2019 Anticipated Books TBR

I did a video on my most anticipated releases of 2019 and I am still super excited about these books, plus the covers are beautiful so I can't not do a blog post on these books.

DECEMBER 2018 WRAP UP

I read 10 books to end the year and I did great. I read 107 books last year. Some of these books I really enjoyed and then one of them ended up on my worst books of 2018 list as a least favorite and not a full on hated it.

G.I. Brides by Duncan Barrett and Nuala Calvi

2. Last Star Burning by Caitlin Sangster

3. Shatter the Suns by Caitlin Sangster

4. Willow Bloom and the Dream Keepers by E.V. Farrell

5. Deadfall by Stephen Wallenfels

6. Love a la Mode by Stephanie Kate Strohm

7. Stronger, Faster and More Beautiful by Arwen Elys Dayton

8. Slayer by Kiersten White

9. Grump by Liesl Shurtliff

10. Two Can Keep A Secret by Karen M. McManus

BLOG TOUR: Two Can Keep A Secret by Karen M. McManus

I am super excited to help Rockstar Book Tours kick off a month long tour for Karen M. McManus' 2nd novel. It hits stores in one week!  HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Title: TWO CAN KEEP A SECRET 

Author: Karen McManus

Pub. Date: January 8, 2019

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Formats: Hardcover, eBook, Audiobook

Pages: 336

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Audible,  B&N, iBooks, TBD

Summary: Echo Ridge is small-town America. Ellery's never been there, but she's heard all about it. Her aunt went missing there at age seventeen. And only five years ago, a homecoming queen put the town on the map when she was killed. Now Ellery has to move there to live with a grandmother she barely knows.

The town is picture-perfect, but it's hiding secrets. And before school even begins for Ellery, someone's declared open season on homecoming, promising to make it as dangerous as it was five years ago. Then, almost as if to prove it, another girl goes missing.

Ellery knows all about secrets. Her mother has them; her grandmother does too. And the longer she's in Echo Ridge, the clearer it becomes that everyone there is hiding something. The thing is, secrets are dangerous--and most people aren't good at keeping them. Which is why in Echo Ridge, it's safest to keep your secrets to yourself.

Review: Prom Night meets Mean Girls! We follow twins Ellery and Ezra moving across the country to stay with their grandmother after their mother heads to rehab for driving into a store while under the influence. She herself was also a twin and her sister went missing right after homecoming their senior year of high school. A few years before Ellery and Ezra move to town, another popular town beauty is found murdered at the town local attraction formerly known as Murderland renamed Fright Farm.

It has the classic prom night killer and the mean girl attitude of a very look forward high school tradition. 

About Karen:

As a kid I used to write books when I was supposed to be playing outside, and not much has changed. I'm a marketing and communications professional who also writes Young Adult contemporary and fantasy fiction in Cambridge, MA.

When not writing or working I love to travel, and along with my nine-year old son I've ridden horses in Colombia and bicycles through Paris. A member of SCBWI, I hold a bachelor’s degree in English from the College of the Holy Cross and a master’s degree in Journalism from Northeastern University. Which I have never, ever used professionally.

Website | Twitter | Goodreads | Instagram

Giveaway Details:

3 winners will receive a finished copy of TWO CAN KEEP A SECRET, US Only.

Rafflecopter link:

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e2389ba2873/?

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

1/1/2019- Lifestyle of Me- Review

1/2/2019- Paper Reader- Review

1/3/2019- Adventures Thru Wonderland- Review

1/4/2019- Here's to Happy Endings- Review

Week Two:

1/7/2019- Pink Polka Dot Books- Review

1/8/2019- Do You Dog-ear?- Review

1/9/2019- Adventures and Reading- Review

1/10/2019- The Phantom Paragrapher- Review

1/11/2019- Book Dragon Lair- Review

Week Three:

1/14/2019- A Gingerly Review- Review

1/15/2019- Confessions of a YA Reader- Review

1/16/2019- Sweet Southern Home- Review

1/17/2019- Simply Daniel Radcliffe- Review

1/18/2019- The Hermit Librarian- Review

Week Four:

1/21/2019- Smada's Book Smack- Review

1/22/2019- Owl always Be Reading- Review

1/23/2019- BookHounds YA- Review

1/24/2019- Popthebutterfly Reads- Review

1/25/2019- Eli to the nth- Review

Week Five:

1/28/2019- The Clever Reader- Review

1/29/2019- All the Ups and Downs- Review

1/30/2019- Two Points of Interest- Review

1/31/2019- EatingbetweenthelinesINC- Review

2019 Resolutions & Goals

I have made a list of every part of my life and listed things that I want to work on and accomplish this year because I am tired of doing the same thing and living the same life over and over. My life is boring as hell and I need more.


*PERSONAL*

Get my permit (180 days)
Get License
Hit 1st target weight by June 30
Hit 2nd target weight by December 21
Wake up at 6AM and bed at 11PM
Get part time job???
Walk 2-3 laps around neighborhood every day
Family vacation once a month


*READING*

Read 100 books
Read 1 classic a month
Read 1 nonfiction a month
Continue global reading challenge
Take part in read-a-thons every or every other month

*WRITING/BLOG*

Host 2-3 blog tour spots a month
Begin new wish list series
Begin 2nd half of lovebooks
Write 1000 words a day
Take part in Camp NaNoWriMo
Start 2nd book during NaNoWriMo

*YOUTUBE*

Become full booktube channel
Upload Dollar Tree hauls once or twice a month
Start reading vlogs
Do more tag videos
NETWORK MORE!!!
Vlog read a thons
Post 2 videos a week

*HOME*

Replace porches
Clean gutters
Fix garden
Make a master cleaning list
Finish building
Find permanent spot for pool
Finish replacing blinds
Map out fence lines
Cut down trees
Clear uncle property
Fence grandma property

*MONEY*

Pay off debt
Finish paying off car
Get LOC under 200
Raise CC limit
New Car!!!!
Buy Lot next door

*KIDS/ HOMESCHOOL*

Get kids into a sport or activity
Self care Saturdays and Sundays
Start school days @ 8:30am
Finish school days @ 1:30pm
Organize records differently

*SOCIAL MEDIA*

Grow followers on Instagram, Twitter, Bloglovin', Facebook and Goodreads
Organize Pinterest and grow followers

I will be updating and checking my progress every 2 months. On the last day of February will be my first update. Having these goals and resolutions written in two places will hopefully keep me on it and I will be diligent about these.

BLOG TOUR: Stronger, Faster and More Beautiful by Arwen Elys Dayton

Rockstar Book Tours is hosting a month long book tour for this epic novel by Arwen Elys Dayton.

Title: STRONGER, FASTER, AND MORE BEAUTIFUL 

Author: Arwen Elys Dayton

Pub. Date: December 4, 2018 

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Formats: Hardcover, eBook, audiobook

Pages: 384

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Audible, B&N, iBooks, TBD

Summary: For fans of television shows Black Mirror and Westworld, this compelling, mind-bending novel is a twisted look into the future, exploring how far we will go to remake ourselves into the perfect human specimen and what it means to be human at all.

Set in our world, spanning the near to distant futures, Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful is a novel made up of six interconnected stories that ask how far we will go to remake ourselves into the perfect human specimens, and how hard that will push the definition of "human."

This extraordinary work explores the amazing possibilities of genetic manipulation and life extension, as well as the ethical quandaries that will arise with these advances. The results range from the heavenly to the monstrous. Deeply thoughtful, poignant, horrifying, and action-packed, Arwen Elys Dayton's Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful is groundbreaking in both form and substance.

PRAISE FOR STRONGER, FASTER, AND MORE BEAUTIFUL

“Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful will send shivers down your spine.” —Teen Vogue

“Powerful, poignant, and action-packed, Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful is an exciting sci-fi adventure firmly rooted in the realities of our present day that fans of Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies series will love.” —Bustle

★ “Part cautionary tale and part ode to the inventive human spirit, Dayton’s brilliant collection of stories is best described as a scientific Twilight Zone.” —Publishers Weekly, Starred

★ “Compelling and terrifying, this volume is science fiction at its finest.”

—School Library Journal, Starred

★ “This speculative, thought-provoking novel will take readers on a frightening, remarkable journey through humanity’s past, present, and possible future.” —Booklist, Starred

★ “Imaginative and incisive.” —Kirkus Reviews, Starred

“An alternately charming and horrifying exploration of what it means to be human and how far we’ll go in pursuit of personal and societal ‘perfection.’ Dayton’s newest is imagination at its best and most terrifying. I devoured this book.” —Kiersten White, New York Times bestselling author of And I Darken

“A work of unforgettable vision and imagination. This book is everything I love about science fiction.”

—Jay Kristoff, New York Times bestselling coauthor of the Illuminae Files

“Haunting, challenging and provocative—this is an extraordinary book. I can’t stop thinking about it.”

—Amie Kaufman, New York Times bestselling coauthor of the Illuminae Files

“A deep and suddenly necessary exploration of the beautiful and terrible futures we face.
Every story leaves you desperate for more.”
—Hank Green, #1 New York Times bestselling author of An Absolutely Remarkable Thing

“Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful is a remarkable book, visionary and very hard to put down.”

—Kevin J. Anderson, New York Times bestselling author of The Dark Between the Stars

“Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful—fast-paced, tightly plotted, and engaging from the first page—puts a human face on the prosperity or catastrophe that is waiting just around the corner.”

—David Friedberg, founder of Climate Corporation

“Arwen Elys Dayton explores the next era of humanity with astonishing heart.”

—Peter H. Diamandis, MD, founder of XPRIZE and Singularity University and author of the New York Times bestsellers Abundance and Bold

Review: One of my new favorite science fiction dystopian thriller novels. At first I didn't like how one story ended and another began. I didn't want to see the connection. I thought of it as a short story collection. It is 6 interwoven stories of how the world is genetically modifying their selves to become smarter, faster and prettier. They are mixing human DNA with animal DNA. Besides that plot line, all 6 individuals that the stories surround all have one person who they have heard of and believe he is the cause of it all. Reverend Tad Tadd. He is a bible thumper at first and then he sees the "light" and becomes the "leader or the God" of genetically modified peoples.

It is a great mix of religion and science and how the two will always be fighting and how if we do end up finding cures to incurable diseases or modifying our bodies, well the world will probably go to shit!

About Arwen:

ARWEN ELYS DAYTON is the author of the Seeker series—Seeker, Traveler, and Disruptor and the e-novella The Young Dread—and the science-fiction thriller Resurrection. Arwen lives with her husband and their three children on the West Coast of the United States. You can visit her at arwendayton.com and follow @arwenelysdayton on Twitter and Instagram.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Instagram

Giveaway Details:

3 winners will receive finished copies of STRONGER, FASTER, AND MORE BEAUTIFUL, US only.

Rafflecopter Link:

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e2389ba2863/?

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

12/3/2018- Kait Plus Books- Review

12/4/2018- Novel Novice- Excerpt

12/5/2018- Rhythmicbooktrovert- Review

12/6/2018- Sifa Elizabeth Writes- Review

12/7/2018- The Pages In-Between- Review

Week Two:

12/10/2018- Dani Reviews Things- Review

12/11/2018- Book-Keeping- Review

12/12/2018- A Dream Within A Dream- Review

12/13/2018- Here's to Happy Endings- Review

12/14/2018- Rainy Day Reviews- Excerpt

Week Three:

12/17/2018- A Gingerly Review- Review

12/18/2018- Always Me - Review

12/19/2018- Sincerely Karen Jo Blog- Excerpt

12/20/2018- Devouring Books- Review

12/21/2018- BookHounds YA- Review

Week Four:

12/24/2018- My Books-My World- Excerpt

12/25/2018- Books of Teacups- Review

12/26/2018- Lifestyle of Me- Review

12/27/2018- Wishful Endings- Excerpt

12/28/2018- Eli to the nth- Review

Week Five:

12/31/2018- Oh Hey! Books.- Review

BLOG TOUR: Love a la Mode by Stephanie Kate Strohm

Rockstar Book Tours is hosting a 4 week tour for this cute contemporary fluffy YA that is a perfect for this holiday season!

Title: LOVE A LA MODE 

Author: Stephanie Kate Strohm

Pub. Date: November 27, 2018

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Formats: Hardcover, eBook, audiobook

Pages: 304

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Audible, B&N, iBooks, TBD

Summary: Take two American teen chefs, add one heaping cup of Paris, toss in a pinch of romance, and stir. ...

Rosie Radeke firmly believes that happiness can be found at the bottom of a mixing bowl. But she never expected that she, a random nobody from East Liberty, Ohio, would be accepted to celebrity chef Denis Laurent's school in Paris, the most prestigious cooking program for teens in the entire world. Life in Paris, however, isn't all cream puffs and crepes. Faced with a challenging curriculum and a nightmare professor, Rosie begins to doubt her dishes.

Henry Yi grew up in his dad's restaurant in Chicago, and his lifelong love affair with food landed him a coveted spot in Chef Laurent's school. He quickly connects with Rosie, but academic pressure from home and his jealousy over Rosie's growing friendship with gorgeous bad-boy baker Bodie Tal makes Henry lash out and push his dream girl away.

Desperate to prove themselves, Rosie and Henry cook like never before while sparks fly between them. But as they reach their breaking points, they wonder whether they have what it takes to become real chefs.

Perfect for lovers of Chopped Teen Tournament and Kids Baking Championship, as well as anyone who dreams of a romantic trip to France, Love la Mode follows Rosie and Henry as they fall in love with food, with Paris, and ultimately, with each other.

 Review: This a cute story about two teenagers who are heading to a prestigious cooking school in Paris, France. Rosie is all about baking and Henry is wanting to open his own restaurant like his father. They have a little meet cute on the plane. They eventually start to fall for each other but the pressures of excelling in their academic classes and jealousies get in the way.

Such a cute fluffy contemporary to read around the Christmas time or perfect to read heading into the season of Love of Valentine's Day. 

 About Stephanie:

Stephanie Kate Strohm is the author of It's Not Me, It's You; The Taming of the Drew; Pilgrims Don't Wear Pink; Confederates Don't Wear Couture and the upcoming The Date to Save and Prince in Disguise (Fall 2017). She grew up on the Connecticut coast, where a steady diet of Little House on the Prairie turned her into a history nerd at an early age. After graduating with a joint major in theater and history from Middlebury College, she acted her way around the country, performing in more than 25 states.

Although she was born in New York, she currently lives in Chicago, and doesn't discriminate against any type of pizza. When she's not writing, she loves baking, walking her dog Lorelei, taking dance cardio classes too seriously, and playing board games with her husband. Photo credit: Melissa Lynn

Website |  Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest |  Goodreads

Giveaway Details:

3 winners will win a signed finished copy of LOVE A LA MODE, US Only.

Rafflecopter link:

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e2389ba2856/?

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

11/26/2018- Mary Had a Little Book Blog- Review

11/27/2018- Oh Hey! Books.- Excerpt

11/28/2018- Here's to Happy Endings- Review

11/29/2018- A Gingerly Review- Review

11/30/2018- Adventures Thru Wonderland- Review

Week Two:

12/3/2018- Novel Novice- Review

12/4/2018- Do You Dog-ear?- Review

12/5/2018- The Hermit Librarian- Review

12/6/2018- A Dream Within A Dream- Excerpt

12/7/2018- YA Book Nerd- Review

Week Three:

12/10/2018- Eli to the nth- Review

12/11/2018- BookHounds YA- Review

12/12/2018- Savings in Seconds- Review

12/13/2018- Clarissa Reads It All- Review

12/14/2018- Kait Plus Books- Review

Week Four:

12/17/2018- Book Dragon Lair- Review

12/18/2018- EatingbetweenthelinesINC- Review

12/19/2018- Smada's Book Smack- Review

12/20/2018- Lifestyle of Me- Review

12/21/2018- The Heart of a Book Blogger- Review