Hello everyone!
I can’t believe Jan. 2016 is already over! 2016 is already flying by faster than I want it to. This past month was leaner on the blog posts and I’m hoping to ramp up come February. Be on the look out for some reviews this week on some books I finished this last week of January!
With that said, I wanted to share a quick recap of my month 🙂
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kond0
Illuminae by Amie Kaufam and Jay Kristoff
I Work at a Public Library by Gina Sheridan
2016 Reading Goals – a quick look into my reading goals for the year.
January 2016 TBR – my reading plan for January 2016 🙂
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up Book Review – 3 stars.
Here are some of the books I picked up this past month! I’ve been trying to be good about buying new books this year because I have a ton that I haven’t read still on my shelves. This year I’m going to do my best to tackle all the books I own that I haven’t read yet. It definitely is a daunting task haha but we shall see 🙂 With that said, I did have some Barnes and Noble gift cards from Christmas so I picked up a few reads I’ve been dying to get my hands on and few books I wanted to try out. I also had to pick up a few books for school (not shown below). Let me know what books you’ve picked up this year!!
I unfortunately didn’t attend any fun bookish events this past month. I do have a few planned for February that I hope to recap for you here! I did visit a Library for class this past week – The Thomas Crane Public Library in Quincy, MA. It was such a beautiful old and new library and the staff was such a delight! They’re quite known for their adult literacy and ESOL programs. If you’re are in the area, I suggest a visit to the library.
Additionally, I took part in my first book club meeting for the year. I wasn’t able to attend the in-person book clubs that I signed up for due to not being able to read the books. (Things were a bit crazy with coming back up to Boston after a visit home and then with the start of the new semester). However, I was able to finish the book for the online Paper & Glam Book Club by Lisamarie. The live chat took place Jan. 28th over YouTube and it was so fun to participate in the live chat and discuss the book with everyone! I found it such a good experience for my first book club “meeting.” Do you participate in any book clubs? What was your club’s January pick?
There also were some mainstream bookish events happening. The Mortal Instruments series’ TV show, Shadowhunters, finally aired. After watching the first three episodes, I’m still unsure how I feel about the show. I think the writing is a little lacking or cheesy and I’m not sure about the actress playing Clary. However, I’m still going to give it a full season before I decide to make any permit judgments. What are your thoughts on the TV show so far? Additionally, I watched Sherlock: The Abominable Bride on TV. I LOVE the BBC Sherlock Holmes show and couldn’t wait to see this special. By the end I felt a little confused almost like I needed to rewatch the show. It seemed like it had an Inception flair to it haha so hopefully I’ll be able to watch it again and see what I might have missed. With that said, I still absolutely enjoyed it! Did you watch the Abominable Bride? What did you think? Also, The Fifth Wave just released in theaters but I have to go see it. I haven’t read the book yet, so I want to hold off until I do. 🙂
In other bookish related news, I’m still grappling with the fact that Alan Rickman (1946-2016) passed away. He was a wonderful actor and brought to life many characters. My favorite roles of his were Hans Gruber (Die Hard), Sheriff George of Nottingham (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves), Colonel Brandon (Sense & Sensibility), and of course Professor Snape (Harry Potter). I cannot thank him enough for sharing a part of himself as he took to the screen to portray these roles. While he was known for his acting, he was so much more than his roles. He was a wonderful man and he will be dearly missed. I will always keep him in my thoughts, prayers and heart.
Mainly, I’ve just been readjusting to Boston living and gearing up for my second semester. Last semester I was very much lacking in motivation for grad school, so this semester I’m hoping to do as much as I can as early as I can while I still have my motivation 🙂 Additionally, I just started participating in project life and have been working on my 2015 album via a monthly layout process. I’ve had such fun watching all the YouTube videos on this style of scrapbooking and I fell in love! I am also using an Erin Condren Life Planner for 2016 which has been super helpful in keeping me on track with what I have to do and keeping me motivated 🙂 Do you scrapbook or use a planner? Let me know your style/process!
Well that was January in a nutshell for me! I have some exciting things to share with you in February on top of all the fun bookish things! So keep an eye on my blog, Twitter and Instagram for the announcements! Thanks for stopping by!
Happy Reading!
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4 Comments
melodysimpson
31 January 2016 at 10:10 pmI must read Illuminae soon! It’s been on my shelf for the longest and I don’t know what’s holding me back because I know it’s amazing! Definitely want to get to I Work at a Public Library for a good laugh, hopefully soon! Great reads this month!
I still haven’t caught Shadowhunters, so nervous to watch it! But I might take the leap in February. I enjoyed The 5th Wave and hope you do too when you see it!
NicoleLynn
31 January 2016 at 10:36 pmThanks so much for stopping by! And yes I Work at a Public Library had me laughing a lot. I hope you enjoy Illuminae when you pick it up! It really blew me away. I hope to see The 5th Wave, but I just want to read the book first lol. The trailer looks awesome though!
Elizabeth
31 January 2016 at 3:28 pmI have heard such great things about ILLUMINAE! I hope you liked it. I couldn’t get used to the format, like 100 pages in and still couldn’t deal, so I’m planning to pick up the audio book at some point.
I still can’t believe Alan Rickman is gone. He had been one of my favorite actors for so long and it’s so sad. At least he’s not suffering anymore, is all I can think.
Welcome to Boston! I’m in Arlington! How are you liking it?
I scrapbook! Not so often anymore. I use a planner as well, but I don’t participate in the ‘pretty planning’ trend. I just need to get my schedule down on paper or else I would forget everything. I just discovered Pocket Letters and they look adorable and fun to make. I’m still gathering supplies, but plan to create one this week.
Sounds like you had a great January. I hope you have a great February as well!
NicoleLynn
31 January 2016 at 5:27 pmThanks so much for stopping by to comment! Illuminae was fantastic! It did take a while to get used to the different formatting, but once you do it becomes easier to read and I personally just got lost in the story.
And you’re right about Alan, at least he isn’t suffering anymore.
Boston is wonderful! Not as cold or as snowy as I thought it would be, but then again it’s only the end of January. I’m in the Fenway area! I haven’t explored as much as I would’ve liked to because of grad classes, but I’m hoping once Spring rolls around and Summer I’ll be able to explore more. Do you have any must see/visit places?
Haha yeah I don’t really “pretty plan” either because it was either scrapbook or pretty plan and not both (my wallet would definitely not allow it haha). I haven’t heard of Pocket Letters, but I’ll have to look that up now!
I hope you have an awesome February as well!!