Saturday, January 30, 2021

Buried to the Brim by Jenn McKinlay

 About This Book

Summary

📌Series: #6
📌Release Date: January 28, 2020
📌Format: Mass Market Paperback
📌Setting: London, England 
📌Page Count: 269 (not including the excerpt from another book)
📌Genre(s): Cozy Mystery, Romance
📌Date(s) Read: January16-30, 2020
📌Rating:   
Book:  3.5/5   Audio:  5/5  Narrator(s): Karyn O'Bryant


My Rambles:

I can say that I do love this series, I mean, if I didn't, I don't think I would have made it 6 books in. This one though, I kept getting bored a bit. I don't know if it was me or the book. Or, maybe a bit of both. I still love all of the characters. Some I wanted to shake some sense into but again, overall, I did really enjoy the book. Great to see some finally allowing themselves to be happy and all of my favorite side characters showing up in the books and one more showing up that I think I will fall in love with if/when another book comes out. 

I would consider this to be the back up series for me when it comes to her books. The Cupcake Bakery Mystery series being my favorite from her. I am considering giving her Library series another try to see if things change for me. I loved the characters but there just always seemed to have been that "something missing" element for me that I couldn't enjoy it as much as I would have liked even though the books weren't bad at all. Maybe I went in expecting too much. This series was a bit of a slow start for me but eventually, I began looking forward to these as well, but, not as much as the Cupcake Bakery series. 

She should have more books coming out this year in this one and of course, the CBM series too. So, I am looking forward to both and hopefully I won't forget to buy them again and end up not picking them up until close to the end of the year this time, but, I mean, 2020 was a very strange year. lol



Thursday, January 28, 2021

2020 Year in Review

(Note: I noticed as I typed things up and would preview the blog, some words/numbers would be red where it should be another color (i.e.- #14 under my Personal Reading Challenge for February). That was unintentional. A glitch with the blog. So, if  some things seem a bit off, that's why. I tried to fix them but sometimes, that's just what it does and this blog would take too much time to try to redo. And I tend to update the blog throughout the year.)

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Personal Reading Challenge:
Goal: 3
Completed: 38

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January:
1. The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment  by Eckhart Tolle
2. The Tea Dragon Society (Tea Dragon #1)  by Katie O'Neill
3. Stillness Speaks  by Eckhart Tolle
4.  Of Thee I Sing: A Letter To My Daughters  by Barack Obama
5. Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell
6. Pete the Cat: Out of this World by James Dean (no review)
7. Marked down for Murder (Good Buy Girls Mystery #4) by Josie Belle 
8. The Power of a Praying Parent: Book of Prayers by Stormie Omartian 
9. How to Babysit a Grandma by Jean Reagan 
10. How to Babysit a Grandpa by Jean Reagan (not much of a review, just thought it was a cute addition to the previous book)

February:
11. In the Land of Milk & Honey by Joyce Carol Thomas (Illustrated by Floyd Cooper)
12. Not Quite Snow White by Ashley Franklin (Illustrated by Ebony Glenn) 
13. Mother: In a Cradle to Hold Me by Maya Angelou
14. Rules of Attraction (Perfect Chemistry #2) by Simone Elkeles  
15. Live & Let Chai (A Seaside Cafe Mystery #1) by Bree Baker 
16. Milton's Secret by Eckhart Tolle
17. Practicing the Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
18. Egypt's Sister: A Novel of Cleopatra (The Silent Years #1) by Angela Hunt
19. The Path Made Clear: Discovering Your Life's Direction and Purpose by Oprah Winfrey

March:
20. Judah's Wife: A Novel of the Maccabees (The Silent Years #2) by Angela Elwell Hunt
21. A Quiet Girl in a Noisy World by Debbie Tung
22. No Good Tea Goes Unpunished (A Seaside Cafe Mystery #2) by Bree Baker
23. All Sales Final (Good Buy Girls Mystery #5) by Josie Belle

April:
24. Us Against the World by David & Tamela Mann

May:
25. Moment of Truth by Kasie West

June:
26. Mean Streak by Sandra Brown

July:
27. Obsidian (Lux #1) by Jennifer L Armentrout

October:
28. Stephen Colbert's Midnight Confessions by Stephen Colbert
29. Gatewats to Now by Eckhart Tolle (audio)

November:
30. The Serious Goose by Jimmy Kimmel
31. Just Like Me by Vanessa Brantley-Newton
32. Unearthly (#1) by Cynthia Hand
33. Curlilocks and the Three Pink Bears by Yolanda King 
34. Buttercream Bump Off (Cupcake Bakery Mystery #2) by Jenn McKinlay (re-read)

December: 
35. Talking As Fast As I Can by Lauren Graham
36. I Will Judge You By Your Bookshelf by Grant Snyder
37. Pumpkin Spice Peril (Cupcake Bakery Mystery #12) by Jenn McKinlay 
38. Riverdale (issue #1) by Roberto Sacosa 

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Favorites of 2020:
1. The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
2. Stillness Speaks by Eckhart Tolle
3. The Power of a Praying Parent by Stormie Omartian
4. Not Quite Snow White by Ashley Franklin
5. Mother: a Cradle to Hold Me by Maya Angelou
6. Practicing the Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
7. A Quiet Girl in a Noisy World by Debbie Tung
8. Just Like Me by Vanessa Brantley-Newton

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Big Book Challenge:
Goal: 3
Completed: 1
Page Count: 435
(Unfortunately, of the books I finished, I don't think any but Unearthly were over 400 pages but if I realize or remember any that were, I will just update it later. I will be lowering my goal down to one for 2021 I belive.)

1. Unearthly by Cynthia Hand  (435 pages)

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Readathons/Reading Challenges:
Seasonal Challenge-Winter:
Contemporary-athon Round 6
Adultathon
Backlist Readathon
Animal Crossing Readathon
Gilmore Girls Readathon

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2020 Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge:

Regular prompts:
1. A book that's published in 2020: Moment of Truth by Kasie West (March 3, 2020)
2. A book by a trans or nonbinary author:
3. A book with a great first lineStillness Speaks by Eckhart Tolle 
("When you lose touch with inner stillness, you lose touch with yourself.")
4. A book about a book club:
5. A book set in a city that has hosted the OlympicsEgypt's Sister: A Novel of Cleopatra (The Silent Years #1)
6. A bildungsroman:
7. The first book you touch on a shelf with your eyes closed:
8. A book with an upside-down image on the cover: Marked Down For Murder by Josie Belle
9. A book with a mapPumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell
10. A book recommended by your favorite blog, vlog, podcast, or online book clubThe Tea Dragon Society by Katie O'Neill (ReadbyZoe-Linked)
11. An anthology:
12. A book that passes the Bechdel test:
13. A book with the same title as a movie or TV show but is unrelated to it:
14. A book by an author with flora or fauna in their name:
15. A book about or involving social media:
16. A book that has a book on the coverQuiet Girl in a Noisy World: An Introvert's Story by Debbie Tung
17. A medical thriller:
18. A book with a made-up language:
19. A book set in a country beginning with "C":
20. A book you picked because the title caught your attentionLive and Let Chai (A Seaside Cafe Mystery #1) by Bree Baker
21. A book published the month of your birthdayMarked Down For Murder by Josie Belle
22. A book about or by a woman in STEM:
23. A book that won an award in 2019:
24. A book on a subject you know nothing about: Talking as Fast as I Can by Lauren Graham (acting/theater)
25. A book with only words on the cover, no images or graphics:
26. A book with a pun in the title:
27. A book featuring one of the seven deadly sins:
28. A book with a robot, cyborg, or AI character:
29. A book with a bird on the coverLive & Let Chai by Bree Baker
30. A fiction or nonfiction book about a world leader:
31. A book with "gold," "silver," or "bronze" in the title:
32. A book by a WOCIn the Land of Milk and Honey by Joyce Carol Thomas 
33. A book with at least a four-star rating on GoodreadsThe Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
34. A book you meant to read in 2019: Milton's Secret by Eckhart Tolle
35. A book with a three-word titleRules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles
36. A book with a pink cover:
37. A Western:
38. A book by or about a journalist: No Good Tea Goes Unpunished (#2) by Bree Baker (a character was a journalist, not a main character but he was in it enough to count it)
39. Read a banned book during Banned Books Week:
40. Your favorite prompt from a past POPSUGAR Reading Challenge:

Advanced prompts:
41. A book written by an author in their 20s:
42. A book with "20" or "twenty" in the title:
43. A book with a character with a vision impairment or enhancement (a nod to 20/20 vision):
44. A book set in the 1920's:
45. A book set in Japan, host of the 2020 Olympics:
46. A book by an author who has written more than 20 booksThe Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
47. A book with more than 20 letters in its titleThe Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
48. A book published in the 20th century:
49. A book from a series with more than 20 books:
50. A book with a main character in their 20's: Judah's Wife by Angela Hunt (Judah is in his 20's)