The Weekend Update - 1.10.15

So, since my end-of-the-week post isn't just about what I got in my mailbox or on my Kindle each week -- though that is a big part of it, I won't lie -- I decided to change up the title and intro a bit.  I might tweak the format a bit over the next few weeks, but for the most part, it'll contain the same stuff: stuff I got, stuff I did, and stuff that's coming up on the blog.  Plus, I get to use the awesome GIF you see here and blow kisses to all the people who sent me lovely books and bookish things.  Oh, and I've started linking up to Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga's Reviews since I'm not using a specific meme title anymore.  April's also doing her own Stacking the Shelves posts on Sundays.  Stop by and say hi!  =)

Man, the first full week back to work after the holidays is always killer, but it seemed worse this year for some reason. Maybe because I joined my boss in his pledge to give up alcohol for the month of January. It's part of my attempt to be healthier and more focused this year. No one said it would be easy, right? And nothing worth having or doing should come easily, I suppose.

And just as with most of the rest of the country, it's been unseasonably cold here in North Texas...we got down to 18° the other night and were expecting some wintry precip this weekend, but it looks like that may miss us altogether now. Bummer. The only time I don't mind the cold so much is when there's snow on the ground. I'm hoping for a year like that one we had a few years back when practically all of the Metroplex shut its doors for a week because we got so much snow at once. Either way, the cold makes for the perfect cozy reading weather, doesn't it?. ;0)

Anyway, here's what I scored this week:

For Review:

Last Year's Mistake by Gina Ciocca - This was my #WoW pick a few weeks ago, so I'm super-psyched to have it in my hands. It just sounds like my kind of contemporary. :D

Purchased:


Ensnared by A.G. Howard - My older sister and I have been waiting ages for this book to release. She loves anything Alice-related and I got her hooked on this series awhile back. However, while she's #TeamJeb, I am FIRMLY on #TeamMorpheus. I've seen really, really mixed reviews for this finale, so I'm a little nervous. But so far, I haven't been spoiled, so there's that. ;0)

The Glass Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg - I DLed the first book in this series on audio because it was on sale for like $3, and it sounded like my kind of read, despite some not-so-favorable reviews. It totally was, which is why I just grabbed this one on audio, too.

ETA:


Never, Never by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher - on a whim last night, I DLed this one and had it read in no time. I've never read a book by Tarryn Fisher, but I love CoHo and I am soooo digging this collaboration. Not digging all the questions I have now after reading this first book, but it was amazing and I can't wait to see where the story goes from here. :) I doubt I'll review this one any further than I did on GR last night because going into it blind is kind of the best. :)

Freebies/Gifts:


The Girl & the Machine by Beth Revis - Beth offered this up for free to the first 100 people who responded to her newsletter, but she met that quota within SIX minutes, so she then made it available to the first 500. Such a generous author! It's to entice us to pick up her new collection of short stories, and I'm sure I'll be doing just that.


So, that's my haul. :) How about you? What did you get this week?

The Week in Review:

Reviews:

• The Lunar Chronicles (re-listen & mini-reviews) - Jen
• Perfect Ruin (audio) - April
• Snow Like Ashes (audio) - Jen

Current Giveaways:



Promotional/Discussion Posts:  

• The Rhodes Family - A SIMS "Birth" Story - in which April shares more of her love of all things SIMS
• Our Most Anticipated 2015 Debut Novels
• Waiting on Written in the Stars & Rook this week #WoW
• Katie & Aubrey recreate I'll Meet You There and give us their thoughts in this installment of Judging a Book By Its Cover

Jen's Currently Reading/Listening To:

I had actually forgotten to download this one from NG until I got that email this week, and then I was only going to read a couple of pages to see when I'd fit it into the schedule...whoops. It's actually really fast-paced and hard to put down, contrary to some other reviews I've seen.

Ugh. I tried to start this on Thursday but then realized my memory wasn't quite as good as I thought. So, I opted to re-listen to the entire series before diving into this one. But I'm ready now. Even if some reviews have me biting my nails. o_O

Upcoming Reviews:

I promise these reviews really are forthcoming...it's been busy around here with the holidays and first of the year stuff, yada, yada, yada. :)

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