Top Ten Tuesday – My Reading/Blogging Goals for 2020
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Top Ten Tuesday has been one of my favorite memes ever since I started blogging, so huge thanks to Jana for taking over the hosting duties!
This week’s TTT topic is actually supposed to be Bookish Discoveries I Made In 2019 (these could be books, authors, blogs, websites, apps, products, etc.). I wasn’t really feeling that topic so I decided today would be a good day to talk about my reading and blogging goals instead. Those goals are driven by things that happened (or probably more accurately, didn’t happen) in 2019, so it’s not totally off topic, right?
Anyway, I don’t have a ton of goals because I honestly just want to have fun and enjoy my reading and the bookish community in 2020, but there are still a few things I’d really like to focus on in my bookish life.
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My Reading and Blogging Goals for 2020
1) My number one goal this year is to read more of the books I own. ARCs are great of course, but I have so many unread books piling up around me that I don’t really even have room for more at this point. Something’s got to give. To that end, the only challenge I’m taking part in aside from Goodreads is the Beat the Backlist Challenge. I’ve set a goal there of reading at least 50 books from my backlist so here’s hoping I put a serious dent in my unread shelves. (Of course so that I can make room for more unread books, lol).
2) I really want to only participate in blog tours where I have already requested a review book. As of right now, I have three more blog tours on my calendar for January and February but they are specifically for books I had already been approved for and I really want to stick with this so that I don’t accidentally over commit and create stress for myself.
3) Finish or at least make major progress in the following series:
- Throne of Glass
- An Ember in the Ashes
- The Nevernight Chronicle
- Arc of a Scythe
- Red Winter
- The Wrath and the Dawn
- The Folk of the Air
- Cursebreakers
4) Aside from wrapping up those series, I actually really want to focus more on standalones this year.
5) I really want to focus more on my Bookstagram account. Right now I typically only post once, maybe twice a week so I’d like to bump that up to 2-3 times a week. I’d also like to focus more on actually interacting more with the bookstagram community. Sometimes I’m just so short for time that I just ‘like’ photos without commenting and I really want to make more time for commenting since I think it’s important.
6) Try books by at least five authors who have been on my TBR for years. My priorities are as follows:
- Martha Wells
- Becky Chambers
- Ilona Andrews
- Louise Penny
- TJ Klune
7) I’m not officially signing up for the Discussion challenge this year, but I would still like to aim for at least 12 discussion posts this year. I always feel bad because I love doing the discussion posts, but when I’m short on time, those are always the ones I kick to the curb since they take longer to do.
8) I really want to be more consistent when it comes to blog hopping. I’m still debating the best method to achieve this – devoting specific days to it vs. just trying to squeeze in a bit here and there as I have time, but I need to figure out a better system for myself. Right now I’m just consistently inconsistent.
9) Blogging ahead more is another big goal of mine. I doubt I’ll ever be one who has weeks and weeks’ worth of posts ready to go, but I’d love to at least get to a point where I get all of my posts for the upcoming week ready to go over the weekend. I get so stressed when I wait until the last minute to work on posts.
10) Finally, my overall reading goal for 2020 is to read at least 150 books. I managed to read 153 in 2019 and that was with 2 1/2 George R.R. Martin bricks thrown in the mix, so I’m hoping 150 will be doable this year, especially since I have now fully embraced audiobooks.
Review: A LOVE HATE THING by Whitney D. Grandison
A Love Hate Thing by Whitney D. Grandison 
Published by Inkyard Press on January 7, 2020
Genres: Romance, Contemporary Fiction, Young Adult Fiction
Pages: 464
Source: Netgalley
Goodreads
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
Thanks so much to Justine Sha for inviting me to take part in Harlequin Trade Publishing’s Winter 2020 Blog Tour for Inkyard Press. Today I’m sharing my thoughts on A LOVE HATE THING by Whitney D. Grandison.
Whitney D. Grandison’s emotional debut, A Love Hate Thing, first caught my eye because of its title and that gorgeous cover. The promise of my favorite romantic trope, hate to love, called to me like a siren. What I got, however, was so much more than just a love-hate story. A Love Hate Thing is just as much a coming of age story as it is a love story, and it’s also a story about second chances and making the most of them.
I fell in love with the protagonist Tyson Trice, who goes by Trice, as soon as we were introduced to him. He’s a young man who comes across as vulnerable but yet also tough as nails. A tragic event has left Trice without parents and recovering from a gunshot wound. In hopes that he’ll be able to eventually heal and move forward from this tragedy, Trice has been sent to live with old family friends who happen to live in a safer and more affluent part of town. Trice knows he doesn’t fit in, but all he’s really focused on at this point is trying to cope with what happened and get his life back on track, which starts with summer school in his new neighborhood. Trice is such a sweetheart that it’s just impossible not to love him and want the best for him. What I liked the most about Trice is that he’s determined to stay true to himself. He has no interest in trying to fit whatever mold the “in” crowd at his new school thinks he should strive for. I always love a good underdog so watching Trice navigate his way through these privileged and elitist types is totally my cup of tea.
Not so easy to love, however, is his counterpart, Nandy Smith. I’ll be honest and say up front that I did not like Nandy at all when the story first opened. Nandy’s family is who Trice ends up moving in with, and as soon as Nandy hears the news, she starts acting like a brat. She’s considered a big shot at her school and is obsessed with maintaining her golden girl image. She is not about to let some homeless boy from the wrong side of the tracks wreck her summer or damage her reputation. From the first moment Trice enters her home, Nandy is rude and obnoxious, to the point where even her little brother tells her she needs to back off and stop acting like a jerk. I didn’t start to warm up to Nandy until she started to warm up to Trice and actually get to know him. Once she began to show tremendous growth and development as a character, I started to love her too.
The changing dynamic between Trice and Nandy was what really sold me on this story. There’s history between them that accounts for some of Nandy’s early behavior and I loved learning about that and then watching their relationship evolve from there, especially as they are caught between their two worlds. Can Trice fully let go of his past and embrace the second chance he has been given? Can Nandy let go of her obsession with reputation and just be herself and be there for Trice?
A Love Hate Thing is an emotional roller coaster filled with heartwarming moments as well as its fair share of tearjerker moments. If a story about family, belonging, love, loss, and ultimately finding a way to move forward sounds like your kind of read, give Whitney D. Grandison’s A Love Hate Thing a chance.
PURCHASE LINKS:
Harlequin – Amazon – Barnes & Noble – Indie Bound – Kobo – Google – Books-A-Million
SUMMARY:
A fantastic enemies to lovers romance about an It girl whose world is upended when a boy from the past moves into her house after tragedy strikes. For fans of Ibi Zoboi’s Pride, Mary H. K. Choi and Samira Ahmed. Wattpad author Whitney D. Grandison’s traditional publishing debut.
When they’re stuck under one roof, the house may not be big enough for their hate…or their love
When Tyson Trice finds himself tossed into the affluent coastal community of Pacific Hills, he’s ready for the questions, the stares, and the total feeling of not belonging in the posh suburb. Not that he cares. After recovering from being shot and surviving the mean streets of Lindenwood, he doesn’t care about anyone or anything. He doesn’t even care how the rest of his life will play out.
In Pacific Hills, image is everything. Something that, as the resident golden girl, Nandy Smith knows all too well. She’s spent most of her life building the pristine image that it takes to fit in. After learning that her parents are taking in a former childhood friend, Nandy fears her summer plans, as well as her reputation, will go up in flames. It’s the start of summer vacation and the last thing Nandy needs is some juvenile delinquent from the ’Wood crashing into her world.
Stuck together in close quarters, Trice and Nandy are in for some long summer nights. Only, with the ever-present pull back to the Lindenwood streets, it’ll be a wonder if Trice makes it through this summer at all.
About Whitney D. Grandison
Whitney D. Grandison was born and raised in Akron, Ohio, where she currently resides. A lover of stories since she first picked up a book, it’s no surprise she’s taken to writing her own. Some of her works can be found on Wattpad, one of the largest online story sharing platforms, where she has acquired over 30,000 followers and an audience of over fifteen million dedicated readers.
Review: FIRST CUT by Judy Melinek & T.J. Mitchell
First Cut by Judy Melinek, T.J. Mitchell Published by Hanover Square Press on January 7, 2020
Genres: Mystery, Thriller
Pages: 368
Source: Netgalley
Goodreads
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
Thanks so much to Justine Sha for inviting me to take part in Harlequin Trade Publishing’s Winter 2020 Mystery/Thriller Blog Tour. Today I’m sharing my thoughts on FIRST CUT by Judy Melinek & T.J. Mitchell.
First Cut is a gritty, fast-paced medical thriller that follows Dr. Jessie Teska, a scrappy medical examiner who has just taken a new job in San Francisco. Jessie doesn’t want to rock the boat since she’s new and because she desperately needs the job, but when one of her very first cases goes from looking like a woman who died from an accidental drug overdose to a straight up murder, Jessie surprisingly finds herself at odds with her supervisor. While Jessie wants to dig deeper to find out what really happened to the young woman, especially after she starts to see connections between her case and a couple of others in the morgue, her supervisor is trying to force her to close the case immediately and sign off on it as an accidental death. Why?
I thought Jessie was such a great character. She’s incredibly competent in her work and very professional, but she’s also one of those complex, messy types that I love so much. I was intrigued by the hints of a troubled past that drove her to leave her home and start over in San Francisco, and I especially loved how stubborn she was and how determined she was to find out what happened to the victim in her case, even if it meant butting heads with her superiors. I loved that when her superiors try to force her to back off, she pushes back even harder because now she wants to know why they want the case closed when there are clearly still more questions than answers. Jessie is the quintessential scrappy little underdog that you can’t help but cheer on in her relentless pursuit of the truth.
In addition to creating such a fantastic protagonist, the authors also craft an utterly gripping plot that takes the reader into the deep underbelly of the drug trafficking world. The writing is raw and real, drawing from author Judy Melinek’s experience working in forensic pathology. The story was also fast-paced and well written, with lots of intricate and seemingly unrelated threads that gradually get woven together as Jessie gets closer and closer to the truth. Just a small word of warning regarding the writing – First Cut does feature some pretty graphic autopsy scenes. While this isn’t surprising, based on the nature of the book, I still wanted to give a head’s up in case some readers get squeamish about blood and other bodily fluids.
If the world of forensic pathology is of interest to you and you like a good twisty thriller, you should add First Cut to your reading list.
PURCHASE LINKS:
Harlequin – Amazon – Barnes & Noble – Indie Bound – Kobo – Target – iBooks – Google – Books-A-Million
SUMMARY:
Wife and husband duo Dr. Judy Melinek and T.J. Mitchell first enthralled the book world with their runaway bestselling memoir Working Stiff—a fearless account of a young forensic pathologist’s “rookie season” as a NYC medical examiner. This winter, Dr. Melinek, now a prominent forensic pathologist in the Bay Area, once again joins forces with writer T.J. Mitchell to take their first stab at fiction.
The result: FIRST CUT (Hanover Square Press; Hardcover; January 7, 2020; $26.99)—a gritty and compelling crime debut about a hard-nosed San Francisco medical examiner who uncovers a dangerous conspiracy connecting the seedy underbelly of the city’s nefarious opioid traffickers and its ever-shifting terrain of tech startups.
Dr. Jessie Teska has made a chilling discovery. A suspected overdose case contains hints of something more sinister: a drug lord’s attempt at a murderous cover up. As more bodies land on her autopsy table, Jessie uncovers a constellation of deaths that point to an elaborate network of powerful criminals—on both sides of the law—that will do anything to keep things buried. But autopsy means “see for yourself,” and Jessie Teska won’t stop until she’s seen it all—even if it means the next corpse on the slab could be her own.
About Judy Melinek
Judy Melinek was an assistant medical examiner in San Francisco for nine years, and today works as a forensic pathologist in Oakland and as CEO of PathologyExpert Inc. She and T.J. Mitchell met as undergraduates at Harvard, after which she studied medicine and practiced pathology at UCLA. Her training in forensics at the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner is the subject of their first book, the memoir Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner.