I was trying to figure out a way that I could see some of my Mab Graves washi tape collection everyday and the best I could come up with so far was bookmarks. #bookmarks #diy

I realized I never posted my December #bookspinbingo card and wanted to add it for my own continuity. I was 8 books short of my Goodreads goal, but I read right up until midnight on New Year‘s Eve and went out fighting!

Welp, I came in 8 books under my goal for 2021, which is a great metaphor for the year: started out semi-hopeful but ended up disappointed. I‘ve already set my 2022 goal, so here we go again!

Turns out the giant gnome that was an impulse buy six years ago from the garden section after it went on clearance is the perfect Christmas accent! It‘s also what happens when you let your adoration of the movie “Amelie” spiral out of control.

I decided to lean into the season for this month‘s #bookspinbingo card with filled it with food-related titles. I hope to actually get to all of them someday!

Last month, I actually managed to watch a bunch of horror movies that I‘ve been meaning to get around to for forever. “Knives Out” was easily one of the best movies I‘ve seen all year. I threw in “Anna and the Apocalypse”, which I actually watched a few months ago and needs only three words of explanation: Zombie. Christmas. Musical. (I actually bought a few songs from the soundtrack before I even finished the movie.) I‘ll read it eventually.

I had really hoped to get through more last month but time got away from me yet again. The tagged book was my favorite from my card; it‘s basically just the movie in print format, but that‘s cool because it‘s one of my favorites. #bookspinbingo

When my cousins were younger I used to send gifts for Valentine‘s Day and Halloween in addition to the standard gifting holidays, and I‘m astounded that I at one time possessed the focus and time management skills to make five of these damn bracelets.

I bought almost all of the washi tape designs in the Mab Graves Etsy shop. I may have to take the Etsy app off of my phone since I can‘t seem to control myself. (These weren‘t my only purchases from her shop this month.)

“The Slurpees don‘t taste the same as they used to. Maybe that‘s because it‘s a foreign country. Maybe it‘s because nothing ever tastes the same as it did when you where ten. Or maybe the 7-Eleven syrup has changed.”

I love this quote from the tagged book because it‘s true. The Clearly Canadian is actually still exactly the way I remember it. The Dunkaroos are really more for nostalgia, I was never a huge fan (I preferred Dizzy Grizzlies).

The last month has gotten away from me and I forgot to post my new bookmark from the seller My Secret Copy on Etsy. choosing books about haunted locations, forests narrowly beat out houses for me.

This is a dangerous time of year for me. A few weeks ago I went to the grocery store, promising myself it was going to be a quick trip for essentials only, and them within five minutes I had put these (along with a pair of Ursula socks I forgot to put in the picture) in my cart with a straight face and zero shame.

This month … has gotten away from me so far. I currently have plenty of time to read, I just can‘t seem to concentrate, but I‘m not giving up yet! #bookspinbingo

Just realized I forgot to post my #bookspinbingo card this month, even though I haven‘t made my way very far through it. I‘ve already started planning for next month because I‘ve decided my Halloween season starts September 1.

#fbf to that time my order from The Bookables Etsy shop got a little out of hand! The Bernie Sanders and Ron Swanson were Father‘s Day gifts, and were very well-received. There were so many cute options that I will definitely be buying more. (I‘ve tried to re-edit the picture several times so the whole “Charlotte‘s Web” magnet is in frame but this apparently isn‘t my night.)

Totally forgot to post my #bookspinbingo card. I‘ve started several, so hopefully I‘ll get a few finished before next weekend. At least I‘ve gotten a few free spaces done!

Not exactly crushing my #bookspinbingo reading goals. Lumberjanes was stellar, as usual.

Another one in my Favorites if 2021 column! I heard this one mentioned on the Reading Glasses podcast and was thrilled to see I could get the galley on Edelweiss. The next collected volume comes out in November, so I may be buying each issue as they‘re released because I‘m not sure I can wait that long. Really hoping to find out more of Ami‘s backstory soon. Definitely falls into the horror category and the visuals don‘t hold back.

This was at least my third pass at creating my #bookspinbingo list for this month. June has gotten off to a rough start and I decided to give myself a break with a bunch of light, fun reads for the month.

May really got away from me, but the tagged book is my favorite of the year so far! (I‘m currently reading two others that I‘m guessing are going to tie with it.) #bookspinbingo

Once again, genuinely not understanding how it‘s time for a new list! #bookspinbingo

April kind of blurred it‘s way into May and I‘m still playing catch up. First time I crossed off five boxes, though! #bookspinbingo

At this point I‘ll be happy if I manage to cross off even one listed title. #bookspinbingo

I honestly can‘t believe it‘s already time to post a whole new list! #bookspinbingo

Third month in a row I‘ve only read titles not on my official list. I really enjoyed the tagged book, though. Hoping to get my hands on volume 2 eventually. #bookspinbingo.

Third time‘s the charm? I‘m trying to go with the hope-triumphing-over-experience mindset so I don‘t discourage myself before I even start. Good luck to everyone! #bookspinbingo

Twice as many finished as last month. The majority of the #bookspin titles that I choose are ones that I own so that I don‘t have to worry about loans expiring, not to mention that I really want to read them, but the borrowed books move to the front of the line for obvious reasons. I‘ll get the balance right one of these days! #februarybookspin #bookspinbingo

I just realized I forgot to post my February #bookspinbingo card! And of course I haven‘t finished any of these but did manage to so far finish three others that weren‘t on the list.

Well, January was not kind to my #bookspinbingo aspirations but I‘m going to give it another shot in February. I really enjoyed the tagged book, which I hope will fill the “Giant Days”-sized hole in my reading since I believe I‘m nearing the end of that series. (And I plan to keep chipping away at this list, hopefully crossing them all off before the end of the year.)

I found #bookspinbingo a little bit ago and quickly put together a list to try for January in my atrocious handwriting. Hopefully I‘ll actually get to at least a few! The tagged book is one I‘ve already started but decided to use as a free space in case my loan ends before I finish it.

#fbf to this clock, which was the only craft project I successfully finished last year!

I was surprised to see that graphic novels absolutely trounced audiobooks despite having more immediate access through some of the digital platforms I started using this year. One of my bookish resolutions is to use more actively use the subscriptions I‘m paying for which directly conflicts with my resolution to read the books I‘ve bought after discovering the staggering number of titles I accrued last year, in addition to better record keeping.

The tagged book is the one that hit my goal about 4 hours before midnight. In truth I‘m just glad 2020 is over. #goodreadschallenge2020

I make very, very bad decisions, and any time I doubt that I need only to look at my bookshelf and see the willingly-purchased Funko Pops of Fauno and Pale Man staring back at me.

#ThoughtfulThursday
1. Despite wanting to read only horror titles this month, I‘ve been reading the tagged book on and off for a while because I own it and it keeps getting put aside for borrowed items. I‘m really liking it so far, though!
2. Slither
3. I never know until I‘m standing in front of the fridge!

I found this item, which I thought was unopened and in storage, while I was going through some mystery bins in a closet; since I was wrong on both counts I‘ve decided that it must now stay out at all times as it is my spirit animal, what with the mangled costume and bag full of rocks. (I know I‘ve said this before but seriously, what kind of monster gives out rocks to trick-or-treaters?!? And to only one kid in the group at that?)

The year up to this point has left me so numb I can‘t even begin to process that she‘s gone. Here‘s to hoping for even a fraction of the courage she exhibited right up until the very end.

I‘m not sure why I have such fondness for this now-defunct attraction that used to reside in Disney‘s Hollywood Studios but I thought it might be fun to build a reading challenge around it.
The titles listed above are the movies in the order in which they appeared in the ride; I‘m choosing books that are either reminiscent of the plot or share settings, themes, etc. No time limit or rules, just have fun. #thegreatmovieridereadingchallenge

The picture was originally for the lilies of the valley, but I predict that I‘ll look back at it in a year and realize that I still haven‘t read any of the books in that damn pile.

With references to “120 Minutes” and Portishead, do I even need to state that “Heavy Vinyl: Riot on the Radio” is set in the late 90‘s? (I‘m conditioned to love anything set in a record store because of “Empire Records”.) Definitely a favorite this year. And Carly Usdin, the author, included her awesome playlist that she sent to illustrator Nina Bakueva, which includes my favorite No Doubt song on it. No one ever picks “Sunday Morning”!

#fbf to having to buy an entire album for the one song that you wanted. I saw an article about the virtual reunion this week and my curiosity got the better of me: I Googled a question and confirmed that Angela‘s parents were supposed to be about 40. The tagged book is a now impossible-to-find continuation (that I haven‘t read) that came out after the cancellation. Here‘s hoping Angela ditched Jordan before he ruined her life.

As I was saving things to my Scribd list (unsurprisingly over 400 items in a just a few weeks), I realized I somehow left this title off of my favorites of 2019 post. I love darker retelling of classics (I‘ll take “Return to Oz” over “The Wizard of Oz” any day) and this one didn‘t disappoint, with a very strong heroine and a Wonderland that was unsettling enough to make the stakes feel real. I need to move the sequel higher up on my TBR.

My favorite reads of 2019, Part 2. I had a three-way tie for the 20th spot as well because I‘m just loving these DC origin story graphic novels. I just finished “Shadow of the Batgirl” by Sarah Kuhn and Nicole Goux; and really liked learning a backstory on Cassandra Cain. “Black Canary: Ignite” by Meg Cabot & Cara McGee and “The Oracle Code” by Marieke Nijkamp & Manuel Preitano are on my TBR as well.

As I seem to find myself in a Henry Bemis-style situation of having the time to read but not the ability (my brain just refuses to concentrate on anything longer than about 5 minutes), I finally got around to listing my favorites reads of 2019. These are my top 3, the first two tied for first place and I refuse to choose between them. I‘ll put up my full list in the next post, just in case it helps someone else find a new title to start.

A #fbf to a Florida trip. This was taken at The Boneyard in Universal Studios, featuring two props from “Matinee”, still one of my favorite movies; the author of the tagged book was in it and spills some behind-the-scenes tea. I was fully ready to hop that fence for reasons I can no longer remember - most likely to either sit in or touch the car, or possibly to get in a picture. All I can say is that it made sense to 14-year-old me at the time.

This was the breakdown for my reading total in 2019. Hopefully I‘ll have time to post my favorites before the end of the week! (The tagged book was my absolute favorite.)

This is the first time I‘ve actually opened a daily calendar on time in at least five years, and it‘s so accurate that I had to laugh out loud.

Goodreads came through with the update! I‘m hoping to do more in 2020 - I‘d love to hit 200. #goodreadschallenge #goodreadschallenge2019

I did it! (Even though my Year in Books section isn‘t accurate because Goodreads seems to think the cutoff for the year is December 30 and I had a bunch I hadn‘t recorded yet.) Hopefully I‘ll have the hang of it next year. I didn‘t completely finish any of my other challenges, but I feel like I gave it a good try. #goodreadschallenge #2019goodreadschallenge

Happy to close out the year with these girls! I hope we get to follow them after graduation.