Weekly Wrap-Up: 2/13 – 2/26/17

Happy Sunday bookworms!

Did you miss me?  You may have noticed that things have been fairly quiet around the blog these past two weeks.  Maybe?  Well if you did, thanks for noticing!  For those of you who didn’t notice, are you wondering what I was up to?  No?  Well I am going to tell you anyways….

*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.

Personal Update:

The reason I’ve been MIA for the past 2 weeks is that my family and I were on vacation in Florida.  Of course we visited my happy place, Disney World.  If I could visit Disney World EVERY year, I totally would, but my husband won’t allow it.  We compromised on every other year.  And yes, I am already planning our 2019 Disney World trip 🙂

And for those of you who are fellow Disney World fans, I give you some pictures from the Disney Festival of Fantasy Parade…

 

On the blog:

Monday 2/13

Book Event: Brit Bennett, Author of The Mothers

Friday 2/24

Kids’ Corner: Buy, Borrow, or Pass – Children’s Picture Books (February 2017)

Bookish/Blog happenings:

» So Cover2CoverMom actually turned 1 this past Friday the 24th and I completely forgot about it.  Who does that?!  Pre-vacation I was really looking forward to celebrating my one year blogiversary, but I grossly underestimated the amount of prepping and recovering from our vacation, so I never got around to drafting a post to celebrate.  I actually went back and re-read my post celebrating my 6 month blogiversary, and found that this post is still very relevant → 6 Month Blogiversary: Reflection + Future Goals.  I did realize that a few of the goals that I listed are STILL not being met.  I still am not posting regular discussion posts and am not active on bookstagram.  I do believe I have accomplished diversifying my reading and stepping up my book photography game… now only if I would post them to Instagram… Some things never change apparently.  Anyways!   I would just like to say a huge THANK YOU to all my book blogger friends and followers.  I truly appreciate you all more than you will ever know.

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Around the blogosphere:

» Sammie @Bookshelves & Biros shares some alternate Valentine’s Day reads → Awesome alternative Valentine’s Day reads *Special appearance by yours truly*

» CW @Read Think Ponder shares some book recs of books by black authors → Book Recs: Books by Black Authors

» Casey @Adoptabookaus  asks where all the hype is for YA books with disabled characters → Its 2017… Where is the hype for disabilities in young adult books

» Drew @The Tattooed Book Geek shares reasons to love fantasy → Reasons To Love Fantasy

» Gretcchen @ChicNerdReads  reveals the cover for her poetry book. #SpoilerAlert It’s freaking amazing! → Cover Reveal of My Poetry Book “love, and you”

» Millie @MillieBot Reads shares why she loves Jane Austen’s works → 5 Reasons Why I love Jane Austen’s Work

» Megan @bookslayerReads discusses character lists & maps → Discussion || Character Lists & Maps

» Danielle @Books, Vertigo and Tea shares another pairing teas with reads feature → Pairing Teas & Reads

» Marie @drizzle & hurricane Books talks about blogging goals → Pageviews, Followers, the Community: Goals in Blogging

» Reg @SheLatitude gives us a book look (an outfit inspired by a book) for A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab → Book Looks: A Conjuring of Light – V. E. Schwab

» Naz @Read Diverse Books features a book subscription box that focuses on Black Literature → Call Number: A Library-Inspired Book Box That Celebrates Black Literature!

What have I been reading?

*Book titles link to Goodreads

Recently finished reading:

» The Wolf Road by Beth Lewis

This book was way outside my comfort zone, but I am so glad I gave it a go!  Despite the fact that this book made me very queasy at times (blood makes me faint), I am shocked at how addicting this book was.  How can I describe this book to you?  I would classify this one as a “post-apocalyptical psychological thriller wilderness survival story”… is that a genre?  As you can tell, this book doesn’t fit into a specific genre, but has elements of multiple genres.  Review to come!

» The Crystal Ribbon by Celeste Lim

I absolutely adored this middle grade book, though I think this book would appeal more to a older middle grade – YA audience.  Since this book only just came out in January, and it is a debut novel, I have not seen anyone else talking about this book yet.  I’m going to need SOMEONE to pick this one up soon.  I would recommend this book to fans of Thanhha Lai and Grace Lin.

» Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai

My second Thanhha Lai book and I enjoyed this one just as much as Listen Slowly.  I really enjoyed reading a refugee experience, especially since Thanhha Lai went through this herself and states that she shared many of the same experiences that our main character Hà experienced as an immigrant to the U.S. during the Vietnam War.  This was my second book in verse that I read this month, the other one being Brown Girl Dreaming.   Review to come!

» Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin

I picked this one up hoping to learn what exactly what gender fluid meant.  You all know how much I sometimes struggle with the YA genre, but I am here to tell you that Symptoms of Being Human is YA done right!  Not only was I educated about all kinds of LGBTQIA+ issues and terminology that I didn’t previously understand, but I was also highly entertained while I was learning.  This book also goes into some deeper issues like suicide, hate crimes, bullying, etc etc, but also has some lighter moments with a touch of romance, friendships, and family relationships.  Review to come!

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Currently reading:

» Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

I am about 40% through this one.  Much like State of Wonder, this book is interesting enough to keep me entertained, but I am not loving it yet.  I hope that things will pick up in the second half.

» A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab

I began A Gathering of Shadows last night in order to prepare for the A Conjuring of Light book tour that I am attending next Saturday!!! I had been putting off reading this one until closer to the release date of A Conjuring of Light, but when I heard that V.E. Schwab was coming to Kentucky on her book tour, I knew I wanted to wait and read this one the week before the event to get myself psyched up.   I literally cannot wait.

»Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Since discovering Neil Gaiman last year, I’ve been making my way through each of his books.  Neverwhere was the next one up to bat.  I am 40% through this one thus far and of course I’m loving it.  Honestly I do not think NG could do any wrong in my eyes.  I just love him so much.

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On deck:

» The Demon King (Seven Realms #1) by Cinda Williams Chima

Moving right along with my SOKY Book Fest TBR, the next author on my list is Cinda Williams Chima.  I’ve never read any of her work before, so I hope this is a good place to start.  Anyone have any insight into this author/series?  Let me know 🙂

What are you currently reading?

What will you read next?

Have a wonderful week, and happy reading