Bout of Books Progress

Day 1
January 8

Books Read:    1

Pages Read:    439
Total Books Read:    1
Total Pages Read:    439

My Thoughts:    Woo! Despite all the craziness yesterday, I was able to read a lot. It was a great way to start my week!

Day 2

January 9

Books Read:    1

Pages Read:    234

Total Books Read:    2

Total Pages Read:    673

My Thoughts:    I had another great reading day! I think it's the rain. It makes me want to curl up with a blanket and a book.

Day 3

January 10

Books Read:    1

Pages Read:    409

Total Books Read:    3

Total Pages Read:    1,082

My Thoughts:    I am on a great reading streak, and I hope I can keep it up. I'm really excited that I've read over 1,000 pages! 

Day 4

January 11

Books Read:    1

Pages Read:    271

Total Books Read:    4

Total Pages Read:    1,353

My Thoughts:    I wasn't sure if I was going to finish another book yesterday, but I stayed up a little longer than usual to finish it. This is turning out to be my best Bout of Books! 

Day 5

January 12

Books Read:    0

Pages Read:    223

Total Books Read:    4

Total Pages Read:    1,576

My Thoughts:    I didn't finish a book yesterday, but I still read a lot. 

Day 6

January 13

Books Read:    0

Pages Read:    39

Total Books Read:    4

Total Pages Read:    1,615

My Thoughts:    I wasn't able to read a lot yesterday. We had a family get together, friends over for dinner, and we worked on our basement. It was a busy day.

Bout of Books Goals

It is Bout of Books week!
WOO!

These are the books I'l like to read this week:
 
 

Good luck everyone!

Fan Art Friday: Luke Skywalker

I featured Han Solo a while ago on FAF, so I thought I'd continue with the Star Wars characters. Enjoy!

These artists are amazing!

What do you think?

All the pictures are linked to the source where I found them. Please go check out other work by these artists.

The Husband's Secret

From Goodreads:    At the heart of The Husband’s Secret is a letter that’s not meant to be read

My darling Cecilia, if you’re reading this, then I’ve died...

Imagine that your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret—something with the potential to destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others as well. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive. . . .

Cecilia Fitzpatrick has achieved it all—she’s an incredibly successful businesswoman, a pillar of her small community, and a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home. But that letter is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess barely know Cecilia—or each other—but they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband’s secret.

Acclaimed author Liane Moriarty has written a gripping, thought-provoking novel about how well it is really possible to know our spouses—and, ultimately, ourselves.

My Thoughts:

-    Holy crap!! Wow! This book is just. . .wow!

-    This is my third Liane Moriarty book, and each one has blown me away! 

-    This story is filled with heart wrenching situations, and you don't know what the character should do, and neither do they. I kept asking myself what the right thing to do would be, and I don't know. I still don't know. I have no idea what I would do in Cecilia's situation. It would be awful.

-    It took me about 80 pages to really get into the story. I was struggling to figure out who was who, but once it got going, I couldn't stop!

-    I love all the Aussie lingo, like the petrol station. 

-    This book gave me a huge craving for hot cross buns. I'm going to figure out how to make them and have them for Easter. 

-    I didn't know Easter was held during Australia's autumn season. Anyone know more about this?

-    I'm not sure how Tess was effected by John-Paul's secret, and I'm not sure she was even needed in the book. Tess and her husband and cousin were ridiculous. I still enjoyed reading about them, but I thought they were ridiculous. 

-    The ending! It is an ending that will keep you thinking for a long time. I darn near cried! 

-    There is a lot of heavy profanity in this one, more than the other Moriarty books I've read. There is a lot of deity swears and f-bombs. 

The Sugar Queen

Goodreads Synopsis:    In this irresistible novel, Sarah Addison Allen, author of the New York Times bestselling debut, Garden Spells, tells the tale of a young woman whose family secrets—and secret passions—are about to change her life forever.

Josey Cirrini is sure of three things: winter is her favorite season, she’s a sorry excuse for a Southern belle, and sweets are best eaten in the privacy of her closet. For while Josey has settled into an uneventful life in her mother’s house, her one consolation is the stockpile of sugary treats and paperback romances she escapes to each night…. Until she finds her closet harboring Della Lee Baker, a local waitress who is one part nemesis—and two parts fairy godmother. With Della Lee’s tough love, Josey’s narrow existence quickly expands. She even bonds with Chloe Finley, a young woman who is hounded by books that inexplicably appear when she needs them—and who has a close connection to Josey’s longtime crush. Soon Josey is living in a world where the color red has startling powers, and passion can make eggs fry in their cartons. And that’s just for starters.

Brimming with warmth, wit, and a sprinkling of magic, here is a spellbinding tale of friendship, love—and the enchanting possibilities of every new day.

My Thoughts:

-    This was my first Sarah Addison Allen book, and I enjoyed it.

-    I think the cover is a gross misrepresentation of the book. It is pretty and everything, but it is very misleading. The title is kinda a weird too.

-    I liked the characters well enough. None of them were amazing or anything, but they were likeable.

-    I really liked the mom's romance. It was sweet and cute. 

-    I liked the little bits of magic/paranormal throughout the book. I wish books magically appeared for me. 

-    I don't think I would re-read this, but it was fun.

Top Ten Tuesday: New-to-Me Authors of 2017

Hosted by The Broke and The Bookish

Top Ten New-to-Me Authors I Read in 2017

In no particular order:

 
 
 
 
 

2018 Goals

IT'S 2018!!

I hope you are all ready for an awesome new year!

I love setting my reading goals at the beginning of the year!

Goal #1

I set my Goodreads Goal for 152 books. I read 150 last year, and I wanted to push myself a tiny tiny bit further.

Goal #2

This is the stack of books I own but haven't read

I want this gone by the end of the year!

Goal #3

I want to read all the Newbery Award Winners Books, but then I looked them up, and there are a lot! So, my goal is to read half of them this year. I'm starting from scratch, so I'm not counting the ones I've already read. I'll re-read those.

There are are 95 books on the list so far, so my goal is to read at least 47 or 48 of them.

Good luck with all your goals this year!

Happy Reading!