New Year's Resolutions
Happy 2016!!!!!!!!
Here's hoping the next two months are much more productive than the last two have been. BECAUSE HOLIDAYS! You guys, it's been almost a MONTH since I read a book. A MONTH. I read a whopping FOUR books last month. That's not like me at all!!! I guess I jinxed myself when I posted asking you which books I should read from my Final 13. I picked up the first one, read a couple of chapters...and haven't read anything since!!! ^^;;;;;;;;;;;
Last year, my resolution was to read more for ME and to take on less required reviews during blog tours. That worked out really well and kept me from burning out. I didn't feel guilty if I read something that wasn't out for months OR something that had been sitting unread waiting for love for YEARS. I even got some re-reading in while catching up on new series. I'd like to do that again this year. The two "older" series I'd most like to get to since I have new books from each are The Seven Realms by Cinda Williams Chima, Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes, and Mirrorworld by Cornelia Funke. FLAMECASTER and THE GOLDEN YARN were both given to me for review and FROZEN TIDES was a Christmas present, so I have a lot of incentive! I'd also love to catch up on Maria V. Snyder's Study series, though I may do it later in the year because I think there will be six books altogether and five comes out later this month... We'll see!
I'd also like to get a good chunk of the way into a new writing project. It's been a while since I had a lengthy manuscript. I've spent too much time world-building and not enough time writing. I'm about to start a new project, and if you were stealthy enough to pick up on it during my blog tour stop last week, you already know that the main character is a girl who disguises herself as a guy, so....! I'm actually really nervous about this project. It's going to require a lot of research and it's outside my comfort zone. It may not be this project's time yet, but I'm going to try!!!
My other big resolution last year was to have longer, healthier nails, and I think I succeeded! They're only medium length right now because two of them broke recently (one on each hand) and had to be cut way, WAY down to the quick. I had to cut the surrounding nails down pretty significantly to level them out, but they're not horrendous, at least!
What are your biggest resolutions?
How Were Your Holidays?
Did you get a lot of good presents? Have a lot of laughter with the family? Get some awesome shopping in?
This year, there were TWO babies to shop for and whew, baby shopping is so much fun! You want to buy every cute thing that ever existed!!! This year, my niece finally started to grasp "presents" and tore into her gifts. She'd say, "Help me, pweaaaaaase?" every time she wanted to play with a new toy. When she got bored of opening stuff, I grabbed her new Peppa Pig and said, "Help me, pleaaaase?" and she'd help Peppa! Peppa is her new obsession... She just turned two a week before Christmas, so DOUBLE GIFTS!!!
She's also old enough now to help my sister pick out presents. She picked out all this for me herself:
 |
| The pen says "Aunt Bonnie" so that I can think of her when I write! She picked out the snowman polish completely herself. She spent ten minutes at the store thinking, then said, "This one!" and my sister confirmed she meant for me. Smart kid!!! She also picked out the colors of nail art pens herself! |
We can't talk about Christmas without talking about Bookish Presents. Here were mine...what did you get!?
And apparently people think I need to learn to color, because I also got A LOT of coloring books. Guess I should figure out where I stashed my Prisma Color Pencils after college!?
What's cool is that one is Brother's Grimm, two have mermaids, and two have a story as you go and turn into a book, so at least they're INTERESTING and not just random flowers, right? TIME TO COLOR, on the other hand...
And I also got some cute knick-knacks for the child in me to complete my Funko Disney Princess/Prince/Villain Collection until more come out! (And...a fuzzy Stitch thrown in for good measure!?)
Let's Chat About Nail Polish!
I didn't do much with my nails again this month. ^^;;;;;;;
I had Chanukah Nails at the beginning of the month:
They weren't anything spectacular, though. For my niece's birthday, I painted white nails and my left hand had red polka dots on each nail except for the accent nail, which had Elmo. For my right hand, each finger had blue polka dots except for the accent, which had Cookie Monster. I had to do it really fast the day of the party because I'd fallen asleep the night before, so they didn't come out well and I never took pictures.
The past week and a half or so, I've had Sally Hansen Nail Stickers on that were a gift last Christmas because I had a pretty significant wound I couldn't get nail polish remover or polish into, so I felt lazy!!!
Buuuuut, I just got these beauties to share with my mom, so look for new art soon:
It's the brand-new OPI Collection featuring Hello Kitty!!! I was like, "I need ONE of the colors. JUST ONE." Because the lids look like this:
My mom is huge into pink colors and liked most of the collection, so it was cheaper to buy the cute box that came with a pull-out scenic design to hold everything in! Why pay $30 at the store for 3 polishes when you can pay $34 online for SIX of them? They just arrived last night, and I'm excited to try them out this week!!!!
I also got a TON of nail/beauty stuff for Christmas that will keep me busy:
Best of all, I got a new lapdesk because mine broke and got Styrofoam beading everywhere, and I use it to paint my nails and do nail art!
Pictures of the Month
You mean MORE than the ones above!? Okay, okay, here's ONE more.
Remember those 13 Books I wanted to read in December for my Best of the Year List?
Now I'll have to read them in 2016. Sorry about that!!!
There are some good ones here, too!!!
 |
| FROZEN TIDES by Morgan Rhodes A SIGNED COPY!!!! of THE ROSE SOCIETY by Marie Lu SERPENTINE by Cindy Pon THE CALELR by Juliet Marillier DREAMER'S POOL by Juliet Marillier A NEW E-READER!!!! A Nook Glowlight Plus!!! TWO B&N Gift Cards!!! |
And apparently people think I need to learn to color, because I also got A LOT of coloring books. Guess I should figure out where I stashed my Prisma Color Pencils after college!?
What's cool is that one is Brother's Grimm, two have mermaids, and two have a story as you go and turn into a book, so at least they're INTERESTING and not just random flowers, right? TIME TO COLOR, on the other hand...
And I also got some cute knick-knacks for the child in me to complete my Funko Disney Princess/Prince/Villain Collection until more come out! (And...a fuzzy Stitch thrown in for good measure!?)
Let's Chat About Nail Polish!
I didn't do much with my nails again this month. ^^;;;;;;;
I had Chanukah Nails at the beginning of the month:
They weren't anything spectacular, though. For my niece's birthday, I painted white nails and my left hand had red polka dots on each nail except for the accent nail, which had Elmo. For my right hand, each finger had blue polka dots except for the accent, which had Cookie Monster. I had to do it really fast the day of the party because I'd fallen asleep the night before, so they didn't come out well and I never took pictures.
The past week and a half or so, I've had Sally Hansen Nail Stickers on that were a gift last Christmas because I had a pretty significant wound I couldn't get nail polish remover or polish into, so I felt lazy!!!
Buuuuut, I just got these beauties to share with my mom, so look for new art soon:
It's the brand-new OPI Collection featuring Hello Kitty!!! I was like, "I need ONE of the colors. JUST ONE." Because the lids look like this:
My mom is huge into pink colors and liked most of the collection, so it was cheaper to buy the cute box that came with a pull-out scenic design to hold everything in! Why pay $30 at the store for 3 polishes when you can pay $34 online for SIX of them? They just arrived last night, and I'm excited to try them out this week!!!!
I also got a TON of nail/beauty stuff for Christmas that will keep me busy:
Best of all, I got a new lapdesk because mine broke and got Styrofoam beading everywhere, and I use it to paint my nails and do nail art!
Pictures of the Month
You mean MORE than the ones above!? Okay, okay, here's ONE more.
Remember those 13 Books I wanted to read in December for my Best of the Year List?
Now I'll have to read them in 2016. Sorry about that!!!
There are some good ones here, too!!!
Christmas music!!!!!!!!! That's really all I can say. I love Christmas music, but you get to a point when you're SO SICK OF IT and you're ready to say goodbye for another year!!!
MOVIES!!!
I didn't have much time for movies or TV, but I did watch some holiday classics such as The Santa Clause starring Tim Allen and the musical version of A Christmas Carol starring Kelsey Grammar! I also sat down one night and watched all the holiday movies about Princesses on Hallmark Channel. But I haven't had much free time to relax with the TV!!!
That was my December.
How was yours???
Here's a look at everything that happened in December!
ONGOING GIVEAWAYS:
*ENDURE by Sara B. Larson (1/11)
Check out the January Blog Tour Schedule for more upcoming giveaways!
*ENDURE by Sara B. Larson (1/11)
Check out the January Blog Tour Schedule for more upcoming giveaways!
READING NOW:
{All links to Goodreads!}
*Nothing for almost a month now! ;_;
PLANNING TO READ IN JANUARY:
*ENDURE by Sara B. Larson {YA}
*THE WRATH AND THE DAWN by Renee Ahdieh {YA}
*THE ACCIDENT SEASON by Moïra Fowley-Doyle {YA}
*SERPENTINE by Cindy Pon {YA}
*COURT OF FIVES by Kate Elliott {YA}
*THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN by Paula Hawkins {Adult}
*SIX OF CROWS by Leigh Bardugo {YA}
*THE WEIGHT OF FEATHERS by Anna-Marie McLemore {YA}
*ASH & BRAMBLE by Sarah Prineas {YA}
*PASSENGER by Alexandra Bracken {YA}
*BANISHED by Kimberley Griffiths-Little {YA}
*WHEN WE COLLIDED by Emory Lord {YA}
{All links to Goodreads!}
*Nothing for almost a month now! ;_;
PLANNING TO READ IN JANUARY:
*ENDURE by Sara B. Larson {YA}
*THE WRATH AND THE DAWN by Renee Ahdieh {YA}
*THE ACCIDENT SEASON by Moïra Fowley-Doyle {YA}
*SERPENTINE by Cindy Pon {YA}
*COURT OF FIVES by Kate Elliott {YA}
*THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN by Paula Hawkins {Adult}
*SIX OF CROWS by Leigh Bardugo {YA}
*THE WEIGHT OF FEATHERS by Anna-Marie McLemore {YA}
*ASH & BRAMBLE by Sarah Prineas {YA}
*PASSENGER by Alexandra Bracken {YA}
*BANISHED by Kimberley Griffiths-Little {YA}
*WHEN WE COLLIDED by Emory Lord {YA}
[link to my GoodReads account so you can see my blurb feed as I read]
READ IN DECEMBER:
{All links to Goodreads!}
TOTAL: 4 Books and 1 novella ;_;
{All links to Goodreads!}
TOTAL: 4 Books and 1 novella ;_;
*THESE BROKEN STARS by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner {YA}
*THIS NIGHT SO DARK by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner {YA Novella}
*THIS SHATTERED WORLD by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner {YA}
*THEIR FRACTURED LIGHT by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner {YA}
*A THOUSAND NIGHTS by E.K. Johnston {YA}
*THIS NIGHT SO DARK by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner {YA Novella}
*THIS SHATTERED WORLD by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner {YA}
*THEIR FRACTURED LIGHT by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner {YA}
*A THOUSAND NIGHTS by E.K. Johnston {YA}
REVIEWED IN DECEMBER:
{All links to my review!}
*THESE BROKEN STARS by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner {YA}
*THIS NIGHT SO DARK by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner {YA Novella}
*THIS SHATTERED WORLD by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner {YA}
*THEIR FRACTURED LIGHT by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner {YA}
*DEFY by Sara B. Larson {YA} [Redux]
*IGNITE by Sara B. Larson {YA} [Redux]
{All links to my review!}
*THESE BROKEN STARS by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner {YA}
*THIS NIGHT SO DARK by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner {YA Novella}
*THIS SHATTERED WORLD by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner {YA}
*THEIR FRACTURED LIGHT by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner {YA}
*DEFY by Sara B. Larson {YA} [Redux]
*IGNITE by Sara B. Larson {YA} [Redux]
FEATURES IN DECEMBER:
*Top TWENTY 2016 Debut Novels I'm Looking Forward To!!!
*{Cover Art Revealed} AND I DARKEN by Kiersten White
*{Cover Reveal} FACSIMILE by Vicki L. Weavil
*{Month in Review/Monthly Preview} Happy Holidays and welcome to the Busiest Time of the Year!!!
*Top Ten Ten New-To-Me Authors I Read For The First Time in 2015
*What FINAL BOOKS should I read in 2015!?
*{Cover Reveal} EMERGE by Tobie Easton
*M9B Friday Cover Reveal: Redesigned Series Cover Reveal – Dragonrider Chronicles by Nicole Conway
*Top 10 of 2015 Day 1: Best Books I've Read in 2015!
*Top 10 of 2015 Day 2: TWENTY Best Book Covers of 2015!
*Top 10 of 2015 Day 3: Ten Best Villains of 2015!
*Top 10 of 2015 Day 4: Best Kisses of 2015!
*Top 10 of 2015 Day 5: Top 24 Books I’m Looking Forward to Reading in 2016!--Let Me Help You Spend Your New Gift Cards! ;)
*{ENDURE Blog Tour} A List of Kick-A$$ Girls Who Disguised Themselves as Guys!
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