February 1, 2014

January 2014

I can't believe it's the first day of February today! Time has flown by so, so fast for January, even though I don't think I've been doing much. It's been too cold to go out, so I've been in full on hibernation mode. The results? Half of my blog maintenance done, shows watched, and our apartment fully cleaned out (and nearly refurnished).

Next month, I go back to work for my old company (!), get to go to a bunch of author events (!!) and will be welcoming a new (well, old) contributor back to the blog (!!!). Check out the vlog for more updates (including my top reads from January and TBR for February):


What I'm Reading in February
The Girl of Fire & Thorns (my review), The Crown of Embers & The Bitter Kingdom by Rae Carson
The Secret Diamond Sisters by Michelle Madow (my review of Remembrance, her debut novel)
The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski
Obsidian, Onyx, Opal & Origin by Jennifer L. Armentrout (and here's Opposition, out in August!)
Half-Blood, Pure, Deity, Apollyon & Sentinel by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Mel's Recommendations
The Bet & The Wager by Rachel van Dyken
Real, Mine & Remy by Katy Evans
A Little Too Far & A Little Too Much by Lisa Desrochers

My Top Reads in January
Cress by Marissa Meyer (my review)
Infinite by Jodi Meadows (my review)
Secret by Brigid Kemmerer (my review)
Something Real by Heather Demetrios (review to come in February!)
Avalon by Mindee Arnett (my review)
The Luckiest Lady in London by Sherry Thomas (review to come in February!)

Bloggers Mentioned
Melissa (my sister!) of Snaps for Mel
Judith of Paperiot
Rachel of Hello, Chelly
Wendy of Book Scents
Betty of Book Rock Betty
Vi of Vi3tbabe and Deity Island
Cassie of Books with Cass
Racquel of The Book Barbies

Upcoming Blog Events
Join me & Nina for the Under the Never Sky Series Read-a-Thon!
Join me & Katelyn (and a ton of bloggers) for the 2014 Book Blogger Love-a-Thon!
Watch out for the top-secret event with Racquel and Sharon of The Book Barbies!

Upcoming NY Events (I might not make it to all of these, but check them out if you can!)
2/4: New Adult with J.Lynn and Cora Carmack, 6-8PM (CU Bookstore | 2922 Broadway)
2/6: Something Real Reading, 6-8PM (Powerhouse | address: 8th on Park Slope)
2/8: Something Real Launch Party, 7PM (Freddy's | address: 5th Ave & Prospect Ave)
2/12: Back to the Beginning: Before I Fall, 6-8PM (Books of Wonder | address: 18 West 18th St.)
2/13: Marissa Meyer Delivers Cress, 6-8PM (Books of Wonder | address: 18 West 18th St.)
2/18: YA Lit at 92Y: Dark Days Group, 8:15PM (Buttenweiser Hall | Lexington Ave., 92nd St.)
2/20: When Audrey Met Alice, 6-8PM (Books of Wonder | address: 18 West 18th St.)

Also, I've included a compilation of my January posts below. In case you missed some, feel free to click away and check them out!

Reviews
Being Sloane Jacobs - Lauren Morrill
The Princess in the Opal Mask - Jenny Lundquist
Taste of Darkness (Healer #3) - Maria V. Snyder
Unleashing Mr. Darcy - Teri Wilson
The Book of Broken Hearts - Sarah Ockler
Afterparty - Ann Redisch Stampler
Going Rogue (Also Known As #2) - Robin Benway
Another Little Piece of My Heart - Tracey Martin
Defy - Sara B. Larson
Why I Read: The Serious Pleasure of Books - Wendy Lesser
24th Room: The Vale Legend - Christy Ellynby
Proxy (Avalon #0.5) + Avalon (Avalon #1) - Mindee Arnett (+ a giveaway!)
Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy - Karen Foxlee
Cress (Lunar Chronicles #3) - Marissa Meyer
Infinite (Incarnate #3) - Jodi Meadows
Secret (Elementals #4) - Brigid Kemmerer
Wicked Designs - Lauren Smith (+ a giveway!)

Personal Posts
Alexa's 2014 List
I Simply Remember My Favorite Things, And Then I Don't Feel So Bad
2014 Bingo Bucket Board
XOXO Gossip Girl

Blog Events & Features
The Monday (Erm, Tuesday) Mix: January 7, 2014
2014 Book Blogger Love-a-Thon
It Takes Two: January 2014
Incarnate Series Read-a-thon Kick-off
Stacking the Shelves (1)
The Monday Mix: January 20, 2014
An Author a (Mon)day: Jodi Meadows
Creating a Royal Wedding Feast (Cress Blog Tour + Giveaway)

14 Comments:

  1. It sounds like you are going to have an awesome reading month in January! I recently read The Girl of Fire and Thorns and REALLY want to read books 2 and three this month, but I'm going to be good and focus on library books and e-galleys for the month. I want to read The Winner's Curse but may be waiting until March. And I'll be really curious to hear how you like Obsidian, as I got the first book a while ago for my iPad. Hope you have a great month!

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    1. I'm happy to hear that you really liked The Girl of Fire and Thorns! I have read that one, but never got around to continuing on with the next two. I'm excited to remedy that this month with Judith, and hope you get to finish it as well this year!

      And I'll definitely let you know how Obsidian and the rest of that series works out. I'm really curious to see how it'll live up in a binge read, especially because it comes so highly recommended.

      Happy February to you too!

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  2. Ahhhh Alexa, I'm SO excited you're going to read the Lux and Covenant series!!! I seriously ADORE JLA and those 2 series!! Know that I'll be tweet stalking you once you start reading them... :) speaking of... OMG you get to meet JLA and Cora Carmack!! Cora is the NICEST and JLA is one of the authors I so desperately wish I could meet!! She doesn't seem to be on my side of the country much though. :(

    I'm really excited to binge read the Under the Never Sky series next week though! Time for me to see what everyone's been going on about! Also, very exciting that your sister gets to contribute on the blog!

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    1. I'm pretty excited too! It comes so highly recommended from my sister, Rachel, you, Betty and Vi, so that definitely puts a lot of pressure on there. But they both sound great, and I can't wait to meet all these amazing characters everyone keeps talking about!

      I'm super excited about the JLA/Cora Carmack/Jay Crownover event. I've only read JLA's books, not the other two, but it should be really fun. I'm excited for Mel because it's her first time attending an event for an author she really likes!

      YAY! I'm so glad to hear you're joining us for the Under the Never Sky read-a-thon. I'm looking forward to seeing what the hype is all about, and I'm so glad I can just binge read it from start to finish. Keep me posted on your progress on Twitter!

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  3. I can't wait for The Winner's Curse! I'm also really jealous that you got to read Cress and Avalon. I tried reading The Girl of Fire and Thorns and got bored halfway, but I'll give it another shot next time. Not a huge fan of Jennifer Armentrout either. I feel like the black sheep again. .__.

    Aimee @ Read by the Undead

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    1. Oh! Don't feel that way -- everyone has their own reading tastes, and what might work for some won't work for other people. I'm curious to see how JLA and I get along, as I've only felt average about her NA novel that I've read. But I definitely hope it works out for me!

      Avalon is out now, and Cress is coming out this week, so you definitely have the chance to snag them soon. I hope you're able to read them too because they were pretty darn great!

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  4. :) I am SOOO excited for the love-a-thon AND I cannot wait to see your secret project with Sharon and Raquel!!! I have the Covenant series on my wishlist on Amazon, pushed it out of my mind for the past month and now I have that urge to binge buy them all over again :P I can't wait to see how you love them! Have an awesome February Alexa <3 P.S. I'm off to read the Gossip Girl post again!!!

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    1. I am SO happy that you'll be joining us for the love-a-thon! It's going to be an amazing event, and I'm really excited for it. And, as for secret project, you'll just have to wait and see. It's going to be a fun one!

      I will definitely let you know what I think of the Covenant series. They sound really good in theory and my sister definitely loved them, so I have hopes that they'll work out well for me.

      Happy February, Lauren! (And enjoy the Gossip Girl post! I shared it for you and Ellice <3)

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  5. Now you had a pretty busy month.
    http://booketta.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/its-wrap-end-of-month-round-up.html

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    1. Yeah, the month got surprisingly crazy in spite of the really cold weather! I'm going to hop over to check out your recap later on, but thank you for stopping by my blog <3

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  6. Ahhhh you have so many amazing events coming up! I'm so jealous!! Looks like January was pretty good to you! :D

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    1. January was a nice month, in spite of the horrid weather and the initial bout of sadness. It ended on a high note for sure! And I am REALLY excited about all the events ahead of me, and hope that I can make it to them all.

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  7. You know how much I love JLA! And of course New Adult Reads! Can't wait for the collaborations on both our blogs! <3

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    1. Our collaboration is going to be pretty darn epic! I can't wait to do our joint posts on your blog, and to have you posting again on this blog :)

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