Favorite Books of 2018

I hope you all are having a nice holiday season. TBH – I’m not really a fan of this time of year. It just seems like a mad rush to shop, shop, shop as we run through the holidays (starting in OCTOBER NOW) through January 1st. My store already has the Valentine’s stuff going up and I even saw a picture of an Easter egg candy display at a store on IG.

I’m still not really reading - no urge (going on week #4 & I've only read 1 book) and my arm is getting better but still hurts when I type so comments have been slow going and posting non existent.

I did want to get a Best Of 2019 list up though so here we go!

MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITES 

I adore sweet, funny romances and Josh & Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating and Starry Eyes hit the mark big time and left me smiling for weeks. (Starry Eyes review, Josh & Hazel review)

I didn’t love The Cruel Prince but I liked it enough to see where book #2 in the series would go and OMG – SO glad I gave it a shot because this one was filled with WTF just happened???? goodness. (the Friday 5 treatment)

LOVED

These three books were all diverse, emotional and brilliantly written.

Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World was a beautiful LGBQT, MG novel about self discovery, first crushes and family. (my review)

Pride is a Pride and Prejudice re-telling and clever update that tackles gentrification, class and so many other relevant topics with a dash or romance. (my review)

Finding Yvonne was an amazing YA read that was unique – it was not a romance – but had a very authentic voice for teens today, trying to find their path, coming of age, testing out relationships with an honest portrayal of teen sexuality. (my review)

All of the above books also had rich family dynamics.

ALL THE ANGST BUT WORTH IT

I’m not a fan of overly emotional or angsty reads but these three were worth stepping out of my comfort zone.

Heels Over Head and Autoboyography are both M/M, NA romances that were fairly intense but you get a nice payoff in the end.

Sadie is INTENSE x’s100 and there’s no cute little ending tied up in a bow - but if you can handle it - I recommend this story about a girl on a journey to avenge the death of her sister. (my review)

BIGGEST SURPRISE

The Lying Woods was my biggest reading surprise. I’m not a fan of thrillers (& I’m not sure this even counts as one – more the unraveling of a family mystery of sorts) but I loved it so much! (my review)

GREAT SERIES ENDERS

I’m not reading many series these days but there were two trilogies that I’ve stuck with. They need to be read in order but have solid series endings.

The Burning Magus was the conclusion to the Blue Unicorn trilogy and I’m not sure who to even rec this to lol It’s a wild, sexually charged, M/M, urban fantasy, cyber punk series that goes balls to the wall but feels fresh, fun and original. (my review)

Rough Trade is the conclusion to the Woodbury Boys M/M trilogy. There is a different couple for each book but an over-arching story with a crime family with a great payoff and HEA for the most interesting character – Ghost - in book #3. It’s SUPER intense though. (child abuse – sexual and physical)

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Talia Hibbert was a new to me author this year. I’m not usually a fan of dirty talking heroes but I LOVE Hibbert’s books. They’re super dirty but hilarious and the heroines are sooooo real – with cellulite, periods and normal girl issues. And the heroes are swoon worthy. (my review)

Stacey Kade has been a favorite author of mine for years, starting with her YA Ghost & the Goth series, but she’s been branching out into NA and Finding Felicity was a really wonderful surprise. A quieter story with just a touch of romance – this was a true to life college set about becoming an adult. Very underrated IMHO.

MY TWO BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS

This section is super depressing for me because, as you can see, my two biggest disappointments are by the same authors of my two absolute favorites.

Josh & Hazel left me so damn happy and I was hoping for that same feeling from My Favorite Half-Night Stand but I really disliked the romance and lying in this one. (my review)

Serious Moonlight doesn’t come out until next year but I was lucky enough to borrow an arc from a friend. I LOVE , LOVE, LOVE Bennett’s books. Her YA, her adult – everything! So it pains me to say that this book was fine. Just fine. Nothing about it captivated me, the romance didn’t feel swoony, the plot didn’t grab me. *cries*

Oh & here’s my Goodreads challenge for the year – I doubt I will read more because I just made me hand/wrist worse by typing this post lol

2018 Reading Challenge

Karen has completed her goal of reading 150 books in 2018!

hide

157 of 150 (100%)

view books

Thank you all for visiting this blog and commenting all year! I'm sorry if I'm a little slower than usual visiting back lately but I'm trying to keep up - a few blogs per day.

Let me know if you agree/disagree with any of my choices - what your favorite (or biggest disappointment) reads were and leave a link for me to visit if you did a best of list!

So my 2018 reading is a wrap! Happy New Years everyone!

My Monday Musings: TBB Asks: holiday edition

OMG guys....December is kicking my butt!

Kevin is on vacation and we had planned a trip to NC but they had a bad snowstorms so we had to cancel. We took Fonzi to St. Augustine Beach for the day instead and had a great time (even though a rock hit our windshield and needed to be replaced 😢)but pretty much all of our plans for his two weeks off have been scrapped due to bad weather of some kind.

With all that time home without plans you would think that I got a lot of reading in but NOPE. I haven't read even one thing in almost 2 weeks. Nothing!

I've been barely keeping up visiting and commenting on blogs because my hand thing is back (kind of like repetitive stress but starting with my thumb and going up to my neck). But I did manage to blog a bit ahead thinking I would be away. Thank you so much for visiting and commenting here while I've been mostly MIA.

I've been watching a ton of Christmas movies. For the cheesy Hallmark-ish type movies I liked No Sleep 'Til Christmas on Freeform, Mingle All the Way on Hallmark & I mostly liked The Holiday Calendar but I wasn't sold on the love interest. We did our annual Krampus re-watch and still have Elf and The Christmas Story to go.

I have my last batch of Christmas gifts to wrap and ship out today - pray for me.

This is my last scheduled post for the year - unless I get bit by the productivity bug but I will still be visiting you all!

Happy Holidays everyone!!! 

Candy Canes? No. I can’t even remember the last time I had one.

Christmas morning early riser or sleep in? Same time as any other day lol If the animals wake me up then I get up – if they leave me alone I take advantage and sleep.

Did you shop on Black Friday?  I used to like…20 years ago but it’s CRAZY now. We did go out on Thursday the past few years just to look around but I’ve started taking advantage of the online Black Friday deals and use the store pick-up option. I just breeze by everyone in line on Friday morning.

Christmas tree up in November? We don’t really have a tree. Just a small table top one – sometimes. As you can see, I kind of went #gothmas this year 

 

Do you get holiday ideas from Pinterest? Nope. Never even go on there.

Christmas Glam or Ugly Sweater? Neither. I’m in FL so no sweaters for me. I guess I would go ugly maybe. I’m not really a glam. Ugly but comfortable would be better.

Stocking Stuffers: Wrapped or Unwrapped? Wrapped. I LOVE stocking stuffers.. They’re so much fun to wrap and even more fun to open all the little gifts.

Traditional or Modern Christmas Songs? Traditional I guess. Just please oh please…not until after Thanksgiving if you MUST play them.

Fruitcake? I know everyone hates and makes fun of fruitcake but Kevin’s grandmother (who has since passed)used to make the most delicious fruitcake! It’s the only one I’ve liked though.

Is your Christmas shopping finished? Yes! But I still need to ship several things. *cries*

Is there snow in December where you live? Nope. Florida….

Classic Show: A Charlie Brown Christmas or Rudolph? Rudolph and the land of misfits! 

review: my favorite half-night stand by christina lauren

By the New York Times bestselling author who “hilariously depicts modern dating” (Us Weekly), My Favorite Half-Night Stand is a laugh-out-loud romp through online dating and its many, many fails.

Millie Morris has always been one of the guys. A UC Santa Barbara professor, she’s a female-serial-killer expert who’s quick with a deflection joke and terrible at getting personal. And she, just like her four best guy friends and fellow professors, is perma-single.

So when a routine university function turns into a black tie gala, Mille and her circle make a pact that they’ll join an online dating service to find plus-ones for the event. There’s only one hitch: after making the pact, Millie and one of the guys, Reid Campbell, secretly spend the sexiest half-night of their lives together, but mutually decide the friendship would be better off strictly platonic.

But online dating isn’t for the faint of heart. While the guys are inundated with quality matches and potential dates, Millie’s first profile attempt garners nothing but dick pics and creepers. Enter “Catherine”—Millie’s fictional profile persona, in whose make-believe shoes she can be more vulnerable than she’s ever been in person. Soon “Catherine” and Reid strike up a digital pen-pal-ship...but Millie can’t resist temptation in real life, either. Soon, Millie will have to face her worst fear—intimacy—or risk losing her best friend, forever.

Perfect for fans of Roxanne and She’s the Man, Christina Lauren’s latest romantic comedy is full of mistaken identities, hijinks, and a classic love story with a modern twist. Funny and fresh, you’ll want to swipe right on My Favorite Half-Night Stand. ~ Goodreads

Source: ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Review:

I ADORED Josh & Hazel's Guide to Not Dating and was really looking forward to this one. It seemed to have the same funny, romcom vibe. I was a little wary of the catfishing set up but decided to request it for review anyway. I should have went with my gut.

The positives:

I liked the whole gang of friends. They're kind of weird but fun and supportive in their weirdness lol

Both Millie and Reid are good people - until the dating fiasco which I'll get to.

I loved the idea of the all of the friends using the dating app together (as a way to find dates to an upcoming business function) and the look at online dating. It can lend itself to a lot of hilarious situations (like in Josh & Hazel)

The negatives:

Almost the entire plot of this book is based on lies and miscommunication between two people who are supposed to know each other better than anyone else.

Millie and Reid are matched on the dating app but Millie had used an alias. She realizes it’s Reid but he doesn’t know it’s her and she continues with the charade as they continue to text each other, with her pretending to be Catherine, even though they start hooking up occasionally in real life. One conversation would have resolved things in either direction - staying friends or moving on.

As the story went on and both Millie and Reid did more and more questionable things - I lost interest in their HEA and started disliking them as people. I did get where they were each coming from most of the time but all of it went on too long and walked a line that wasn't romantic at all IMO.

I’m tagging a few of my other negatives under a spoiler warning -

HIGHLIGHT for spoilers –> Millie's initial catfishing of Reid was understandable and not intentional. She was trying to be safe using an alias, didn’t know she would be matched with Reid and she thought he would know it was her and seriously - why didn't he catch ANY clues?? Made me start questioning if they really as good of friends as they kept insisting.

Millie carries on with the lie way too long and Reid absolutely deserves to be angry but he also was engaging in intimate (emotionally - not sexual) conversations with *Catherine* RIGHT after having sex with Millie. Egging Millie on to be jealous then storming about when she doesn't open up right away. What is he 12? Expecting her to spill her guts while he didn't bother to have an honest conversation with her either. Dude kept bailing right after they had sex .

Pot meet kettle.

But he's never called out on any of it. Again - Millie is wrong - but Reid wasn't all that straightforward either.

Then...after finding out about Catherine/Millie he could have re-read their emails and realized what Millie was going through and that she was spilling her guts out to him but nah, that would have ruined his pity party.

I don't know...I just didn't like either of them by the time I got to that point.
<- END SPOLIER

Lauren’s books are always hit or miss for me - Josh & Hazel will be on my Best of 2018 list but this was a miss.

my monday musings

I posted a few holiday themed question prompts for my December Book Giveaway. People seem to be having fun with it so I thought I would give it a go and answer them myself.

Would you rather experience a Christmas in 1700 or in 2100?


Definitely 2100.

I was not cut out to be all prim and proper, worry about flashing my ankle or all idiotic rules I’m supposed to follow as a lady of society.

If I was a servant – that would be a whole other problem because I probably wouldn’t be able to keep my mouth shut then either. lol

The year 2100 might be a fiery hellscape at the rate we’re going but I think I’ll be able to just hole up in my futuristic house and beam me up a pie or something.


Would you rather only be able to watch your favorite TV show during the holidays or have to watch it every day of the year?

I could go either way with this one.

I don’t really have FAVORITES. I have shows I love or enjoy but I could watch them a lot - like I do with my sitcoms and cartoons like Bob’s Burgers in syndication, or be happy with once a year - like I do with A Christmas Story and Elf.

Would you rather spend the holidays with your group of friends or have them each be replaced by your favorite celebrity?

*Confessions of an introvert…I don’t have a group of friends and even if I did – I wouldn’t want to spend the holidays with them lol

I’m not overly impressed by celebrities so I would pass on that one too.



Would you rather get a useful gift or a fun gift?

Useful!!! It would make me happy to have a useful gift – so isn’t that fun in a way???

Yes, yes it is – let’s go with that because between my lack of friends and joy of practical gifts, I’m starting to sound like I live a sad little life. lol

Would you rather get one amazing holiday gift or 10 OK holiday gifts?

This one is a toughie for me!

I mean…an amazing holiday gift??? What would that be? I can’t imagine what would be so amazing but it’s AMAZING so yay!

But I also like unwrapping gifts so wouldn’t that be amazing in a way??

Either way – I would want them to be from Kevin. He’s a great gift giver and swaps between amazing and smaller, simple gifts and they’re always perfect.

I know some of you have already answered these on the giveaway post (and enter here if you haven’t already!) but if you haven’t yet – let me know your answers.

the friday 5

I found a few cute bookish gifts while browsing through the onslaught of catalogs that appear this time of year and thought I’d share a few items of interest.

I don’t own any of these items and have not been paid or otherwise benifited in any way – just thought they were cute.

1

EDWARD GORY – “TO A CAT” t-shirt

There are a few to choose from but this one reminded me of my annoying reading partner – Figgy hehe

Buy at Signals

2.

DIY MINIATURE BOOKSTORE KIT

Buy at Signals

They also have sewing room, greenhouse, coffee shop, 

garden and more kits

3

“I’M READING SO F*CK OFF” MUG

I have a handmade bookmark from a friend with this saying but I LOVE the mug – so sweet and innocent looking with the flowers but then an F bomb lol

Buy at HippoAndKelpie

4

IT’S NOT HOARDING IF IT’S BOOKS T-SHIRT

There are a few different designs for this one so you can look around but you can buy them on Amazon, Signals

5

BOOK LOVER BOOKWORM LEGGINGS

Comfy and cute for reading on a cold, wintry night.

Buy them at Nerrrdy

See anything you like? Have a great place to you like to shop for bookish items? Let me know in the comments!

tell me something tuesday

Tell Me Something Tuesday is hosted by Rainy Day Ramblings and discusses a wide range of topics from books to blogging.

Question: What series that you tried this year will you continue?

Answer:

The Folk of the Air Series by Holly Black ~Goodreads



On a whim, I borrowed The Cruel Prince from the library in February. I’m not a fan of the fae but I loved Black’s stand alone fae story – The Darkest Part of the Forest.

The Cruel Prince was not perfect. I had quite a few issues with it (my review) but I was completely captivated by the vulnerability and fierceness in the heroine, Jude. A human, and out for revenge, Jude navigates and tries to outsmart the fae on their own turf.

“Once upon a time, there was a human girl stolen away by faeries, and because of that, she swore to destroy them.”

I picked up book #2 - The Wicked King at ALA and HOLY SHITBALLS! Talk about reader whiplash and WTF-ery. (you can read my Friday 5 fangirling for TWK here)

I loved it and January 2019 sounds like a lifetime away before the final installment, The Queen of Nothing, comes out.

I am ALL IN!

Other than this one, I’ve pretty much stepped away from series – or at least I’m able to read one and move on without being too invested.

What series have you started this year that have you hooked?

monday musings: November wrap-up and december goals

The last few weeks of November were a blur. We had to put Indy to sleep and then I had a chipped tooth so I barely read at all. I just wasn’t in the mood. I did d a lot of cleaning and throwing out though. I’m a stress cleaner and I managed to make a big dent in my cleaning/purging and organizing.

I ended up reading a total of 7 books for November – which sucks for me (I usually read 12+ books) and I fell woefully behind on the my arc’s. I barely request any these days but the few I did were due THIS week and I was too depressed with what was going on to notice so I had to hunker down and read, read, read this past weekend and thankfully I got them read before they vanish off my Kindle. I did fall behind with my ALA arc's though.

Here’s a quick wrap-up for November:

*Clicking on the covers will take you to Goodreads



~ The Lying Woods was a huge surprise – not very spooky, as the cover implies, but a good little family drama/mystery with a dual timeline that works. You can read my review here.

~ Rough Trade by Sidney Bell is book #3 in her M/M The Woodbury Boys series. The characters were all boys who spent time in the Woodbury detention center together. Each guy gets his own romance and HEA. This one was Ghost. He’s a character with a terribly dark & tragic past (sexual abuse. prostitution, violence) so it was a heavy read but so well done. I’m not sure *enjoy* is the right word but I did love this final(I think) installment for the series.

The meh:



~ I love Martha Wells Murderbot Diaries and book #4, Exit Strategy, was good but the shine has worn off for me. Each book is almost the exact same scenario and I think I’ve read them too close together and the repetition grated. Even so – I do love spending time with the murderous SecUnit with a soft marshmallow center for the people he likes.

~ I’m really glad that I wrote my thoughts down right after I read Little White Lies because I don’t even remember reading it now. lol

I loved the characters in this one and the beginning was so funny but it goes off into too many different directions.

And there are some pretty big revelations that should have more emotional impact but don't - because they all just roll from situation to situation with no time to reflect on things.

Even so – Sawyer Taft, 18 year old mechanic turned reluctant debutante, is an easy, if indifferent, character to relate to and like and if you like fish out of water with a side of mystery – this might work better for you. I especially loved how supportive her family and friends were instead of cliche mean girls.

~ Exit Plans for Teenage Freaks was a book I’ve been really excited to read. I’ve read and enjoyed a few of Burgoine’s adult novels and he writes tenderhearted characters and stories with a touch of magical realism so well.

Sadly, it was a bit of a disappointment. First off the good – this story is brimming with wonderful LGBQTIA representation and Cole is a sweet, nerdy, geeky, planner boy that everyone can relate to in his awkwardness. His plan for keeping his head down and not get noticed during his last week of HS is thrown for a loop when he starts being able to teleport from one doorway to another.

His friends and family are supportive and interesting in their own right. As a coming of age novel it’s quite good and touches on several issues such as career paths after HS, crushes, coming out, changing friendships.

If you’re reading it for the cool teleportation skills that Cole suddenly acquires, then the book is less successful. It’s not the focus and isn’t even really addressed fully until about the 70% mark. Once it was the action really picks up and it's a fun take on things but by then the book is over.

This was a fun book – and anyone looking for AMAZING LGBQTIA (gay, bi, pan, transsexual, asexual, lesbian) and disability (Cole's father is deaf & Cole is studying to be an professional ASL interpreter) rep should put this at the top of their list but I wish the sci-fi/contemporary parts were balanced better. 

I also hope this will become a series because it leaves things at an awesome place that had me very curious and I would pick up the next in a heartbeat.

Challenges:

2018 Reading Challenge

Karen has completed her goal of reading 150 books in 2018!

hide

155 of 150 (100%)

view books

I’ve read 155 books this year so far and it isn’t going to go too much higher. Kevin’s on vacation so reading and blogging time will be scarce.

One book I WILL get to because I’m SO SO SO lucky to have a friend that sent it to me is Serious Moonlight by Jenn Bennett!!!!!!!!! (Fonzi sneaked in to my photo shoot for a little taste of whipped cream lol)



Other posts to check out if you missed them! 

December of Books Giveaway Hop! (International)

The Friday 5 – a list of really disturbing, squicky toys for the kids.

And I hope to manage to get a few more posts scheduled for the next two weeks before I take vacation. I might be a little slow answering and leaving comments but I will catch up!

So…how did you do with your November reading and what are your plans for December?

December Of Books Giveaway Hop!

It’s DECEMBER ALREADY!!! *flails*

So things are crazy this time of year – all that buying for other people and spreading joy crap. Maybe you don’t have the money to spare to treat yourself instead. 

I think maybe you should do something nice for yourself. Let’s make it all about you! and maybe enter a few booki-ish giveaways.

I’ve been doing these monthly pick your book giveaways for years (less consistently lately) but decided to join in the Of Books Giveaway monthly hop hosted by It Starts at Midnight and FLYLēF.

You can enter my giveaway here and then visit all the links below for more chances to win!

Winner will receive any one book - released in December, up to $15 value.

This giveaway ends on January 1, 2019 at 12:00am EST.

Need a little inspiration? Check out these lists!

Most popular books published in December 2018 – Goodreads
YA book releases in December 2018 – Goodreads
Reading Book Likes ultimate list of December book releases

Rules & stuff!

The winner will be announced on January 1st on this post in the rafflecopter form - and notified by email. Winner has 48 hours to respond or I will pick another winner. (read my full * Giveaway Policy here)

International entries OK as long as The Book Depository ships to your country.

To enter – fill out the Rafflecopter form and leave a comment! 

I’m going to suggest a few silly holiday themed prompts for your comment – but if you’re not feeling adventurous just leave the December book release you’re most looking forward to.

1. Would you rather experience a Christmas in 1700 or in 2100?
2. Would you rather only be able to watch your favorite TV show during the holidays or have to watch it every day of the year?
3. Would you rather spend the holidays with your group of friends or have them each be replaced by your favorite celebrity?
4. Would you rather get a useful gift or a fun gift?
5. Would you rather get one amazing holiday gift or 10 OK holiday gifts?

*I’m making this one super easy to enter so no extra entries other than a tweet but I'd love to connect with you!

My SM links are in the sidebar - Twitter is where I like to chat, Instagram is where I mostly post pics of food, my dog – Fonzi  and a grumpy, clingy cat named Figment and, of course, books, Goodreads if you want to know what I’m reading and Bloglovin to get all my latest posts!

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway