2017 Year In Review

Cruisin' Thru The Cozies (Goodreads Group)
1. One is your choice! (freebie!)
Books Can Be Deceiving by Jenn McKinlay
2. One from culinary (anything dealing with food: restaurants, baked goods, etc.)
All Fudged Up by Nancy CoCo
3. One from animal related (cats, dogs, birds, etc.)
All Fudged Up by Nancy CoCo
4. One career-based cozy mystery (housekeeping, wedding planner, etc.) Caramel Crush by Jenn McKinlay (this may be cheating a bit but she owns her business and it is her career)
5. One from craft related
Due or Die by Jenn McKinlay (They did Crafternoon days while talking about books they've been reading)
6. One from British cozy mysteries 
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
7. One historical mystery And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

2017 Personal Reading Challenge (Goodreads Group)-

1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
2. Chopsticks by Jessica Anthony
3. Books Can Be Deceiving by Jenn McKinlay
4. Just Listen bySarah Dessen
5. City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare
6. I've Got You Under My Skin by Mary Higgins Clark
7. The Cinderella Murder by Mary Higgins Clark
8. The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare
9. The First Wife: A Tale of Polygamy by Paulina Chiziane
10. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
11. Tex by S.E. Hinton
12. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
13. The Missing Piece by Shel Silverstein
14. The Inn at Rose Harbor by Debbie Macomber
15. Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz by L. Frank Baum
16. Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery
17. All Fudged Up by Nancy CoCo
18. Caramel Crush by Jenn McKinlay
19. Due or Die by Jenn McKinlay
20. Beauty And The Beast by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont
21. Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead
22. Double Fudge Murder by Jan Fields (first book in a cozy series)
23. Under the Quilt of Night by Deborah Hopkinson
24. Rumble Fish by S.E. Hinton
25. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
26. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
27. Any Dream Will Do by Debbie Macomber
28. The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West
29. Jump: Take the Leap of Faith to Achieve Your Life of Abundance by Steve Harvey
30. The Distance Between Us by Kasie West
31. Book, Line and Sinker byJenn McKinlay
32. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
33. On the Fence by Kasie West
34. Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy by Cassandra Clare
35. Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen
36. One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss
37. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
38. Just Take My Heart by Mary Higgins Clark
39. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
40. This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen
41. P.S. I Like You by Kasie West
42. The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli
43. Mrs. Miracle by Debbie Macomber

Big Book Challenge (Goodreads Group)

1. City of Heavenly Fire (T.M.I. #6) by Cassandra Clare (725 pages)
2. The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare (507 pages)
3. My First Wife by Paulina Chiziane (498 pages)
4. Throne of Glass (T.O.G. #1) by Sarah J Maas (404 pages)
5. Shadow Kiss (V.A. #3) by Richelle Mead (423 pages)
6. Harry Potter & The Prisoner Of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling (435 pages)
7. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (438 pages)
8. Tales From The Shadowhunter Academy by Cassandra Clare (672 pages)
9. Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling (734 pages) 
Total Page Count: 4,036

2017 Popsugar Reading Challenge (Goodreads Group)
1. A book recommended by a librarian
2.A book that's been on your TBR list for way too long The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare
3. A book of letters
4.An audiobook Harry Potter and the Sorcerors Stone by  J.K. Rowling
5. A book by a person of color The First Wife: A Tale of Polygamy by Paulina Chiziane
6. A book with one of the four seasons in the title
7. A book that is a story within a story Rumble Fish by S.E. Hinton
8. A book with multiple authors The Cinderella Murder by Mary Higgins Clark
9. An espionage thriller
10. A book with a cat on the cover Double Fudge Murder by Jan Fields
11. A book with an author who uses a pseudonym The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare (Real Name: Judith Rumelt)
12. A bestseller from a genre you don't normally read Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas(Think I saw where it was high fantasy and I typically don't read high fantasy. If i'm wrong, that's fine, it's still typically a type of book I don't seek out)
13. A book by or about a person who has a disability Rumble Fish by S.E. Hinton (Brain Damage I guess could count as a disability. No, that's not a spoiler, it says early on that one has 'brain/mental issues')
14. A book involving travel
15. A book with a subtitle The First Wife: A Tale of Polygamy by Paulina Chiziane
16. A book that's published in 2017 Double Fudge Murder by Jan Fields
17. A book involving a mythical creature Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling (werewolf)
18. A book you've read before that never fails to make you smile The Missing Piece by Shel Silverstein
19. A book about food All Fudged Up by Nancy CoCo
20. A book with career advice Jump: Take the Leap of Faith to Achieve Your Life of Abundance by Steve Harvey
21. A book from a nonhuman perspective One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss (listened to/watched it on youtube The YouTube Video *yes, I cheated just a bit. Lol*)
22. A steampunk novel
23. A book with a red spine Beauty And The Beast by Madame le Prince de Beaumont
24. A book set in the wilderness
25. A book you loved as a child One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss
26. A book by an author from a country you've never visited The First Wife: A Tale of Polygamy by Paulina Chiziane
27. A book with a title that's a character's name Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
28. A novel set during wartime
29. A book with an unreliable narrator
30. A book with pictures Chopsticks by Jessica Anthony
31. A book where the main character is a different ethnicity than you The First Wife: A Tale of Polygamy by Paulina Chiziane
32. A book about an interesting woman
33. A book set in two different time periods
34. A book with a month or day of the week in the title
35. A book set in a hotel All Fudged Up by Nancy CoCo
36. A book written by someone you admire Jump: Take the Leap of Faith to Achieve Your Life of Abundance by Steve Harvey
37. A book that's becoming a movie in 2017 Beauty And The Beast by Madame le Prince de Beaumont
38. A book set around a holiday other than Christmas
39. The first book in a series you haven't read before Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
40. A book you bought on a trip

Advanced
41. A book recommended by an author you love
42. A bestseller from 2016
43. A book with a family-member term in the title
44. A book that takes place over a character's life span
45. A book about an immigrant or refugee
46. A book from a genre/subgenre you've never heard of
47. A book with an eccentric character Double Fudge Murder by Jan Fields
48. A book that's more than 800 pages
49. A book you got from a used book sale
50. A book that's been mentioned in another book
51. A book about a difficult topic Under the Quilt of Night by Deborah Hopkinson (Slavery/Underground Railroad)
52. A book based on mythology 


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I didn't do as well as I would have liked on the Popsugar Reading Challenge this year but it was also a rough reading year for me. I had quite a few weeks and even months that I just didn't read at all. I didn't push it most of the time. I just went with it. 

I will be participating again in the PSRC, the Big Book Challenge and of course doing my reading challenge in 2018. I will probably set it low and just adjust it up as I need to. I want to just relax and go with the "slumps" as they hit. Which have been kind of a regular thing these last couple of years (2016, 2017), so, I'm preparing for that coming next year. I may even consider restarting my Booktube channel. Last day of 2017 and I'm still going back and forth on that..lol. We will see what happens though. 

Thank you for reading all of this and for all of those who regularly clicked on my links when they popped up. To all of you, could you let me know who you are by following so I know who is who? It would really be appreciated on my end! I try not to ask things like this often because I know it can come off as annoying and/or begging. Also, one last thing, hit +1 for this too because it was hard to keep up! I even accidentally deleted my last one! lol...

Again, thank you for reading this far. 

Mrs Miracle by Debbie Macomber

About this book:

Goodreads Summary

✥Series/Trilogy/Stand-Alone, etc:  Series #4 (Seems to be more of a companion, you can start here)

✥Release Date: November 24, 2009  

✥Setting:  Washington (State)

✥Page Count:  352
✥Edition: Mass Market Paperback
✥Genre(s):  Holiday (Christmas), Romance, Fiction
✥Date(s) Read: 12/22/2017-12/29/17
✥Rating:              Book: 2.75/5


My Thoughts:

I'm not quite sure what it was about this book. I guess I just wasn't in the mood for all the 'drama' that was taking place in the book. Those drama moments are what were setting me off. I went into it expecting a bit more sweet than drama. Which I guess I should have known what to expect with Debbie Macomber books. That is not a knock, but I have read enough by now to know she can have some strong issues in her books, so, again, I think it was more me than the book. I may try to read this again eventually now that I know what to expect and try to see if my opinion changes. I skipped a few chapters so yes, there are some things that I missed but the book was also very repetitive and that's another thing I really didn't like. So, I was able to figure out a lot of what happened in the chapters I skipped. 

I love Debbie Macomber's writing, I just tend to notice, she repeats herself, a lot! I have some other books on my shelf and hopefully I will be getting to them soon and be able to finish them. I also bought Mr Miracle recently. We will see what I think about that one if I get to it. I will not force myself to read the books if I find I no longer have interest in them. 

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli

About this book:

Goodreads Summary

✥Series/Trilogy/Stand-Alone, etc:  Stand Alone

✥Release Date:  April 11, 2017

✥Setting:  Washington, DC

✥Page Count:  344
✥Edition: Hardcover
✥Genre(s): YA, Romance, Contemporary, LGBT
✥Date(s) Read: 12/6/17-12/14/17
✥Rating:  Book: 2.50 /5    Audio:  3.5/5    Narrator:  Arielle DeLisle

My Thoughts:

Audio:

She's good, her voice could be a bit annoying to me sometimes but she was good enough to get me through the book, a book I may not have finished otherwise. Even with audio, it was a struggle. 

Book:

*Won this in a Booklikes give-a-way. *

I was frustrated, so many times that I didn't want to finish this book because the language and annoying twin sister with her annoying pushiness. I guess she meant well but I guess for me, I don't really like pushy people. What made me continue when I was really close to DNF'ing the book? Believe it or not, a joke about condoms even though I felt like the parts about sex were just annoying to me, I don't know what it was. I guess I went into the book wanting/expecting something different, maybe that's why it got on my nerves so much. 

I've seen reviews where people say Molly got on their nerves but for me, it was Cassie. She was just overbearing and annoying. I actually related to Molly and liked her. Yes, she had her moments that could make you want to shake her but I actually understood her. At 43 years old, I understand what it is to bite your tongue with people because you really don't want to hurt peoples feelings and avoid confrontation. Then, once I get sick and tired of people, I will eventually snap. 

Reid. Dear sweet Reid! I loved him from the moment he was introduced to the story and loved him even more as the story went on. I was rooting for him from the moment he showed up. Not anyone else! 

Again, I am in a position that I can't really say much without giving away more than I already have of this story. So, I won't say anything else about it except that Reid and Molly and the fact that I wanted to know how it ended is what kept me reading. Plus, the fact that I had the audio book, second book this month, that I wasn't trying to trade in again with audible.  I have been finding myself sticking through books I'm not liking a heck of a lot more than I used to. I guess I am tired of DNF'ing books and wondering what happened but I'm also a bit frustrated I'm wasting my time on books that are just Okay, if that.  The only reason I think I finished this book was that (1) I was curious about what was going to happen and (2) I liked Molly and Reid. A Lot! I loved the parents too and most of the other characters except Cassie. She became less of a pain closer to the end but for the reasons stated above is why I wasn't wild about her. 

P.S. I Like You by Kasie West

About this book:

Goodreads Summary

✥Series/Trilogy/Stand-Alone, etc:  Stand Alone

✥Release Date:  July 26, 2016

✥Setting:  Arizona

✥Page Count:  330
✥Edition: Hardcover
✥Genre(s): YA, Romance, Contemporary
✥Date(s) Read: 11/27-12/4/17
✥Rating:  Book: 5/5    Audio: 5/5    Narrator:  Shannon McManus

Audio:
She was great, not perfect, but I still enjoyed listening to her read this wonderful book of sweetness! 


Book:
FYI:
If you haven't read this book, some things may come off as spoilers although that is not my intention at all. So, if you like going into books knowing little to nothing, maybe reading this isn't a great idea because I do believe I tell some answers to some things that are in this book in this review. So, proceed with caution if you haven't read this book.

Even with the imperfections, some questions not quite answered at the end and how one person may have been handled because of their negative behavior wasn't spoken about, I still loved this book! It was left kind of open ended, which I guess, if I think about it, that's life, most times, situations don't get nicely wrapped up the way you would like them to be, so, why should a book? Maybe they'll pop up in another book and I get some answers. I haven't read all of her books yet, so, maybe they have, if not, maybe they will?!?!

I loved both of these characters, imperfections and all. I had a pretty good idea who the "mystery guy" was but it was still fun trying to figure out if I was right or not. 

Cade could come off kind of jerk-ish but as the book went on, you could see he had a sweet side, even early on when comments were made by friends of his, he wouldn't always respond, not in front of her anyway, but especially when they'd actually talk, you'd see it. 

Further into the book, as things were explained, that gave us, the readers, more insight to why he may be had jerk moments, well seemingly jerk moments. I still liked Cade though, he seemed to have a pretty good heart about him. Even the small things that Kasie West was allowing us to see in the beginning allowed me not to totally write him off from the start.  His sarcasm and smart ass reactions to things were hilarious to me. Sarcasm, if done right, can be extremely funny and Kasie West knows how to do that! And I loved that Lily could give it back to him just as fiercely as he gave to her. 

There is so much more I could say I'm sure about her interactions with people in that school but I'm trying not to give away more than what I probably already have. 

I'd love to get a book on Isabel and Gabriel's relationship but especially on Isabel's life period. And Gabriel's life as well.  I'd like to see some things that go on in her life. It doesn't even have to be centered around many things in this book, just her life period. The friendship from her end, things at her home and so on. 

Then, there's Lucas. Dear Lucas! Someone I'd love to know more about. I'd like to see him get his own story as well and maybe have him and Lily become friends.  I'd like to see more of his interest, along with the music, too. 

I realized with the first book I read by Kasie West (Fill In Boyfriend), why she is so loved. She has a way of sucking you in and keeping you. She has a way of getting me out of my 'slumps' of not wanting to read (for various reasons). Even authors I know I enjoy haven't been able to pull me out of them like Ms. West can. Even though I went through a few days during this book that I didn't really want to read because I just wasn't feeling it (the reading itself, not the book) but now of course, I am anxious to get on to other books. I have one more book by her on the way and I am hoping to get whichever ones by her I don't have after that one arrives. Kasie West, now has a new fan!