Weekly Wrap-Up: 1/2 – 1/8/16

So remember last week when I was telling you all about the evil virus that has been haunting my house since Christmas?  It has made its way through each member of my family?  Yeah I had it this week.  It is a lovely little virus that makes it feel as if your lungs are in a vice.  I feel short of breath just walking to a different room. Ever had the urge to cough but you can’t?  Story of my life right now.  To make matters worse, my daughter came down with some type of stomach bug.  We just can’t catch a break here.  I am not sure what we did to deserve this, but I think we have suffered enough.  Someone send us some good vibes that we can get healthy.

Ok I’m done feeling sorry for myself.  Let’s move on to more bookish news…

*Weekly Wrap-Up is a weekly post where I feature what posts were published on the blog for the past week, any bookish/blog happenings, noteworthy posts around the bookish blogosphere, what I recently finished reading, what I am currently reading, and what I will be reading next.

This week on the blog:

Tuesday 1/3

December 2016 Wrap-Up + Book Haul

Wednesday 1/4

January 2017 TBR

Friday 1/6

2016 Wrap-Up: A Bookish Year in Review

Bookish/Blog happenings:

I hit over 300 WordPress followers!  I don’t obsess over stats like I used to, but it is still fun to celebrate these little milestones. When I first started blogging a little over 10 months ago, I thought having a big following was how you measured the success of a blog, but I now know that isn’t necessarily the case.  Successful blogging is very subjective and is however you want to measure it.  I have seen other blogs that have double or even triple the amount of followers that I have, but that don’t have as many views or visitors that I have had.  What I value most of all is that I have very loyal blogger friends who regularly visit and interact with me on my blog.   I consider this success!

The best part about reaching this milestone however was the overwhelming support I received on Twitter!  When I posted that I had reached 300 WP followers, I never expected the amount of likes, RTs, replies, and messages congratulating me from my blogger friends.   Thank you all so much.  You all are good for my ego 🙂

I won a copy of Christodora by Tim Murphy from my friend Ann Marie who blogs over at @Lit·Wit·Wine·Dine.  Huge shout out to her for hosting this giveaway!

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Around the blogosphere:

*These posts are not necessarily from this past week, but this is when I read them

» Naz @Read Diverse Books launches his review challenge for 2017, #ReadDiverse2017!  I encourage all my fellow book bloggers to check it out and participate → Read Diverse 2017 – A Reading And Book Review Challenge For Bloggers! and gives us his favorite reads of 2016 → The Best Books I Read in 2016

» Jackie @Death by Tsunduko shares her favorite characters of 2016 → The Dashing & Smashing 2016 Character Awards and celebrates her 1 year blogiversary by sharing how her blog got started and what she learned in her first year of blogging → 1 Year Blogoversay!

» Amy @NovelGossip shares her top reads of 2016 → My Top 16 Reads of 2016

» Bina @WOCreads shares 10 Nonfiction books we should look out for in 2017 → 10 More 2017 Releases to Look Forward to

» Eve @Eve Messenger’s OtherWORDly Endeavors shares her favorite YA books of 2016 → Best of 2016 – YA Standalones, Series, Authors, and More

» Lilly @Lair Of Books reviews her 2016 and shares her 2017 goals → 2016 FAB Moments & 2017 Goals

» Shealea @That Bookshelf Bitch writes a very interesting post on harmful themes in fiction she wants to see disappear from books → Things in books that should be left behind in 2016

» Renee @It’s Book Talk shares her top reads of 2016 → My Top Reads of 2016

» Yvo @It’s All About Books lists her top 5 fiction reads of 2016 → Best of 2016: Top 5 Fiction

» Aimal @bookshelves & paperbacks announces the #DiversityBingo2017 challenge → Diversity Bingo 2017 Announcement & TBR

What have I been reading?

Recently finished reading:

» Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

That’s right, I am now officially part of the SoC club!  I can hear so many of my blogger friends screaming “finally” at their computers right now.  I can definitely see why this is such a beloved book.  Like many of the popular YA series we’ve seen emerge (Think the Twilight series, Hunger Games, Divergent, etc), I think this book will appeal to so many different types of readers.  I really enjoyed this cast of characters and the thrilling heist plot.  The first half of the book was on the slower side, but once the group reached the prison the story really took off!  I had a few tiny issues with the book, but nothing that hindered my enjoyment.  I will definitely be continuing on with the series.

» 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl by Mona Awad

While there were brief glimpses of hope for this book, ultimately this was a flop for me.  There were many times I was confused about what was going on.  There were a few moments where I mouthed “What the f***?”.  I will say this, if you have never struggled with your weight, this book will not appeal to you at all.  Like the main character Elizabeth (Beth, Liz, Lizzie…) I was very overweight at one point in my life, then lost a substantial amount of weight.  The transition was not as smooth and flawless as I thought it would be.  There were many times I could relate to Elizabeth, which is why I picked this one up in the first place, but this book just didn’t feel coherent in any way.

» The Smell of Other People’s Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock

After seeing the gorgeous cover and the odd title, I knew I had to pick this one up.   What a beautiful little book set in 1970s Alaska.  There is a lot going on here in only 240 pages.  While I appreciate quick reads, I think the author could have gone more in depth here and even added another 100 pages to this book.  Even tough I wanted more, what I did get was good!

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Currently reading:

» Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan

This book is pretty far outside my comfort zone and I am shocked at how much I am enjoying it.  The first 60% of this book is almost like a psychological thriller.  I cannot believe this is a true story.  How terrifying!   I am listening to this via audiobook, and I do not think I would be enjoying this as much if I was reading this in print form.  There are some medical explanations and details that I think would be a little cumbersome in print form, but works very well in audiobook form.  I am around 75% through this one.

» Miller’s Valley by Anna Quindlen

I will be starting this one this evening.

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On deck:

» The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

How was your week?

What are you currently reading?

What will you read next?

Have a wonderful week, and happy reading