Weekly Recap #137: Week of 1/5 – 1/11
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 is my first weekly recap of 2020, so Happy New Year, everyone! I didn’t post last Sunday because I was in New York with one of my besties. We wanted to meet up and see a few shows, but didn’t want to get caught up in the madness of New Year’s Eve in Times Square so we headed up on Thursday for a long weekend. We were nervous about going there in January because of the potential for winter weather but we got very lucky with temps in the high 40s to low 50s every day we were there. We also saw three Broadway shows – the play To Kill a Mockingbird, with Ed Harris as Atticus, which was incredible; Dear Evan Hansen, also incredible; and on our last night there, we went to see a preview of West Side Story. This production of West Side Story is a pretty modernized version, with a screen on the back wall where the author’s faces are projected in close ups. It’s also pretty intense and a couple of the lighter songs, like “I Feel Pretty” have been cut out of it. I think it’s going to be a show that people will either love or hate because of those changes. My friend and I both enjoyed it but heard a few people complaining about it as we left the theater.
Once I got home from New York, it was back to the grind at work. Thankfully it was slow while I was out so there wasn’t really much to play catch up on. We’re getting geared up for another busy tax season now so I was grateful to not have a backlog of jobs waiting for me to deal with. I was able to start fresh Monday morning, which is just the way I like it.
I’m still undecided with respect to my reading/blogging goals for 2020. So far I’ve only signed up for the Goodreads challenge and my usual backlist challenge, and I may just leave it at that since I know my number one goal is to read more books that I already own. I’m on my third backlist book of the year already, but need to jump back to my ARCs since I still have some January ones to get through and a bunch of reviews to write for the ones I’ve read. I have a list of author I’ve been wanting to try for years now and still haven’t, as well as several series I really want to finish so that may end up being one of my main focuses instead of signing up for specific challenges. Last year I lost interest in several of the ones I had signed up for, so I’m hesitant to sign up for more in 2020.
Anyway, that’s pretty much it for me this week. I hope everyone’s year is off to a great start!
WHAT I POSTED LAST WEEK
- [7 Jan] Top Ten Tuesday – Most Anticipated Book Releases for the First Half of 2020
- [8 Jan] Can’t Wait Wednesday – CHASING LUCKY by Jenn Bennett
- [10 Jan] First Cut by Judy Melinek, T.J. Mitchell ★★★★
WHAT I’M READING THIS WEEK
UPCOMING REVIEWS
STACKING THE SHELVES
TOTALLY RANDOM
That production of West Side Story sounds interesting! I hope you enjoy The God Game😁
I did really enjoy The God Game. I’m finding it challenging to write the review though. No clue why, lol.
Yes I found that while I enjoy challenges they aren’t always a fit to MY goals so I did Bookish Resolutions and wrote my own goals. Now I just need to figure out plans to meet those goals. I am hearing a lot of people say they want to read books they own and that is SO my goal. I thought the backlist would help me with that but it didn’t exactly as I read mostly things from the library for it.
We like to go to New York every couple years and it’s been a couple years but it might be another. My daughter is out of the wheelchair and walker but still has a bit to go to be able to do as much walking as I like to do in NYC. It sounds like so much fun!
I hope the routine and the reading all go well for you this week! Enjoy!
Anne – Books of My Heart Here is my Sunday Post
I hope that you and your daughter are able to get back to New York once she’s up for more walking.
I am so glad the weather was your friend for this visit. You see so many incredible plays! What a treat for you and your friend. I wan’t initially all about the new West Side Story movie, but one of my daughter’s friends is dancing in it, so I sort of want to see it because of that. Good luck with your backlist!
Oh, I’m actually pretty excited for the West Side Story movie. That’s cool that one of your daughter’s friends is actually in it.
Your weekend in New York sounds fantastic.
Wishing you a great reading week
Thanks! I hope you have a great week too. 🙂
It sounds like your trip to New York was absolutely lovely! I’ve never been, so I’m very jealous:)). As for reading challenges… I have done exactly the same – I’m also sticking with the Goodreads challenge and the Discoverability challenge, which I need to post about, still! Have a great week, Suzanne.
New York is so much fun. I hope you’ll get to visit some day.
Glad you had a nice time in New York! It’s always nice when you don’t have a backlog of tasks awaiting you!
I’ve been seeing more and more people (myself included!) state they’d like to spend more time on their backlists this year. I think it’s awesome. Good luck with your goals!
Thanks Nicci!
Glad you had a great time in NYC! Wow, that’s a lot of shows to see!
Right? We got really lucky and scored a couple of sets of discount tickets.
So glad y’all had nice weather for your New York trip!
Thank you!
I see that you had a fantastic time Suzanne! That’s so great! And don’t push you too much on the challenges, reading must be fun not a chore 😉
Exactly and last year my challenges started to feel like chores. Here’s to fun reading in 2020! 🙂
I’m so jealous of your visit to New York City! Someday I will make it there. I’ve been to upstate New York a handful of times, but never the big city. I am glad you enjoyed the shows! I am glad you were able to get away for a little while. My work week was fairly uneventful too. Not terribly busy yet, which is nice. I’m sure that will change soon enough. I hope you are enjoying your current reads. They all sound good! Ooo! The Vine Witch! That one sounds good. Of course, I’m also interested in The Prisoner’s Wife. There is real truth in that meme you shared. LOL I hope you have a great week!
I hope that you’ll be able to visit NYC at some point. I highly recommend it in the fall. Central Park is so gorgeous while the leaves are changing.
I’m kinda going easy on challenges too- I did that in 2019 and it was nice not having the pressure. The plays sound awesome- I’ve always liked Ed Harris.
Big Lies In A Small Town sounds good.
Hope you have a great week!
Yes, I really just want to embrace my inner mood reader without having to worry about whether what I’m reading works for any challenges.
Sounds like all three shows you saw were done well. I can totally see Ed Harris as Atticus. I’ve always liked him.
I didn’t sign up for any challenges other than the usual Goodreads challenge. I know for many people they provide motivation but I just end up feeling boxed in.
Yes, I’m a big Ed Harris fan so seeing him play one of my favorite fictional characters was just perfection. Boxed in is a pretty good description of how my challenges made me feel last year. I enjoyed a couple of them but after a while, there was just too much pressure.
Happy New Year! I didn’t get to post until this week either. 🙂
Happy New Year to you too!
Ahh I am glad you enjoyed your trip to New York and that you got to see so many plays! I think I wouldn’t like the new west side story – it feels pretty timeless and still so relevant as it is so I wouldn’t see a need to change it? And I would be sad to see some of the numbers I love go. I’m too much a fan of the original 😛
I have to admit I was surprised that they cut a couple of the most recognizable songs out of West Side Story. I came home and watched the film just to remind myself how good the classic version really is.
Your weekend sounds amazing at NY! I so want to go and watch plays.
I have The God Game, but haven’t picked it up because of some reviews.
The God Game was pretty good. I’m struggling to write my review for some reason, but I did enjoy it overall. Hopefully words will come to me soon, lol.