Saturday, December 31, 2016

End of the Year Wrap-up

101... 101 books is what I managed in 2016! I have really mixed feeling about this. I know reading over 100 books, and completing your Goodreads challenge is awesome, but I also kind of feel let down. I'm use to reading over 200 books a year and this year it just didn't seem to happen. I had so much going on I just didn't have the time I usually do to read. The start of the year I was on fire, but as the rest of it went on and I had some big life changes I kind of slipped into a slump. The biggest slumps I've had since graduating High School. However, I plan on getting back on it next year and dedicating more time back to reading. I know I have some big travel plans set (especially in the first few months of the year), but I'm hoping I can use those travel times to really pack in some reading. I'll go into this more at the bottom. Overall though, I am very happy and proud of my number! With how much I had going on I'm surprised I got this much in.

 I think this is all I'm going to read the rest of the year. I'm typing this up on the 26th of December and I think the last week of this year I'm just going to relax and ride out the last bit of the reading slump. Even though I said that I'll be reading more in 2017 I still plan on keeping my goal lower. I felt like it stressed me out too much. So, in 2017 my reading goal will only be 75. Down below is everything I read in 2016 (think I got everything, but probably missed a few). The first book I read this year was Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List and the last thing I read was The Zookeeper's Wife. My most read author this year was Rick Riordan. I marathoned all his books in December. My favorite event this year was Yallfest because I got to interview so many amazing authors and also having Colleen Hoover repost one of my photos.

Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List- Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
Harley Quinn Halloween Special- Amanda Connor
Before We Were Strangers- Renee Carlino
La Douleur Exquise- J.R Rogue
Never Stop Falling- Ashley Drew
The Score- Elle Kennedy
The Choice- Nicholas Sparks
Something in the Air- Marie Landry
F*ck Love- Tarryn Fisher

Mud Vein- Tarryn Fisher
Never Never Pt. 3- Colleen Hoover, Tarryn Fisher
Too Late- Colleen Hoover
It Ends With Us (ARC)- Colleen Hoover
Nailbiter-Josh Williamson
All the Rage- Courtney Summers
Everybody Sees the Ants- AS King
Painted Faces- LH Cosway
Left Drowning- Jessica Park
The Face on the Milk Carton- Caroline Cooney
Wicked Sexy Liar- Christina Lauren
The Glittering Court- Richelle Mead
Killing Sarai- J.A Redmerski
The Assassin's Blade- Sarah J. Maas
A Court of Thorns and Roses (re-read)- Sarah J. Maas
A Court of Mist and Fury- Sarah J. Maas
Empire of Storms- Sarah J. Maas
Taking Chances- Molly McAdams
Mad Women- Kat Savage
When We Met- a bind up
The Wrath and the Dawn (re-read)-Renee Ahdieh
The Rose and the Dagger- Renee Ahdieh
Allegiant  (re-read)- Veronica Roth
Essential Maps for the Lost- Deb Caletti
A House in the Sky- Amanda Lindhout
A Thousand Boy Kisses- Tillie Cole
Dragonfly in Amber- Diana Gabaldon
Angela: Asgard's Assassin- Kieron Gillen
I'll Meet You There- Heather Demetrios
172 Hours on the Moon- Johan Harstad
Nerve- Jeanne Ryan
Harley Quinn & Her Band of Harley's- Jimmy Palmiotti
Harley Quinn & Her Gang of Harley's Volume 2- Jimmy Palmiotti
Kindred Spirits- Rainbow Rowell
The Winner's Kiss- Marie Rutkoski
Outcast Volume 1- Robert Kirkman
Big Magic- Elizabeth Gilbert
The Last Star- Rick Yancey
A Torch Against the Night- Sabaa Tahir
The Crown- Kiera Cass
The Raven King- Maggie Stiefvater
This Is Where It Ends- Marieke Nijkamp
Bright Side- Kim Holden
Pines- Blake Crouch
The Force of Gravity- Kelly Stevenson
Runes- Ednah Waters
Zenith- Sasha Alsberg and Lindsey Cummings
Saga Volume 6- Brian K. Vaughn
My Kind of Crazy (ARC)- Robin Reul
Pretty Little Liars 1- Sara Shepard
Flawless- Sara Shepard
Perfect-Sara Shepard
When Joss Met Matt (ARC)- Ellie Cahill
Milk and Honey- Rupi Kaur
A Feast of Crows (audio book)- George RR Martin
A Dance with Dragons (audio book- George RR Martin
Every Day (re-read)- David Levithan
Vicious- VE Schwab
Replica- Lauren Oliver DNF
Adnan's Story- Rabia Chaudry
The Light Between Oceans- ML Stedman
November Rain- Shannon A. Thompson
172 Hours on the Moon- Johan Harstad
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Seven Days of You by Cecilia Vinesse
Beautiful by Christina Lauren
Princess Bride by William Goldman
The Shining- Stephen King
The Rosie Project- Graeme Simsion
America Pastoral- Phillip Roth
Fences- August Wilson
Blue is the Warmest Color- Julie Maroh
Into the Forest- Jean Hegland
The lightning Thief- Rick Riordan
The Sea of Monsters- Rick Riordan
The Titan's Curse- Rick Riordan
The Battle of the Labyrinth- Rick Riordan
The Last Olympian- Rick Riordan
The Lost Hero-Rick Riordan
The Son of Neptune- Rick Riordan
The Mark of Athena- Rick Riordan
The House of Hades- Rick Riordan
The Blood of Olympus- Rick Riordan
The A to Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers- Harold Schechter
The Zookeeper's Wife- Diane Ackerman

 Sorry if some don't have links to their reviews. I was either too lazy to add them or they don't have one.

2016 was a whirlwind. Two of the biggest changes were my job and my blog. I switched jobs a few months back and I think the hardest part are the hours. I don't work insane hours or anything, I just don't work a 100% set schedule. I spent years working a Monday-Friday 9 to 5 and now that it's not like that I think I'm still just getting adjusted. This is what I think really hurt my reading. I'm more evolved and think in the swing of things and that this wont be an issue going into next year. I also started doing all the social media for my job and blogging for them. And clearly the personal blog change is a given. I went from co-writing this blog with someone to doing it on my own. Luckily that transition went a lot smoother than the job one. With that came the name change. Which I'm very happy with. People still think I'm writing a smutty blog, but I'm kind of ok with that.

 In 2017 my goal is to read 4 books a month and to only read books I currently own. I'm going to try not to buy any books unless they are absolute must haves. In the first few months of the year I will be traveling to D.C for the Women's March on Washington. In March I'll be traveling to both New York for work and Florida for Apollyon Con. I am so excited about APCON this year! There is a huge list of authors I'm dying to see and will probably never get to again.

I'm really excited to see what 2017 brings, and I know it'll only be good things. Before I go I also want to take the moment to just say thank you. I know these last few months were rocky and I'm so glad so many of you stayed with me. Thank you for your support and all the sweet messages you send me. Thank you to other bloggers for being there, and thank you to authors for continuously messaging me and asking for reviews. I also plan on spending a lot more time reviewing authors books instead of just going for the "bigger" releases.  Can't wait to see you all in the new year.

Have a safe and happy new year. Love. xoxo


Posted by at No comments:

Sunday, December 25, 2016

BtSaC 2016 Choice Awards

I wrap -up each year by doing a choice awards for my favorite and least favorite picks of the year. This is my 3rd year doing this, and I'm so happy to say that! Just want to say thank you to everyone who has supported this blog. It means so much to me.

Here's my picks for 2016! These are based off of my own opinions and books that I read in the year 2016. Some books might have been published in other years and some might be ARCs and aren't being released till 2017. To see previous years winners click here.

Favorite Cover

not only is this cover visually stunning, but it fits the
book perfectly.

Favorite Title
(Favorite book title)
History is All You Left Me

This comes out in 2017 but it's a must add to any TBR

Page to Premiere


Really thought I was going to be putting
the 5th Wave down for this, then at the last moment
this came through. Was so surprised how much
I loved this movie.

Middle Grade or Graphic
A Monster Calls

Standalone
It Ends with US


Short Story/ Novella


Sci-Fi/ Fantasy

Start of a Series


Found of recently this wont be a standalone, and
I'm so happy about it.

Favorite Finale
Highest Tissue Count
Alien Read
Biggest Surprise


Steamy Read
(New Adult)



Contemporary
Book by It's Cover
(a book I didn't want to read because it's cover,
but ended up loving it.)
The Score


Biggest Twist
Favorite Villain
Victor, Eli


Favorite Leading Lady
Feyre, Celaena, Cassie


Favorite Leading Man
Victor, Rhysand


Favorite Book Couple
Feyre and Rhysand


3 Worst Reads

3 Best Reads



Viewers Choice


That's it! Those are all my favorites, your favorites, and least favorites for the year of 2016! Hope everyone had a great holiday, and I'll see you next week for my yearly wrap-up!


Posted by at No comments:

Sunday, December 4, 2016

Yallfest 2016

This past weekend was Yallfest, and as usual I headed out there to check everything out. Yallfest is one of my favorite events of the year, and it being in my hometown makes the experience even better. If you haven't been to Yallfest let me tell you what it's all about. It's a two day book festival that holds panels, signings, giveaways, and more. It's on a Friday evening and then all day Saturday.

I usually don't do the Friday events, because it's a lot of pre day events, panels, and because I rather request Saturday off of work and get to experience everything.. My day to cram everything in is Saturday.... my only problem this year was there wasn't a lot I wanted to do. Most of the authors I wanted to see ended up dropping off a couple months back, and a lot of the others are authors I've seen dozens of times and no longer had anything left for them to sign. Even with the lack of signings I personally wanted to attend, I figured this downtime would give me a chance to expand.

This year instead of trying to make it to 20 different events/signings I thought I'd take a different approach and make my y'all experience on a smaller scale. I wanted to still do some signings but I also wanted to do more one on ones and so interviews as well. I got asked to do one and then requested to do a few others. 

I ended up doing signings for :
Leigh bardugo 
Ryan Graudin 
Alex London  
Jennifer Armentrout
And Jesse Andrews. 

I interviewed:
Alex London 
Jennifer Armentrout 
And Jesse Andrews. 

(I'll be posting my interviews soon so look out for those.)

Overall my day spent as yallfest was one of the most chilled and laid back I've had. Usually I try and take on so much (I know sometimes that's half the fun), but having time to actual walk around and then of course having set times with authors made my experience better. I had more fun sitting down talking for 20 minutes with an author than I ever did waiting in line for three hours for one (think this is a given).

The bookstore per usual was very well stocked and ran, the volunteers well informed and polite, and Yallfest went back to basics. Last year they had events SO far spaced out it was almost impossible to get to anything. This year they brought everything back to a central area. The only downsides were the arc drops  were super limited most only 30 per. The books in the store are priced a little too high, and there was some confusion as to where to get press passes, I ended up using a temporary one most the day.

I also heard a little rumor that they might start charging for the event since it keeps getting bigger and bigger every year. Not sure how they would go about doing that, but I guess we will see.  

I think 2016 was my favorite year so far of Yallfest. Can't wait to see who they bring next year, and hoping that the authors that ended up not being able to come will next time.

The next event I will be attending is Apollycon 2017 in Florida.
Posted by at No comments:

Saturday, November 12, 2016

Weird Sh*t On My Kindle

I have this really weird habit... I don't even know how it started. Sometimes when it's really late and I'm super sleepy (like the delirious kind of tired) I'll get on my kindle and type "free". A lot of times I'll go even more into depth and put like "free ya, free romance, free new adult", and thing like that. Half the time I don't even know what I'm clicking I just figure "Why the heck not, it's free!". This often leads me to clicking on my kindle like a week later and finding some really weird stuff.

So I present to you *drum roll please* the weird sh*t on my kindle! Warning: some of these are so weird and very smutty! Laughed for like thirty minutes when I saw some of the titles.

          
       
  



Filthy 1-3 by Megan D. Martin. I didn't just end up with one of these but three! Three!
Sweet Submission by Roxy Sloane
My Mr. Sexy by CC Cartwright
V Card by Alicia Michaels
Mermen by Mimi Jean Pamfiloff
Alien Bride of the Alpha by Davina Baron
Love Handles by Gretchen Galway
A Lush Betrayal by Selena Laurence
Sweary: Coloring Book For Adults. Why the F do I have a coloring book ON A KINDLE!


Posted by at No comments:

Friday, November 4, 2016

October Wrap-Up

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Seven Days of You by Cecilia Vinesse
Beautiful by Christina Lauren
Princess Bride by William Goldman

Reading Slump 2016 continues going strong. My work schedule continues to keep me busy. And I continue to be tired. October was a quite slow month for me in all aspect, but especially in my reading life. I know that people aren't suppose to base their reading strive off of their goodreads challenge, but I can't help it! I'm starting to fall super behind and somehow have to read 20 books in the next two months to complete it. Since I've only been reading roughly 5 books a month this presents a little problem... on a more positive note tomorrow (today) is the Blood for Blood book release party, and since Ryan Graudin lives in the same town I do I'll be headed there after work to show my support.

On to the favorites and fails.

Favorite: Beautiful by Christina Lauren. The only book I really loved this month. There were some small hiccups in this book, which kept it from having a perfect rating. However, it was close enough for it, and I enjoyed it enough that I want to put it in my favorite. The main reason I didn't give it a perfect rating was because I had to compare it to the other books in the series, and it just wasn't as flawless as the ones in the past. That being said, I really loved this book. The characters were fun, the setting was interesting, and the romance was right up my alley. If you're looking for something in the NA field to read I would recommend picking up this series.

Fails: Seven Days of You by Cecilia Vinesse. This book was just not for me. It is the epitome of contemporary ya. I've been learning and actually succeeding in liking contemporary ya this year, but this made me go right back to hating them. Seven Days of You was presented as a young adult book set in japan... that alone sounds amazing right!? Wrong! It does nothing with it's setting. Also the characters in this book are beyond annoying! This is one of my least favorite books all year.

That's it for the month. I wish I had more to say, and hopefully next month I will. Really am going to try and push myself to read the 10 books. Maybe even ease up some and throw in some graphic.

Currently Reading: Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
TBR: Blood for Blood by Ryan Graudin, The Long Walk by Steven King, and The Rosie Project  by Graeme Simsion. I'm also going to try and finish a couple of books I've start and put down. Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler and Wait by A.L. Jackson.

Posted by at No comments:

Saturday, October 29, 2016

Beautiful by Christina Lauren

After walking in on her boyfriend sleeping another girl in their Flat, Pippa decides to leave London for awhile. Jensen is buried by his drive and workload, he rarely takes time for himself or even real romance. But when his sister Hanna convinces him to join their gang on a two-week wine tour, he has a rare moment of weakness and agrees.

Beautiful follows the same CL pattern, the-you know what you're getting into and are completely 100% okay with that- style. As in most (all) quirky, personality powerful, funny girl is going through some big life change and is looking for something to mix it up. Guy's chin deep into work and is taking life too seriously.

Pippa is exactly as I said; funny, quirky, and has an overwhelming (but good) personality. After finding her boyfriend in bed with another women she decides she needs a break from her everyday life. She is going to head state side and see some old friends and go on a wine tour. Jensen is also your classic Beautiful guy. Super sexy, dry but cute humor, and weighed down with work. The meet-cute between the two however, was a fun new way for Christina Lauren. The two have a hilarious meet on their flight back to the US. Jensen never thinks he'll see the embarrassing Pippa again, but of course is wrong. I loved both of these characters so much, but they weren't my favorite two in the Beautiful Series or in the Wild Season Series either. Both had a little bit of flaws. Pippa's personality is cute..... but sometimes I think it was a little too much. Something about her over need to be "unique" sometimes got to me. Jensen has a similar, but different issue for me. He was a little too dry? I say that with a question mark because I don't know if that is the right word. I think he was charming, handsome (of course), and had a nice bit of humor to him... It was just his way of avoiding things or brushing them off that left me a bit put off.  Don't take that the wrong way, I still loved these two characters. I'm a big sucker for opposites attract stories, and this the true definition of one. When these two spend time together you'll undoubtedly be rooting for them to happen. Their need to have fun and enjoy vacation will really rub off on you.

When it came to Beautiful's plot it's really cutesy. As you could have probably guessed Jensen ends up going on the wine tour too (don't know why I said guess, I've made it very clear they are both on it by now lol). And of course since they go on the tour with a bunch of couples the two are kind of paired off.... so this leads the two slowly but surely falling for each other (trust me you read the synopsis you know that's where it's leading). Everything from the moment  they meet, to the moment they meet again, to the end of the trip is filled with adorable blush worthy moments. Another thing that happens in the Christina Lauren form is that there is a bit of a surprise... not so much a plot twist like in a lot of the other ones, but there is a nice surprise. It's a little less "realistic" than I would say some of the other ones have been in the past, but it made this story classic fun. Going from wine vineyard, to cottages, to more wine vineyards really gave this plot a little something extra. It was nice getting a change of scenery and getting it often. I loved the start of this book with how things really just took off no beating around the bust, the middle made me feel like I was touring with them, and the end is what I wanted. The only downside was this book wasn't as steamy as some of their others. Yall know I love my steam, so was hoping with this being the last in the series they wouldn't hold back... Sadly felt they kind of did. At least they brought back dry humping and made that super sexy.


I know this review seems a little back and forth. I say I loved it, but then I give a few negatives. I just felt like these are things I need to warn about, because even though this is very CL there are things that they tamed down some. It was still such a good time read for me, and was the first time in a bit that I've had a lot of fun reading. This isn't one of their books that you can go into without reading the others (like pervious ones) I would suggest reading the others in the series first or you might be confused some. Other than the few VERY minor things that I didn't love I would highly recommend this book to fans of this series or anyone who loves new adult. Sad to see this series come to an end, but excited to see what these two writers give us next.

9/10 Stars
Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)