I had every intention of doing a real update this month reflecting on the first two quarters of 2024, but life got in the way, and this wasn’t even published last week like it should’ve been. I’m back dating it though. So, this is the short update that you get which includes:
- The adorably hilarious photo of Barnaby from January when we were on vacation in the Caribbean. Because he’s a doodle, we generally have him in boots and a jacket/snowsuit so that his hair doesn’t get super matted, so seeing the excitement and freedom of him running in the snow was just such a heartwarming thing for us on vacation.
- A screen shot of some lovely feedback on a piece of writing from a course I took wrapping up my degree. I graduated in May, and we then went on a two week cruise in Scandinavia, which was fantastic and I loved it and bought so much yarn. But this feedback on a piece gave me the life I needed to get through February-May and graduation!
- And list of books that I’ve read since my last monthly update. I am VERY slowly making my way through these responses. I was on track to catch up but had to demonetize the blog because WordPress/Jetpack got super greedy and wanted to charge for stats access and the cost of that was significantly more than any kickback I got from being an affiliate. As well as even more ARC’s I should never have said yes to.
We also have a lot of life coming at us fast, so I’m going to be doing a major book cull, looking at what’s on my bookshelf and kindle and deciding what I will/won’t read in the future and not keep it just to keep it. I’ll probably do something similar with my yarn stash, although I did a small culling recently and donated that.
Books and Bookish Things
As I said above, I was on track to be caught up with responses through Book 1,052 last week, but life happens and here we are. I kept trying to do one a day, but that never quite panned out. I will get there as I won’t be able to read as much, however I’ve already got one more to add to the finished list for July (Anita Brookner’s Hotel du Lac), but that’ll go on my Q3 recap, or if I really surprise myself my 14th Blogiversery on July 20! Please don’t hold your breath though, because that will not end well for you.
Below is what I’ve read since my last recap, * denotes an ARC.
December 2023
- Kiss and Cry (Love on the Ice #2) – Keira Andrews
- Catered All the Way – Annabeth Albert
- Planes, Trains, and Hurricanes – Eli Easton
- We Only Kiss at Christmas (Christmas Collection #2) – Con Riley
- Snow Way in Hell (Snow Way in Hell #1) – Charlie Novak
- Heartstopper, Vol. 5 (Heartstopper #5) – Alice Oseman
January 2024
- Up to Snow Good (Snow Way in Hell #2) – Charlie Novak
- Racing into Love (Cut to the Feeling #1) – Noah Steele
- Idol Minds (Idol Romance #1) – K.T. Salvo
- Speak of the Devil – Rose Wilding*
- Something Like Summer (Something Like #1) – Jay Bell
February 2024
- #Hockey (Check, Please! #1) – Ngozi Ukazu
- Sticks & Scones (Check, Please! #2) – Ngozi Ukazu
- Bloom – Kevin Panetta & Savanna Ganucheau
- Chef’s Kiss – Jarrett Melendez
- I Think Our Son Is Gay, Vol. 1 (I Think #1) – Okura
March 2024
- I Think Our Son Is Gay, Vol. 2 (I Think #2) – Okura
- I Think Our Son Is Gay, Vol. 3 (I Think #3) – Okura
- I Think Our Son Is Gay, Vol. 4 (I Think #4) – Okura
- Would You Like to Be a Family? – koyama
- Getting to Yes – Roger Fisher, William Ury & Bruce Patton
- Northranger – Rey Terciero & Bre Indigo
- Winning Bracket – Annabeth Albert
- Scoring Position (Hockey Ever After #2) – Ashlyn Kane & Morgan James
- Winging It (Hockey Ever After #1) – Ashlyn Kane & Morgan James
- Confessions of a Shy Baker – Ito Masaomi
- I Think Our Son Is Gay, Vol. 5 (I Think #5) – Okura
- Unrivaled (Hockey Ever After #3) – Ashlyn Kane & Morgan James
May 2024
- Crushed Ice (Hockey Ever After #4) – Ashlyn Kane & Morgan James
- Excavations – Hannah Michell*
June 2024
- Supercommunicators – Charles Duhigg*
ARCs (that I should NOT have accepted but did)
- The Plan – Kendra Adachi
- The Spellshop – Sarah Beth Durst
- By Any Other Name – Jodi Picoult
- The Lost Story – Meg Shaffer
- Just the Good Stuff – Jim VandeHei
Hopefully, see you sooner rather than later!