December 2016 Monthly Highlights

Well, December went by quickly! It didn't help that I was sick for about half of the month. First with a cold, then a week before Christmas I think I had the flu. I was completely miserable then. Goodbye, 2016 and Hello, 2017! 

Happy New Year, Everyone!!!!

I can't believe it is already a new year. I didn't get as much accomplished in 2016 as I wanted to blog-wise. But I did get a couple scrapbooks done for my girls, taught myself to crochet via Youtube videos, and met most of my reading challenge goals. So I am happy with what I did get done. 

Overall, 2016 wasn't exactly the best year. There are several celebrity deaths that surprised me and saddened me a lot. David Bowie, Alan Rickman, Alan Thicke, and Carrie Fisher, especially. All because these were people that I didn't know personally, but they still influenced my life in one way or another. 

I still get sad when I think of David Bowie's death. I cried for a while when I heard the news. I also remember a few days later I heard one of his songs on the radio while I was driving with my youngest daughter, and I fought back tears. Then after the song ended and another one began, I remembered "Oh yeah, 'Two for Tuesday'". Luckily, I was almost to the store, so I was able to park and cry in my car. My daughter asked, "What's wrong, Mommy?" And I told her, "Mommy just really loves David Bowie's music, and it is sad because he died recently." She then said to me, "Oh. I really wish I could have met him." Which made me smile and I told her that I wish I could have too. 

There are some other things that disappointed me this year, but I am choosing to look at the good things that have happened instead.  Because there are a lot of good things that have happened as well. 

Enough of me rambling about the year. Here are the books I read in December and how I ended with my 2016 Reading Challenges!

November 2016 Monthly Highlights

October 2016 Highlights

Wow, October was an extremely busy month for me. So I didn't spend a lot of time reading. It doesn't help that I am also in the biggest reading slump. I just haven't felt like reading. I have spent a lot of my month working on crocheting projects. 

September 2016 Highlights

August 2016 Highlights

May 2016 Highlights

May started off a bit slowly for me. I had a HUGE BOOKISH HANGOVER from reading The Raven King (The Raven Cycle #4) by Maggie Stiefvater at the end of April. So I didn't feel like reading much. But then my pre-order of A Court of Mist and Fury arrived and I couldn't wait to read it! Which helped with my TRK feels. But then I had an even bigger bookish hangover! I had a hard finding motivation to read, so it felt like I didn't read a lot. I still ended up reading 11 books in May, which I am pretty happy about! 

April 2016 Highlights

Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch

Title: Love & Gelato

Author: Jenna Evans Welch
Length: 256 pages
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Classification: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Release Date: May 3, 2016
Source: e-galley via Edelweiss (Thank you, Simon Pulse!)

A summer in Italy turns into a road trip across Tuscany in this sweeping debut novel filled with romance, mystery, and adventure.
Lina is spending the summer in Tuscany, but she isn’t in the mood for Italy’s famous sunshine and fairy-tale landscape. She’s only there because it was her mother’s dying wish that she get to know her father. But what kind of father isn’t around for sixteen years? All Lina wants to do is get back home.
But then Lina is given a journal that her mom had kept when she lived in Italy. Suddenly Lina’s uncovering a magical world of secret romances, art, and hidden bakeries. A world that inspires Lina, along with the ever-so-charming Ren, to follow in her mother’s footsteps and unearth a secret that has been kept from Lina for far too long. It’s a secret that will change everything she knew about her mother, her father—and ever herself.
People come to Italy for love and gelato, someone tells her, but sometimes they discover much more. 

GoodReads || Amazon || Barnes & Noble || Books-a-Million || Book Depository 

***I received an e-galley of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review***

March 2016 Monthly Highlights

Three Reasons to Read Joyride By Anna Banks (Review + Giveaway!)

Title: Joyride
Author: Anna Banks
Length: 288 pages
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Classification: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Release Date: June 2, 2015
Source: Hardback 
Read: February 2016

A popular guy and a shy girl with a secret become unlikely accomplices for midnight pranking, and are soon in over their heads—with the law and with each other—in this sparkling standalone from NYT-bestselling author Anna Banks.
It’s been years since Carly Vega’s parents were deported. She lives with her brother, studies hard, and works at a convenience store to contribute to getting her parents back from Mexico.
Arden Moss used to be the star quarterback at school. He dated popular blondes and had fun with his older sister, Amber. But now Amber’s dead, and Arden blames his father, the town sheriff who wouldn’t acknowledge Amber's mental illness. Arden refuses to fulfill whatever his conservative father expects.
All Carly wants is to stay under the radar and do what her family expects. All Arden wants is to NOT do what his family expects. When their paths cross, they each realize they’ve been living according to others. Carly and Arden’s journey toward their true hearts—and one another—is funny, romantic, and sometimes harsh.

GoodReads || Amazon || Barnes & Noble || Books-a-Million || Book Depository

***I received an copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. This does not change how I feel about the story.***

Thank you so much, Anna, for the signed book! Also for the signed bookplates and bookmarks for a giveaway!

February 2016 Highlights

Well, I was really busy this month. I was sick for a couple of weeks. Which resulted in me not reading as much as I wanted and not posting nearly as much as I planned to. March is going to be an extremely busy month for me for many reasons, so I probably won't read that much then either. (I do have a lot of post I plan to write for March!) Hopefully I will have the chance to catch up on the reading and blogging stuff in April that I miss in March. 

January 2016 Highlights

Where did January go? It doesn't feel like it is already February 2016! Time is flying by!

Contemporary Romance Reading Challenge Monthly Topic: January- Ten Most Anticipated Romances for First Half of 2016

Hosted by Gone With the Words & Love at First Page

I am so excited to be participating in this challenge! I LOVE reading Contemporary Romance!

Jess and Danielle are also having Monthly Topics for us to participate in! January's topic is:

Ten Most Anticipated Romances for First Half of 2016 (January-June)

The Distance From A to Z by Natalie Blitt

Title: The Distance From A to Z
Author: Natalie Blitt
Length: 316 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins (Epic Reads Impulse)
Classification: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Release Date: January 12, 2016
Source: e-book
Read: January 2016

This full-length novel by debut author Natalie Blitt is a pitch-perfect blend of Stephanie Perkins and Miranda Kenneally that proves the age-old adage: opposites attract.
Seventeen-year old Abby has only one goal for her summer: to make sure she is fluent in French—well, that, and to get as far away from baseball and her Cubs-obsessed family as possible. A summer of culture and language, with no sports in sight.
That turns out to be impossible, though, because her French partner is the exact kind of boy she was hoping to avoid. Eight weeks. 120 hours of class. 80 hours of conversation practice with someone who seems to exclusively wear baseball caps and jerseys.
But Zeke in French is a different person than Zeke in English. And Abby can’t help but fall for him, hard. As Abby begins to suspect that Zeke is hiding something, she has to decide if bridging the gap between the distance between who she is and who he is, is worth the risk. 

GoodReads || Amazon || Barnes & Noble

Bookishly Ever After by Isabel Bandeira

Title: Bookishly Ever After
(Ever After #1) 
Author: Isabel Bandeira
Length: 350 pages
Publisher: Spencer Hill 
Classification: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Release Date: January 12, 2016
Source: e-galley via NetGalley (Thank you, Spencer Hill!)
Read: January 2016

In a perfect world, sixteen-year-old Phoebe Martins’ life would be a book. Preferably a YA novel with magic and a hot paranormal love interest. Unfortunately, her life probably wouldn’t even qualify for a quiet contemporary. But when Phoebe finds out that Dev, the hottest guy in the clarinet section, might actually have a crush on her, she turns to her favorite books for advice. Phoebe overhauls her personality to become as awesome as her favorite heroines and win Dev’s heart. But if her plan fails, can she go back to her happy world of fictional boys after falling for the real thing? 

GoodReads || Amazon || Barnes & Noble || Books-a-Million || Book Depository

***I received an e-galley of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***