Saturday, December 31, 2016

December 2016 Recap

So we've arrived at the final monthly recap of 2016! As I mentioned in my 2016 Rewind, I'm not at all sorry to see this year go!

Real life continued to be an uncooperative arse in December, meaning another unproductive reading/blogging month. The icing on the turd cake that has been 2016 is the nagging cold that I've been battling the last 2 weeks. It's always fun to have to answer the office phone sounding like a Mandrake from Harry Potter in its death throes. XD

I did manage to finish a book in December:

This is an absolutely gorgeous book, with lots of photos from the show, the lyrics to all of the songs, and fantastic behind the scenes stories. Plus: deckle edges!

I wish all of you much happiness in 2017! Happy reading and blogging! :D

Friday, December 30, 2016

2016 Rewind

Hello, friends! How is it possible that we've reached the end of another year? I think I said something similar in last year's rewind post, but 2016 has been so insane, you'll have to forgive my memory lapse. XD

Every year has its ups and downs, but 2016 was particularly heavy on the downs. I promise not to go on whining about real life stuff, lol. Said stuff did creep into reading and blogging, though, and pretty much brought both to a standstill. It is what it is, but I'm so, so, so, so, so, so ready to bury 2016 in the trash then set it on fire. And then possibly run over it with a bulldozer, just for good measure.

Unsurprisingly, I missed my Goodreads challenge by like 10 books for like the third year in a row. I've lost track of the consecutive number of years of failure because it's become the norm, lol. Ah, well—maybe next year, because by default, 2017 HAS to be better than 2016!

2016 did manage to provide a few bookish highlights, including meeting Maggie Stiefvater and returning to YALLFest with Ally and Melissa. I was thrilled to meet the lovely Victoria Schwab at YALLFest as well as see Alexandra Bracken again.

While I didn't get to read a lot of books this year, I LOVED quite a few of the ones that I did get to:


The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

This was my most anticipated read of 2016 and the front-runner for favorite book of 2016, and The Raven King did not disappoint. I savored every word of this baby, as was its due. All hail The Raven King and its ingenious queen, Maggie Stiefvater.


The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman

I technically read this one at the very end of last year, after I'd already written my 2015 rewind post. So now I must shower it with infintite love in the 2016 rewind. Do you love paranormal? Do you love Jane Austen? Do you love witty heroines who circumvent the restrictions of their eras? Do you love brooding male characters with a hint of danger to them? Do you love beautiful prose? Then The Dark Days Club is for you!


Vicious by V.E. Schwab

I LOVE morally gray characters, and Vicious is one of the best books I've ever read that features them. The story is absolutely mesmerizing from start to finish.


A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab

Oh look—it's V.E./Victoria Schwab again, LOL. Her follow-up to last year's A Darker Shade of Magic totally delivers. If you love Avatar: The Last Airbender, you'll totally dig the elemental magic in this series. Plus there's time travel, alternate Londons, and pirates!


A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

RHYSAND. That is all. XD


Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas

And here's SJM again, LOL. While this installment felt a wee bit off in the pacing department, it was still one hell of a read with an ending that is guaranteed to utterly destroy you.


Poison or Protect by Gail Carriger

This wonderful novella is a perfect introduction to Carriger's Victorian steampunk world of supernatural creatures, tea, and lots of wit. It's also the perfect complement to readers already familiar with her Parasol Protectorate and Finishing School series.


Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

I admit to being a tad skeptical of yet another Shadowhunters series, but Lady Midnight was a most pleasant surprise and left me eagerly awaiting its sequel, Lord of Shadows.

How did your 2016 in reading/blogging go? I wish all of you a very, very Happy New Year, and all the best in 2017! :D

Thursday, December 29, 2016

2017 Book Blog Discussion Challenge

The 2017 Book Blog Discussion Challenge is hosted by
Feed Your Fiction Addiction & It Starts at Midnight.

Alrighty, let's try this again, lol. I participated in this year's challenge and hoped to be more consistent with writing discussion posts, but then real life, especially the last few months, brought blogging in general pretty much to a full stop. I did have fun writing the discussion posts that did make it to the blog and getting to meet some new bloggers. I also started keeping a list of possible future topics that I never had time to turn into posts, so I'm happy about going into 2017 with some ideas ready to go. XD

I'm sticking with the same goal as 2016, which is:

1-12 – Discussion Dabbler

If you'd like to sign up and join in on the fun, click on either of the links above!

Friday, December 2, 2016

November 2016 Recap

Welp, there's not much of a recap for November because there were like 3 posts, 1 of which was the October recap. XD Real life has just been a greedy time suck lately, devouring every nanosecond. At least getting to go back to YALLFest last month provided a much needed, even though it was short, break from full-time adulting.

I also got to see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them last month, which was excellent. I'm definitely looking forward to more installments! I've been trying to tune in when I can to the every episode ever Simpsons marathon that's currently airing, but alas, real life usually thwarts my efforts to catch like an hour of TV.

I didn't read ANY books at all in November. *sad face* On the upside, if I read even just one book in December, I'll still have surpassed November's total! Yay for setting the bar low! XD

What are you guys reading in December—any holiday-themed reads?

Thursday, December 1, 2016

Harry Potter Moment of the Week (150)

Harry Potter Moment of the Week is a meme hosted by Uncorked Thoughts and Lunar Rainbows Reviews. The aim of this meme is to share with fellow bloggers a character, spell, chapter, object or quote from the books/films/J. K. Rowling herself or anything Potter related! A list of upcoming topics can be found here.

This week's topic is:
If You Could Change One Thing from the Fourth Film, What Would It Be?

Hands down, I'd want to see a totally different take of Michael Gambon's Dumbledore asking Harry if he put his name in the Goblet of Fire. Seriously, WTF was up with Dumbledore yelling at Harry in the film?!!! The memes that came out of that scene do make me laugh, but every time I watch GoF, I cringe during that moment. Talk about awkward and out of character. :/