2/2 And this is the rest of January! #MonthInReview #January Reads

My Stats:

39 books Read
7 phyical/ebooks
32 audiobooks
4 DNFs

1/2 Part one of my #MonthInReview for #JanuaryReads. I got a lot of reading done, and as you can see, I wasn't afraid to DNF when books weren't working for me. I was very excited to read Susanna Hoff's first novel (it comes out in April I think), because I am a huge Bangles fan. I also read a lot of romance and holiday stories- but that's what popped up in my audiobook library holds. TBC...

I‘m reading the tagged book for #truecrime #bookclub later this month, and the Hubs is gaming.

Set up my #Pantone2023 challenge on PicMoney. So far I got #PinkCosmos for the tagged book. @Clwojick

Happy New Year‘s, Littens!!!

Looking for recommendations for my #12in2023. I pretty much like all genres- not huge into literary fiction and not interested in James Patterson, Colleen Hoover, Kristen Hannah, or Nicholas Sparks.

What better book to read for #Jolabokaflod than with this book? Got this book yesterday to read tonight.

What I‘m #currentlyreading. I‘ve never read the first two books in this series, but Colgan gives enough of a backstory that it‘s not necessary. Loving it!
#Christmas

What I‘m #currentlyreading. I‘ve never read the first two books in this series, but Colgan gives enough of a backstory that it‘s not necessary. Loving it!
#Christmas#

I am one of those annoying people that are fine with Christmas music in November (honestly, I'd listen all year round), so I found this short audio book on the top Christmas songs super interesting. I kind of love that most of the songs we still hear today are the ones we grew up with, and that so did our parents. Now excuse me while I go blast All I Want For Christmas.... #WinterGames @DieAReader @Andrew65 @GHABI4ROSES

So I borrowed this title from Hoopla, not realizing that it was part of a series. Which is fine, I'll read romance series out of order, but I just didn't like it. The romance was all in the first chapter, and it started to feel like Hallmark movie (but the more serious moves that play on their Movies and Mysteries channel), so this was a DNF for me. #WinterReadathon
@DieAReader @Andrew65 @GHABI4ROSES

2nd December #WinterReadathonDailyChallenge #Winter Readathon

Jumping into this! Here's a throwback picture of my mutt, Pages, and her first encounter with a book tree.... it's been awhile since I made one. I love my grumpy mutt butt!

@DieAReader @Andrew65 @GHABI4ROSES

Did a quick craft for my cubicle- just used regular paper to print out Making Spirits Bright and then just covered a few arcs I keep at work. #ChristmasCrafts

This is beautiful and sad, gorgeously written and a devastating look at an abusive relationship. Can‘t wait to discuss this tomorrow night at book club!

Erin Morgenstern has a tarot deck out!!!!

Late again, but here's my #manicmonday #letter0 @CBee

📚 Odd Thomas
✍️ Richard Osman (The Thursday Murder Club books!)
📺 Out of Sight (George Clooney during his most Clooneist and JLo)
🎤 Oingo Boingo
🎶 One by U2

Working on my #Bujo layout to keep track of my #Pikeathon challenge in 2023.

Doing a Reread of the series before plunging into Greywaren!

Haven't done a #ManicMonday in awhile (and of course I'm a day late!)
#LetterN @CBee

📘The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, naturally!
💻Laurie Notaro
🎬 Nikita
📺 Night Court
🎸 Heather Nova
🎶 New York by Snow Patrol

I've been busy, digging up my copies of Christopher Pike books and ordering used copies of what I don't have (although hopefully more of his books will get republished, I know a few have been released as ebooks because of the show). So in 2023 I'm hosting a #Pikeathon Reading Challenge. I'll host discussions as I read (I'm probably not going to read the Spooksville books, but I might), and do random giveaways to participants who tag me ⬇

This was not an easy read bc it‘s a heavy subject, and it doesn‘t necessarily end the way you‘d hope, because the reality of justice vs what we want it to be is so often at odds with the way the world works.

My second time around with the second book was even better! I do miss some of the puzzles, but I just really love the characters. #Scarathlon #TeamSlaughter @Clwojick

Word Find: 386

I enjoyed the second book in this series, and I love that it's super long. I did have to stop myself from going on a binge because there's so many good horror books on my TBR that I hope to read this month too. #Scarathlon #TeamSlaughter #Clwojick

Word Find: 370

I originally had planned to read the Karin Slaughter book, but it turns out I had already read it, so I thought I'd try this one for the team read and I really liked it! I've already read the second book, and I plan on continuing. #Scarathlon #TeamSlaughter @Clwojick
Word Find: 276

I sometimes enjoy reading screenplays, and this one felt fitting for #TeamSlaughter. I read the kindle version for free, but the formatting was not the best. #Scarathlon @Clwojick
Word Search: 145

I somehow missed that this was a book 2, but it didn't get in the way of my enjoyment of this book. I will definitely be checking out the first book Suburban Dicks.
#TeamSlaughter #Scarathlon @Clwojick
Word Search- 403

#OminousOctober Day 18- Enchantment @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

The word Enchantment makes me think of Sarah's song from Hocus Pocus:

Come, little children, I'll take thee away
Into a land of enchantment.
Come, little children, the time's come to play,
Here in my garden of magic.

#Scarathlon #TeamSlaughter @Clwojick

My friend sent this too me and it was too perfect not to share! #Scarathalon #TeamSlaughter @Clwojick

This was a decent thriller, but I know I won't remember it in a few months. Basically a therapist who also treats married couples comes to realize that someone is stalking her patients, with dire consequences.
#TeamSlaughter #Scarathlon @Clwojick
Word Seach: 190

Not bad for totals since I failed at posting this week- I still have so many books to post and review, so expect next week to be much bigger. I did DNF a book, which was Manhunt, which was a little too splatter punky and depressing for me to finish. Still love the cover though. Lots of great reads to come though!
#Scarathlon #TeamSlaughter @Clwojick

This one is definitely a bit of a mixed genre- you have horror, mystery, and ghosts. So it works for either team for #Scarathlon. A struggling journalist goes home to write a puff piece on a new sleep and wellness app called Clarity- one of a million in the market. But after agreeing to be a beta tester, our hero finds himself haunted by the Sleep Songs, by his past, and by what happened to all the other beta testers...
#TeamSlaughter @Clwojick

I loved the plot, and it gave me Final Girls movie vibes (which if you like horror-comedy, I totally recommend). I'm not so sure I loved the ending though, which was a bit of a let down. #Scarathlon #TeamSlaughter @Clwojick Word Search- 457.

Catching up on #Scarathlon posts, so I apologize for the blitz!

My YA book club is meeting later this morning to discuss The Final Gambit, so a re-read was in order! Still love this book and the plot, which is just so much fun- who hasn't dreamed of inheriting tons of money from a mysterious benefactor? I'm not as great with the riddles, but still so much fun.
#Scarathlon #TeamSlaugher @Clwojick Word Search- 259

I somehow managed to go my whole life not having read this book (I do remember trying to read it as a kid and I maybe read a Disneyfied version). But my friends and I did CluedUpp's Alice in Wonderland themed scavenger hunt this past weekend, and I thought I should read the book... which I did not enjoy despite the dulcet tones of narrator Scarlet Johannsen. #TeamSlaughter #Scarathlon @Clwojick

I have some posting to catch up on this week, but here's my first week totals for #Scarathlon #TeamSlaughter @Clowjick

This was a bit of a let down. I was all stoked for teens trapped in a snow storm at a creepy hotel with a creepy history, slowly getting picked off one by one... but the book doesn't deliver. I realized a big twist early on, and it was a struggle to care about the characters after that. The stakes never felt that high, so the tension of a good thriller just wasn't there. #Scarathlon #Team Slaughter @clwojick

I'm trying to watch more horror movies this month, and this was on my tbr. It's a good concept- teens who have been mercilessly tormented by bullies gather them together at a party, drug them, and then punish them. They aren't intending to kill anyone, more like Wesley's To The Pain! suggestion to Prince Humperdink, taking away the parts of themselves the bullies most value. Solid horror idea, but the production value, or lack thereof, ⬇

This was a re-read that happened to fit the next #PromptMaze (decade I was born). Because it's a Bachman book, it's rather dark in tone, and no happy endings are to be had here. Like the Hunger Games, there can only be one winner, so lots of dead kids walk these pages. This is a story I've read multiple times, and depending on my mood when I read it, I view the ending differently. Can't believe this hasn't been made into a movie yet. #Scarathlon

Wow, this book was a lot darker than I thought it was going to be! Shay has recently become a housewife and she hates it. While listening to an old friend's true crime podcast, another friend's name pops up- Laurel, and both the podcaster, Jamie, and Shay don't believe that Laurel killed herself. So off Shay goes to back to her college stomping grounds, and the super violent cult she thought she and her friend had escaped years ago ⬇

Totally not on theme at all with #Scarathlon or October, but a good read just the same. We'll be discussing this at our romance book club on Thursday, and I really enjoyed this one. Vanessa doesn't like to use her magic fortune telling abilities- which can range from oh, she loves you to oh, your best friend is going to die in your arms soon. But determined to not let them control her anymore, she travels to Paris to study under her aunt. ⬇

I went into this book without any idea of the subject matter other than horror- but suffice it to say, this would be a good read for #TeamMonsterMash. I really enjoyed this one, and could identify with both the main characters, who both feel like hopeless screwups. Sometimes we just need real monsters to make us realize we aren't that bad after all. #TeamSlaughter #Scarathlon @Clwojick
5pts for the read, 15pt because of the photo prompt word!

I bought a few rebound books with blank pages mixed in years ago and finally figured I‘d use one to track the Halloween movies I‘m watching this month and one for my #scarathalon books. #TeamSlaughter @Clwojick

This is my second time through with this book- both times for a book club, go figure. While the characters and subject matter are all terrible, it makes for a fascinating read, and no doubt the discussion will be awesome too.
#Scarathlon #TeamSlaughter @Clwojick
#Spookoween @TheSpineView
#31by31 @Catsandbooks 2/31 hours
#PromptMaze @TheAromaofBooks
#PointsAThon @dieareader @GHABI4ROSES
#ReadLikeHellaThon

I was hoping to cross off two items from my Fall Bucket list yesterday, but the haunted house attraction closed bc of rain. However I did find my Fall/Winter scent at Bath & Body Works. #scarathlon #teamslaughter @Clwojick

My first #OminousOctober post- the prompt was black and it just so happens this is the book I started today, which also opens on October 1st! #Scarathlon #TeamSlaughter @Clwojick @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

After a few days off, it‘s time to join Matthew and Diana on September 30th. #ADOWrealtimeread

My tentative #Scarthlon Movie Watch List- please know that Hocus Pocus and Hocus Pocus 2 are going to be watched, they are must views! I've been keeping a list of horror movies mentioned on WatchMojo and WhatCulture the last month or so, gearing up for the spooky season. #TeamSlaughter @Clwojick #HorrorMovies

Posting my #Scarathlon TBR pile- at least a partial one. Most of these are books I've already got in my audio queue or need to read for book club, with a few purchases I made just for this month. I can't wait for tomorrow! @Clwojick #TeamSlaughter

The Hubs got this for me as a funny gift, but it was a pretty decent romance along the lines of Ice Planet Barbarians, although I liked this one more. They all appear to be free through Kindle Unlimited, so I may binge In February.

My reading stack for the cabin the Hubs are at, celebrating 20 years of marriage and 20 years of him having to build bookcases, step over piles of books, and seeing most of our expendable income (and then some) spent on books. ♥️