Feature Friday: Spring Releases Round 4!

Happy last Friday of April! 

Isn’t it crazy to think that the month is over in just a few short days!? April really flew by for us but we are so excited to get into May (because we have some trips planned) and to start getting reading for SUMMER!

Every Friday in April we have shared some spring releases that we are pretty excited for. We both had to flail over a HIGHLY anticipated read coming out next week, and then we both had some things to share on week 2 and week 3. So…what books are we telling you about for our final week?

Emily

“The arranged marriage YA romcom you didn’t know you wanted or needed…” uhm YES PLEASE! This book is advertised as a laugh out loud romantic comedy and that is definitely something I need in my life. An arranged marriage is always an interesting plot point, because how often do the characters put in this situation want it? That alone lends to the idea that this plot will be filled with swoony moments, hilarious instances, and is something that I will be hooked on quickly. I have heard so many good things from those that were able to read and review before release and it’s gotten to the point where I would like this book now please. This book comes out May 30th (SOOOOO FAR AWAY AND IT’S NOT OK! But I guess I can be paitent…).

Arika

Into The Water by Paula Hawkins

“Beware a calm surface—you never know what lies beneath.” Trying to get away from YA a little bit, I decided to talk about a mystery that I am looking forward to. I just recently listened to The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins and I enjoyed the story that Paula Hawkins weaved. She has a very different style of writing then most mystery/thriller authors do. This new novel, which comes out May 2nd, is another who done it murder books. With what it sounds like as another multiple POV and interesting story line, I know this will be another book I will enjoy listening to on audio book.

QUESTION: What are some of your anticipated spring releases?

Stay tuned for a new theme for the month of May. Arika will be kicking it off next week (May 5th!) while Emily is off basking in the California sunshine!

Feature Friday: Spring Releases Round 3!

Happy Friday Everyone!

We are super pumped that it’s Friday. Not only because we get to share another spring release that we are super pumped for, but also because this week is over! Anyone else suffering from dealing with a craptastic week? Way to make it through! Enjoy your well deserved weekend!

Just a recap…for every Friday in April we are sharing a spring release that we are excited for. We decided that for it to be a spring release it needs to be released in April or May (just to help us narrow it down…obviously people define it differently). We have already talked about how excited we are for the next addition to a favorite series, and we talked about some awesome sounding retellings we are looking forward to last week. So what books do we have to get excited for this week?

Emily

 

Within the last year I have become a BIG Emery Lord fan. Though I have only read two of her books so far, I know that she is my new go-to contemporary author. Her writing really sticks to me and gets me feeling all kinds of crazy emotions. Her stories have realness to them, and there always seem to be characters that I can relate to. This particular book of hers sounds like a book that will make me cry. Any story where cancer is part of the plot is bound to make me cry because of losing my dad. Isn’t it crazy how I am so drawn to books about grief, loss, and cancer even though it brings up some of the worst memories of my life? I am not sure what it is, and I can definitely get into that another time, but I am definitely excited for the feels this book will bring. As someone who is religious and really trying to deepen her faith, I am very curious as to how an author I have come to love so much tackles what can be such a difficult topic to write about. This book comes out May 16th and I am so excited to get my hands on it. I need more Emery Lord in my life.

Arika

Royal Bastards by Andrew Shvarts

So I have been having a hard time getting away from fantasy novels…and it’s books like this that are to blame! I’ve seen a few of my friends on Goodreads add it to their TBR. So I had to take a look and I was really intrigued. A book about royal bastards who are trying to save their kingdom while being pursued by people who want to kill them….sign me up please! I hope this book will live up to the hype that I am starting to build up for it. This book comes out on May 30th and I think it will have a spot on my e-book this summer.

QUESTION: What are some spring releases you are looking forward to? Also, if you have read any of the books that we have talked about you should DEFINITELY let us know your thoughts.

Feature Friday: Spring Releases

Hey everyone we are back for the month of April with our Feature Friday. This month we decided we would do Spring releases that we are looking forward to in the months of April and May. Some weeks we will each share a book we are anticipating, other weeks we will combine. To start off, we are combining for one AMAZING book that is definitely at the top of our lists (Emily is at the moment scheming how she can get to the bookstore on it’s release day so she can have it to read on her flight to California the day after release day). What book is it?

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J Maas

Release Date: May 2nd, 2017

It’s safe to say that Sarah J Maas is one of our favorite authors. We have both devoured the Throne of Glass series (and are excited and terrified to see it end soon!) and were both stunned by the world she created in the Court of Thorns and Roses series. While we both enjoyed book 1, A Court of Thorns and Roses, it was the second book that really sealed the deal on this series for us. This series is filled with a magical world that you can see is based off of fairy tales, it has crazy characters that we both love and hate, it has a romance that makes you weak at the knees, twists and turns that constantly keep you guessing, and a heroine you can really support. This book series has flown to the top of the list as far as our favorites go, and we are both super excited for it’s release!

QUESTION: What spring releases are you excited for?

Feature Friday: Books that are Green Part 4!

Welcome to our celebration of books that just happen to be green. In honor of St. Patrick’s day we have each given you a few ideas of books that we liked with the common color on their cover. Obviously St. Patrick’s day was last week, but we though one more week of talking green books can’t hurt right? We have talked about books that we have read with green covers (part 1, part 3) and we have talked about some books that we want to read that have green covers (part 2). This week we will be bringing the last of the green books that we want to read.

So what books with fabulous green covers do we want to read?

Emily:

Thorn by Intisar Khanani

This book popped up on my radar unexpectedly. I honestly can’t quite remember how it got there, but it is now sitting on my tablet just begging to be read. The first line of the synopsis snagged my attention, “For Princess Alyrra, choice is a luxury she’s never had … until she’s betrayed.” It sounds so backwards. How is it that you never had a choice until you were betrayed. So basically the first line left me with some unanswered questions. This story is a retelling of sorts of The Goose Girl (sucker for retellings right here!). There is some body switching and some tough choices that need to be made. I personally think this sounds like an awesome indie, and I am super excited to read it.

Arika:

Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao

This book caught my eye at first because of it’s cover. I was scrolling through twitter and someone shared the authors post about her book and I thought….that looks so cool! It is about a girl in East Asia who has been destined to be an Empress, although she grew up in a forgotten village as a peasant. She has a cruel aunt who is a witch and she also has to hurt the one guy that loves her. To me this sounds like a great book with a little bit of everything thrown in…from magic to romance to an evil aunt. The only bad part is waiting until October of this year when the book is released! But there is no doubt I will be getting this book, and most likely in a hard cover because the cover looks so cool!

QUESTION: Have you read any of these books? We would love to know your thoughts (and if we should bump these beautiful books up the list).

Feature Friday: Books that are Green Part 3

Happy St. Patrick’s Day all! And if you don’t really celebrate it…HAPPY FRIDAY!

We are back again this Friday with some book recommendations for you with covers that just so happen to be green. And how perfect is it that St. Patrick’s day falls on a Friday and we can continue the green book celebration with you ON the actual holiday? So far we have each shared a book we have read that is green and a book we want to read that is green.

This week we are telling you about another book that we read and enjoyed that just so happened to be green. So…what books do we have for you this week?

Arika:

Splintered by A.G. Howard

So my second book with a green cover is the book Splintered. I am a big fan of anything retelling. This series is a really cool retelling of Alice in Wonderland! I’ve read this book almost two years ago and while it wasn’t my favorite Alice in Wonderland retelling I still really enjoyed it. I enjoyed the world A.G. Howard created and how she combined the two together. Though I did have a problem with one part of the series…and most people know I don’t like when authors do this but sometimes it is necessary…a love triangle! Ugh there was a pretty big love triangle in this series and while I know why she did it, it still got on my nerves quite a bit. But I don’t think that should detract anyone from reading it! It’s a cool series with lots of twists and turns and some cool characters!

Emily:

Fear the Drowning Deep by Sarah Glenn Marsh

Ok, this book is like a blue-green but oh well. As I looked through books that I have read I realized that I don’t really read a lot of books with green covers. Odd right? Anyway…you may remember me talking about Fear the Drowning Deep awhile back (like right here to be precise). This was a book that I had expected more people to chatter about, and get I found that not as many people were talking. This book is kind of creepy. There is just something beautiful and haunting about the atmosphere of the book that made it seem slightly creepy, but in a good way. The author really built up this world with it’s dreary environment, which lead to even me being a little suspicious about the Ocean. There was so many interesting things going on in this story, and you are eventually totally sucked in and waiting to see just what happens to Bridey. I mean she is afraid of the ocean and lives on an island. I had so many questions throughout the entire story. Besides the atmosphere and the characters I found the writing to be beautiful and I was completely entranced from the beginning. If you are looking for a sort of eerie book, I would highly suggest picking this one up.

QUESTION: What are some green books that you have read and enjoyed?

More Celebrations of Love…With Emily!

Hey Everyone! I am back and ready to celebrate another one of my favorite couples. Two weeks ago I talked about Rob and Scarlet from the Scarlet Series by AC Gaughen (swoon. I love them so much), and last week Arika talked about Feyre and Rhys of the Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J Maas (again, swoon. They are perfection). February isn’t over yet, and even though Valentine’s day has passed it doesn’t mean we stop talking about love. There are 364 days until next Valentine’s day, and that is plenty of time to show people how much you love them without needing a holiday. With that in mind we are going to continue to share our love for some of our favorite fictional couples.

I had a hard time picking couple number 2. This is my last post in our celebration and I honestly couldn’t narrow it down. There are so many fictional couples that I just know are meant to be together, and their relationships on the pages give me life (so to speak). So I did some thinking, some brainstorming, and I settled on a fabulous couple. In the end, my feelings for them can be summed up with this gif…

Huh, that doesn’t give it away? Weird. I thought for sure you would know EXACTLY who I was talking about. Well, my couple for today is…Theo and Gailan from the Madion War Trilogy by S Usher Evans (btw, the final book, The Union, came out this week. GET ON IT PEOPLE!)!

I absolutely adore this couple. They are a force that I would not want to mess with, and their love for each other is incredibly real and genuine. I love them because…

1. They are capable of being independent. I love when couples love to be together. I love my husband and really enjoying spending time with him. I depend on him for a lot of stuff, but does that mean I am incapable of doing things on my own? Nope. The same is true for Theo and Galian. Would things be easier for them if they could face it all together all the time? For sure. Is that always possible? No. They spend time missing each other, but that doesn’t stop them from getting the job at hand done and moving forward so that one day that can face it all together.
2. They started as friends. Ok, not totally true. They started as enemies. They are from countries that are at war with each other, so things definitely are not lovey-dovey at first. Their relationship builds. They begin to form bonds of trust and friendship before totally diving headfirst into the romantic aspect of their relationship. I love this, and I really think it’s important. I think that getting to know someone as a person before you take your romantic interests in them is such a great way to ensure a strong relationship. Obviously this doesn’t always work, but it’s still a pretty solid way to do things.
3. They faced each challenge with their relationship head on. No, their relationship was never easy. They are from warring countries. Technically their relationship was forbidden (oh yes, forbidden romance right?). Even with these challenges they took it all in stride. There were times where it got tough, and where things seemed to be too hard. There were times where they wondered if they should back down. Even with all these thoughts they faced each moment head on, and this made them stronger.
4. Both are headstrong and fought for what they believed in. They didn’t let their relationship get in the way of what was ahead. They made sure that the causes that they were fighting for continued to be fought for, and yet they never lost sight of each other. I have no idea why this appeals to me so much, but I just love how their relationship didn’t change what they valued or believed, but it made them stronger.
5. They’re lobsters, and they’re real. I’m sorry, they are just destined to be together. SHE’S HIS LOBSTER! There is no way around it. On top of that they are real. They have flaws, they fight, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. They deal with real life problems that you or I would deal with. This relationship seemed like one that I could witness in my world, which really spoke to me. I love when I can see something in a book, in a world that technically doesn’t exist, and can picture it in the real world.

All in all, these two make a pretty awesome couple, and if I had my way I would continue to flail and add more gifs just to try to communicate how much I adore them.

That’s my last celebration of love post! I have loved writing these, and I am sure I will be flailing about more bookish couples in the future with you. Be sure to look for Arika’s final post for this series next week! And until then…READ THIS BOOK SERIES GUYS! I SWEAR YOU WON’T REGRET IT! (Need reasons to read it? Because I have a few for you…)

QUESTION: What’s one book couple that you think were always destined for each other?

A Celebration of Love…with Emily

Happy February all! I kind of can’t believe how fast January went, even with all the craziness going on in the world. I just felt like things have really started to pickup and I am doing all that I can to not get lost in the whirlwind of all that is happening.

So, since it’s February we wanted to do something special to celebrate the love that we witness between characters. You know that love where you see it, everyone else sees it, but for some reason the characters take their time making it happen. That kind of love where your heart just melts when they are together. The love that makes you laugh, cry, and feel any other kinds of emotions along with them. This is the kind of love we are talking about. Each week one of us will be sharing a favorite couple of ours and why they are a favorite. So, let’s get started! Emily is the lucky one to share first!

I thought about trying to drag this out and get you to guess just what couple I was going to share with you. But then I remembered…you all know me. If you have been following me long enough then I bet you can guess just who it is I will be sharing. So, here is the couple that I adore so much and am going to share with you today…..

Scarlet and Rob from the Scarlet series by AC Gaughen

This is one of my FAVORITE series over the past few years. I bought the first book on a whim because I thought it sounded pretty cool, and then I became 100000000% addicted. This book, and the two following, had me laughing, crying, and cheering while these characters tackled all that came their way. I should probably start talking about the couple, but if you want to know more about the series check out my 5 Reasons to read it here!

So what is it that I love about this couple?

1. They are strong, both individually and together. They both know how to fight for what they believe in, and a lot of times those things line up pretty well between the two of them.
2. They were there for each other in the good and bad times. Seriously…they were handed some awful situations while together. Things were hardly ever easy, and there were fights and moments where things seemed rough. Throughout those moments they managed to somehow pull it together and keep going.
3. They aren’t perfect. Both are a bit headstrong. Scarlet tends to not listen and does things in her own way, while Rob is out trying to save everyone and sometimes neglects to take care of himself. They have flaws, just like any average couple. I like this. It makes it seem much more realistic.
4. They were made for each other. The love that they had for each other was strong, and it continued to get strong throughout each book. They had beliefs in common which helped guide their lives, and they were always looking out for each other.
5. They were friends first. I am a firm believer in being friends with your significant other. My husband and I are best friends, and were friends before we started dating. Scarlet and Rob got to know each other as friends before anything else. They spent time together, joked together, and dealt with life as friends before any sort of romance came into play.
6. THEY ARE PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER AND YOU JUST NEED TO BELIEVE ME AND READ THIS BOOK SERIES OK!?!?

Oh man, now I am getting the extreme urge to reread this series. It is a series that has stuck with me for so long, the first one that I remember absolutely adoring in such a long time. And this couple, this incredible couple, makes it more and more enjoyable with each page. Also, I am a sucker for the Robin Hood story, so having this…it was perfect.

QUESTION: What is a favorite book couple of your? Also, have you read this book series (BECAUSE IF NOT YOU TOTALLY SHOULD!)?

Midwestern Book Nerd looks at 2017

Happy Friday everyone! Hope that you are enjoying the day and looking at an excellent and relaxing weekend ahead of you. It’s crazy to think that we are nearly done with January already. 2017 sure is flying by and I hope that it is treating you well thus far. I know that today is a day that some of you are excited for, and many dread. But instead of talking about the Inauguration and our own feelings about it we decided today is the PERFECT day to talk about what we are looking forward to in 2017.

Books we are excited about:

These are just SOME of the MANY books that we are excited for. There are many more to be discovered that will surely be added to the Book We Need in 2017 list!

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J Maas | Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh | Hunted by Meagan Spooner | The Valiant by Lesley Livingston | Violet Grenade by Victoria Scott | Empress of a Thousand Skies by Rhoda Belleza | Before She Ignites by Jodi Meadows | Last Stand by Rachel E Carter

Arika:

• Sibling Visits! I’m hoping to have both of my siblings down to my new place down south. My parents have both been to my new place but my brother and sister haven’t yet. I am super excited to bring them down here and show them around 🙂 It’s definitely a different place than the Midwest!
• New Orleans! My brother-in-law lives in New Orleans and I really would love to visit there! It’s a really cool place that I have never been. Some cool history and culture and the best part…the amazing food. There is something about Cajun food that now holds a special place in my heart. Just talking about it makes my mouth water 🙂
• Taking my Professional Engineering Exam. I have been out in the workforce for 4 years so that means I get to take the next step in my career and get my license to sign drawings. Another 8 hour exam that I will have to conquer but with a lot of studying and hard work I know I can do it!
• MOVIES! I am with Emily on this one…I am so excited for Beauty and the Beast to come out! Love Emma Watson and I’ve seen a few previews for it and it is getting me even more excited. I absolutely love all these live adaptions they are doing.
• Hunting. I am hoping to get my hunters safety this year and go hunting for the first time! My husband is a big hunter and fishermen and I have always wanted to try hunting, so this year I plan on getting my classes done and maybe shoot my first deer!
• Last but not least….I hope I get to see EMILY this year more! Or at least a couple times this year 🙂

Emily:

• BEAUTY AND THE BEAST! OK, I just have a lot of movies I look forward to this year in general, but Beauty and the Beast is on the top of that list ok? Awesome. There are also some awesome sounding shows coming out that I can’t wait for. Thank you Netflix for all your Marvel goodness.
• California! I am more than likely traveling to California this year! I have never been there so I am pretty excited. My sister is graduating from grad school in May so I am hoping to be able (aka I should be able to unless bad bad things happen) to get out there for a few days. We have already made touristy plans and Harry Potter plans so that we can really live it up for a few days.
• Road Trips. I am hoping to do some more (small-ish) road trips this year. My husband is a part of a HEMA club (Historical European Martial Arts) and the Midwest is doing more tournaments so we are looking at a trip down to Chicago this weekend actually (he isn’t competing but we are going to watch) and MN for that. I would also love to get back up to Door County and maybe even try to get to the North Shore this year. Plus I want to get home to see my family a few more times this year.
• Getting out of this little rut I seem to be in. I have some ideas of what is going on with me and what I need to do to fix it. My job is going interestingly (if you are really that curious then email me and we can chat, ha) and I am just looking for ways to make myself happier and more useful, if that makes sense. Hoping to find some answers for the questions I have had since graduation (years ago guys…it’s been years).
• I will celebrate 6 years of marriage to my husband (and 11 years of being together..dang). We never really do anything too special (every year since moving here we have had the local sword tournament), but it’s nice to acknowledge and such.
• HOPEFULLY I will get to see Arika at some point! It’s already been too long.

QUESTION: What are some things that you are looking forward to in 2017?

Midwestern Book Nerd’s 2017 Goals!

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!

While we were both on our temporary hiatus to visit our families and celebrate the Holiday season we took a moment to brainstorm what we want to do in 2017. As the new year came around we thought of new possibilities and new directions to take the blog. And though much will probably stay the same, you may notice some differences here and there as we try to do more with this that kind of satisfies all of our nerdy goals (so, we might fangirl for you a little bit more, but we will still fangirl).

Because we weren’t really doing much during that transition from 2016 to 2017 we didn’t get the chance to share with you some of our goals for the year. So here are some things that we would like to accomplish this year, on the blog and in our own lives…

Blog Goals:

• Totally nail Rock My TBR. Obviously we want to crush this list, but would be happy with accomplishing just half. Want to buddy read with us? Check out our lists here and we can do something about it!
• Weekly Posts. We want to be able to bring more to you every week. We are hoping to always have a post for you Tuesday and Friday (but obviously life happens so sometimes there may be less coming at you).
• More creative content. Obviously this kind of goes with the last one, but we want to be able to create more things and hopefully engage more readers. Isn’t that the goal of all book bloggers? We are eagerly brainstorming together and coming up with some ideas.
• Organize a new feature. We maaaaay have something in the works right now (so keep an eye open for something coming up in the near-ish future), but we want to be able to bring a cool feature to you and maybe even get some participation from other bloggers. How cool would that be?

Arika:

• Exercising and Eating Right. I know, I know…everyone usually has this goal at the beginning of the year but I really need to get my butt into shape. Since I graduated college I’ve seen how inactive I’ve become and how I don’t always eat the healthiest things. Well starting this month it’s gonna change, I’ve am walking more and my husband and I are picking out healthier stuff at the grocery store (little steps at first). I am glad he is in this boat with me and wants to eat healthier too because that is a super huge help when you have a partner to help with a challenge!
• Accomplish my reading goals! I have two different reading goals this year: Rock My TBR and my Goodreads challenge. My goal is to read over 50 books and the Rock My TBR has plenty of books to read on it :). After a disappointing year last year for reading (lots of stuff going on in my life), I am ready to crush this reading goal and hopefully read above and beyond the goal of 50!
• Become a Professional Engineer. I’ve been out of school almost four years and as an engineer working in the field of public service you can take the PE exam (a long 8 hour exam…ugh) to get your license as a Professional Engineer (after four years of work in the field under a PE). It’s something I have always wanted since I graduated and it will take a lot of studying but I am super excited to take this next step in my career as an Engineer!
• Listen to books on tape. I have only ever listened to one book on tape and that was Harry Potter (which I had read before so I knew the story) but I have heard of a lot of more people doing this lately. I have some longer car rides coming up in the future and I figured it might be something I can get into and allow me to “read” more books. Plus the library has a selection of books on tape!
• Enjoy Life! This year should be a lot less hectic. So I am hoping my husband and I can enjoy our first full year as husband and wife and enjoy life’s adventures together. 🙂

Emily:

• I want to crush my Goodreads challenge. I upped it this year because I blew past my goal in 2016. I am not tackling 100+ books, but I do want to see myself reach at least 50 and maybe even go beyond that (2016 I wanted to read 40 and I read 54).
• Utilize the library more. The library is a beautiful thing, and I don’t live too far from it. But I tend to not go there often. I hope to use it more this year, and request more.
• Find consistency. I know that life can be nuts and sometimes things don’t happen, but towards the end of the year I struggled with doing what I had to do and what I enjoyed to do. A lot of blogging fell on the back burner while I struggled to just deal with my job. I hope to find some consistency in my routine where I can do both.
• Be happy. Seriously. I have not been a happy person as of late. There is always something. I hope to find what makes me happy and stick with it.
• Be healthy. Yes, I refuse to put a number of pounds I want to lose or a particular diet I want to go on because I always set myself up for failure on that one. I want to develop a healthy routine and feel good about my body and the strength that I have. So far, doing quite well with this one.

QUESTION: What are some of your 2017 goals?

Best of 2016

Hello everyone!!

We are back from our temporary break during the holidays and are so excited to get back into talking about books with all of you. One that we really loved over the last month was that we always had a post go live on Friday. It was fun to brainstorm different things that we could talk to you about each and every week, and so…we are doing it again! Since we were on a slight hiatus so that we could be back in our home state (seriously, we were in the same state but were so busy we couldn’t see each other. Sadness) we missed out on telling you some of the awesome things we did in 2016. So, today we are bringing you our 2016 recap!

Arika:

Man, did 2016 fly by fast! I had a lot going on this past year, from moving a thousand miles to getting married to the greatest guy ever, I couldn’t have asked for a busier or more exciting year. But because of this busy year, I didn’t get to read as many books as I would have liked (I fell 14 short of my goal, which is a pretty big margin for me). Though that didn’t stop me from enjoying the awesome books that I did read and oh my goodness did I find some great books. Some of them were new authors, others were from authors I already know and love! So without further ado, here are a few of my favorite books that I read in 2016 (also here is a link of all the books I read.)

The Queen of the Tearling | Six of Crows | Grave Mercy |  Winter | Empire of Storms | A Court of Mist and Fury | Cuckoo’s Calling | Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children | Red Rising | An Ember in the Ashes | The Girl in the Spider’s Web | Glass Sword | The Martian 

My 2016 year in books:

• These books compromise most of my 4 or 5 star ratings for the year. Lots of them were pretty popular for 2016 and I was very impressed of all the quality books that came out for 2016.
• There were a couple great finishes to series that I read, particularly Winter by Marissa Meyer. What an amazing series that was! I have recommended that series to about a half a dozen people and everyone is in agreement about how wonderful a series it is to read.
• I’m glad I got a few different genres in this year and I hope I can keep it up going into 2017. I feel that when I start to read too much fantasy (or a certain genre), I don’t read as much and that is never good 😦
• I’m hoping this blog will help me find some new books that I would have never read before and I hope I can give some good recommendations out to all of you!

What I did in 2016 besides reading:

• I got MARRIED! — Yup, I got married in October and I couldn’t be more happier with the guy I get to spend the rest of my life with 🙂
• I also moved because I got married. I now am leaving in the south but I have to tell you that…dang, the food down here is amazing! Though I do miss my cheese curds and Top the Tater dip which I can’t get down here sadly.
• I got caught up on some tv shows including the ever amazing Once Upon a Time! I love that show 🙂 I am hoping this year I can watch a few other tv shows including Gilmore Girls. (If you have any good ones I should watch on Netflix, leave a comment!)
• I got a new job. I am now working for the Department of Transportation, which means I help build and design roads. It definitely is a lot more interesting than I thought at first.
• and a lot of other smaller and bigger things that I could go on forever but don’t want to bore you with 🙂

Emily:

When looking back at 2016 I realize that I had a pretty solid reading year. I really enjoy a wide range of books, and I found myself falling into so many books that seemed to be written just for me over the past year. So, here are just SOME of my favorite books of 2016 (but you can click here to see all that I read in 2016).

The Queen of the Tearling | All The Bright Places | The Island | Shadow and Bone | Grave Mercy | Salt to the Sea | The Rose and the Dagger | Heartless | A Shadow Bright and Burning | The Impostor Queen | My Lady Jane | Winter | Empire of Storms | A Court of Mist and Fury | When We Collided | Six of Crows

A few fun facts about my reading during 2016…

• This is not nearly ALL the books I read. I just remember that these stood out to me the most, even an entire year later. That being said, there are still plenty that I enjoyed that I did not list.
• I binged all of Leigh Bardugo’s books after I finished Shadow and Bone. I was hooked, and she has become an auto-buy author for me.
• I read a lot of fantasy this past year, but am really looking to find my niche in other genres as well (and have started to with contemporary and historical fiction)
• I did ok, with Rock My TBR. I completed about what I had initially expected, but hope to blow it out of the water this year.
• 2016 was filled with buddy reads, and I hope to get a few more in there throughout 2017.

Some other things I did in 2016…

• Saw (and loved) Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Deadpool, The Jungle Book, and Zootopia
• Got hooked on even MORE Marvel shows (Daredevil season 2, Luke Cage…so good!)
• Re-watched Gilmore Girls a million times in anticipation for the revival (which I did not hate. I kind of enjoyed it, but I went in with low expectations).
• Got addicted to Poldark (and need to get my hands on season 2 now).
• Had sushi for the first time (and lived and enjoyed it).
• Beat my husband at arcade games in Chicago (turns out I am awesome at Street Fighter).
• Went to Door County for the first time ever and LOVED it!
• and so much more…

And to end it all, here is my 2016 playlist.

 

QUESTION: What would make your list of best of 2016?