Hello readers!
I'm posting this a little late but I've finally found a moment to blog and this seems like the best place to start.
Goals! Did I ever get around to talking about my new year goals? I didn't set many. Read 52 books or more. Read at least 30 chapter books to my daughter. Keep up with bookstagram (and our new kidstagram? kidbookstagram? kidlitstagram?) occasionally.
January didn't turn out too well. Perhaps it was because I focused more on recording goals and challenges and setting up trackers in my bujo so I can hold myself accountable instead of reading much of anything. I think I really needed a break, but I'm motivated and fitting in more and more reading time as I find my balance with... ugh... just everything.
So here are the books I hope I can get around to reading this month:
Monday, February 1, 2021
February 2021 TBR & Goals
Wednesday, January 13, 2021
Every Little Letter by Deborah Underwood & Joy Hwang Ruiz (Children's Picture Book Review)
Every Little Letter
Written by Deborah Underwood
Illustrated by Joy Hwang Ruiz
Published by Dial Books
on August 4, 2020
Genre: Children's, Picture Books
Length: 40 pages
Ages: 4 - 8 years
Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | BookDepository
Synopsis:
For fans of The Word Collector and Be Kind comes a story of words, walls, and widening your world, by New York Times bestselling author Deborah Underwood.
My Thoughts:
'How do you tear down walls?
With words at first.
Then brick by brick.'
Little h lives in a small, walled-in world with the other H's and all is pleasant for them, but curious Little h wonders what's beyond the walls and what the other letters are like. And then one day, Little h finds a little hole in the wall and peeks through, seeing and making quick friends with Little i. The big H's don't want the little letters to see each other, but friendship always finds a way!
This is such an amazing picture book that takes a world of letters, all separated by their walls and their fears of the bigger world, and brings them together to show that we are better and stronger united rather than divided.
Every Little Letter is a wonderful reminder to all that kind words bring us together and that we can use them to tear down walls, both physical and metaphorical. This is one picture book I'd recommend every library, teacher, and parent have on their shelves!
Friday, January 8, 2021
Snow, Glass, Apples by Neil Gaiman (Adult Graphic Novel Review)
Snow, Glass, Apples
Written by Neil Gaiman
Adapted by Colleen Duran
Published by Dark Horse Comics
on August 20, 2019
Genre: Adult, Horror,
Fairytale Retelling, Graphic Novel
Length: 64 pages
Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | BookDepository
Synopsis:
A chilling fantasy retelling of the Snow White fairy tale by New York Times bestselling creators Neil Gaiman and Colleen Doran!
A not-so-evil queen is terrified of her monstrous stepdaughter and determined to repel this creature and save her kingdom from a world where happy endings aren't so happily ever after.
My Thoughts:
This is an absolutely fantastic graphic novel adaptation of Neil Gaiman's dark horror retelling of Snow White!
The illustrations are stunning. I loved the unique layering of scenes and sequences and the sheer amount of detail on every single page. They all have a wonderfully dark, surreal quality that fits the macabre quality of the story.
The story is rather fascinating, despite that the tale of Snow White is well known. Gaiman turned this classic fairytale on its head, switching where our sympathies lie and turning this into a truly dark and horrific but unique tale that I've yet to see in any retelling.
Content Warnings include nudity and somewhat pornographic images (breasts, bums, and some obviously sexual poses) and very dark and unpleasant themes such as necrophilia, gore, death, and dun-dun-dun... menstrual blood?
This is for adults.
Wednesday, January 6, 2021
Cozy by Jan Brett (Children's Picture Book Review)
Cozy
Written & illustrated by
Jan Brett
Published by
G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
on October 20, 2020
Genre: Children's, Picture Books
Length: 32 pages
Ages: 4 - 8 years
Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | BookDepository
Synopsis:
A group of clever animals find an unusual but warm and furry home during Alaska's long winter in Jan Brett's newest snowy adventure.
My Thoughts:
This is a sweet and heartwarming wintery story about a young, furry musk ox named Cozy who lives in Alaska and is separated from his family in a blizzard and shelters many of the critters he comes across.
This is very reminiscent of other Jan Brett picture books we've read such as 'The Mitten' and 'The Hat,' where many creatures search out warmth in the same small, cramped space, but 'Cozy' has it's own heartwarming creature to save the day instead of a discarded piece of clothing.
As usual, Jan Brett does a fantastic job of illustrating winter scenes and Arctic creatures. We love her unique style of extraordinarily detailed artwork but also her uncanny way of weaving both words and illustrations into both an audio and visual story.
Monday, January 4, 2021
2021 PopSugar Reading Challenge
Are you participating in the PopSugar reading challenge this year?
This will be the third year I've participated but I've never been strict with following the prompts and have yet to complete one.
Perhaps this will be the year that I change that!
Feel free to leave me recs for the ones I haven't filled in yet!
* = currently reading
1. A book that's published in 2021
The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight
The Diviners
4. A book by an author who shares your zodiac sign
Joan Aiken,
5. A dark academia book
The Secret History, Catherine House, Dead Poet's Society
6. A book with a gem, mineral, or rock in the title
Gods, Jade, and Shadows by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
7. A book where the main character works at your current or dream job
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore
The Haunted Bookshop by Christopher Morley
8. A book that has won the Women's Prize for Fiction
An American Marriage
9. A book with a family tree
10. A bestseller from the 1990's
Practical Magic
The Virgin Suicides
Jurassic Park
Cold Mountain
11. A book about forgetting
The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by VE Schwab
12. A book you have seen on someone's bookshelf (in real life, on a Zoom call, in a TV show, etc)
13. A locked-room mystery
The Last Time I Lied
14. A book set in a restaurant
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
15. A book with a black-and-white cover
My Dark Vanessa, A Promised Land
16. A book by an Indigenous author
There, There by Tommy Orange
17. A book that has the same title as a song
Layla by Colleen Hoover
For Whom The Bell Tolls
The Phantom of the Opera
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Brave New World
18. A book about a subject you are passionate about
19. A book that discusses body positivity
20. A book found on a Black Lives Matter reading list
Stamped From the Beginning
White Fragility
21. A genre hybrid
Gideon the Ninth
22. A book set mostly or entirely outdoors
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
The Wood
Gone to the Woods
23. A book with something broken on the cover
Ready Player Two (broken letters)
This Is Where It Ends
24. A book by a Muslim American author
We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal
A Thousand Splendid Suns
Thorn by Intisar Khanani
Have Read & Recommend: Internment by Samira Ahmed
25. A book that was published anonymously
26. A book with an oxymoron in the title
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth
The Once and Future Witches
27. A book about do-overs or fresh starts
T
Circe
28. A magical realism book
House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
Love in the Time of Cholera
Have Read & Recommend: Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel, Beloved by Toni Morrison
29. A book set in multiple countries
Gods of Jade and Shadow
30. A book set somewhere you'd like to visit in 2021
Cold Mountain
Willa of the Woods
31. A book by a blogger, vlogger, YouTube video creator, or other online personality
Turtles All the Way Down
32. A book whose title starts with "Q," "X," or "Z"
The Queen's Gambit
Queen of the Tearling
33. A book featuring three generations (grandparent, parent, child)
The Vanishing Half
A Thousand Splendid Suns
Spinning Silver
34. A book about a social justice issue
The Vanishing Half
Stamped from the beginning
35. A book in a different format than what you normally read (audiobooks, ebooks, graphic novels)
audiobook -
36. A book that has fewer than 1,000 reviews on Amazon or Goodreads
37. A book you think your best friend would like
38. A book about art or an artist
39. A book everyone seems to have read but you
Practical Magic
Salem's Lot
Verity
Carrie
Advanced
41. The longest book (by pages) on your TBR list
Dune, A Priory of the Orange Tree
42. The shortest book (by pages) on your TBR list
Brokeback Mountain
43. The book on your TBR list with the prettiest cover
The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea
Pan's Labyrinth
King of Scars
44. The book on your TBR list with the ugliest cover
The Hunger
The Virgin Suicides
Fried Green Tomatoes
45. The book that's been on your TBR list for the longest amount of time
The Thirteenth Tale
A Tale of Two Cities
46. A book from your TBR list you meant to read last year but didn't
The Near Witch
The Library of Auschwitz
Fever 1793
47. A book from your TBR list you associate with a favorite person, place, or thing
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
48. A book from your TBR list chosen at random
The Case of the Missing Marquess
Bridge of Souls
49. A DNF book from your TBR list
The Bone Houses
50. A free book from your TBR list (gifted, borrowed, library)
You can find the original challenge post over on PopSugar.com
Instagram #popsugarreadingchallenge
Saturday, January 2, 2021
2021 ABC Reading Challenge
Happy New Year!
Are you ready for an all-new year of reading?
I've been doing some form of this ABC challenge for years now and really enjoy making both a list to cross off and a list to add the books I finished reading to, in alphabetical order.
I like to make a list of 100 books I'd love to read each year and I share that list here, on Goodreads, and on ListChallenges (for the cover visuals).
Previous Years
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021 Alphabet Challenge!
* = currently reading
MY TBR LIST
(scroll down for list of books I've read for the challenge in 2021)
Bridge of Souls,
C
Code Name Helene,
D
E
Elysium Girls,
F
The Family Upstairs,
G
Gods of Jade and Shadow, Gideon the Ninth,
H
I
*The Invisible Life of Addie Larue, In the Night Wood
J
K
L
The Last Time I Lied, Lobizona, The Librarian at Auschwitz, Let the Right One In, Lovecraft Country, The Library of Legends, Layla, A Little Life, The Light in Hidden Places
M
Miracle Creek,
N
The Near Witch
O
The Once and Future Witches
P
Poison,
Q
The Queen of the Tearling
R
Ready Player Two,
S
T
The Thirteenth Tale, This Is Where It Ends, A Thousand Splendid Suns, To The Bright Edge of the World
U
Ugly Love
V
Verity, Vicious, The Vanishing Half, The Virgin Suicides
W
Watch Hollow, Wolf Hollow, *The Woman in Cabin 10, White Fragility, The Wood, The Witch's Heart
X
Y
The Year of the Witching,
Z
Books I Actually Read in 2021
* = Currently reading
A
Across the Green Grass Fields
Animal Barn (novella)
B
Between the World and Me
C
Class Act (graphic novel)
The Colorado Kid
The Cousins
The Comfort Book
D
Dune: The Graphic Novel Vol 1
The Deep by Rivers Solomon
The Desolations of Devil's Acre
The Dollhouse:A Ghost Story
E
Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger
Emma in the Night
Embassy of the Dead
F
The Frozen Crown by Greta Kelly
The Four Rooms
A Field Guide to Getting Lost
Final Girls
G
The Girl With the Louding Voice
Go Ask Alice
Gone to the Woods
H
Hamnet
The Hill We Climb
The Handmaid's Tale: Graphic Novel
The Haunting of Alma Fielding
The Home for Unwanted Girls
Hour of the Witch
*The Hideaway
I
Inside Out and Back Again
Into the Volcano
J
K
L
Lore*
Long Way Down
Listen, Slowly
Later
M
*My Dark Vanessa
The Midnight Library
The Mysterious Affair at Styles
Mortal Engines
Moxie
N
O
The One and Only Ivan
The One and Only Bob
Off Trail
P
A Promised Land*
Petrified Women
Q
R
The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise
S
Stamped: Remix
*Survive the Night
T
T. MInus: The Race to the Moon
Thornhill
U
V
W
A Walk in the Woods
The Whispering Dead
*Willa of the Wood
X
Y
You Love Me
Z
Friday, January 1, 2021
2021 TBR & Reading Goals
Happy New Year, readers!
I hope your new year rings in with all the best
after the train wreck of a year that was 2020!
2020 did not go as planned and I have no idea if this year will be any different so I am taking it easy on challenges (and probably even blogging) but I will keep up with my reading, as usual. In case I don't blog much this year, you can keep up with what I'm currently reading on Goodreads and Bookstagram!
My 2021 Reading Goals
Like last year, I am keeping my personal reading goal at 52 books.
I'm going to continue reading at least one graphic novel a month but also want to attempt to read one non-fiction a month in 2021.
I've also joined a historical-fiction book club, called Bookstorians, through a friend on Bookstagram and will be reading along with their every-other-month choices. It'll be my first time participating in an actual book club so I'm really looking forward to the discussions.
I'd like to read at least 30 extra read-aloud chapter books to my daughter, which won't be difficult considering that we still read every night and are continuing our home education program which has plenty of reading material!
As for challenges, I am going to keep track of the books I read for the ABC Challenge, the settings of the books I read, and am participating in the PopSugar Reading Challenge.
Challenges
ABC CHALLENGE
PopSugar Reading Challenge
MY 100 BOOK TBR LIST
on Goodreads
&
ListChallenges
My JANUARY TBR CHOICES
Are you participating in any reading challenges or setting a reading goal this year? Whether yes or no, happy New Year and happy reading!


















