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!

That's a Wrap: Adventures in Colorado {July/August 2014}

So, uh...

Long time no see, am I right? In my defense I have a perfectly good reason for my month-long disappearance from the blogosphere. For the past month I was a student at the Denver Publishing Institute at the University of Denver! It was intense--"boot camp for book people" as one of my friends and classmates called it. For four weeks I was immersed in a crash course on all things publishing-related, everything from editing and marketing to production and design.

After our first day at the Institute we took a class field trip to the Tattered Cover Bookstore, one of the coolest independent bookstores I've been to! We were there for an author chat and book signing, but I got there an hour early just so I could have time to browse. And since I can never go into a bookstore (especially an indie) without buying something, I didn't leave empty-handed.

In addition to cramming my brain full of information about publishing, I also got out and did some exploring. By far one of the coolest things I got to see was the Dale Chihuly exhibit at the Denver Botanic Gardens. If you didn't already know, Chihuly's a glass sculptor from Seattle who makes some pretty amazing creations, like these:

 

 

 

This particular exhibit reminded me of the candy room from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. All the sculptures looked like bright, shiny candies!

 

Even the gardens that didn't have Chihuly sculptures were pretty spectacular.

Although I didn't go sightseeing in the mountains (which I now really wish I'd done), I was able to snap some pics on the way to Boulder for a field trip. Even though I could see the mountains from my dorm room, they were at a distance, so it was amazing to see them up close.

 

After four long, jam-packed weeks of learning how to edit manuscripts, coming up with marketing plans, and listening to lectures from publishing people all across the country, our class finally made it to graduation day, and the best part is...we got a book cake! Which is really just the coolest kind of cake there is. :)

So, I did! I can officially say I hold a certificate in publishing! YAY!

Now if I could just find a job...

That's a Wrap {2}: May 2014

It's time once again for my monthly wrap-up post! Here's what went on in May:
On the Blog
As you might have noticed, there were some big changes to the blog in the month of May--starting with a name change and a whole new look. Yes, I retired Life in the Pages, did a complete blog design overhaul, and BooksyDaisy was born! I really hope you guys like the changes! I'm very happy with it. :)

May was also the month for BEA preparations. Well, not for me, but I did have a lot of fun reading everyone's posts leading up to BEA. Although I couldn't make it to NYC this year, I lived vicariously through all the posts and pics on the blogosphere, and by participating in Armchair BEA. I didn't get to post too much for it because I was busy getting ready for my little sister's graduation, but you can see the Armchair BEA posts I did write here!

Speaking of events, I also signed up for even more blog events in May. From now until September 1, I'll be participating in Katie's Book Blog's Book Blogger Summer Reading Program. I've challenged myself to read 30 books, but I'm hoping to get through even more. You can follow the link to sign up and join in on the fun. In June I will be participating in Mental Health Awareness Month, an event hosted by Leah of Uncorked Thoughts and Ula of Blog of Erised. Throughout June, participating bloggers will be reading and discussing books centered around issues of mental health in an effort to shed some light on this important topic. You can read my intro post and find out what I'll be reading here.

Books Read in May
Don't Worry, It Gets Worse by Alida Nugent
Night of Cake and Puppets by Laini Taylor (review)
Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi (review)
Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi

Favorite Posts from Other Blogs

• Christy of Avoiding Atrophy talks about the #YesAllWomen movement on Twitter.
• For #IReadYA Week, Ginger of GReads discusses why she reads YA.
• On Alexa Loves Books, Alexa talked about the books she DNF--and why that's okay! She also throws in some good ol' Britney for your listening pleasure. :)
• Laini Taylor, author of the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series, posted pics from her England trip. Her blog is just really cool in general and you should definitely check it out.
• Speaking of DoSaB, Vickie of .Under the Mountain featured the first book in her Many Covers Monday feature. International covers are so cool! I want to collect them all!
• And finally, Book Riot totally surprised me with their post, "How To Tell A Loved One Their Favorite Book Sucks." When I first saw the title of this article, I was fully prepared to go into rage mode. As someone whose favorite book has been the target of endless ridicule, I don't take too kindly to the idea of people imperiously informing someone else that a book that is near and dear to them "sucks," as if their negative opinion of it should make the reader see the error of their ways. So I was pleasantly surprised when I found that this article was not in fact a how-to guide on book shaming, but rather the opposite: the acknowledgment that while YOU may think a book "sucks," it can still hold special meaning for someone else. And if that someone else is a friend or family member or significant other, it's the considerate thing to not ruin their favorite book.

So, that about sums up May. How was your month? Got any good blog posts to share or books to recommend?

That's A Wrap {1}: April

Oh, hi there, May! You snuck up on me! Seriously, you guys, where did April go and how did I end  up in such a terrible reading slump the whole month? I can't even look at my Goodreads challenge stats anymore because the number of "books behind" just keeps getting larger. Ugh!
Anyway, I decided to write my first monthly recap post. It's pretty short this time around but I hope to remedy that in May. I will get back on track with the reading challenge!

On the Blog

• I gave the Life in the Pages tumblr a fresh look for spring/summer!
• I created a new feature, Bookish Imaginings, where I share playlists and Pinterest boards I've made for my favorite books. You can link up your own posts, too, so be sure to check it out!

 
Books Read in April

• Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (review)
• Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
• Persepolis 2 by Marjane Satrapi

Curse you, reading slump!


Life Outside the Pages

At the beginning of April, I got some very exciting news: I was accepted to a publishing grad program taking place later this summer! I was absolutely ecstatic when I received the letter, and I am so excited for this experience and where it might lead me.

I also became a bit obsessed with Pinterest this month, especially after starting my Daughter of Smoke and Bone board for Bookish Imaginings. It's so addicting to make boards for everything--what clothes I'd like to buy, what I'd like my future house to look like, heck, even what I'd like my future wedding to be like. While looking at pictures home decor, I came across some artwork by PAPAYA!, Nicolas Gouny, and Katie Daisy, all of which I absolutely love because it's so bright, colorful, and whimsical. I just want my own place already so I can go crazy decorating it! Pinterest, look what you've done to me!


Favorite Posts from Other Blogs

• Charlotte of Gyspy Reviews had a thought-provoking discussion about "The Abundance of Gender-Neutral Covers."
• Alex Bracken, author of The Darkest Minds and writer for Publishing Crawl, interviewed Anna Jarzab about working in Digital Marketing at Penguin. 
• Brittany of The Book Addict's Guide posted the results from her Book Review Survey.
• Jenny of Supernatural Snark posted this gorgeous fan art in honor of the release of Dreams of Gods and Monsters.
• Publishing Crawl talks about the editing process.
• Alyssa of Books Take You Places wrote a review of Fairytales for Wilde Girls, which I totally want to read now!

Let me know what your favorite book was in April and what you plan on reading this month!