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!