As per my blog’s brand these days, this post is Fashionably Late ™.
Can I use the “better late than never” excuse? No? Well, phooey. In my defense, I’ve had other things to post, which delayed me posting this. Which is good and bad. But I’m here now, and that’s the important thing.
So here’s how my December went:
✦ I hit 300 (!!!) followers on The Writerly Way. I’ll admit, when I started, I didn’t think I’d get even three followers, so I’m blown away. Y’all are fabulous, and I’m so lucky to be involved in this community! This feels like it deserves a giveaway. Keep an eye open for that in the near future. 😉
✦ I’ve been trying to get the hang of this Bookstagram thing. And y’all, it’s hard. I am not a visual person. Sure, I love looking at everyone else’s bookish pictures, and I dream about taking gorgeous pictures myself, but to actually stage a picture? Pffft. I’m trying. I might eventually figure it out. I’m determined, at least.
✦ I got aaaall the books for Christmas. Which I absolutely loved and my husband hated, because he hates everything, so nerts to him. To be fair, my physical TBR has started to sort of ooze out of my bookshelf and into the rest of our library, so maybe he has a teensy point. But nevertheless, look at these gorgeous things! I plan on doing a Christmas book haul post, but … I’m behind. I blame … the holidays? Still no?
I still can’t believe that 2019 is over. I feel like I must have slept through half the year or something. But 2020 has so much to look forward to so far. So without further ado, on to the books!
Click titles for my review.
How to Become a Federal Criminal (★★★★☆)
The Madwoman Upstairs (★★☆☆☆)
Astrophysics for Young People in a Hurry (★★★☆☆)
Things My Son Needs to Know about the World (★★★★★)
House of Salt and Sorrows (★★★★☆)
A Town Divided by Christmas (★★★☆☆)
A Hive of Secrets and Spells (★★★★☆)
Dying to Meet You (★★★★☆)
Over My Dead Body (★★★☆☆)
Imaginary Friend (★★★☆☆)
F*ck Your Diet (★★★☆☆)
A Curse So Dark and Lonely (★★★★★)
A Heart So Fierce and Broken (★★★☆☆)
The Magic Misfits (★★★☆☆)
Other Reviews This Month:
Follow me on Goodreads
✦ Unique Ways to Become a Federal Criminal
✦ Winter Possibility Pile || Let the #ARCApocalypse 2020 BEGIN!
✦ 2020 ARCs I Hope Santa Sends Me
✦ 5-Star Reads of 2019 || Ft. Endless Fangirl Gushing
✦ December 11
✦ December 18
✦ First Line Friday 56 || Cupcakes and Sorcery
✦ First Line Friday 56 || Spooky Woods and the Nice Man
✦ First Line Friday 56 || The Damsel in Distress We Deserve
✦ Morgan @ Morgan Hazelwood talks about the things NaNoWriMo gives you, regardless of whether you win or lose.
✦ Briana @ Pages Unbound talks about how she increased her pageviews by using Pinterest.
✦ Kal @ Reader Voracious provided an awesome spreadsheet to help you keep track of your reading and/or blogging goals for the new year.
✦ Leah @ Leah’s Book Reviews and Recipes gives some quick and dirty tips about reviewer etiquette.
✦ Cait @ Paper Fury gave us a fabulous Christmas present in the form of a short story to go along with The Boy Who Steals Houses.
Some interesting 2020 Reading Challenges:
✦ Fiction Reading Challenge
✦ #ARCApocalypse 2020
✦ #StartOnYourShelfathon
✦ POPSUGAR Reading Challenge
✦ Reading Classic Books
✦ Diversity Reading Challenge
✦ Beat the Backlist
READERS, EVERY YEAR:
— Sammie (@srbetler) December 9, 2019
Jan – I’m going to read ALL the books this year.
March – I should start, but I have plenty of time left.
July – Starts reading SOME of the books.
Sep – Is there a cheat to add extra time?!
Nov – How am I so far behind on my goal?!
Dec – *sobbing*#amreading
Me reading romance books: That was totally unforgivable. He deserves to be stabbed! Oh, you married him? Well … ok then.
— Sammie (@srbetler) December 11, 2019
Me reading romance in fantasy: That was not ok. He deserves to be stabbed! Oh, you already did? Well he probably won’t do that again, will he?#amreading
Querying
— Sammie (@srbetler) December 19, 2019
– boring
– plain
– negative connotations
– *groan, eyeroll*
Recruiting minions to assist in a global writing endeavor
– exciting
– sounds like adventure and danger
– everyone loves minions#amquerying #writingcommunity #writerslife #writerscommunity
8-year-old: Why does your cane have a Pinocchio sticker on it?
— Sammie (@srbetler) December 22, 2019
Me: Because it was Nana’s cane.
8yo: … ?
Me: It was meant as a warning that lying has consequences.
8yo: …
Me: Meaning she’d hit you with her cane if you lied.#parenting #family
Oh yeah, Instagram is harder than it looks. You just have to develop your own style rather than trying to do what I’ve Bookstagrammers do. I’ve watched a bunch of how to videos but then I realized I would never take those types of pictures, it’s just not my style😁
Yeah, my husband is more minimalist, so it would drive him crazy if I had a ton of props around or rearranged things for picture-taking. It’ll be easier once I find my style and shoot a couple days in advance, I think. Especially since it’s so rainy here this time of year, it’s hard to actually get any good natural light shots. =/ It’s gonna just be a lot of experimentation for a while lol.
Congratulations on 300 followers!! And yes I think of Bookstagram and shudder with trepidation so you are a braver one than me!!
Ugh, it’s so hard. I have to teach myself to be more of a visual person. I’m sure I’ll learn … eventually … but it’s just not something I innately have lol. I deal with words.
I didn’t realize you had an bookstagram! I’m gonna go follow you right now…
And I so feel ya on the *fashionably late* monthly wrap-ups. In fact, I’ve barely started drafting my December one. 😅 Should go work on that now…
And looks like you had a fairly great reading month–I hope January goes just as great for you. And congrats on 300 followers!
Happy reading! 🙂
I do. It’s new, though. And difficult. I’m working on it. xD
I usually start my drafts early in the month (because I start posting links in it as I come across them so I don’t lose them for the blog hop part). But I still don’t finish them until late. Go figure.
It looks good! 🙂
And same! I’ll usually start them a week or so into the month, jot down the books as I read them, start planning a tbr for next month…and then abandon the draft for like 3 weeks
Speaking of which, I still haven’t gone back to work on my December wrap-up…hopefully this weekend? *fingers crossed*
Yay! Congrats on 300 followers! I love bookstagram. I just followed you. 🙂
Thank you!
I haven’t even considered writing let alone posting my December wrap up so… You’re still more ahead than I am! Tbh I totally forgot that it was a thing I did hahaha but YAY! I think I’m already following you on IG but I haven’t been on properly in a while and I’ve been “lazy” liking and commenting over the last few days. I think I really burned myself out last year when it comes to bookstagram 😂 And big congrats on hitting 300 🥳 That’s really awesome and so deserved, Sammie!
Ha, fair enough. I still don’t quite “get” bookstagram, so I’m hoping to spend more time in the coming weeks digging into it and hopefully figuring things out. I’m determined. xD
Haha if you have any questions you can DM me and although I’m pretty clueless most of the time and do things however way I want, and I’m defo not a bookstagram guru, but I might be able to help 😅 or we can become confused together hahaha
I have aaaaall the questions. xD But becoming confused together sounds like a good idea. I mean, why go it alone?
You definitely racked up for Christmas! I got physical copies of The Night Circus, Twice in a Blue Moon, and The Huntress. I also got a subscription to Bookworm Box. So, I’d say I did pretty well.
I hadn’t heard of Bookworm Box, but it looks super cute! Those sound like great Christmas gifts!