2019 Reading Challenge: Accomplished!

Maybe it’s all this free time on my hands (definitely that) but I blew through 40 books this year. I’m also the sort of person who crams entertainment into every few minutes she can (reading for the 2 minutes it takes to brush my teeth, listening to podcasts while I get ready for the day, driving or cooking to Spotify playlists…) and I need at least an hour of unwind-reading-time before I fall asleep. I’ve made my stretch goal 65 books…let’s see what I can do to read 25 more books before New Year’s Eve!

To Recap:

1. The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards
2. The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins
3. Wildcard by Marie Lu
4. Brightly Burning by Alexa Donne
5. Seafire by Natalie C. Parker
6. Spindle Fire by Lexa Hillyer
7. The Emotional Craft of Fiction by Donad Maass
8. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
9. Grace and Fury by Tracy Banghart
10. The Greatest Love Story Ever Told by Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman
11. Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody
12. Courting Darkness by Robin LeFevers
13. The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg
14. The Glass Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg
15. The Master Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg
16. The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
17. “I Give You My Body…” by Diana Gabaldon
18. Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman
19. A Question of Holmes by Brittany Cavallaro
20. Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusa
21. The Firethorn Crown– Lea Doué 
22. Shatter Me – Tahereh Mafi
23. The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein – Kiersten White
24. King of Fools – Amanda Foody
25. Girl, Stop Apologizing – Rachel Hollis
26. Legacy of Kings – Eleanor Herman
27. Girls of Glass – Brianna Labuskes
28. Nine Perfect Strangers – Liane Moriarty
29. The Last Voyage of Poe Blythe – Allie Condy
30. Dance of Thieves – Mary E. Pearson
31. Mirage – Somaiya Daud (A young woman is taken from her family to be the stand-in for an enemy princess–who just so happens to be her doppelgänger. Once at the palace, though, she learns things aren’t what they’d appeared)
32. Queen of Ruin – Tracy Banghart (excellent sequel to Grace and Fury, all about girl power, sisterhood, and trust)
33. Captivate: The Science of Succeeding With People – Vanessa Van Edwards (ever see the show Lie to Me? She discusses micro-expressions and how to read people quickly to overcome social anxiety and awkward interactions…I’m still pretty socially anxious, but I learned a lot of interesting things reading this!)
34. Shadow and Bone – Leigh Bardugo (A girl discovers she has a great power that’s been repressed her entire life, but could be the key to saving her people from the monsters who lurk in the darkness)
35. Yes, Please – Amy Poehler (as funny and heart-warming as she is, Amy Poehler’s memoir is full of interesting life advice, anecdotes about Parks and Rec, and features a stellar cast of voices if you listed to the audio book)
36. The Ladies’ Guide to Petticoats and Piracy – Mackenzie Lee (sequel to The Gentlemen’s Guide to Vice and Virtue and just as charming and witty. Featuring an asexual leading lady who just wants to be a doctor and/or go on an adventure–and ends up getting much more than she bargained for)
37. The Lost Girls – Heather Young (told from two POV, that of the sister to a young girl who went missing in 1930s Minnesota, and her great-niece trying to start a new life for her family. Family secrets are uncovered, long buried mysteries are solved, and a family finally finds peace)
38. Wicked Saints – Emily A. Duncan (a girl is hunted for her ability to commune with the gods and combat the blood magic used by the heretics of an enemy country. She places her trust in one such enemy, with their joint goal of ending the war between their countries. But when she arrives at the enemy king’s court, she isn’t sure who she can trust)
39. Mistress of the Ritz – Melanie Benjamin (told through competing POVs–that of Blanche and her husband Claude–we see the Nazi occupation of Paris during WWII and the lengths people go to in order to protect everything they love–including a glamorous hotel)
40. Broken Things – Lauren Oliver (this was very much along the lines of Sharp Objects, Gone Girl, and Girl on the Train. Friends are accused of murdering their best friend when they were 13. Five years later, they’re thrown back together with a new clue to finding the actual murderer. Everyone’s a suspect, and everyone has something to hide. I’m usually good at figuring out these twists, but I didn’t realize who the murderer was until shortly before it was revealed, despite the well-laid clues.)

There you have it, 40 new books in 2019! My bookshelf is full in the Libby app, and I have four unread books in my den just waiting for me, so I’m looking forward to seeing how many books I can experience before the year is out!

Hamster Snack

Just popping by with a quick life (book) update: I’m sharing my novel, one chapter at a time, with a writing community to be critiqued and torn apart and fitted back together. So far, the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive (like, I cried at work today because one comment was so encouraging) and the help I’ve gotten has strengthened my story so much. There’s still a loooong way to go before its truly polished (I’ve only shared 5 of about 30 chapters), but I am so excited and almost-literally every waking hour is currently being dedicated to rewrites/tweaks/updates/daydreams concerning Solvi and the world I’m building around her.

And sometimes I forget to eat, and then wonder why I feel like I might pass out while carrying my laundry down to the basement, and I find myself in my current situation, which is basically:

Thanks for humoring me during my snack break! Now back to the writing grind…

Writing Procrastination

“I’m going to write today.”

Easier said than done. Anxiety hides behind tiny rituals that keep me from spilling my imagination onto the page.

I settle on the couch, but I’m too cold, so I have to get my favorite slippers. I remember I jotted down some great ideas yesterday, so I should definitely read through those before getting started. While I’m at it, why not refresh my memory on the other scene variations I’ve already written?

Not every page in the notebook on my lap has been dedicated to my current work in progress. But it’s so fun to read through notes for other stories, jotted quotes, journal entries, doodles of potential titles. Here’s a fun finding — a future book dedication:
For my brother in law, who told me once I should write something and charge everyone a billion dollars. You might have meant a manual for checking electrical outlets, and this probably won’t cost a billion dollars, but I mean, close enough, right?

I wish I could remember the joke about electrical outlets, but either way, I’d better get on writing that bestseller so I can really carry that joke through to the finish line.

Now I’m getting too hot. My throat is dry — can’t expect myself to write without proper hydration!

Ok, back to the task at hand. OH WAIT! I had a GREAT idea for a spin-off story in the shower…I’ve got to jot down what I can remember about that plot…

OKAY! Time to open up the laptop and churn out a masterpiece. BUT not until I’ve got my playlist all figured out, because there’s no way I’m writing without some awesome tunes to pump me up. I love Spotify suggestions…I’ll just add several to my queue so I can discover some new inspiring songs.

Crap, I just wasted 15 minutes scrolling through songs and adding them to different writing playlists. I need to buckle down. Now, which playlist best fits what I’m hoping to write about today…ah, I’ll just start with one and probably change my mind five times and waste another ten minutes but, I mean, this is really important.

Is my husband making tea? Tea would be really great — very author-like.

Stop — no more procrastinating. I’ve had a lot of good ideas and need to take advantage of this gray, sleety day to make some progress.

After I finish this blog post…

Rambling Review: The Selection Series

I know I said An Ember in the Ashes is my all-time favorite YA book. I stand by that. BUT. The Selection Series by Kierra Cass is one of my all-time favorite of the YA series (okay, so I have a lot of favorites…there’s a reason my husband promised in his wedding vows to move all my books wherever we go).

The Heir, which is the fourth book in the series, is what I read almost cover to cover the morning of my wedding day. As much as I loved America, I adore Eadlyn. And like a boy-crazy teenager, I really liked how different all the boys were.

The Selection through The One is basically The Bachelor meets Cinderella. Girls are selected from around the kingdom to compete for the affection of the crown prince. They represent different caste levels and each bring something appealing to the table, be it alliance potential, charisma for the paparazzi, or a desire to make life better for the lower castes. The camaraderie (and sometimes, the fighting) between the girls is beautifully written and wholly believable. It’s a trilogy about friendship as much as it is about love and politics.

The Heir and The Crown follow the next generation: a princess determined to prove she is the strongest person in the kingdom. She don’t need no man, and she tells her parents constantly. But the kingdom is still showing signs of unrest, and the king and queen hope a return to the traditional Selection will boost morale. Eadlyn is determined to torment the boys into leaving of their own volition, but as time passes, she grows to enjoy their company. Love blossoms in the least likely of places, and she has to decide if accepting a husband — even one she truly loves — will hold her back from being the queen she’s always dreamt of.

The writing is fast-paced and engaging, and the characters come to life with each page. I shared their heartbreaks and rejoiced over their triumphs, and actually believed the possibility of a less-than-happy ending. I’ve also read through this series at least twice. It’s a keeper on my shelves for sure!