That's a Wrap: January 2017

Read in January

• I Work at a Public Library by Gina Sheridan: While this book was hilarious, it definitely made me rethink my long-held idea that working a public library would be a fun job. I'm going to be forever scarred by the story about the "crutch guy." *shudders*
• The Unthinkable by Amanda Ripley: I kind of cheated by saying I read this one. I mostly skimmed it toward the end, so it could technically be considered a DNF.
• The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis: What an intense, emotional (and timely) book! I have a feeling this one's going to stick with me for a while
• The Magnolia Story by Chip and Joanna Gaines: Confession time: I love the HGTV show Fixer Upper. Chip and Joanna are my favorite reality TV couple, and I love seeing their beautiful house flips, so when I saw that they had a book out, I knew I had to read it. I got the audiobook from my local library and listened to it on my commute to work. It was really interesting to hear how they met and fell in love and the ups and downs they went through to get to where they are today.

Watched in January

• This Is Us: I know I'm not alone when I say this show gives me all the feels! 
• Game of Thrones (Seasons 1 and 2): And so begins my epic rewatch of GoT before season seven premieres. It's really surprising how many characters that I forgot (or didn't even realize) were in season one! Somehow I completely missed that Renly Baratheon was on the King's Council during Robert's reign, or that Meryn Trant was part of the Kingsguard and supposedly killed Syrio Forel!

Listened to in January

Podcasts
The Magnus Archives (Season 2)
Alyssa of Books Take You Places mentioned this podcast on Twitter back in the fall, and when I saw that it was a horror anthology podcast, I knew I had to check it out. I was instantly hooked and listened to about ten episodes in one sitting (which, by the way, I do not recommend unless you're okay with being creeped out for days afterward, LOL). At first I thought it was just going to be a random collection of spooky stories, but the more you listen to it, the more you start to see the threads in each episode that connect to a larger, overarching story. Oh, and did I mention that the narrator has a British accent? Yeah. So there's that. ;)

Audiobooks
The Magnolia Story
Empire of Storms (still making my way through this one)

Music
Banks. I'm absolutely obsessed with the song "Gemini Feed." I think I've listened to it at least twice a day for the past month!

Random Things in January

Something else I started in January was my new bullet journal. I love doodling and making lists, so a bullet journal is the perfect way for me to unwind in the evenings and also keep track of what I'm reading this year! I've gotten a lot of inspiration from Pinterest and Tumblr and also from this really awesome BookTube video that Alexa recommended in her Sunday Mix post.

Looking Forward to in February

Book Releases

Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones (February 7)

A mix of Beauty and the Beast and the Hades and Persephone myth? Need it now!!!

The Dragon's Price by Bethany Wiggins (February 21)

It's official. I'm becoming a fantasy nerd. If you've got dragons and royalty in a book, I'm down!

Events

In February I'll be participating in the Love-a-Thon hosted by Alexa Loves Books, The Novel Hermit, The Daily Prophecy, and Super Space Chick. I've participated in this event once before, and it's such an awesome way to meet other people in the book-blogging/bookstagram/BookTube community! Hope to see you guys in this round!

I'm also participating in round six of the totally awesome Secret Sister Project hosted by Brittany, Alyssa, and Amy of On the Same Page. If you don't already know, OTSP Secret Sister is a project to spread cheer throughout the book-blogging community (though you don't necessarily have to be a book blogger to participate). I've already been assigned my sister, and I'm so excited to start planning her monthly care packages! While sign-ups are closed for this round, you should definitely consider signing up for the next round in July!

Hope to see you guys around the blog in February!

The Lunar New Year Book Tag

I saw Alexa from Alexa Loves Books post this tag earlier today, and it looked like so much fun! I tag anyone who feels like participating! 

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. Twilight was the first romance book that I fell totally head over heels in love with when I was a teenager. I've read it too many times to count!

Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas. Fae queens, magic-wielding assassin queens, witch queens––ALL THE QUEENS! (Not too mention the several extremely attractive princes!)

Heart's Blood by Juliet Marillier. So many of the books I read any more a part of a series, so it's kind of cool to find a standalone that I really love. Heart's Blood is a Beauty and the Beast retelling, and it was one of my favorite reads of 2016.

Zuzanna and Mik in the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor. Not only do they provide much-needed comic relief, but they are just an adorable couple. The novella about them, Night of Cake and Puppets, is so sweet!

Chaol Westfall from the Throne of Glass series. Oh, Chaol, I have so many mixed feelings about you! He's so pig-headed about his ideas of what's right and wrong in Heir of Fire and Queen of Shadows, and for a while, I kind of hated him for how he was treating Celaena/Aelin and Dorian. He redeemed himself by the end of QoS though, and I'm interested to read SJM's novella about him when it comes out this summer.

I'm a teensy bit obsessed with the magnetic character bookmarks sold on Etsy. Nerdy Girl Designs and Happy Hello Art are my favorite shops; they both make such adorable bookmarks, and thanks to them, I've got quite the collection going. 

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. Cath and Levi are too cute for words. I definitely need to reread this book again soon.

This is a tough one because so many of the books I read are the "big names" in YA. To be honest, I can't really think of any books I've read recently that haven't gotten some kind of recognition or don't already have a following. 

Oh, that's easy: A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas! I'm going to need to take May 2 off work just so I can stay home and read ACOWAR cover to cover. I haven't been this excited for a book release since Breaking Dawn!

The original US Harry Potter covers will forever be my favorites. One of my favorite parts of rereading the series is getting to see all the detail Mary GrandPré put into not just the cover art but the chapter heading art too.

Throne of Glass series: Arobynn Hamel. Oh man, did I hate this guy! Pretty much any time he appeared in Queen of Shadows, I had a strong urge to chuck the book at the wall.

The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis. It doesn't get much bolder than having a main character who goes after and kills men that sexually assault women. And I can't say that I felt sorry for any of her victims. It's an intense book.

Flights of Fantasy 2017 Challenge

Happy 2017, everyone! It's been a while (understatement of the year)! One of my goals in 2017 is to be more active on this blog, and one of the ways I'm going about accomplishing that goal is by participating in the Flights of Fantasy reading challenge hosted by Alexa Loves Books and Hello, Chelly. The fantasy genre pretty much became my new obsession after I finished A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas last September (I need A Court of Wings and Ruin, like, yesterday), so I'm super excited to be reading more fantasy this year! 

2016 definitely wasn't my best reading year; sadly, I only managed to read 29 books, and I'm pretty disappointed in myself. My overall reading goal for 2017 is 40 books, and I'm aiming for at least 20 of those to be fantasy books. To see the books I'm considering for this challenge, go take a look at my Flights of Fantasy shelf on Goodreads.

Here's a sneak peek at some of the books I'm most excited to read for the challenge.

And if you need recommendations, here are some fantasies I've loved:

• Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
• Heart's Blood by Juliet Marillier
• A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
• Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

So, are any of you participating in Flights of Fantasy? Do we share any favorites or TBR picks? Got any recommendations? Let me know in the comments!