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
It was a quiet week, though, I felt like the universe was on my side, at least a little. I had off for my dental check-up on Wednesday (still no cavities!), and I missed a huge accident, which had my co-workers stuck in 2 hours of traffic. You all know how I hate delays. So, I am glad I missed it. Don't worry, NJ Transit made up for it almost every other day, either making me late to work or late home.
I felt like my backlist was trying to tell me something this week with that TTT topic. One new feature I started, in an effort to read more backlist books, was One Old, One New, which debuted this week. I try to find a connection between an ARC and a backlist book, and so far, it's been pretty fun.
I actually have something to look forward to this week! My daughter is coming home on Saturday. She left at the end of May, so we are all excited to have her home for the week.
I love rom-coms, and this looks hilarious!
Trapped in a rom-com like…😱 Watch the full trailer on YouTube now - #IsntItRomantic, only in theaters Valentine’s Day!— Isn't It Romantic? (@isntitromantic) October 31, 2018
This isn't just any retelling ☠️ Would you survive your own fairy tale? https://t.co/4IYb8FpF3V pic.twitter.com/aUP2S60g3c— Epic Reads (@EpicReads) November 6, 2018
We can't look away from these stunners. 20 Book Covers for First Half of 2019 You Need to See: https://t.co/4QqEPt19QV pic.twitter.com/mdYM3GAk6a— Book Riot (@BookRiot) October 26, 2018
- Monday: One Old, One New - What Goes Up
- Tuesday: TTT - Beat the Backlist
- Wednesday: CWW - Match Me If You Can by Tiana Smith
- Thursday: Isn't It Romantic? - Knocked-Up Cinderella & Sleepover
- Friday: Discussion - Do We Need a Teen Romance Category?
- Saturday: Giveaway - If you're a US reader, and would like to read The Seven Torments of Amy and Craig, enter my giveaway!
My approvals this week made up for all my denials last week, as I was lucky to get approved for so many amazing books.
Edelweiss/NetGalley
- Match Me If You Can by Tiana Smith
- Even If I Fall by Abigail Johnson
- Ordinary Girls by Blair Thornburgh
- This Time Will Be Different by Misa Sugiura
- Fan the Fame by Anna Priemaza
- Just For Clicks by Kara McDowell
- The Boy Next Story by Tiffany Schmidt
- The Infinite Pieces of Us by Rebekah Crane
- Death Prefers Blondes by Caleb Roehrig
What I Read Last Week
This was my big romance week, and as expected, I pretty much smiled from ear-to-ear. All of these were so fun and delighted me to no end. It seems the last book I read this week just edged out two other books. I love Crane's books, and this one was everything I always look for. It was funny, witty, and touching. I was fan of the themes she touched upon and the way she did it, but mostly, I loved the friendship portrayed in this book. It was really special.
Books
- The Art of French Kissing by Brianna Shrum - ★★★★
- Best of Luck by Kate Clayborn - ★★★★ 1/2
- My Favorite Half-Night Stand by Christina Lauren - ★★★★ 1/2
- The Accidental Beauty Queen by Teri Wilson - ★★★★
- Once Upon a Bride by Jenny Holiday - ★★★★ review
- Merrily Ever After by Jenny Holiday - ★★★★ review
- The Infinite Pieces of Us by Rebekah Crane - ★★★★★
- Trouble Makes a Comeback by Stephanie Tromly - ★★★★ review
- He Kissed Me First by Sara Ney - ★★★ 1/2 review
- Love, Sincerely, Yours by Sara Ney and Meghan Quinn - ★★★ 1/2 review
What I Am Currently Reading
Hey, look at that! I am reading one of the books from my TTT Beat the Backlist. Boys, Bears, and a Serious Pair of Hiking Boots has been on my radar for quite and while, and I am excited to see what everyone has been talking about.
Co-Ed has a really odd premise, but it's pretty fun, and I am interested in seeing where it goes.
- Boys, Bears, and a Serious Pair of Hiking Boots by Abby McDonald
- Co-Ed by Rachel Van Dyken (audiobook)
What I Plan to Read
Mixing a little backlist in here. I have had the Mackler ARC for months, and will do a series read this week for my One Old, One New feature.
- Paper Girl by Cindy R. Wilson
- Dare to Fall by Estelle Maskame
- The Earth, My Big Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler
- The Universe is Expanding and So Am I by Carolyn Mackler
How was your week?
Let us know in the comments!
Love the covers this week, especially for The Infinite Pieces of Us. Looks like most of your recent reads have been pretty good too!
ReplyDeleteHope you have a great weekend with your daughter home. and have a super week. :)
I loved Infinite Pieces of Us. Crane always writes a story I love.
DeleteOh nice new reads! Hope you enjoy them all!
ReplyDeleteHere's my STS
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower :)
Thanks!
DeleteI hope you have a great time with your daughter! The book "The Earth, My Big Butt, and Other Big Round Things" By Carolyn Mackler sounds so fun from the title! :)
ReplyDeleteShe doesn't get in until Saturday, and the daughter has informed me that she will be working every day, but at least we will be in the same state.
DeleteYay for your daughter coming home! Have a great time with her!
ReplyDeleteLooks like you've got a bunch of great new reads coming up. I've been eyeing Death Prefers Blondes so I look forward to seeing what you think of that one.
We really only have three days to spend together, because of work, but I just like having her nearby.
DeleteEnjoy your time with your daughter! I’m glad you missed all of the delays and disasters. Public transport usually sucks, but when I’m cursing past traffic jams, I’m happy to be on the train. I hope you love your new books!
ReplyDeleteAj @ Read All The Things!
I grew up in Brooklyn, and always took public transportation, and NJ Transit didn't used to be this bad. This is what happens when you don't practice proper maintenance. However, like you said, it beats Jersey traffic any day for me.
DeleteYour new feature sounds really fun! I'm off to check it out! Great haul this week too. I recently got Match Me If You Can but I haven't gotten to it - I hope you enjoy it! Have a great week :D
ReplyDeleteI am just finishing up my December ARCs. I usually am only one month ahead. We both have time for Match Me.
DeleteLove the idea of One Old, One New. I want to read more older books too and not be so distracted by shiny new releases.
ReplyDeleteI am ALWAYS distracted by the new and shiny. That's why I need features and reading challenges to make me read older books. If nothing else, at least I can exploit my competitive nature for a cause.
DeleteI hate going to the dentist-it's been years since I was there, despite really needing to go. I'm just so scared of that drill!
ReplyDeleteI have never had any dental problems, and that is probably why that is one doctor I am NOT afraid of. Not one cavity. Ever. And my cleaning was done really quickly too.
DeleteGlad to hear you missed the traffic nightmare! I hate traffic and yet I'm stuck in it everyday. It takes me an 1 hr 15 min to drive 33 mile to work. Going back is a little less time, but still it sucks the life out of me. Sorry to hear public transit isn't much better for you. Thank goodness for audio books! The one positive thing about my commute.
ReplyDeleteYour covers are very colorful this week! I need to get to several old ARCs. The Infinite Pieces of Us sounds great. You got a lot of reading done! Hope you enjoy your time with your daughter. :)
My job is 40 miles away. It takes the same amount of time to drive (90 mins) as to take the bus/train/shuttle. I would rather have someone else do the driving. The positive side of my commute is getting solid 3 hours a day to read. I used to work 4 miles away, so this has been a big change for me. Sometimes it wears me out, but at least I am treated like a human being at my new job.
DeleteI drive the extra time to my job because it's a good place to work, so I can understand why you take the extra time in commute, too. Plus, we do what we love on the way, right? :)
DeleteTrue. I like my job a lot more than I did my teaching job. I am treated a lot better. I remember in my mid-year review, when my manager asked what I disliked most about my job - I told him the commute.
DeleteI am staring at those gorgeous covers...and lingering. Enjoy! Thanks for sharing, and here are MY WEEKLY UPDATES
ReplyDeleteThey really are lovely. I can't wait to dive into them all.
DeleteI'm so excited for Isn't It Romantic! I love Rebel Wilson and the premise seems hilarious!
ReplyDeleteI was laughing so hard, I was crying while watching that trailer. I always like poking a little fun at things I love.
DeleteNo cavities and the return of your daughter that's great! And I already did the "would you survive your fairy tale" LOL I am happy to say that I would be a proud survivor ! Happy Sunday Sam :-) Sophie @bewareofthereader
ReplyDeleteI am not surprised you survived, but am glad to hear you could make it through a fairytale.
DeleteUgh, you reminded me that I need to go to the dentist. Way to go Sam. Haha.
ReplyDeleteHave a great week!
Amber Elise @ Du Livre
Do it! That's the one doctor I actually go to, because I want to have my own teeth years from now.
DeleteI am glad that you missed the traffic jam and got a good report at the dentist. That worked out for you. I am so happy that you will have your daughter home for a week. That is great! Enjoy your new books and have a great week!
ReplyDeleteIt should be interesting having her here next week, watching her work everyday.
DeleteI hope you have a lovely time with your daughter Sam! I know there's a whole work week between then and now but at least it's something to look forward to when the commute is a pain in the behind!
ReplyDeleteI love the covers for Match Me If You Can and Death Prefers Blondes. :)
Commuting is just a reality of living in civilization. At least I am just sitting on the train, reading, as it all happens. Death is an amazing cover. My favorite of Roehrig's so far.
DeleteI'm glad you had a pretty good week! And wow, you got lots of books read! That's awesome, and I'm glad they were all fairly good too. :)
ReplyDelete-Lauren
www.shootingstarsmag.net
I have so much to read, and yet I continue to add to the pile and check books out of the library. It's an illness.
DeleteEnjoy your daughters homecoming! :)
ReplyDeleteIt will be a nice treat for me. Let's hope absence made her heart grow fonder too.
DeleteThat seems an interesting feature - One New, One Old. Backlist books deserve more love and that's a great way to do it. :) Enjoy your time with your daughter.
ReplyDeleteHappy readings! ;)
If you pick the right backlist book, a lot of people have opinions about it too. And some good discussions can arise
DeleteI got rejected for Serious Moonlight so that was sad. They always send me finished copies during release week though so it's so weird!
ReplyDeleteMy Death Prefers Blondes request is still pending but really I never get approved for YA. Most of my arc's come from conferences or the romance genre.
I'm almost through with my ALA books so I'll be getting back to my TBR pile soon!
Karen @ For What It's Worth
That's pretty awesome that you get finished copies. The pub approved half my requests and declined the other half. We usually do BookCon/BEA, but not this year because I was moving my daughter to Chicago that weekend. Any physical books came via tours or wins, but I prefer ebooks. I am an anomaly
DeleteIt sounds like the dentist appointment was timely and glad you missed the accident. Have fun with your daughter!
ReplyDeleteI love when I just miss travel nightmares. It makes me feel a little lucky
DeleteGlad you enjoyed Trouble Makes a Comeback. Going to see if my library has the final book, so I can finish the series. Hope you have a lovely week!
ReplyDeleteI am on the wait list right now, but looking forward to seeing what happened to Digby's sister.
DeleteI would hope I would survive a fairy tale as long as it wasn't tooo gruesome. I have been really bad. I did complete my GR challenge of 65 books. But, I need to review a bunch of them. I figure that will keep my busy on my break. Have a wonderful week.
ReplyDeleteMary
I don't know, those Grimm's fairytales were a special kind of scary. I let reviews go last week, and had to write four in a row. I felt like I had no words left in me. Congratulations on you GR challenge!
DeleteGlad to hear the universe got your back Sam! I do hate NJ Transit too! I think my 2019 is going to be at least 70% backlist books!
ReplyDeleteI am definitely going to try to do more backlist, which I say every year
DeleteWow you got a lot of ARCS but it looks like you read about 10 books this week so maybe that's fine. I've been reading for HoHoHoRAT and lots of contemporary romances, quite a few novella or short books, so I've read about 10 this week also. I'm just happy I finally got organized and wrote a bunch of the reviews today. Yay for a quiet week, it's been so cold and rainy I don't want to go anywhere at all. Anne - Books of My Heart
ReplyDeleteI get through a lot of books. Right now I am at 373 for my GR challenge. Falling behind on reviews is the worst! I feel so drained when I write too many reviews in a row, so I try to write them the day I finish the book. We are experiencing our first winter storm as I type, and I am still ill (running a 101.9F fever). I just can't shake it, but I am out of sick days.
DeleteEnjoy the time with your daughter being back home! And yay for dodging traffic jams from time to time. I'm glad you're also enjoying looking at and thinking about backlist titles too. We can sometimes get so easily caught up in those new releases!
ReplyDeleteThe kid is working every day, but we will have all of Thanksgiving day together.
Delete