Weekly Recap: 12/23 - 12/29

HAPPENINGS OFF THE BLOG Hi everyone! I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas! My husband and I went out on Christmas Eve night to get Starbucks hot chocolate and see Christmas lights. There were some really amazing displays! That night we watched Elf because he had NEVER seen it before! Can you imagine? On Christmas day we had a quiet day at home, made Christmas dinner for just the two of us, and FaceTimed with my family. The rest of the week has been very relaxed. I did a bit of cat sitting, binged a season of Catfish (don't judge), and tried to get some exercise in! The highlight was when my dad FaceTimed me and we watched some...

Graphic Novel Review: The Girl Who Owned a City by O.T. Nelson & Dan Jolley

Title: The Girl Who Owned a City  Authors: O.T. Nelson & Dan Jolley  Illustrator: Joëlle Jones Publication Date: April 1, 2012Publisher: Graphic UniversePages: 125Add to Goodreads A DEADLY VIRUS KILLED EVERY ADULT ON EARTH, LEAVING ONLY US KIDS BEHIND. My parents are gone, so I'm responsible for my little brother Todd. I have to make sure we stay alive. Many kids are sick or starving, and fierce gangs are stealing and destroying everything they find. Lots of people have given up, but here on Grand Avenue, some of us are surviving, because of me. I figured out how to give the kids on Grand Avenue food, homes, and protection...

2019 Challenges and Resolutions

Hi everyone! Welcome to the last week of 2018! Can you believe another year has come and is almost gone? It's true that time goes by faster as you get older. I was kind of hoping my parents had lied about that one! Today I'm sharing the reading challenges I'm participating in for 2019 as well as my non-bookish resolutions. READING CHALLENGES RETELLINGS CHALLENGE This year I'm back to hosting after taking a year off from responsibilities. I am so excited to have a Retellings Challenge going again! This is my absolute favorite genre and there are a ton of them being released in 2019! My goal for this year is going to be High Fae, which...

Audiobook Review: Scythe by Neal Shusterman

Title: Scythe (Arc of a Scythe #1) Author: Neal Shusterman Publication Date: November 22, 2016Publisher: Simon Schuster Books for Young ReadersPages: 435Add to Goodreads Thou shalt kill. A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery. Humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control. Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the “art” of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing...

Top Ten Tuesday #219: Gifts I'm hoping for

Today's Topic:  Top Ten Five Wishlist Books I Hope Santa Brought MERRY CHRISTMAS! So I actually rarely actually put books on my Christmas list. My family doesn't seem to like buying them and most of the time I end up getting them for myself anyway. I did add a few this year though! They're a little weird and not what you'd usually find on my blog, but here we go! As Old As Time by Liz Braswell Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Illustrated Edition by J.K. Rowling Lab 257 by Michael Christopher Carroll Magic Eye 25th Anniversary by Cheri Smith Walt Disney World Hidden History by Kevin Yee Top...

Weekly Recap: 12/16 - 12/22

HAPPENINGS OFF THE BLOG Hi everyone! First of all, thank you all so much for sticking with me while I was away last week! I guess having content ready to be posted helps a lot too... Like I said in my last recap, I was away for a week on a cruise with my parents and husband. We celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary while we were there and it was amazing! I went snorkeling in Saint Maarten and Haiti, and did an escape room on the ship (I did not escape). I can't wait to go again! Back at home, I finished up my last reading challenges, although reading has been slow. I did get my most anticipated book of 2019 and I'm making my way...

Saturday Screen Time #27: Horror and Cartoons

Happy Saturday, everyone! I've watched a few movies since my last post, again mostly horror. I seem to be on a horror roll lately. More and more, I've been trying to go into them completely blind and it has really been a wild ride! Of course, I also had to throw in a Disney movie (as you do).  THIS WEEK IN SCREEN TIME Ralph Breaks the Internet - Wreck it Ralph surprised me when I first saw it in theaters. I didn't expect to love it so much, but it quickly became one of my new Disney favorites. I wasn't sure they could do it again, but Ralph Breaks the Internet is fantastic! This movie doesn't take itself too seriously and...

2018 Reading Challenges Final Update

Happy Friday, everyone! Today I'm sharing my 2018 reading challenges final update and looking back at what I've managed to accomplish this year. Last year was rough. I only signed up for three challenges and didn't manage to complete a single one! In 2018 I was feeling a bit better and more determined to meet my goals. I signed up for three challenges again and also participated in the Fraterfest Read-a-Thon. Here's how that went! AUDIOBOOK CHALLENGE This is a challenge I've participated in every single year since I started blogging. This year I committed to a goal of 30+ audiobooks and managed to beat that by 10! Since I read so many...

Bookish Naughty or Nice Tag

Book tags are so much fun and I'm always on the lookout for a new one to tag myself in! (I'm a rule breaker.) I spotted this one at The Blacksheep Reader (originally created by Jenniely) and thought it looked way too fun not to do. If you're reading this, I tag you to participate too! The rules are easy! Just check off what you're guilty of this year, link to this post and the original tag, and tag whoever you want. RECEIVED AN ARC AND NOT REVIEWED IT ✔️ Whoops. Well, you know, sometimes the ARCs that show up on my doorstep are unsolicited and sometimes they're not even genres I read! To be honest, this has happened for all kinds...

Mini Reviews: Out of the Easy & A Wrinkle In Time

Title: Out of the Easy Author: Ruta Sepetys Publication Date: February 12, 2013 Publisher: Philomel BooksPages: 348Add to Goodreads It's 1950, and as the French Quarter of New Orleans simmers with secrets, seventeen-year-old Josie Moraine is silently stirring a pot of her own. Known among locals as the daughter of a brothel prostitute, Josie wants more out of life than the Big Easy has to offer. She devises a plan get out, but a mysterious death in the Quarter leaves Josie tangled in an investigation that will challenge her allegiance to her mother, her conscience, and Willie Woodley, the brusque madam on Conti Street. Josie is caught...