Thursday, February 1, 2018

Month in Review: January 2018


Does anyone else feel like it's hard to start your New Year's resolutions (like exercising more and eating healthier) when it's cold and dark outside and all you want to do is sit on the couch under a blanket?  I hope it's not just me.  So, what happened this month?
  • The weather was out of control - brutal cold and snow followed by random days of above-normal temps.  Make up your mind, Mother Nature!
  • We went on a double date with my sister and her husband to see Jumanji, which was a lot of fun and I loved the Robin Williams reference.
  • We celebrated our niece's 2nd birthday - she is the sweetest girl, and she loves books, so that makes me a happy aunt! 
  • I feel like I was in a bit of a blogging lull.  I don't have as many scheduled-ahead posts as I normally do and I feel like I have no good ideas for new posts.  Hopefully this will end soon!

The Books:


The Posts & Reviews:
 

The Posts I Loved:

Amy at A Magical World of Words seeks to bring awareness to romanticized abuse in books, films, and media
Jordan at Forever Lost in Literature talks about why she blogs

Marie at Drizzle and Hurricane Books talks about why she doesn't do TBRs

Kristen at Metaphors and Moonlight discusses separating the author from the book

Greg at Book Haven asks if your personality shines through on your blog

Katie at Doing Dewey puts together a beginner's guide to nonfiction

Suzanne at The Bookish Libra discusses blogging while traveling
  
What was your first book of 2018?


27 comments:

  1. The weather was definitely a bit nutty. Happy birthday to your niece!! Looks like you had a great reading month. Hope you have a fabulous February!

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  2. You've had a wonderful reading months, looks like many good books! Happy Birthday to your niece too :)

    Charlotte | https://charlotteidek.com

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  3. Sounds like a pretty good month! I've loved your blog posts this month, but I'm sorry you feel like you've been in a lull :(

    Happy reading for Feb! Thanks for linking to my post <3

    Amy @ A Magical World Of Words

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  4. I love this post! It was a good month!

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    1. It was! Hopefully February will be even better!

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  5. Eeeep did you like Before We Were Strangers? It's one of my favorites! The first book I read this month was Serafina and the Black Cloak. It ended up being an unexpected favorite of mine.

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    1. Unfortunately, I didn't really love Before We Were Strangers! But I'm glad you loved your first read of the year!

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  6. I want to read the Carlino book and NDT's book. I taught astrophysics and love NDT, so I think I will like it even if it is non-fiction. One Plus One was a win for me. It was such an interesting family dynamic and it was rather fun too.

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    1. Wow, you TAUGHT astrophysics?? That's incredible! Well, I loved NDT's book, and I have a review coming up in a couple weeks!

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  7. I totally agree! My resolutions this year are pretty basic... but I did hope to work out more. I've got a VERY tight wedding dress fit into in September... haha!

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  8. I totally agree that it’s so hard to get going with your new year’s resolutions when it’s so horrible and depressing outside. I’m already slipping a bit with mine, but hopefully I’ll do better in February, especially as the days already seem brighter here.
    And I’m really going to have to go and see Jumanji soon. Everyone I know who has seen it has said it was great!
    Have a great February! :)

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    1. I know, I love that it's not pitch black outside when I leave work now!

      Thanks, Laura!

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  9. You had an awesome month! I love that you listened to the Lion, Witch and Wardrobe the same month I read it for the first time. Wasn't it great? I can't believe I somehow never read it until now! I also have Neil De Grasse Tyson's novel as an audio book and hope to listen to it sometime soon. That is so fun you guys went to the movies to see Jumanji. We just rented that movie from the library yesterday; my son loved it! I hope you have a great weekend!

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    1. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is one of favorite books, so I decided to try it on audio - it was fun!

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  10. Nope, definitely not just you. I've been hiding under a blanket all day and just made myself finally crawl out to do some blog hopping, lol. Looks like you had a wonderful month both with your reading and on the blog. Thanks so much for including me on your list of favorite posts. Made my day :)

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    1. Yes, definitely have to force myself to do things lately!

      You're very welcome, it was a great discussion post!

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  11. I think the weather is weird just about everywhere. So frustrating at times too. Looks like you've had a great reading month though. Hopefully next month will just as great form you!

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  12. Sorry to hear about your blogging lull, hopefully, that'll turn around soon! I do totally get what you mean about resolutions and it being too dark and cold to work on them, so you're definitely not alone in that. Hopefully February will be a bit better and at least springtime is almost here.

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    1. I hope so, too! January just always seems so dark and gloomy, it was spilling over into my blogging, too!

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  13. It sounds like you read some great books this month! I really enjoyed both One Plus One and The Almost Sisters. Thanks for sharing my nonfiction guide :)

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I'm so glad you stopped by, and I would love to hear your thoughts! Comments are always greatly appreciated!