Bookish Wrap-Up: 1/1 – 1/7/18

Happy Sunday bookworms!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend full of reading & relaxing 🙂  This week was my first full week back here on the blog, and it felt like I was coming home after a extended vacation.

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

Monday 1/1

November & December 2017 Wrap-Up + Book Haul + Update

Tuesday 1/2

2017 Reading Wrap-Up + Bookish Goals for 2018

Thursday 1/4

January 2018 TBR

» This week I went back to posting on the blog & blog hopping!  I cannot tell you how wonderful it feels after being out of the game for so long.  I did my best to catch up with all of my book blogger friends, but I am only one person.  It was so great to reconnect with the community 🙂

*Book titles link to Goodreads

Recently finished reading:

» The House at the Edge of Night by Catherine Banner

Feelings in a few thoughts:

• this book is a gem – I wish it had received more attention when it came out in 2016 ¤ set on an island off the coast of Italy – small island living where everyone is in everyone else’s business
• loved the inclusion of folklore & superstition (inspired by Sicilian & Italian folklore?
• this book follows one family over the span of the 20th century – you would think character development would suffer as the different descendants come to the forefront of the story, but the author somehow pulls it off so well
• family secrets & drama
• interesting seeing the progression of the island community throughout the course of the century

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Currently reading:

» May the Road Rise Up to Meet You by Peter Troy

Status: 45%

This book is taking me FOREVER to read.  It’s not even that it’s a bad book, because it isn’t, it is just unnecessarily long, which is making it harder and harder for me to continue on… I feel an audiobook slump coming on 😦  I’ve contemplated DNF’ing it, BUT it is a book club pick.  I guess I will push on and try to make more progress this week.

» The Girl in the Tower (Winternight #2) by Katherine Arden

Status: 45%

 I was going to try and squeeze one more review book in before I picked this one up, but I just couldn’t help myself.  This week was the perfect time to pick up The Girl in the Tower since temperatures here in Ohio have been in the negative all week.  Let’s just say I haven’t had any problems imagining the cold setting 🙂  So far I am loving it just as much as The Bear and the Nightingale!

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On deck:

» Tumbledown Manor by Helen Brown

New York Times bestselling author Helen Brown comes a witty, uplifting novel about a woman who discovers that it’s never too late to build the home–and the life–you’ve always longed for…

The windows rattle. The roof leaks. Every surface cries out to be stripped, painted, or polished. But for writer Lisa Trumperton, the dilapidated manor house that once belonged to her great-grandfather is far more than the sum of its battered parts. It’s the chance for a new start on her own terms. The fact that it’s in the Melbourne countryside of her Australian homeland, far from the deceitful ex-husband she just left behind in New York…well, that’s a bonus.

Lisa sets to work refurbishing Trumperton Manor, assisted by her son, his friends, and a “Gray Army” of retired handymen. But it’s not just her ancestral home that’s being transformed. As she trades her chic Manhattan clothes for jeans and work boots, Lisa is changing and fortifying her relationships with her family and her sense of self. There are floods, fires, and catastrophes, but there are new allies too, including a one-eyed cat, a stubborn cockatoo, and a rugged landscaper with an irresistible grin. Piece by piece, the house is pushing Lisa beyond her old limits, daring her to embrace something bigger, braver, and more rewarding than she ever dreamed.

» Aimal @Bookshelves & Paperbacks shares a guide for upcoming diverse YA reads for 2018 → The Ultimate Guide to Diverse YA Books Releasing in 2018: January – June

» Danielle @Books, Vertigo, & Tea shares some books to be on the lookout for in 2018 →18 Books to Watch for in 2018

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» 2018 preview: Our most anticipated fiction

I had no idea Kristin Hannah was coming out with a new book *eek* AND it’s set in Alaska?  I’m in! And obviously I’m also anticipating reading The Immortalists.

» The Best Children’s and YA Books of January 2018

The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle is now on my radar!  A MG novel where the main character struggles with a learning disability?  Thank you!  I am also eager to read The Cruel Prince!

What are you currently reading?

What will you read next?

Have a wonderful week & happy reading