August 2017 Month in Review

September 1, 2017

Newsworthy

No. Seriously. I know last month I said, “Where has summer gone?” But this month. Seriously. I feel like I was *just* writing this post for July! August flew by. Plus, it was much colder than usual here in Wisconsin. It’s like Summer never even showed up for August. Super strange.

My boss has taken a 6-month leave-of-absence from work (she’s fine, everything is awesome!), which leaves me in charge of the Lean program at work. I’m definitely up for the challenge, and I can’t wait to show the higher level leaders what I’m capable of! That said, things have been really crazy. I’ve been putting in a lot of time at work, and for once, my reading isn’t suffering. Instead, it’s my exercise… O_o I have plans to realign that for September! I’m sure something will give if I add back in exercise. We’ll see how that affects my blogging time.

The Better Half and I got our engagement photos back this month. They are AMAZING! We are so thankful for our photographer, Amy of Amy Ann Photography. Now that we have them, it’s time to get moving on paper products! No one told us weddings were so much work. UGH. It’s exhausting, but I love it. And, because I know you’ll ask, here is a collection of our favorites:

List of Reads

This month was such a blur of reading. I feel like each day I had another deadline I set for myself, another book to finish. That alone made the month zoom by. Plus, it helped that I had some amazing books to push me through. That said, you’ll notice that my reviews are a bit all over the place. It was quite a varied month of reading for genre and rating! I thank #ARCAugust for helping with that. I read 4 ARCs! Woo! I hope I can keep that momentum up the rest of this year.

August Books:

Read 11 total books

 

MUST READ this month:

Dumplin – I cannot believe I never got around to finishing my review of this book this month. Because… well, it really touched me. I connected more to Willowdean than I ever anticipated I would. I connected more to Julie Murphy’s writing than I expected. I connected more to Eileen Steven’s narration in the audiobook than I ever thought possible– her southern accents were spot on. If you need an empowering tale about knowing who you are, sticking to your guns, and trying to survive high school, this is the book for you. Or if you just need something uplifting. Or you like Dolly Parton. Seriously, just read it.

Meh. I wasn’t into it this month:

The Dear America Series   For my Kids Lit book club, we all read two Dear America books. This is a series of epistolary novels focusing on girls from the ages of 12-15 during important moments in American history. They are all written in diary format and are beautiful on a shelf. However, they can be pretty hit or miss. The books are all written by different authors, focusing on different moments in history, and touch on many different topics. Of the two I read, So Far From Home was my last favorite. My book club has theories (such as more than half these books were written by white men assuming the identities of young girls, mostly of color) as to why these don’t work for an older audience. Hopefully, reviews to come.

Challenge Updates

Well. I more-or-less ignored reading challenges last month. I am packed for September reading (and I don’t schedule my books! What’s wrong with me?!), but it looks like October will be focused on getting my Yearly Reading Challenges back on track. I’m so close with three of these challenges… I feel like I can still make it!

  • Overall Reading Challenge: 93/110 (84%)
  • Listopia Challenge: 12/15 (80%)
  • PopSugar Reading Challenge: 33/52 (63%)
  • Read Harder Challenge: 18/24 (75%)
  • #ARCAugust: 4/2 (200%!)

That’s right– I *crushed* my #ARCAugust goal. I pushed through some ARCs I really needed to get through, and in a few cases was just sitting on writing the review. I’m such a slacker. I also want to share that I won my first giveaway for 2017! Thanks to Read.Sleep.Repeat for hosting #ARCAugust and giving me the opportunity to win a copy of The Tiger’s Watch by Julia Ember! Bring on the genderfluid Asian-based fantasy. <3 <3 <3

Now I just need to keep reading ARCs. Only 15 left to go… O_o

 

Tsundoku Life

It wouldn’t be tsundoku if I didn’t have a gigantic pile of books waiting for me!

TBR Countdown:

As most of you know, tsundoku means the act of leaving a book unread after acquiring it, typically piled up together with other unread books on shelves, floors, or nightstands. For the first half of the year, I’ve been focused on shrinking my TBR. This seems like a noble idea, but the effort has been fairly futile. I’m not giving up! But expect to see how I measure Tsundoku to change soon.

In June, my pile was 1,359 books. In July, my pile was 1,329. Now…

 

…Wait a second. Something seems wrong here! Don’t you fret, I’ve got some words on TBRs coming up in mid-September. Brace yourself. I expect this to be controversial.

September TBR:

  • Our Shared Shelf  – The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf
  • Kids LitAll-American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
  • West Side Stories – The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
  • Brunch Books – The Obelisk Gate by N K Jemisin
  • VACB Book Club –TBD by TBD (I hope we select soon!)
  • Science Fiction/Fantasy Book Club: I Robot by Isacc Asimov
  • Popsugar Challenge – Stuart Little by E. B. White
  • Read Harder Challenge – Bomb: The Race to Build – and Steal – the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin
  • Listopia Challenge – A Visit to William Blake’s Inn by Nancy Willard
  • #AnneReadAlong2017: Anne’s House of Dreamsby LM Montgomery
  • Buddy Read with Evelina – Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
  • Empty Pages Writing Club – Review all submissions

Well then. It looks like September is a bit crazier than most. Thankfully, we are starting with a 3-day weekend here in the United States. I will certainly be taking advantage of my day off to help make dents in these reading goals! I mean, I can do this, right?  Speaking of…

2017 Goal Update:

As I mentioned last month, soul-searching has occurred and I have lots of things to say about my goals. However, I don’t think this Month in Review is the right place to say them. As with my TBR, I have a planned post about my blogger goals. Let’s just say, I’ve learned a lot this year. {Cue mysterious music} And I can’t wait to share it with you all! I hope you’ll have a lot to say on the subject.

 

Wow, it already smells like Fall when I step outside. The leaves are starting to change on the trees, too! It looks like my favorite season of the year is almost upon us. I love reading outside in the Fall! Sweatshirt, mugs of warm beverage, beautiful foliage– I cannot wait!

Happy Reading,

Jackie B.

Jackie B Forman


What do you think?

  • Did you participate in #ARCAugust? How did it go for you?
  • Do you read ARCs? Why or why not? How deep in the ARC hole are you right now?
  • What is your favorite season of the year? Do you have any seasonal reads for Fall?
  • What was your favorite read in August? What do you have planned for September’s TBR?

40 Comments

  • Books, Vertigo and Tea September 1, 2017 at 3:18 pm

    First of all, the photos are gorgeous! I love them 🙂 You seem to have a busy time ahead of you with work and all. But nothing you cannot handle! Exciting stuff if you ask me.

    Your 3 stars for Flame in the Mist concerns me haha. This one is in my current pile. A pile that has been severely neglected. I fear that my encounter with Dumplin’ may not have went as well as your own. I did not dislike it but the audio narration did not agree with me. I have contemplated picking it up and actually reading it though.

    It feels so good to be visiting your blog again!

    • Jackie B September 1, 2017 at 3:54 pm

      I wouldn’t worry too much about my 3 star review. It’s a… high 3 stars? If that’s a thing? I think the hype got to me. Let go of the hype and perhaps you’ll enjoy it more than I did! Then again.. we don’t tend to agree on much when it comes to reviewing books. 😀

      It definitely took me a while to get used to the narration, but I think that has more to do with the fact that I am unfamiliar with southern accents. I warmed to it quickly, however. If the narration isn’t for you, you might want to pick up Dumplin and read it (if you can!)– I think it’s really worthwhile. But, considering what I wrote above… maybe this just isn’t for you? It’s also okay to DNF a book other people love. Not all books are for all people!

      Thanks for stopping by! It means a lot. Particularly knowing you have limited screen time. 🙂 It makes me feel important!

      • Books, Vertigo and Tea September 1, 2017 at 3:57 pm

        I finished and reviewed Dumplin’ some time ago. I think my familiarity with Southern accents actually hindered my experience haha.

        Ummm I love when we disagree on titles 😉 It leads to some of my favorite discussions! <3

        • Jackie B September 3, 2017 at 2:21 pm

          I know, right?! I remember reading your Dumplin’ review, now that you mention it… Once I *finally* write mine, I’ll have to go back and compare our responses.

  • Kourtni @ Kourtni Reads September 1, 2017 at 5:05 pm

    I am SO happy to see you liked Dumplin’ so much!! I read it last year and it ended up being one of my favorite reads all year. I just fell in love with Willowdean and could relate to her so, so much. I love those engagement photos, btw!! They look fantastic 🙂

    • Jackie B September 3, 2017 at 2:22 pm

      Yay! I’m glad that I’m not alone when it comes to loving Dumplin’! I have a lot of blogger friends with diverse options, and not everyone enjoyed it as much as we did it seems. That’s why I keep them around, obviously, to challenge my reading and interpretation. But it can also be sad when no one else loves a book you love. 😀

      Thanks for the compliment on our photos. I adore our photographer. I’m sure she’ll get some amazing ones at the wedding after seeing these. So happy!

      • Kourtni @ Kourtni Reads September 4, 2017 at 10:02 am

        I get what you mean! It’s nice to see varying opinions but at the same time, I want everyone to love the books that I love, haha.

        • Jackie B September 5, 2017 at 5:55 pm

          My biggest problem when I have differing opinions with people on books is that I struggle with recommendations. I want to help everyone find the right novel for them! Alas– did I lead you astray? Did you just waste hours of your life reading a book you didn’t care about? Alas.

          But at the same time, that only inspires me to read more. 😀

          • Kourtni @ Kourtni Reads September 5, 2017 at 7:14 pm

            Yessss, I completely understand!! I blog because I want to help people find books to read and love, but when we all have differing opinions, it can be difficult.

  • hannahpotamus September 1, 2017 at 6:31 pm

    OH MY, those photos are AMAZING. *endless heart eyes* And seriously, you have so much going on in your life!! I just got approved on Netgalley for a book that seems really fascinating, so I’m super excited.

    I’ve also been meaning to read Dumplin’ for a while, but I’m glad to see you loved it! My favorite August read was definitely Jane Eyre. It was my first time reading it, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it!! <3

    • Jackie B September 3, 2017 at 3:16 pm

      D’aw, thank you! I appreciate the compliments on our photos. This is how I know we picked a winner for our wedding photographer. Now I have zero worries about that. 😀 Worth every penny. For sure.

      I get soooo excited when I am approved for books on NetGalley! I was recently approved for Ta-Nehisi Coates’s newest book We Were Eight Years in Power which is a collection of essays. I love reading memoir-esque essays, so I know I’ll adore this book. Super excited! I hope I can even read it and post my review for the publication date (10/3)– here’s hoping!

      I have never read Jane Eyre I am ashamed to admit! so many people have told me lately how much they enjoy it, too. I really should pick it up. Will you be posting your review soon? I’d love to read it!

      • hannahpotamus @ peanutbutter&books September 4, 2017 at 10:24 pm

        Definitely. They really do look absolutely gorgeous!! <3

        Ahh, I hope you enjoy those books!! I, too, always feel a surge of much-needed validation whenever I get approved. 😉 And don't worry, I didn't pick up Jane Eyre until this year either, and I haven't gotten around to tons of classics. I'm still working on that review, which will come hopefully sometime this century :') but I would definitely recommend it!!

  • KrystiYAandWine September 1, 2017 at 6:50 pm

    How beautiful are your engagement pictures?! Love them!

    It does seem like you just barely did your wrap up for last month. I seriously don’t know where August went. You killed your #ARCAugust challenge, and you’re doing great on the others even if you didn’t focus on them as much. You’ll totally get them all by year end.

    • Jackie B September 3, 2017 at 3:10 pm

      Thank you!! It means a lot to hear positive feedback about our engagement photos. 😀

      I also appreciate all your positive support. Sometimes when I look at my goals in a vacuum it can be overwhelming. I don’t know where I’d be without my blogger friends!

      Do you have any reading challenge goals?

      • KrystiYAandWine September 4, 2017 at 12:54 pm

        Always, lady! It’s so nice to have the support of book blogger friends. I’m blown away by the amazing friendships I’ve made in the 10 months I’ve been blogging.

        I just do the Goodreads challenge. I was going to try some others, but I try to focus mainly on reading ARCs and doing what I can to support the ones I love before they come out. My GR goal was 150, but I’m at 145 now, so I’m going to try for 200 now.

        • Jackie B September 9, 2017 at 2:35 pm

          Wait. You’ve only been blogging 10 months?! Wow. I’m super impressed at so much! Your dedication, your growth, your passion, your well-developed community! Wowza. Keep up the great work. 😀

          Haha. you are CRUSHING your GR challenge! I wish you all the luck reaching 200. 🙂

          • KrystiYAandWine September 11, 2017 at 12:40 am

            Awww. Well, thanks, lady! That means so much to me! I love doing it, so I probably spend entirely too much time on it, but eh, it’s fun.

  • Dani @ Perspective of a Writer September 1, 2017 at 11:48 pm

    Ooh congratulations on your engagement! And what lovely photos!! You guys must have had a ball taking those pictures it just shines <3 What a power reader you are!! I'm certain you can keep up with your goals in September!! Fighting!

    I am DEEP in the ARC hole reading 4 of them at once right now. One is EXTREMELY long but I'm keeping to my page goals even if its killing me. If it was a poor book I probably would have DNFed it by now.

    I look forward to your Tsundoku Life additions!

    • Jackie B September 3, 2017 at 3:09 pm

      Thank you, Dani! It was a ton of fun taking the photos. We have a few with props which I didn’t post here. We don’t like to take ourselves too seriously. Life should be filled with laughter and happiness. 😀

      Oooh, you set page goals for reading long books? Tell me about that! I’m looking forward to sharing my own reflections about goals later this month, and updating how I write my posts. There just isn’t enough time to do everything I want to, it seems like. Prioritizing is hard!

      • Dani @ Perspective of a Writer September 3, 2017 at 5:18 pm

        I’m not a fan of prioritizing either but i can’t make a good decision without doing so! I figured out I had to read 10% each day to meet my deadline so I read at least that and yesterday I read 19% and finished it! I have to do that with book club books sometimes too. Take the pages divide by how many days I have left and read at least that many each day, lol.

        • Jackie B September 3, 2017 at 7:51 pm

          That’s really smart. It’s a good way to make progress quickly, particularly in a book which might not be your cuppa. I have been considering doing that for some of the classic tomes I’ve been putting off– their size intimidates me!

          • Dani @ Perspective of a Writer September 6, 2017 at 4:02 pm

            Definitely an idea. I also suggest audiobooks if you have exercise time or a commute where you have time you aren’t really using anyway. But I swear by a page or percentage count. I even do it with super long books I’m liking… I have so many books to read and I feel like I’m such a slow reader… ♥️ I’d love to hear if you do this for any of the books you read in future and hear if it helped!

            • Jackie B September 10, 2017 at 4:53 pm

              I love listening to audiobooks– but I always get them from the library, and I often can’t listen to 20+ discs in the time allotted. I am also anxious that I will find a narrator I HATE. They will totally ruin classics for me. If you have an audiobook recommendation for a classic tome, I’ll definitely try it, though!

              I love the idea of planning out page/percentage counts, too. I don’t know if I’m organized enough for it, but I’m willing to try anything once. Well. Except meth and murder. Not those. But anything else. 😉

  • ichabod2014ic September 2, 2017 at 6:49 am

    Beautiful pics, Jackie! Congratulations!
    I am in the middle of reading ‘Snow Crash’ right now. I am loving it!
    Happy Reading!
    ~Icky. 🙂

    • Jackie B September 3, 2017 at 4:00 pm

      Thanks, Icky! I just posted my review of Snow Crash — it left my reeling in the best way possible. I would love to hear what you think of it once you’ve finished reading the book! I’m so conflicted…

  • Evelina @ AvalinahsBooks September 2, 2017 at 10:36 am

    Oh my gosh, those are the cuuuuutest pictures in the world 🙂 you guys look lovely! And the ring on the flower! Super cute.

    I can’t believe IT’S ALREADY SEPTEMBER THOUGH. It’s like we say this every month, but honestly, WHERE has it gone??? Graaarrrr. And I need to write that monthly update, and I was working overtime this Saturday (and drinking beer and singing karaoke last night at 1am still……..), and tomorrow we’re picking up my sister and her husband who are visiting from the States for a week (The books she’s bringing – the second book of Red Rising didn’t arrive. Only the third one. Typical!)… Things are just going crazy. But I think I will be starting on Attachments RIGHT NOW, srsly. Because I just finished that bone marrow transplant book and I seriously need to STAHP weeping inside (even if it ended well). So Attachments is very, very, VERY welcome.

    Ah, your books are all over the place, huh. So your blog is like my blog is all the time xD hahaha. Except for that bit where my blog decided to make ALL THE TEXT bold for no reason at all. Bummer. It’s not THAT bad, is it? Tell me, I need to know ;_;

    I’m happy about my monthly stats too! I didn’t read too much this month (only 10, wanted to do more), but I also hauled only 12! Which is great, cause you remember how much I used to haul, right? Only two more than I read! I’m proud of myself. OWAIT. I won one more. Okay, so 13! But I won it, I can’t really control that xD

    And you did well on #ARCAugust! That’s totally cool, congrats. Oh, you won too? That’s so cool! I got really discouraged about Read.Sleep.Repeat readathons cause I was doing one last year (before Christmas, I think) and none of my emails were even answered. Maybe they went to spam…. But then there was no update for the end of that readathon, and I just totally didn’t even know what was going on. So I was like.. Nope. Not doing it again. Maybe it was just my experience, I don’t know. So glad you won though!

    P.S. In the buddy read, you linked my latest post, not my blog 😀 that’s alright too, but someone might click and be puzzled xD

    BTW, did you see my State of the ARC yet? (I forget xD) I was wondering if you’d like to link up for September too. Although maybe you don’t have an ARC problem like me xD

    • Jackie B September 3, 2017 at 4:26 pm

      D’aw, thank you, Evelina! The photos make me so happy because now I know that my photographer is everything I wanted for my wedding. Professional photos are SUPER expensive, but totally worth it in my opinion.

      I know, right!? I’ve barely written any reviews for the books I read in August too. It’s so unfair. 😉 Ooooh – drinking beer and singing karaoke sounds like my kind of evening. It’s been years since I’ve done karaoke, too… Do you have a go-to karaoke song?

      Ohemgee. Golden Son didn’t arrive in time?! Ugh. That’s so disappointing. So you’ll just hang on to Morning Star and gaze longingly at it, I assume? It’s still great that you sister is bringing you books! But with guests around… will you be sleeping at all?! You must be so busy.

      I am also pumped to read Attachments! I keep looking longingly at it on my nightstand, but alas– I want to finish this NetGalley ARC which is *over a year past publication* before I get to it. Like a scoop of ice cream for being a good girl. It’s my last Rowell book, too! I’ve read all the rest. I hope that it makes us both very VERY happy. 🙂

      Yeah, I find that I read all the genres (well, almost. No horror, psychological thriller, or grimdark fantasy, puh-leeze! I’m too much of a baby…), and that is certainly apparent this month! Let’s see… there are adult, YA, MG, and children’s reading levels. There are prize winners and books no one has heard of. And genres cover the gamut too! Cookbook, historical fiction, fantasy, sci-fi, memoir, non-fiction, contemporary, survival, adventure… Yup. Everything but mystery, it seems. Craziness! Diversity is the spice of life, yes? Yes.

      I love the format of your posts. It’s soooo you. Yes, The Growing Season has a LOT of bold in it, but whatever. This is your review! Overall, I appreciate the use of bold and italic fonts quite a bit to call out the important parts of your reviews. It is a good way for you to share your opinions. The GIFs are great too. Another aspect of your personality, right? Right!

      I was also having a lot of spam problems with Read.Sleep.Repeat! All my comments and emails went to spam. I was only able to clear that up since I won, so Shelly emailed me and I asked her about it directly. Her theory is that the “Death” in my name or my extra long comments (me? Write long comments?! NEVER!) is what kept putting me in Spam jail.

      Oh yes, I get what you mean about no wrap-up. Honestly, readthons aren’t really my thing most of the time. But I really appreciate them as a way to kick my butt into doing something I should be (like reading ARCs) which I am putting off. I like read alongs and reading challenges much more.

      I totally linked to your last post on purpose! I was hoping it would Pingback for you, to share the love that I’m linking to your blog. I hope that doesn’t confuse anyone! I just think it’s nicer to do pingbacks than not if possible. It shows how cool you are to the people reading your comment section, too! 😀

      I am SUPER behind on blog hopping. I have your blog on my list for this weekend, so I should be stopping by soon! I’ll get out the State of the ARC then. 😀 Miss you.

  • Amanda @Cover2CoverMom September 2, 2017 at 5:30 pm

    Jackie! Wow you had so much going on this month.

    First off, let me say congrats for being selected to step up at work while your boss is on leave. Good luck & I know you will do a great job! Hopefully it will lead to bigger and better things down the road for you 🙂

    LOVE your engagement pics! Couldn’t you convince your fiancé to have them taken at a library or with stacks of books?! lol

    So Dumplin wasn’t really on my TBR before this, but you said Dolly Parton, so I’m on board! Plus I typically am intrigued with any book you give 5 stars 🙂

    I was disappointed with Anne of WP too 🙁 I think I saw that you reviewed it, so I will check it out. I think the rumor of the even numbered books being flat is starting to ring true…

    In regards to your September TBR, I am most interested in seeing what you think of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian and The Obelisk Gate. I read The Fifth Season this month and really enjoyed it! I must admit, I had a hard time catching on at first, but the second half sucked me into the world and I’m hooked.

    Cannot wait to read what your new blogger goals are! Don’t keep me waiting 🙂

    • Jackie B September 3, 2017 at 4:46 pm

      I know, right?! But what I had going on doesn’t really compare to what you had going on this month. August was a lot for your family too. 🙂

      Thanks for the kudos about work. It is a lot of responsibility, but I have hopes that this will put me in a good place for future career building. It means a lot to me that she told everyone she didn’t need to find a backup because I could handle it. 😀

      These engagement photos make me super happy, too! It just reinforces that we found the perfect photographer for us. It also means I won’t stress about our wedding photos. 😀 We honestly did talk about getting photos taken at the local Indie bookstore! Instead, it became our rain-out location. I don’t mind… I do wish I had brought my Kindle or a book or something so we could have had a cute “reading together in the park” photo. Ah well. Hindsight is 20/20.

      I can’t wait to FINALLY write and post my Dumplin’ review. I have lots of thoughts to share! Plus, so many of my book blogger friends are shocked at my rating– I feel like there will be some great discussion in our future.

      Yes! I just started Anne’s House of Dreams last night and it’s already better. Melanie was totally on point about these books. But, Laila really enjoyed Windy Poplars, So, to each their own, I guess?

      I ADORE NK Jemisin’s writing! I read her Inheritance trilogy last year and fell in love with her. She always has a twist like that, so I knew what to expect when I started reading The Fifth Season. I’m super excited that the Broken Earth trilogy might be the first entire trilogy to win a Hugo! Not to potentially curse it… but…

      Absolutely True Diary is a book a read a few years ago and adored. I want to listen to the audiobook this time to see how it changes my perception. It’s a great coming of age novel, in my opinion. Plus, I need the refresher before book club!

      Goals are coming! So many posts, so little time…

      • Evelina @ AvalinahsBooks September 8, 2017 at 10:44 am

        Actually, I don’t have a go-to karaoke song – I just started with karaoke last year. Before, karaoke in this country used to be in bars only – which means you in front of an audience… they opened the first private karaoke room place last year 🙂 so I’m only assembling my repertoire xD but I guess… I guess my go to songs could be Sunday Morning by Maroon 5 and I Will Always Love You. But it’s harder with that one, although I have heard I do it well, it’s kind of sentimental, so a party will not always have that mood xD and what’s your song?
        My sister will mail me the second book, so for now I have put the third one away and am trying to forget its existence 😀
        You are right about the sleep. Returned from staying over at grandma’s only yesterday, and I have guests ALREADY. I’ve had minuscule amounts of sleep and my stomach is seriously busted from god knows what. Currently I’m lying down and replying comments from the phone, and we’ll be going out straight after xD I just took my chance to power down a little (which for me, of course, is blogging or book related xD)
        This is so cool though! Do you realize that our review tandem here is firstread+lastread? I’ve never read anything of Rowell’s 😀
        Love it how our reading tastes overlap! Almost completely! I will read a horror here and there, but almost exclusively Stephen King (because he’s a genius, so if I risk getting scared, it’s for The Km g xD). I mostly don’t read anything killing related either (including mysteries); but other than that I read it all!
        Pingbacks don’t always come back, unfortunately! I found that people shared my posts a lot this month, but I didn’t get any pingbacks, I only found out accidentally when I was reading their wrap-up posts xD I wish they always came back! It’s such an amazing feeling when you find out someone has shared your post.

        • Jackie B September 10, 2017 at 8:24 am

          You don’t *have* to have a Go To Karaoke song. I was just curious. I love to sing N*Sync’s It’s Gonna be Me, The Pretenders 500 Miles and Carrie Underwood’s Before He Cheats. All of these songs are ones that people know, and they are fairly easy to sing. It takes time to develop a repertoire! And, depending on the group there are some go to songs. For example, I know all the lyrics to the musical Hamilton, so I have definitely done the opening number solo before… O_o

          I’m so glad your sister will mail you the book! Waiting can be so challenging. But waiting for good book mail? Amazing.

          Ugh! I was sick all week, so I can relate to laying busted on the couch. I’ve been responding to 2 comments or so a day and other than that I haven’t even had the energy to read. It’s been bad. I hope I’m on the mend! Are you feeling better?

          That is SUPER COOL! I am so excited to read your first Rowell book with you, too. I am really enjoying it thus far.

          The fact that our tastes overlap is one of the best parts of our bookish relationship. I always trust your reviews and know that if you like a book, I probably will too! That’s rare to come by. And mysteries totally don’t count as real killing. Typically, you find the people dead– we don’t have to “watch” them brutally murdered. Right? Right.

          I don’t understand how pingbacks work sometimes and not others. It’s really confusing. It’s so magical when you get one. “Someone was thinking of me!!!” I always do a happy dance. Well. Here’s hoping more of those work in the future!

          • Evelina @ AvalinahsBooks September 10, 2017 at 3:43 pm

            That people know huh xD I’m not sure I know them! 😀 except for maybe the 500 mile song? From the Tennant video? 😀 but yes, that is an important factor that people know it. I think it would be Maroon 5’s Sunday Morning for me. Could probably sing that if someone woke me up during the night xD

            Yeah, I get that about mysteries. You are right, it would be the most approachable of my unread genres! However, I usually still steer clear, as a lot of mysteries can be ‘dangerous’ of violence depictions. Or maybe I just have to pick well xD for example, Sherlock Holmes totally worked for me.

            I am feeling better, yes 🙂 I hope you are too!

  • Laila@BigReadingLife September 5, 2017 at 12:17 pm

    Beautiful engagement pictures!! Thanks for sharing.

    I can’t WAIT for your TBR post. I love a good TBR post! 🙂

    • Jackie B September 5, 2017 at 5:41 pm

      Hahaha– thanks, Laila! That means a lot to me. On both accounts. I hope that I live up to your expectations. 😉

  • theorangutanlibrarian September 8, 2017 at 8:15 am

    ooh I’m looking forward to your review of Dumplin, cos I want to read that. And your piece on TBRs! 😀 Great post!

    • Jackie B September 10, 2017 at 8:25 am

      Thanks! I’ve been sick for the last few days, so my blogging has been limited. I hope to catch back up soon with both of those posts! Darn colds. How rude of them to interrupt my blogging schedule!

      • theorangutanlibrarian September 10, 2017 at 4:09 pm

        You’re welcome! Ah no!! That’s horrible! I wish you better!!

        • Jackie B September 10, 2017 at 4:58 pm

          Thank you! Me tooooo. Nothing worse than being sick and feeling behind on everything at the same time. O_o

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