Friday, February 1, 2013

January 2013 in Review

And so January 2013 has come to an end.  A crazy month around these parts, for sure.  I had to dial it down on my posting a little bit, because things just got a little too crazy with work, home, and blogging all at once.  You'll be seeing fewer memes here, but I'm actually okay with that, because I never intended to participate in so many of them in the first place!  I think some memes are fun but can be a bit repetitive when done too often.

I still got a lot of reading done though!  The fave/least fave honors go to...

January 2013 Favorite: Where She Went by Gayle Forman
January 2013 Least Favorite: Dreamcatcher by Stephen King

In total, I read/reviewed 8 books:

I also posted mini-reviews for 2 books:

And one new Small Fry Saturday: Press Here by Herve Tullet

Beyond reviews, we chatted about my New Year's resolutions, bookish travels, and the merits (or not) of reading your book jackets.  I also hosted two more giveaways, and we all know how much I LOOOOVE spreading the free stuff around.  :)

Oh, and I got bangs.  BEFORE Michelle Obama.  Whatever Mrs. O, you can't start EVERY trend.
Why can't I make this photo smaller? Oh well, enjoy judging my pores.

What's on tap for February?  I actually have a lot of ARC/review copies to get to, so you'll be seeing more of that.  And on the personal front, my husband and I are going to try to have a "no spend month"...basically no spending beyond bills, groceries, gas.  Bye bye candy bars from the checkout aisle...and of course, no book purchases.  **sad trombone**  We'll see how this goes.  Luckily February is a short month.

However, I DID budget for my trip to Vermont to see Jodi Picoult on February 26!  WOOT WOOOOT!  So you'll hear about that soon.

What will you be reading in February, my well-read readers?

9 comments:

  1. Ooh, both the new layout and your new haircut look lovely! =D

    Good luck with no new books - but like you said, you've got plenty of ARCs to get through =)

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  2. Okay. First- you look adorable with bangs. LOVE IT! Second... For February, I committed to doing Project Fairy Tale in which I read a bunch of Little Red Riding Hood revamps. I had a heck of a time finding anything that wasn't middle grade or YA, so I'm afraid the snarky claws may be coming out a bit. Other than that, I hope to be hibernating (which of course means reading in my pajamas and eating everything ever.)

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  3. I love the idea of a 'no spend month'!

    Also, your bangs are adorable.

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  4. Lovely layout, lovely month, super extra lovely bangs! I looove them!

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  5. Thanks re: the bangs ladies! I'm quite happy with them.

    And Katie, yes, I too am hibernating until spring. Being a lazy arse and eating an entire try of brownies is on my to-do list this weekend...

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  6. Good luck on the "No spend" month. I've thought about doing that a couple times, but alas, still spending money :)

    The bangs are super cute.

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  7. Thanks Jen. Unfortunately, 4 days in and we have already broken the no-spend rules. Sigh. This is harder than I thought...

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  8. You look so cute with the bangs, I wish I could pull them off. You're taking a break from memes? Me too! It's become too much and somewhat stressful.
    Hope your February is awesome!
    PS: I love this design! I had it for a while on my blog, then something went wonky :/

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  9. Yes, the memes are fun at times, but I started to feel like I was doing them constantly...and I want to focus more on my original content vs. weekly meme participation. I can see how easy it is to let them eat up the blog!
    And thanks re: the design. I like it, though it's a bit annoying how the pics for each listed blog entry don't fit well on the homepage.

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