9/23

 

Hey everyone!  It’s time for another weekly recap post of all things happening on and off the blog. This week I’ll be linking to the Sunday Post, which is hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer and to Stacking the Shelves, which is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews.

So, the highlight of this week, by far, was celebrating my son’s 10th birthday. Can’t believe he’s now into the double digits! He is really just growing up way too fast.  We’ve had a grand time celebrating though, with a birthday dinner on the actual day, lunch and frozen yogurt with Grandma yesterday, and then today we’ll cap it off with a party for him and his friends at the indoor trampoline park.  He has reached that age where he mainly just wants gift cards so that he can buy what he wants, which was hard for some of us to adjust to since we like watching him unwrap gifts, but I have to admit that it did makes everyone’s shopping a lot easier this year so no one complained too much, lol.

Ian also scored 3 goals at yesterday’s soccer game, so yet another fabulous way to celebrate his birthday.  He actually blew his dad and I away because, prior to yesterday, he had only scored 1 goal in all the years that he has played. His dad is his soccer coach and usually plays him in defensive positions so now he’s wondering if he has been playing him in the wrong position for all of these years.  I don’t know how to answer that, but from a proud mom perspective, seeing him play up front and score all of those goals and actually have his teammates looking for him so they could give him another chance to score was very cool.

Because of all of the party preparations, etc., I’ve gotten a little behind on my blog comments, which is funny since one of my main posts of the week was specifically about commenting on blogs, haha.  I’ll get caught up today after the party though so it’s all good.  I didn’t get as much reading done as I had planned to either, but I did manage to finish The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman, which was a wonderful read, and now I’m working on All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater.  Unfortunately, I’m struggling a bit with that one because of the pacing, but am still hoping to knock that out today so that I can move on to Dear Martin and Hillary’s new book, which I’m dying to read.  My mom started it yesterday and she said it’s a very good read, but that she actually has to keep setting it down and walking away because it makes her mad about the election all over again. I’ll be curious to see if I have a similar reading experience.

Not too much else is going on in my world.  I am excited about new fall shows starting up this week.  I don’t have too many shows that I watch, but I am looking forward to the Young Sheldon spinoff since I love The Big Bang Theory so much.

Anyway, I think that’s it for me.  Have a great week, everyone!

 

WHAT I POSTED LAST WEEK

 

WHAT I’M READING THIS WEEK

 

        

 

UPCOMING REVIEWS

 

         
 

STACKING THE SHELVES

 

  
 

TOTALLY RANDOM

 

Weekly Recap #16: Week of 8/27 – 9/2

 

Hey everyone!  It’s time for another weekly recap post of all things happening on and off the blog. This week I’ll be linking to the Sunday Post, which is hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer and to Stacking the Shelves, which is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews.

This was my vacation week, and although I’m sad to see it end tomorrow, I had a nice, relaxing time.  My son and I hung out quite a bit, which was nice since he starts back to school on Tuesday.  We had cool, rainy weather off and on all week so it made for great reading and movie marathon days.  My son and I watched A Dog’s Purpose (OMG, what a tearjerker!), Lego Batman, and Boss Baby.  Man, I love Redbox. Those movies probably would have cost us $100 to go see them in the theater and get snacks, etc. and we were able to see them all for just $4.25.  We also went to his school on Friday and met his new teacher.  He was more excited to see the class roster than to meet the teacher.  After a year of being in different classrooms from most of his friends, they are all reunited this year.  I feel sorry for the teacher, haha!

In blog-related news, I got a lot of reading done this week so that was nice.  I haven’t posted my review yet, but Warcross by Marie Lu was my favorite read from the week. It was outstanding! The One Memory of Flora Banks unfortunately ended up being a DNF.  I sympathized with the main character and her condition, but the constant repetition reminded me of the movie Groundhog Day, which I wasn’t a fan of either.  I found myself rapidly skimming through, just looking for anything that was new, and it just got to be tedious, therefore the DNF.  I finally got around to reading A Perfect Obsession, a Netgalley request that I was woefully behind on.  I’ll be posting my review for that this week. It was a pretty good read, although I did have a few issues with it.  I’ve also just started reading A Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue, a much-hyped 2017 release.  So far it is living up to the hype and is just hilarious.  It’s a huge book but I expect to knock it out in a day or two.

I also only have one more ARC to read for September deadlines so I’m coming out of my vacation, feeling like I’ve been very productive.  I do have 6 ARCs to read for October though so I’m planning to go ahead and get started on those later this week so that I don’t end up in a hole.

I think that’s it for me.  Have a great week, everyone!

 

WHAT I POSTED LAST WEEK

WHAT I’M READING THIS WEEK

 

   

UPCOMING REVIEWS

 

      
 

STACKING THE SHELVES

 

       
      

TOTALLY RANDOM

 

Weekly Recap #15: Week of 8/20 – 8/26

 

Hey everyone!  It’s time for another weekly recap post of all things happening on and off the blog. This week I’ll be linking to the Sunday Post, which is hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer and to Stacking the Shelves, which is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews.

Last week was such a hectic week for me that I can barely even remember what happened.  Gotta love weeks like that!  We were short-staffed at work so I spent all day everyday stressed out and running around like a chicken with my head cut off.  My son also started soccer practice this past week and had two birthday parties to go to, so I think I also spent most of my non-working hours also running around like a chicken with my head cut off, haha!  Needless to say, I’m very excited to be on vacation this week.  I’m really looking forward to sleeping in, relaxing, and of course, getting lots of reading done.  I’m also anxiously waiting to see if I can score tickets to Springsteen on Broadway since they go on sale this week.  I desperately want to see his show so fingers crossed!

For the blog, I managed to finish reading Mask of Shadows this week so stay tuned for my review of that.  I also just started reading Girls Made of Snow and Glass, which is a Snow White retelling.  So far it is meeting my expectations and I’m enjoying it, so hopefully that will continue.  I should also have a review for it up by the end of the week.  I’ve also said that I’ll be hosting my next giveaway when I reach 1,000 followers on twitter and I’m getting really close, so hopefully there will be a giveaway soon! 🙂

I think that’s it for me.  Have a great week, everyone!

 

WHAT I POSTED LAST WEEK

 

 

WHAT I’M READING THIS WEEK

 

   

UPCOMING REVIEWS

 

      
 

STACKING THE SHELVES

 

     
      

TOTALLY RANDOM

 

Weekly Recap #14: Week of 8/13 – 8/19

 

Hey everyone!  It’s time for another weekly recap post of all things happening on and off the blog. This week I’ll be linking to the Sunday Post, which is hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer and to Stacking the Shelves, which is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews.

So all of that insomnia I talked about last week did have one good thing come out of it…I actually managed to finish the final 7 books for my Summer TBR Wipeout Challenge!  Not the ideal way to complete a challenge, but I’ll take it, haha! I actually put a visible dent in the pile of books stacked up in my office, so I’m pretty stoked about getting so many older titles off my TBR.  I still have plenty more to get through though so if anyone knows of any good fall reading challenges coming up, let me know!  For now though, it’s back to the ARCS I have coming up for review and also getting caught up on my blog comments, which I had slacked on a bit while trying to complete my challenge.

Off the blog it was a pretty quiet week, although it will probably be the last quiet one for a while.  We’re getting geared up for back-to-school and for my son’s fall soccer season so things will definitely start to pick up again.  I have one more week of work and then I’m on vacation (YAY!)  I decided not to go anywhere so I’m hoping for good weather here so that I can at least enjoy a few relaxing moments out on my deck reading.

Oh well, that’s enough from me.  Have a great week, everyone!

 

WHAT I POSTED LAST WEEK

 

 

WHAT I’M READING THIS WEEK

 

   
  

UPCOMING REVIEWS

 

 
    
 

 

STACKING THE SHELVES

 

     
     

TOTALLY RANDOM

 

Weekly Recap #13: Week of 8/6 – 8/12

 

Hey everyone!  It’s time for another weekly recap post of all things happening on and off the blog. This week I’ll be linking to the Sunday Post, which is hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer and to Stacking the Shelves, which is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews.

I’d like to say it was a nice, quiet, and relaxing week, but it’s hard to type that knowing my mind has been on very un-relaxing topics all week, like the threat of nuclear war and domestic terrorism.  It made for a lot of sleepness nights, which means, yes I did have a great reading week, but still…I guess it’s weighing heavily on my mind as I type this because I live about an hour away from Charlottesville, Virginia, and am just so heartbroken by what I’m reading in the news and knowing it’s going on right around the corner.  My thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the young woman who was killed and to all of those who were injured in the terrorist attack.  And yes, I’m calling it that because if it happened anywhere else and the driver of the car wasn’t a 20 year old white man, that’s what we would be calling it.  Sorry, I’m not usually so outspoken when it comes to topics like this. I’m just so frustrated right now…

Okay, just so my post isn’t all doom and gloom.  I also wanted to mention that I got the complete series box set of the Golden Girls.  I love this show so much, and the time couldn’t be better since I could clearly use something to cheer me up!  If Dorothy, Blanche, Rose, and Sophia don’t do the trick, I don’t know what will!

 

 

Oh well, that’s enough from me.  Have a great week, everyone!

 

WHAT I POSTED LAST WEEK

 

 

WHAT I’M READING THIS WEEK

 

    
  

UPCOMING REVIEWS

 

   
    
 

 

STACKING THE SHELVES

 

     

TOTALLY RANDOM

Weekly Recap #12: Week of 7/30 – 8/5

 

Hey everyone!  It’s time for another weekly recap post of all things happening on and off the blog. This week I’ll be linking to the Sunday Post, which is hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer and to Stacking the Shelves, which is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews.

We had a change in our weather pattern this week so it has felt like fall most days.  While I’m not ready for summer to leave us quite yet, the cooler weather did make for some lovely outside reading time for me.  I got two more books read than I had originally planned to, so yay! I’ve been working on my Summer TBR Wipeout challenge and finally, after nearly a year of them sitting on my TBR, I managed to get Heartless and Caraval read.  I adored Heartless and had mixed feelings about Caraval, but for those interested, reviews should be up sometime soon.  I also read an ARC of The ReadyMade Thief, which was another book that was just okay for me.  It was kind of like The DaVinci Code with a YA protagonist, but there was so much going on in the plot that seemed unnecessary, my interest kept waning.  I pushed through because I wanted to know why things were happening and who was ultimately responsible, but overall it just wasn’t a good read for me.  I doubt I’ll be writing anything more than what I just did on it.

See, lots of reading this week.  I also read an ARC of Emma in the Night by Wendy Walker.  I had a few issues with pacing at the beginning, but ultimately ended up devouring this book in a day.  I hope to have this review posted tomorrow.  Lastly, I also started (and hope to finish it today!) a YA thriller called Pandora Project.  I’ll be participating in my very first blog tour this Friday with a review of this one, so I’m excited about that. 🙂

Beyond that it has just been work as usual.  I do have a vacation coming up at the end of this month.  I haven’t decided if I’m going anywhere or not though. I just needed to use up some leave before I lose it, so it may just end up being a Stay-Cation where I read and relax at home alone for a few days.

Since there’s not much on TV in the way of new shows right now (aside from Game of Thrones, which I love), I’ve been on Netflix every night binge watching the series, Shameless.  It’s an addictive series that definitely lives up to its name.  I think my mouth hangs open in disbelief most of the time while I’m watching, lol. William H. Macy is brilliant in it though.

 

Oh well, that’s pretty much it for me.  Have a great week, everyone!

 

WHAT I POSTED LAST WEEK

 

 

WHAT I’M READING THIS WEEK

 

   
  

UPCOMING REVIEWS

 

   
    
 

 

STACKING THE SHELVES

 

    

TOTALLY RANDOM