Hi everyone!

I’m so sorry that it’s been radio silence since November–I worked my butt off for Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month), and actually managed to complete it for only the second time ever–50,000 words in 30 days, which was a huge, crazy feat. One left me so exhausted and over writing absolutely anything, so I took December as a month off, swearing that I’d get right back on my feet for 2018–so here I am!

I’m going to start off my Book a Week challenge again, and do my very, very best to post a new review every Sunday night, as well as my Throwback Thursday mini review, so you’ve got a few different days during the week to look for content from me.

Books of 2017

I’m going to start out by saying that I really feel as if I read a dismal amount of books this year, probably between 30 and 40, with only about 25 of them being new books. This was pretty depressing, considering in high school I read over a hundred a year consistently. This year, 2018, I’m going to try and make it to sixty, therefore basically doubling my total from this year, and making it to over one book a week.

New Years Resolutions (Book Related):

1. 60 books in 2018
2. Keep a full, comprehensive book journal so I’ll have accurate numbers of how many books I read this year, and the page numbers, so I’ll have nice stats for New Years Day next year.

So now, without further ado, in order from best to worst, (most) of the new books (not re-reads) of 2017:

1. The Black Witch by Laurie Forest
2. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
3. All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater
4. Silence Fallen by Patricia Briggs
5. The You I’ve Never Known by Ellen Hopkins
6. A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinger
7. Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo
8. Now I Rise by Keirsten White
9.  Dark Breaks the Dawn by Sara B. Larson
10. The Reader by Traci Chee
11. Three Dark Crowns (Books 1 & 2) by Kendare Blake
12. Sea of Shadows Trilogy by Kelley Armstrong
13. Troy by Adele Geras
14. Sweet Venom Trilogy by Tera Lynn Childs
15. Scale by Keith Buckley
16. The Diabolic by S.J. Kincaid
17. Verily, A New Hope (Shakespeare’s Star Wars) by Ian Doescher
18. The Blood of Eden Trilogy by Julie Kagawa
19. Elusion by Claudia Gabel and Cheryl Klam
20. Incarceron (Books 1 & 2) by Catherine Fisher
21. Crewel (Books 1 & 2) by Gennifer Albin
22. The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow
23. The Graces by Laure Eve

This was not an easy decision to make (the first two and the last three were the most difficult) but the best book of 2017 was officially The Black Witch, which I absolutely adored and cannot WAIT for the sequel coming out later this year. And my least favorite book of this year HAD to be The Graces by Laure Eve, no other book that I read made me quite so mad as this one (though I guess the author did her job in some respects, as she did draw me in enough in the last pages to get me to read the sequel that will drop this year).

I’m going to skip Throwback Thursday this week, as I’d like to start the new year off with a full one review, so I’ll see you all on Sunday, and here’s to a great year of books in 2018!

Hello, beautiful nerds!

It’s June 1st, and you know what that means! Or maybe you don’t, but I’ll tell you either way. My “Book a Week” challenge is now officially underway! I’m challenging everyone out there to read 4 books in June. Come on, that’s 4 books, 30 days. I know you can do it! If you commit an hour or two a day, every day, then you could read even more than that.

And what an amazing time to start! Summer reading is the best kind of reading, in my opinion. Lay by the pool, out in your yard, or string up a hammock in the woods (just make sure and wear sunscreen). Reading outside kills two birds with one stone: you get to be outside in the summer sun, and if you’re outside, it is way harder to be attached to your screens.

Okay, okay. Here’s what’s in it for you (besides getting smarter and doing something that, for the modern adult in today’s technological world, is super hard).

If I can get 20 people to commit to this challenge for June, I’ll do a prize giveaway. The random winner will get their choice of two prizes:

1st Choice: $25 Barnes and Noble Gift Card (or applicable relevant bookstore gift card)

2nd Choice: I will send you copies of any 2 books that I mention in my blogs

RULES:

1. To be eligible to win, you have to submit your email. This way you’ll also receive updates whenever I post on my blog, so you’ll be all caught up.
2. To win, you have to prove to me that you finished 4 books this month. If you’re the winner, I’ll let you know how you can prove it to me.
3. The books have to be, you know, books of a certain length. I’m sorry, reading a picture book to your kids doesn’t count (but obviously, you should still do that). No Junie B. Jones or Magic Treehouse or anything. You are more than welcome to read books “below your age level” (I’m a huge advocate for that anyway, you can check out the first episode of my podcast if you wanna hear more about that). Just don’t try and play me.
4. No audio books. You can read a book on a Kindle or a Nook, but you gotta read with your eyes and your mind.
5. No graphic novels or manga. I have lots of respect for those types of books, and you should definitely still read them if you like them, but that’s not quite the challenge I’m going for.
6. You CAN, however, count “big” books you do for read aloud. Like if you read the first Harry Potter to your kid, for instance, that totally counts. Even for adults, I think, read aloud is a wonderful thing. I had a teacher of mine do read aloud every day during two college classes I was in, and I loved it as much as I did as a kid.
7. I’ll ship these prizes anywhere: you don’t just have to be in the US to win.

The winner will be selected randomly from those that commit to the challenge, but I’ll only do it if I can get 20 people committed. You can sign up any time during June, but the earlier you sign up, the more time that you have to complete the challenge.

If you have any questions, feel free to comment below, or even send me an email: sarahkruhlak7@gmail.com

Good luck ❤