Sundays with Sam - The Sunday Post

Sundays with Sam is a combination of Sunday Post hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer and Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

My Week in Review

On this day, in a snowstorm, my darling daughter came into this world. So, once again, I wish her a happy birthday from afar. Yesterday, my mother, sister, and I went to see The Outsider. It was hilarious, and it was really cool to see Julia Duffy on the stage. Hey! You know who's excited about the Olympics? This girl! My reading may take a hit next week, as I try to watch as many events as possible.

A post shared by Sam Kozbial (@kozbisa) on Feb 3, 2018 at 10:10am PST

This is the last season of one of my favorite shows. It's odd like me, and I will miss Portlandia when it's gone. They have done several skits like this, but I sort of loved the whole idea of this one:

Reading-wise, January was a good month for me. Lots of great books and a lot of progress on my challenges. I had two 5-star reads - You Bring the Distant Near and Far From the Tree. Here are my reading stats:

• Number of books read: 32
• Format read: 24 ebooks, 8 audiobooks
• Average rating: 3.9
• Source: 
• Netgalley - 10
• shelf - 1
• Edelweiss - 7
• library - 14
• Number of ARCs: 17
• Genre: 
• YA - 20
• MG - 1
• adult - 8
• NA - 3
• Sub-genre: 
• contemporary - 26
• fantasy - 1
• paranormal - 1
• mystery - 2
• historical - 1
• suspense - 1

And now for some reading challenge updates!

• Diverse reads: 18
• Debuts: 6
• #2017Throwback: 7
• Backlist: 13
• Series enders: 2
• New releases: 18
• Commenting challenge: I commented 507 times last month, but did miss one day
• Discussion challenge: 3 discussion posts

On the Blog:

• Sunday: Blog tour - Say You'll Remember Me by Katie McGarry ($100 Amazon gift card giveaway still open)
• Monday: Review - The Wedding Date by Jasmine Gillory
• Tuesday: Top Ten Tuesday - I was skeptical, but then I loved it!
• Wednesday: Can't-Wait Wednesday - Relative Strangers by Paula Garner
• Thursday: Discussion - Why I Follow You
• Friday: In a Nutshell Reviews - American Panda, Shoot the Moon, When My Heart Joins the Thousand

STACKING THE SHELVES

I know I shouldn't have, but when I saw Cindy Anstey's book on sale, I had to buy it. I also got a whole lot of wonderful approvals that I am excited about, but I was especially overjoyed about Chaotic Good, because I recently featured it on Can't-Wait Wednesday. Oh! I won two Goodreads giveaways the other day, but I am keeping quite until I have the books in my hands (trust issues).

Bought/Free

• Love, Lies, and Spies by Cindy Anstey

ARCs

• Virgin Territory by Lia Riley
• The Truth Lies Here by Lindsey Klingele
• If Only by Jennifer Gilmore
• The Looking Glass by Janet McNally
• Summer of Salt by Katrina Leno
• The Girl You Thought I Was by Rebecca Phillips
• Jacked Up by Erica Sage
• Chaotic Good by Whitney Gardner
• I'm Not Missing by Carrie Fountain
• In Search of Us by Ava Dellaira
• Zen and Gone by Emily France
• On the Line by Liz Lincoln

Library

• Flipped by Wendell Van Draanen

What I Read Last Week

I feel like I showed a lot of genre diversity this week. Still solidly contemporary, but I also read some suspense and even an action packed espionage book

• #Prettyboy Must Die by Kimberly Reid:  This book was all action, but also quite fun. It totally had a teen Die Hard feel, and it was a nice change of pace for me. ★★★★
• The Foxe and the Hound by R.S. Grey (audiobook): The heroine in this book was hilarious. There was a whole lot of laughing going on, and the ending left me all gooey. ★★★★
• Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson: Whoa! Just, whoa! I haven't been on such a wild ride since I read Dangerous Girls. ★★★★ 1/2
• By the Book by Julia Sonneborn: This was not your typical second chance romance. It seemed more like a story of a woman trying to come to terms with the mistakes and choices she made, while trying to figure out her future. I really enjoyed it, and the ending left me in happy tears. ★★★★
• I Stop Somewhere by T.E. Carter: This book is so sad and heartbreaking and promise me that you WON'T read reviews on Goodreads, because I saw a bunch of reviews with what I consider a big spoiler. Carter took on society's view of young women and what they should be as she tackled rape culture. Extremely powerful book. ★★★★ 1/2
• Accidentally on Purpose by Jill Shalvis (audiobook): I am still trying to figure out how I missed reading this one, since I actually bought the ebook, but I am so happy to have finally learned Elle and Archer's story. I was really surprised by their prior connection, and I absolutely adored getting to know all of Archer's soft parts. Shalvis always makes me happy. ★★★★
• Don't Forget Me by Victoria Stevens: This book was so needed after I finished I Stop Somewhere. This book was light and lovely and filled with so many wonderful characters. I smiled so much as I read this book, and I cried a little too, as this book deals with grief and loss, but it was ultimately uplifting. ★★★★ 1/2
• Just Friends by Dyan Sheldon: I had been interested in this one, because Sheldon wrote Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen. This was a cute story of unrequited love. Sheldon wrote some witty and amusing banter, and put some fun and quirky characters in the cast, but I hated the love interest and thought the ending was very rushed. ★★★

What I Am Currently Reading

I took Flipped out of the library, because I needed a one word title for my Monthly Motif challenge, and this is one of those books that everyone has read. Lauren Layne is always fun, and so far, After the Kiss is giving me a lot of laugh about.

• Flipped by Wendell Van Draanen
• After the Kiss by Lauren Layne

What I Plan to Read

I am finally reading the new Kinsella. I have heard it's a little different from her norm, but am still looking forward to it. I couldn't resist a book that name drops Newton, and Baumann is always a fun read for me. I even have a paranormal on deck, and early reviews for The Precious Dreadful and positive, so I am excited.

• Surprise Me by Sophie Kinsella
• Dear Isaac Newton, You're Ruining My Life by Rachel Hruza
• Dealing Double by Tamra Baumann
• The Precious Dreadful by Steven Parlato

How was your week?

Let us know in the comments!