My Week in Review
This was quite a pleasant week. I had a day off in the middle of the week, which always feels so decadent. Then on Thursday, my team had catered lunch and an off-site to an escape room. This was my first escape room experiences, and I have to say, it was very enjoyable. Our room was the Time Traveler room, and it had a bunch of things associated with the film, Back to the Future. We had a full room with 8 participants, which was sometimes a little chaotic. I was most successful when I wandered off on my own to find clues, but I was able to solve the logic puzzle even when everyone was yelling. Our team had to be split into three rooms, and my group was the only one that escaped in the allowed time. So, a very successful outing.
On the Blog:
- Monday: I reviewed The Dazzling Heights by Katharine McGee.
- Tuesday: Was Top Ten Tuesday featuring what I consider Hidden YA Gems.
- Wednesday: On Can't-Wait Wednesday, I let everyone know I was waiting for Meant to Be by Julie Halpern. I am happy to report, I was approved for the eARC on Friday!
- Thursday: I talked about one of my new favorite TV shows, The Bold Type, and female friendships.
- Friday: I reviewed The Girl with the Red Balloon by Katherine Locke.
I apparently have serious impulse control issues when it comes to books, because I requested more, bought some, and downloaded some free eBooks. Additionally, I had three library holds come through, because when it rains, it pours.
Borrowed from the Library:
- Once and For All by Sarah Dessen
- The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo
- The Epic Crush of Genie Lo by F.C. Yee
- Midnight Jewel by Richelle Mead
- Liars and Losers Like Us by Ami Allen-Vath
- My Not So Perfect Life by Sophie Kinsella
eARCS:
- Chasing Christmas Eve by Jill Shalvis
- Meant to Be by Julie Halpern
- A Messy, Beautiful Life by Sara Jade Allen
Goodreads Giveaway:
I was really excited about this, because it's been a while since I won a giveaway, and I adored Baumann's It Had to Be series.
- Seeing Double by Tamra Baumann
Purchased/Free:
What I Read Last Week
- White-Hot Hack by Tracey Garvis-Graves (audiobook) - ★★★★
- Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini - ★★★★
- Murder, Magic, and What We Wore by Kelly Jones - ★★★ 1/2
- One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake - ★★★★ 1/2
- Prince of Pot by Tanya Lloyd Kyi - ★★★★
- Feral Youth by Shaun David Hutchinson - ★★★★
What I Am Currently Reading
I may have jumped up and down a little when my loan for Once and For All came through. I love Dessen, and it pains me to wait this long to read her new book, but I cannot bring myself to purchase an ebook that I can get through my library. So far, I am enjoying it a lot. She really had me thinking one thing about why Louna, the heroine, is so averse to love, but when I got the whole story, my heart sort of crumbled a little. The hero, Ambrose, is pretty fun, and I am having fun watching this all play out.
- Once and For All by Sarah Dessen
- Nowhere but Here by Renee Carlino (audiobook)
What I Plan to Read
- The Lost Causes by Alyssa Embrue Schwartz and Jessica Koosed Eating
- Play On by Michelle Smith
- The Date to Save by Stephanie Kate Strohm
- The Epic Crush of Genie Lo by F.C. Yee
How was your week?
Let us know in the comments!
An escape room sounds very fun. I've never done one of those, but now I kind of want to?? I agree also about One Dark Throne- I liked it a LOT, even more than the first one.
ReplyDeleteThe Lost Causes is one I think I might get too.
ODT had a lot more of the betrayal and that tasty stuff, but Blake also advanced a lot of side characters, and I think it's bringing the story in an interesting direction. Some of my co-workers had been to a different escape room, and they thought the one we went to Thursday was better. So, I guess, check out reviews before you pick one, because they are not cheap. Mine was team outing, so I didn't have to pay, but it's $30/person.
DeleteI loved Starcrossed! That trilogy gave me a horrendous book hangover.
ReplyDeleteMy reading challenge was to read a book based on mythology, and I had this book on my Kindle. My only regret is that I really liked it, and now I have another series to finish.
DeleteI have never tried an escape room, but they sound like so much fun. I'm glad you enjoyed it and was able to come up with answers to clues!
ReplyDeleteYou've read some awesome books this week. I need to read the Starcrossed books one of these days. I've been thinking of going back and reading some older released series, so I think this would be perfect for it.
I hope you like Genie Lo! And Play On! Those are two of my favorite reads ever!
Have a good week, Sam!
I want to catch up with my ARCs and then do some shelf-love. I read the second Lewis Creek book and really liked it, so I nabbed Play On when I saw it on sale. I have been wanting to read Genie Lo since we got the book at BEA, but it's in NC and I'm in NJ. I was happy when it became available on Hoopla so I could read it before I see my co-blogger again.
DeleteOh I am totally intrigued by the escape room phenomena that has taken over!!! It seems like there are so many now.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the How to Date a Douchebag series. Its light and fun and the guys really do start out as douchebags!! I was like, dang, what an ass!
Have a great week!
There were other work groups at the escape room when we went. It's a kind of fun team building experience. I have heard great things about the DB series, so when I saw the book on sale, I thought - why not! Totally sounds fun and I am always up for a fun romance.
DeleteI've always wanted to so one of those escape the room things, they sound so fun but I am known for missing things right in front of me so I'd probably fail epically.
ReplyDeleteSo many books on here as well! I'm impressed. I still need to read Once and For All, it's on my list and I may treat myself to it soon. I also read Nowhere But Here a while back and I really want to reread Renee Carlino's first couple of books and see if they are as good as I remember them being.
Have a great week.
Now that I have done an escape room, I understand the sort of things you need to do to start finding the clues. There was this cart and when we lifted the top, this lit panel showed a series of up and down arrows. Later, I saw this row of switches and I figured out that they went together, but my teammates, who had previously done an escape room, knew to flip over things and collect numbers and all sorts of stuff. It was chaotic but fun. I was scared to read Once and For All because of the reviews I read, but it wasn't just about the romance, and the bigger story really touched my heart. This is my second Carlino book, and I am enjoying it. The heroine went off the deep end for a little bit there, but I love the hero so much.
DeleteI've never done an escape room before, but it sounds like fun. You did read some great books too. I hope you have a wonderful week and happy reading. :)
ReplyDeleteJenea's Book Obsession's Sunday Post
If you have one near you with good reviews, and a fun bunch of people, I would recommend it. I had a blast.
DeleteThe escape room does sound like fun.
ReplyDeleteI love The Bold Type...and I am eyeing My (Not So) Perfect Life.
Have a great week, and here are MY WEEKLY UPDATES
I waiting so long for that Kinsella book! I was excited to get it (finally), but I wish my holds didn't always come through at the same time. The Bold Type is a total winner for me, and I think Free Form is replacing the CW in my TV watching world.
DeleteI'm glad to see that you had such a great week Sam! I also got a copy of Once and For All by Dessen this week, I haven't had much time to get started on it, but I'm hoping to in the next few days! I hope you have another great week!
ReplyDeleteI keep letting tears leak out when I think of Once and For All. I really liked it. I feel like if I say too much, it will release what I consider a spoiler, and I think it impacted me, because I didn't expect it. I hope you love it!
DeleteI almost picked up The Light We Lost yesterday while I was at library. Put it back at the last minute so I'll be curious to see what you think of it. Samw with Once and For All. I read an excerpt for that a while back and thought it sounded really good. Hope you have a wonderful week!
ReplyDeleteOnce and For All was beautiful. Reviewers are stuck on the romance, but it's about so much more than that. I cried a bunch. I have read great reviews for The Light We Lost, and I love those epic romances that stretch out over many years (even if they can make me nuts).
DeleteOh it sounds like you had a fun week - that escape room experience must have been a lot of fun :) A pretty good reading week as well, that's so great! I'm glad to hear you're enjoying that Sarah Dessen book, I want to read all of her books sooo badly :)
ReplyDeleteHope you'll have a lovely week! :)
I highly recommend escape rooms. I had tons of fun. I finished Once and For All this morning. It was beautiful! I am an SD fangirl. With this, I have once again, read them all. She always writes a story that is warm with depth, great characters, and a good balance of humor, romance, and drama. This one touches on a topic that is just heartbreaking, and she let it play out quite beautifully.
DeleteA Back To The Future Room! That's so cool! I've been to a few escape rooms. They can be pretty fun. But 8 people is a lot indeed.
ReplyDeleteThat's really cool that you got Epic Crush. I've heard so many good things about that one.
I am excited to read Epic Crush. Everyone is raving, and my FOMO was out of control since we actually had a physical ARC. The layout of the room and the way the clues were laid out was quite ingenious. I would definitely do another escape room.
DeleteMy Not So Wonderful Life is also on my TBR. Love Sophie Kinsella books!
ReplyDeleteKinsella always leaves me happy. I know I will be entertained and have a smile on my face at the end of her books. I am excited to read it!
DeleteImpulse control - what's that? I actually picked up 6 holds from my library yesterday. Of course in my defense, they have been closed for three weeks and are in the middle of a remodel so they waited for all of them to come in before contacting me. Thank heavens most are graphic novels!
ReplyDeleteI read my first graphic novel not too long ago, and I was really surprised how complete the story was with so few words, and I attribute that to the combination of illustrations and text. I hope to give the graphic novel another try soon, maybe Miles Morales. And like I said, library loans always come through all at once! You are lending support to this theory.
DeleteA day off mid-week is always such a treat. The escape room sounds fun but I'm like you - I think I would do better if I could focus without all the noise/input and do it on my own. Which I realize defeats the whole point. LOL
ReplyDeleteI listened to the audiobook of The Light We Lost a few months ago. I had some mixed feelings (mainly with the actions of the main character) but overall I enjoyed it. I'll be interested to see what you think of it. I also have A Messy, Beautiful Life but it'll probably be a couple weeks before I pick it up.
Tanya @ Girl Plus Books
I anticipate Messy, Beautiful being full of tears, but I think I can do it. That book doesn't come out until October, so it will be at least two weeks until I read it (I am drowning in September books!)
DeleteOh sounds like a good week! I haven't done one of this escape rooms but they sound like fun.I got the Jill SHhlvis book and How to Date a Douchebag as well. Hope we both enjoy them. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteAll I have to see if Shalvis and I know I'll want to read it. I have yet to be disappointed by her, and I have heard great things about the DB books, so I was willing to try one. We shall compare notes at some point in the future. I need to catch up on ARCs (so many for Sept and Oct), but then I am doing shelf love.
DeleteYay! Glad you enjoyed your break!
ReplyDeleteHere’s my Sunday Post!
Ronyell @ Rabbit Ears Book Blog and join in this week’s Book Photo Sundays!
My son did one of those escape rooms for his birthday and they really had a lot of fun. We want to do it again as a family. Glad you had a fun week!
ReplyDeleteNicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction
The escape room was great fun, and it is real time spent together, versus those things we do "as a family" where we are really just there together, but not necessarily interacting. I could tell it was a hit, because we were all talking about our experience the next day at work, which is always a good sign.
DeleteThe escape room sounds like a lot of fun! I may try to get a group to do that with me sometime. Why is it that one library book at a time never happens...instead you get them all in one week. Enjoy your new reads and have a great week!
ReplyDeleteEscape room was great, and I was worried because of a few of the people that were in my group, but we really were driven to accomplish the escape. I know! When I do my holds, I will pick ones that have lots of people waiting and others with only a few, and they STILL always come available at the same time. Unbelievable!
DeleteOh my gosh, how weird. I just drove by an escape room yesterday and had no idea what it was, so had to look it up and here you are mentioning it. I'm really excited for Genie Lo. I need to check it out from the library myself. Have a wonderful week!
ReplyDeleteThis was my first escape room experience and hopefully not my last. I have been wanting to read Genie Lo forEVER! So, I am happy I am finally reading it.
DeleteI've been wanting to do an escape room. That sounds like a fun team building activity, and we need that in our office lol. Congrats on your win! I haven't won anything on Goodreads for a while but I keep entering the giveaways lol. I won Genie Lo from a blog tour and I can't wait to read it. I hope you are enjoying it and have a great week!
ReplyDeleteI love Goodreads giveaways because they are so easy to enter, and I have won 4 times this year (and I actually read the books). The escape room is a definite test of teamwork, because you have that clock running. It got a little intense towards the end, but we never snapped at each other. The "host" was telling us about a couple that broke up and then refused to leave the room. (he had tons of stories like this)
DeleteYou'r so organized Sam! I read Once and for All and I liked it.
ReplyDeleteSome people call me anal-retentive, but I prefer organized. 😀 When I was reading reviews for Once and For All, everyone was complaining about the romance, but for me, this book was not simply about the romance. It was that whole idea of appreciating every second you have when you find someone special and cherishing those moments you had even when it's over. I am a sap, and shed quite a few tears.
DeleteSo glad to see that Feral Youth was good; I'm really anticipating that one! :D Ooh, I might add The Lost Causes to my TBR; it sounds really interesting!
ReplyDeleteFeral Youth had some really great stories. It was bound to with that author line up! I think it really worked for me, because they were tied together so well, and were cohesive. It took me a little bit to get into The Lost Causes, but then the story kept unfurling and I was absorbed.
Delete