New Year

The January Book Tag // 2024

- Bunny 1 Comment

Hi Friends,
Today, I am doing ‘The January’ book tag, which I have done previously. This book tag helps you reflect on your last year’s reading and your reading plans for the year ahead. I am happy to continue my tradition of doing this tag every January.


Funny enough, I remember many, if not all, of my January reading in 2023. The book that I started the year reading was ‘Five Survive’ by Holly Jackson, who is the author of the ‘A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder‘ trilogy. For some reason, I could not remember the last book I read. Let me say that it was a crazy end of the year. After looking at my GoodReads I saw that my final read of 2023 was ‘Secret Santa’ by Andrew Shaffer, which is a short Christmas horror.
Related Post: Five Survive // Book Review
Related Post: Secret Santa // Book Review


In 2024, the first book I ended up finishing was actually one I started in 2023, which was ‘Lovelight Farms’ by B.K. Borison. I had initially DNFed the book but decided to go ahead and finish it on January 1st. I probably will not be posting my review until November or December of this year, but spoiler alert I was not a fan of it.


I have a whole post on my 2024 reading goals, but my top three are to read my owned TBR, read outside my comfort zone, and one that I did not mention in that post is to finish a few book series. I think that these goals are typical and that I can accomplish them.
Related Post: 2024 Anticipated Releases // January To June


Well, I just so happen to also have a post on my most anticipated releases for the first half of 2024. But, my three most anticipated releases for the entire year would have to be ‘Happily Never After’ by Lynn Painter (March 2024), ‘Wisteria’ by Adalyn Grace (August 2024) and ‘Spectacular’ by Stephanie Garber (October 2024). These are all favorite authors of mine, so naturally, I cannot wait to read their new releases.
Related Post: Belladonna // Book Review
Related Post: Caraval // Book Review


I reached my reading goal last year, which I believe is always an accomplishment. Unfortunately, I did not read much of my physical TBR. However, graphic novels were a pretty big part of my reading last year, and I do not normally read them, so I would call reading out of my comfort zone a success.


Honestly, the first book that came to mind was ‘House of Flame and Shadow’ by Sarah J. Maas (January 2024), which is the third book in her ‘Crescent City’ series. I have no desire to read the book, or anything else written by the author. Her books seem so long, and there are #7 or #8 books in some of her series. This is just too much for me. Needless to say, I will not pick this book up when it is released, and I am okay with that.


I am not sure if I have any reading habits or red flags so to speak that I would like to change this year. I know that is such a lame answer, and I think it’s one I have given in the past to this question. I try not to take reading too seriously because it is some I love to do and makes me happy.


I am not ashamed to admit that I do not keep up with book adaptations. So, I have no idea what is being adapted in 2024. Except for ‘It Ends With Us,’ which will star Blake Lively. However, I am not necessarily excited about that since I probably will not be watching it, because I have never read the book and do not plan to.


Probably joining Bookthreads! I have become so active there and Bookstagram. It has been so fun, and I am glad I discovered it last year. I hope to connect with more bookish people this year and do more buddy reading.


If you are talking about books, I started last year and still need to finish that would be ‘Furyborn’ by Claire Legrand and ‘Book Lovers’ by Emily Henry. But, if you mean 2023 releases I still need to read than the list is probably too long to mention.

Hope that you enjoyed this tag! If you have done it on your blog, let me know in the comments below, so that I can read your post. Feel free to leave a comment with your answers as well. Do not forget to share this post and follow the blog.

Until The Next Chapter,
Bunny

Read In The New Year // To Be Read

- Bunny 2 Comments

Hi Friends,
I have been in a weird funk lately, and my loving husband thought that a Readathon might just be the cure to getting me out of it. Thus, I am doing the ‘Read In The New Year’ Readathon, which is a readathon hosted on Booktube. The readathon takes place from January 14th through the 22nd, and is inspired by New Year’s resolutions. There are 7 prompts, but I will be using books for more than one prompt.


I picked ‘What Moves The Dead’ by T. Kingfisher, since it’s a horror retelling that is under 200 pages. The plot sounds very intriguing, and I’m in the mood for a quick horror read.


After doing a little digging I came across the graphic novel ‘Chef’s Kiss’ written by Jarrett Melendez. This is a queer love story about a newly graduated young adult man that ends up working at a restaurant. Luckily, I didn’t have to pay for it because it’s on both Libby and KU.


I have a whole list of books that I need to read before the end of the year, or I’ll have to unhaul them. And, I do plan to do a post sharing them all, but one book that I have owned for a while is ‘River Of Dreams’ by Jan Nash. Obviously a river is a body of water so I think that counts. This is a young adult book with magical realism elements. I’m not sure if it’s going to be for me, but I want to give it a chance since the audiobook is fairly short.


I was lucky to be able to use one of the book that is already on my January Bookopoly TBR for these prompts. ‘The Nightingale’ by Kristin Hannah happens to be a historical fiction novel by an author I’ve never read before.


For this prompt, I’m going with ‘Icebreaker’ by Hannah Grace, which is another book of my Bookopoly TBR for the month. Some people might not count this as a series, but it is technically the first book is a series of companion novels, so to me that counts.

I have five books on this TBR, so I don’t know how successful I will actually be in completing it. Especially since this is only a week long readathon. However, two of the books are short, so I’m pretty confident I will get to most of them. In the comments, let me know if you plan on taking part in this readathon to kick off a new year of reading. Don’t forget to follow the blog, because your support really does help the blog grow.

Until The Next Chapter,
Bunny

Bookish, Blogging & More // 2024 Goals

- Bunny Leave a comment

Hi Friends,
Happy New Year! The fact that it is 2024 is simply mind boggling, since I don’t think I have even fully processed 2020 yet. But, ready or not, a New Year is here, which means new goals. Or, as some call them, resolutions. Just like last year, I’m going to be sharing with you my bookish, blog, and personal goals for the year ahead.

Blog Goals
– Stay Consistent: I feel like this will always be a goal of mine. I want to continue to be consistent on my blog. Unfortunately, Bookmas (although wonderful) was a fail for me in 2023. So, I am hoping that I can keep posting regularly this year, and have a successful 2024 Bookmas.
– Don’t Compare: I think all content creators are guilty of comparing themselves to others. I would like to stop doing that, and focus on my content. Specifically, posting what I like to post. My blog has always been my own little corner of the internet, and I’d like to remind myself that everyone is different.
– Engage: It would be awesome if I could engage in the book community more. This is something that I started doing at the end of 2023, and I am so happy about that. I want to start commenting on Instagram and blog posts more often. It has been so much fun connecting with people in the bookish community. Hopefully, I can keep that up in 2024.

Bookish Goals
– Physical TBR: I have no idea the number of unread books I own, but it’s probably at least 100. This year, I would like to make an effort to read the books I own.
– Different Genres: I am always telling myself that I’m going to read books that are out of my comfort zone, and never do. So, something that I will be trying to do is reading books from all types of genres – including ones I don’t normally gravitate towards.
– Blacklist Books: I can be guilty of reading only new and popular titles so I am hoping that in 2024 I can make it the year of backlist books. Of course, I will read some new releases, but I have a lot of older books that I want to read this year as well.

Personal Goals
– Stress Less: This is way easier said than done. I am typically a ball of stress, even on anxiety medication, but I am going to try and be stress free in 2024.
– Baby E: In last years post I mentioned that I wanted to get pregnant. Well, we are going on trying for two years now with no success, but I truly believe that this will be our year!
– Travel: I would love to travel this year, since I did absolutely no traveling in 2023. I have some places that I would love to visit and cross off my bucket list.

In the comments, let me know some of your goals or resolutions for the New Year. And, one last thing. Like last year, my reading goal will be 100 books. If I hit it, that would be great! But if not, that’s fine too. Before you leave, ring in the New Year by following my blog!

Until The Next Chapter,
Bunny

The January Book Tag // 2023

- Bunny Leave a comment

Hi Friends,
Last year, I did the January Book Tag and I thought I’d make it a yearly tradition. I don’t want to ramble too much, so let’s just jump right into the questions.

In 2022, the last book I read was ‘Whiteout’ by Various Authors. This was a fun holiday contemporary, but it was just meh. The first book I read was ‘Late To The Party’ by Kelly Quindlen. I surprisingly still remember a lot about this book. It was just your run of the mill YA Contemporary, but it did have good LGBT representation.
Related Post: Late To The Party // Book Review

Sadly, it was ‘Five Survive’ by Holly Jackson. I don’t want to say too much about this book, but it wasn’t a good start to my reading year.

As always I did a whole post on my reading goals for the new year. But, I wanted to share three goals that I didn’t mention in that post. The first is that I want to complete the 12 book challenge. This is where your friends give you book recommendations and you need to read 12 of those books by the end of the year.

Next, I’d like to read some Stephen King books this year. Unlikely, one is on my 12 book challenge, yet the main one I want to read is ‘IT’. Lastly, I want to read books out of my comfort zone. Who knows I might find a hidden gem in a genre I’d never consider reading before.

‘She Is a Haunting’ by Trang Thanh Tran (February 2023): Maybe it’s just me but this book is giving off major ‘House Of Hollow’ vibes. It’s a thriller, horror book that takes place in a French colonial house in Vietnam. Haunted house story’s are always creepy.
Related Post: House Of Hollow // Book Review

‘One of Us Is Back’ by Karen M. McManus (August 2023): This is the final book in the ‘One Of Us Is Lying’ universe. Not only are the Bayview four back, but so are the characters from the second book ‘One Of Us Is Next’. I’m just hoping we get some more Phoebe and Knox moments.

‘The Bewitching Hour (A Tara Maclay Prequel)’ by Ashley Poston (August 2023): I cannot wait for this release. Although, I was never the biggest Buffy fan. For some reason I was more of an ‘Angel’ series person. I loved Tara! She was my favorite Buffy character. I’m so excited to read a book about her before she met the Scooby gang.

I surpassed my GoodReads reading goal for the year, which was pretty amazing! But, other than that I don’t thank I read my shelves as much as I would have liked. And, I barely read any backlist titles.

‘Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute‘ by Talia Hibbert: Don’t get me wrong this sounds like a cute YA contemporary romance, which I tend to love. However, it’s a second chance, ex-best friends to lovers romance. I’m just not a fan of that trope. Still, I’m not completely riding this one off.

‘Happy Place’ by Emily Henry: Not going to lie Emily Henry is a good writer and I did read 50% of her novel ‘Book Lovers’ before putting down. That being said, I don’t really think her books are for me. Also, this is a second chance romance, which I don’t jive with in books or movies.

Probably, just really thinking about the books I pick up and if I’ll like them. I want to get better at knowing my reading taste.

I’m pretty excited for ‘The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’ even though I haven’t finished ‘The Hunger Games’ series. But, I’ve seen the movies and can’t wait to see this adaption. Also, I did see a rumor that the adaption of Kristin Hannah’s novel ‘The Nightingale‘ might come out this year, which I’d been interested in seeing.

It would probably be reading 103 books. That is the most books I have ever read in a year, so it made me really proud of myself.

I started ‘All the Bright Places’ by Jennifer Niven close to the end of the year, which I would like to finish. And, I’d eventually like to go back to ‘Lovely War’ by Julie Berry. I’m about 50% of the way through with it, so it shouldn’t take me too long to finish.

Let me know in the comments, if you have done this tag and I will go give it a read. Also, tell me what was your first read of 2023. Don’t forget to share and like this post, and click the follow button.

Until The Next Chapter,
Bunny

Bookish, Blogging & More // 2023 Goals

- Bunny 2 Comments

Hi Friends,
Happy New Year! I cannot believe that it is practically 2023. This year was insane but pretty good if I do say so myself. Fun fact, New Year’s Eve is my favorite day of the year. I like how everything starts over when a new year comes, and there are new possibilities. Today, I will be sharing my New Year bookish and blogging resolutions!

Blog Goals
– Stay Consistent: I think that I’m fairly consistent when it comes to my blog, but I would like to have more of a schedule. I try to post 3 days a week, so I’m hoping I can keep that up in the New Year.
– Grow: Followers are not the reason I blog, but I would love to grow my community. I always get so excited when I get a new follower because it means that you enjoy my content.
– Socials: I am going to try and be more active on my socials. If you don’t know I have a Bookstagram, Twitter and Booktok account! You can find me as BooksWithBunny on all my socials. I would like to post multiple times a week on all my accounts.

Bookish Goals
– Read Before Buying: Honestly, this probably won’t work out for me but I would like to only buy books I’ve read. I feel so guilty when I buy a book and end up DNFing or not liking it.
– Read My Shelf: This was a goal of mine in 2022, but I would still like to read more of my owned books.
– Finish Series: There are some book series that I have been reading for what feels like ever. I would like to complete at least one series per season (spring, summer, fall and winter).

Personal Goals
– Mental Health: This was also a goal of mine from last year, but I did a horrible job taking care of my mental health in 2022. So, this year I’m going to make my mental well-being more of a priority.
– Yoga Teacher: Currently, I’m working towards getting my yoga teacher certification! I would love to be done with the program early 2023. Hopefully, I can start teaching yoga soon.
– Baby Fever: This is a very personal goal for me but I am hopeful that I will grow my family in 2023. I have been trying to get pregnant for a little over a year, and I’m trying to believe that this year it will happen.

In the comments, let me know if you make resolutions or goals for the New Year. And, if you do what are your top goals? Before you leave, ring in the New Year by following my blog.

Until The Next Chapter,
Bunny