Monthly Re-Cap: November 2017

Hello Readers, Bloggers, and Awesome people!

The month of November was a whirlwind. I got more tattooing done, it's not finished yet but have only one more sitting to finish my wings (Photos to come).  I participated in the HoHoHo Readathon and read six out of seven books I had listed for my TBR pile. There was Thanksgiving in there too and loads of work stuff going on at the term wrapped up and my faculty were traveling.

The biggest thing though was that I participated in NaNoWriMo... I have been saying/ typing for a long time that I am a reader not a writer and I still feel very strongly about that but this year in October I decided I wanted to go all out and try this writing thing. I talked with the husband and we talked about plots and stories and I outlined and planned and then November 1st... I started writing. 

I got that first little badge about updating a word count on the NaNoWriMo site and lost it - it says "Also, no bigs, you've started a freaking novel!" I started a draft and got 30K words done. I didn't outline enough to reach the full "win" goal but it was still a victory for me. I have a (horrible) first draft and I will play with it and see what happens but I was happy for myself. I kept it all a secret from a lot of people though - I didn't want to fall on my face and have everyone see. But I'm proud of what I did and thought I would share. I will be posting a Vlog update on the YouTube Channel ...real soon ... jk NOW.

How was your month? What did you read?  

~~Books I Read in November~~
     

How did I do on my November TBR + HoHoHo Readathon TBR?

• Not good on the November TBR, I didn't get to them too much going on: 0/2 
• But I did pretty good on my Readathon list, and finished it after the Readathon: 7/7

~~Links to Some Reviews~~
One Christmas Bear by Anne Vittur Kennedy (Youth) - 5 stars

Fliers by Nathaniel Russel (Adult) - 4 stars
The Deadman's Tome: Monsters Exist by Various (Adult) - 4 stars
Lizzy the Lioness by Lisa Bevere (Youth) - 4 stars 
 
~~Reviews Up This Month From Previous Re-Caps~~
Nick the Knight, Dragon Slayer by Aron Dijkstra (Youth) -5 starsThe Giant Pumpkin Suite by Melanie Heulser Hall (MG) -4 stars
The Death of Death by K.N. Parker (YA)- 4 stars
The Painting by Charis Cotter (MG/YA) - 4 stars

Once Upon a Tree by Dawn Jarocki and Soren Kisiel (Youth) - 5 stars
Quiet Girl in a Noisy World by Debbie Tung (GN, Adult) - 5 stars
Breaking Up is Hard to Do...But You Could've Done Better by Hillary Campbell (GN, Adult) - 3 stars
Northstars Volume 1 by Jim and Haigen Shelley (GN) - 4 stars
Queso! by Lisa Fain (Cookbook) - 5 stars



Reviews still on their way to you:

Coming in December...
The Very Very Very Long Dog by Julia Patten (Youth)  
Washington DC Monsters by Rebecca Moeller (Youth) 
Hubble Bubble The Wacky Winter Wonderland by Tracey Corderoy (MG)
Baseball Bats for  Christmas by Michael Arvaarluk Kusugak (Youth)
When Santa Was a Baby by Linda Bailey (Youth)
Christmas in Mistletoe Cove by Holly Martin (Adult)
In Real Life by Cory Doctorow (GN, YA) 
The Lighthouse Santa by Sara Hoagland Hunter (Youth) 
The Girl Who Saved Christmas (Christmas #2) by Matt Haig (MG) 

Coming in 2018 ...
Crafty Cat and the Great Butterfly Battle (Crafty Cat #3) by Charise Mericle Harper (MG, GN) 
My Bed by Anita Bijsterbosch (Youth)
Fish-Boy by Vanita Oelschlager (Youth) 
Lies We Tell Our Kids by Brett Wagner (Adult, GN) 
A Windy Spring Day by Wendy Dunham (Youth, MG) 

Recent Reads: Lizzy the Lioness by Lisa Bevere

Source: From BookLook Bloggers in exchange for an honest review. This in no way alters my opinion or review.

Lizzy the Lioness by Lisa Bevere
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Publication Date:  October 3, 2017

 

Format:  Hardback

Rating:


 




Goodreads Synopsis: 

Sometimes the bravest thing you can do is ask for help! Encourage your little ones with the true meaning of bravery through the beautiful story of Lizzy the Lioness by New York Times bestselling author Lisa Bevere.
Boys and girls will love the story of Lizzy, a little lion who must learn what it truly means to be brave in the face of hard things. When she sees someone in danger, Lizzy tries her best to help, but she quickly learns that sometimes being brave means asking adults for help.

With a unique spin on the concept of bravery, Lizzy the Lioness is a timely picture book in an ever-changing world. Children will see that bravery is so much more than big muscles or loud roars but often is found in the tiniest people who have the courage to speak up when no one else will. By asking God for help and then bringing grown-ups into the picture, Lizzy shows kids that being brave doesn’t have to happen by yourself—it happens with help!

New York Times bestselling author Lisa Bevere’s first picture book will make waves with its unique and compelling message for families everywhere. Parents and children alike will enjoy the beautiful artwork as well as the story of communication and teamwork.

You don’t have to be the biggest to be the strongest, and you don’t have to be the loudest to be the bravest. Show your children God’s truest definition of bravery with the timeless story of Lizzy the Lioness. 

Review: 
Lizzy the Lioness is about a young, adventurous lion cub that wants to be big and brave. She loved to explore and go off on her own and really dislikes nap time. She is like a lot of the young kids that I know. She makes a friend and when that friend is put into danger she must be the bravest ever and find the courage to ask for help versus getting involved.

This was a very nice story. Lizzy is, like I said, a lot like the children I know. She wants to learn and explore (and not nap). She is learning a lot the bigger she gets and is understanding more about how to be brave and what that means. The book does a great job leading up to the action and the illustrations are detailed and fun to look at, and overall the lesson of the story is a wonderful one. For the lesson here alone, I think this is a good book for a children's collection.

Early Reader Review: Breaking Up is Hard to Do... By Hilary Campbell

Source: From Netgalley and Animal Media Group in exchange for an honest review. This in no way alters my opinion or review.

Breaking Up is Hard To Do... But You Could've Done Better by Hilary Campbell
Publisher: Animal Media Group, LLC.
Publication Date:  January 10, 2017

 

Format: Ebook

Rating:


 



Goodreads Synopsis: 

Anonymous break up stories from men and women, old and young, serious and silly and the cartoons that inspired them. Author and artist Hilary Campbell turns the painful into the hilarious, validating emotions from forgotten middle school tragedies to relationships that ended only hours ago.

Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and cartoonist. Her films have won top prizes at Slamdance, SF IndieFest, and more. She was the co-illustrator of Jessica Bennett’s critically acclaimed Feminist Fight Club. Breaking Up Is Hard To Do, But You Could've Done Better is her first book of cartoons.

Review: 
A friend of mine recently let a guy go, it was only after a few dates, she wasn't feeling it - but he kept trying to get more info out of her about why. We started coming up with things to tell him to let him down easy and not so easy and then another friend suggested writing a book - funny enough I found this one a few days later, laughed my head off and then sent a cover shot to the friend. All that being said, I was excited to have found this and for some reason I thought it would be funnier. Maybe I was in the wrong mind-set. 

The book is stories about break-ups and how bad they were with illustrations by Hilary Campbell. It all came about after a nasty break-up that she had and eventually she drew a picture and it made her laugh and she was hoping to do the same for others in the same situation. I think this is a great idea, if you are down, I think reading about other peoples misery and seeing these images would be uplifting. Sadly for me, in the place I am at in my life, it was only ok. A few of the stories made me laugh, and I think that says good things, but I was expecting it to be more over the top and that is completely my fault, not the book's fault.

If you are going through some sh*t, this book would be a great read, it is entertaining and it might even make you feel better. If everything seems ok, it might be a bit of a downer - and that is how I felt about it.

Discussion and Giveaway! Getting Rid of Books?!

Today is a Discussion Day here at Cover2CoverBlog. I am trying to start these a little more since they seem fun :) I hope you enjoy and if you have any topic suggestions let me know in the comments.

Today's Topic

Getting Rid of Books...?

AHHHHHHH, this topic always hurts me a little on the inside. Getting rid of books - who would do that? Why would we want to? Where do they go? Well in today's discussion I want to hear from you in the comments but also I am going to tell you what I have been doing with my 'extras'...

First off, obviously I blog about books because I LOOOOOOVE books... so it is expected that I have some... some might be an understatement.

Here is just a taste of the mess that is my house... 

I have a few shelves as you can see here - we have a built-in that the hubs made me in the office, it holds mostly Adult Fiction. Then I have a tall shelf and a short one with Young Adult books, and then another short shelf with Middle Grade books.

   

[It should also be noted that I have comics all over the place and more books and reads on my desk and I have NO SHAME]

We recently re-did the dining room and that is where all the bookshelves were. we decided to move them all to make the space more dining room like and less of a library (I want ALL the rooms to look like a library ... but apparently that is not pleasing to the eye for some 😜).

So we moved one shelf to the upstairs hall and the other ones into the office. I have to admit they look nice in their new homes but before getting them pretty I had to do a bit of paring down... thus the purge. 

I touched all the books.

For the YA shelf, which was moved to the office, I took all the books and piled them on my desk - mostly to get them back into alphabetical order by author, and then I decided I needed more space. So I started to go through the books, the ones that I have bought and then never read or that I won in a giveaway pack that weren't really for me,  and the ones that I had read and just didn't really enjoy but was still hoarding for some reason. 

I decided that I would offer up these sad cast-offs on the blog to anyone willing to pay shipping, and when there were no takers I decided to print up little notes and leave them in the Little Free Library in town. I had about 20 books from my YA shelf and I gave about 6 to people at work, I saved one for my sister, and the rest I took in two trips to the Free Library. 

The notes I included said the following for the advanced copies (even if they were older) and then had my blog url because I am without shame as you know:

The book you are receiving is from Cover2CoverBlog. The book was received as a promotional item for review and cannot be sold when you have finished reading it. Please book-fairy it on to its next reader. HAPPY READING!

 

 Then a few days later I tackled the Middle Grade books and came up with another stack, it was much smaller about 10 books and most of these when to friends with kids in this age group.

I still haven't gone through my 'adult' shelves but need to at some point. Otherwise I do Giveaways!!! When I think you guys need books (and I have the $$ to ship them).

So in the spirit of getting rid of and giving away books - tell me how you pare down your books and you could win a new one :) 

Prize:

Giveaway is for a random MG or YA Book

Rules:

• U.S. Residents only.
• Winner must be 13 with a parents permission or older.
• Please no giveaway accounts, you must have other content in order to be eligible. 
• Please be truthful about your entries - I will be checking.
• Winner should respond to prize email within 48 hours or forfeit their prize to another person.
• Prizes will be mailed as media mail and Cover2CoverBlog is not responsible for anything that may occur during the shipping process.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Building the Book Pile #261

Welcome to Building the Book Pile!  A Weekly meme inspired by Stacking the Shelves

Hello Readers, Bloggers, and Awesome people! 

Good Morning! It was a long but eventful week... How was yours?

I hope that everyone that celebrated Thanksgiving had a wonderful one. We spent the time with some friends, it has been a big year for them - they got engaged and closed on a house, so they had both families (and us) over for Thanksgiving. It was very nice. 

My Monday and Tuesday were long work days and Tuesday we had a work potluck, I love the community we have there. On Wednesday, I did SO MANY chores because I had been putting them off. Laundry was stacked everywhere and there were more dishes than I thought I owned stacked in the sink. Thursday was Thanksgiving and then the rest of the weekend I have been knitting, writing and blogging and all that - trying to get December reviews all prepped early.
 

Don't forget to visit my knits shop!! 
Taking stock of everything I have so far for the Craft Fair, which is the 7th. If you see something you love, go buy it now or it might be gone soon.

  Giveaways  on Cover2CoverBlog!
   

Coming up on the Blog

Discussion: Paring Down the Books
Recent Reads: Breaking Up is Hard To Do by Hilary Campbell (Adult)
Recent Reads: Lizzy the Lioness by Lisa Bevere (Youth)
Monthly Re-Cap: November 2017
December TBR Pile

Books Received this Week    

      

Lizzy the Lioness by Lisa Bevere from BookLook Bloggers in exchange for review.

Have you missed anything lately?

Week of  November 19 -November 25

Cover2CoverBlog Holiday Giveaway!
Recent Reads: The Deadman's Tome - Monsters Exist by Various (Adult)- 4 stars
Early Reader Review: Once Upon a Tree by Soren Kisiel and Dawn Jarock (Youth) - 5 stars
Early Reader Review: Northstars Vol 1 by Jim and Haigen Shelley (GN, MG) - 4 stars
Thanksgiving Post
Early Reader Review: Quiet Girl in a Noisy World by Debbie Tung (Adult, GN) - 5 stars

Comment and leave me a link to your Round-up/ STS/ Weekly...anything, post and I will happily stop by and say hello!

Happy Reading!

Early Reader Review: Quiet Girl in a Noisy World by Debbie Tung

Source: From Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing in exchange for an honest review. This in no way alters my opinion or review.

Quiet Girl in a Noisy World: An Introvert's Story by Debbie Tung
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Publication Date:  November 30, 2017

 

Format:  Ebook


Rating:


 



Goodreads Synopsis: 

Sweet, funny, and quietly poignant, Debbie Tung’s comics reveal the ups and downs of coming of age as an introvert.

This illustrated gift book of short comics illuminates author Debbie Tung's experience as an introvert in an extrovert’s world. Presented in a loose narrative style that can be read front to back or dipped into at one’s leisure, the book spans three years of Debbie's life, from the end of college to the present day. In these early years of adulthood, Debbie slowly but finally discovers there is a name for her lifelong need to be alone: she’s an introvert.

The first half of the book traces Debbie’s final year in college: socializing with peers, dating, falling in love (with an extrovert!), moving in, getting married, meeting new people, and simply trying to fit in. The second half looks at her life after graduation: finding a job, learning to live with her new husband, trying to understand social obligations when it comes to the in-laws, and navigating office life. Ultimately, Quiet Girl sends a positive, pro-introvert message: our heroine learns to embrace her introversion and finds ways to thrive in the world while fulfilling her need for quiet.

Review: 
As a fellow INFJ, I absolutely fell in love with everything this book had to offer. It was a spectacular portrayal of exactly what it is like to live as an introvert and I really appreciated it.  I found the book while playing in Netgalley and am SO HAPPY that I did.

Debbie does a wonderful job explaining herself through these comics in a way that is understandable and very relatable even if you are no introverted, but it resonates even more because I am. The comics the book contains are short ones so it is easy to start and stop where ever you are or read it all in one glorious sitting like I did. We follow Debbie through the years and into becoming an adult, I call it being a 'real adult' sometimes because even though I am in my 30s I still don't think of myself as an adult. Much like the author and these comics, I love a day in, with a blanket fort and tea or cocoa and a good book or binging a show. I love doing nothing and being alone, but sometimes feel obligated to do adult things like go out and socialize.

I loved everything about this comic compilation and appreciate this author for putting it all out there, as an introvert - I know how very hard that can be, but it really is appreciated and I loved it all.

Happy Thanksgiving from Cover2CoverBlog

I am so thankful this year for many things one is that you are here reading the blog (still) and are my internet friends.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving if you are in the US and a wonderful day even if you aren't celebrating...

Gobble Gobble!

Nom Nom!

Recent Reads: Northstars Welcome to Snowville by Jim and Haigen Shelley

Source: From Netgalley and Action Lab Entertainment in exchange for an honest review. This in no way alters my opinion or review.

Northstars Volume 1: Welcome to Snowville! by Jim and Haigen Shelley

Series: Northstars Volume 1
Publisher: Action Lab Entertainment
Publication Date:  October 24, 2017

 

Format:  Ebook

Rating:


 




Goodreads Synopsis: 

Join us for the magical adventures of Holly, the daughter of Santa Claus, and Frostina, a Yeti Princess, as they explore the mystical wonders of the land of Polaris. In this first volume in a series of oversized keepsake hardcovers, Holly and Frostina journey to the subterranean city of Undertown to investigate trouble in Troggie Town. There is an evil force scheming right below Snowville, and it threatens Christmas itself .

Review: 
Gearing up for more holiday fun! 

This graphic novel is the first 2 chapters of Northstars. We meet Holly Claus, the daughter of Santa, and Frostina, the Yetiville Princess as they realize something is up in Snowville. The have to go on an adventure to defeat evil to save Christmas.

This was a magical holiday adventure that will be a fun read for all ages. It is bright and festive and the adventure is entertaining but on the shorter side. It was easy to read and follow and I loved all the characters introduced.  Holly Claus and Frostina are in for a long friendship I think, and they seem to complement each other well.

Yay for holiday books, this is one to definitely get you into the spirit without being too over the top - shove Christmas in your face.

Early Reader Review: Once Upon a Tree by Dawn Jarocki and Soren Kisiel

Source: From Netgalley and Plum Blossom in exchange for an honest review. This in no way alters my opinion or review.

Once Upon a Tree by Dawn Jarocki and Soren Kisiel
Publisher: Plum Blossom
Publication Date:  October 31, 2017

 

Format:  Ebook

Rating:

 



Goodreads Synopsis: 

This fable of a little leaf looking for his purpose will delight children and their caretakers.
The whirling, swirling adventures of an ordinary little leaf high on a tree, struggling to find its purpose. The leaf watches baby birds break out of their shells and grow until they learn to fly. Caterpillars wrap themselves in silk and emerge as magnificent butterflies. Warm sunny days get shorter and windy chilly nights grow longer. The little leaf is terribly worried that it should be transforming too. It no longer noticed anything other than the thoughts spinning in its head. The leaf held on to the tree with all its might, growing exhausted as increasingly cooler winds blew. Then one day, the leaf noticed it had become a beautiful crimson color. And it became aware that maybe, maybe it was time for the leaf to fly too. The leaf was very tired, so it just let go. As it danced and twirled to the ground in the amber sunlight, the leaf finally learns its own unique purpose.

Review: 
I received this book for review and was a little sad when I got only the text and no images/ illustration - I hope that when you pick it up the pictures are amazing. *

The text of the book was beautiful. The story is about a leaf trying to find his purpose and learning about birds and caterpillars. The leaf gets so wrapped up in the animals around it, it forgets to appreciate the world around it. When it finally does it learns its purpose. The story is absolutely uplifting and relatable, even though it is from the point of view of a leaf. I think that with the illustrations this is going to an even more gorgeous book all around and I cannot wait to find it on the shelves.

*The publicist was nice enough to email me a copy of the book with all the images, they are just as gorgeous as expected and I loved re-reading the book with the wonderful illustrations to match.