We have a nice low-key Thanksgiving planned. We usually travel to OH to visit my family for Thanksgiving, but since we’re going for Christmas we’re staying at home this year! We plan to teach the boys how to properly prepare a turkey dinner, from start to finish!
For today’s challenge, let’s talk about a “reading menu.” What makes a good menu to you? What are your favorite genres, favorite books? Any tactics authors use that drives you crazy (like cliffhangers!?).
Feel free to answer in the comments or below! I’ve also added a Mr. Linky for those updating on their blogs!
This is the official kick off post for Thankfully Reading! Instead of braving the crowds and shopping this weekend, we’re spending our time curled up with a book!
Feel free to link up your kick-off post below, as well as any update posts you have. Don’t have a blog? Don’t worry! You can keep us updated on your progress in the comments below, on Instagram, Twitter (use #thankfullyreading or make sure you tag me so I can see it!) or Facebook! Haven’t signed up yet to participate? Not to worry! There is still plenty of time!
If you don’t know what to post, here are some ideas. But remember there are no rules; feel free to post as little/as much as you like!
How will/did you celebrate Thanksgiving?
What’s in your TBR pile for the weekend?
How much time do you think you’ll have for reading?
What book are you starting out with?
Are you reading print, ebooks, or audio? Maybe a bit each?
What books will you be talking about during Thanksgiving dinner? Be sure to keep track of any recommendations you receive and share when you have the time.If you don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, don’t worry, this is a weekend for everyone throughout the world.
Pictures and/or vlogs are a great thing to add to your kick-off posts!
Throughout the weekend, feel free to post about your progress or even get some reviews up. Be sure to come back and link up your posts. Then take a break and check out everyone else’s posts. We’re looking forward to seeing how everyone else is celebrating Thankfully Reading Weekend.
Oh and don’t forget that some of your fellow readers will be on Twitter. You can search for Thankfully Reading Weekend tweets and hook up with others by using the hashtag #thankfullyreading.
On Sunday afternoon, we’ll post another link-up for your wrap-up post. Tell us how your Thankfully Reading Weekend went. You could give mini-reviews of your books, tell us how many books and which books you read, number of pages, number of hours, and so on. This is a rule-free, contest-free event, so you can wrap up the weekend however you’d like.
What is this Thankfully Reading Weekend I speak of? Here are the details:
This year, Thankfully Reading Weekend will take place November 21-25th! There are no rules to the weekend, we’re simply hoping to devote a good amount of time to reading, and perhaps meeting some of our reading challenges and goals for the year. We thought it’d be fun if we cheered each other on a bit. If you think you can join in, grab the button and add your sign up post to the link-up below. If you don’t have a blog, you can sign up the comments or sign up using a link to your Twitter account or Facebook page, or Instagram account!
Want to host a challenge? Email me directly at jennsbookshelf@gmail.com.
We’ll also be checking in on Twitter and Instagram using hashtag #thankfullyreading. Join in for the weekend or for only a single day. No rules, no pressure!
To sign up, fill out the linky below! Link to wherever you will be posting your updates, be it Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook!
Thanksgiving is just right around the corner. With that comes the dreaded Black Friday (well, now lately, it’s Black Thursday, too!).
I’m pleased to announce that I will once again be hosting Thankfully Reading Weekend, November 21-25th! Yes, that’s a long weekend, but I figure people have time off for the holidays and, therefore, time to read! Want to avoid the crowds & shopping on Black Friday? Plan on spending a nice, quiet holiday at home? Join us!
Just what is this Thankfully Reading Weekend I speak of? Here are the details:
There are no rules to the weekend, we’re simply hoping to devote a good amount of time to reading, and perhaps meeting some of our reading challenges and goals for the year. We thought it’d be fun if we cheered each other on a bit. If you think you can join in, grab the button and add your sign up post to the link-up below. If you don’t have a blog, you can sign up the comments or sign up using a link to your Twitter account or Facebook page, or Instagram account!
Want to host a challenge? Email me directly at jennsbookshelf@gmail.com.
We’ll also be checking in on Twitter and Instagram using hashtag #thankfullyreading. Join in for the weekend or for only a single day. No rules, no pressure!
Scott Carey doesn't appear to be losing weight. Yet when he steps on the scale, he's noticed a steady decline in his weight, roughly a pound per day. Additionally, he weighs just as much clothed as without. He isn't attempting a diet (he prefers gravy on everything) yet this apparent weight loss has him concerned.
Meanwhile, Scott is in an escalating battle with his neighbors. They allow their dog to walk free throughout the neighborhood, not carrying to clean up after it. Unknown to Scott, his neighbors, a lesbian married couple, are struggling to keep their restaurant afloat. The town of Castle Rock, set in its ways, refuses to allow a gay couple to succeed.
Scott's ailment provides a mechanism for the most unlikely of alliances to come together. Prejudices are lifted, bringing out the very best in the small Maine town.
Admittedly, when I received my copy of Elevation I was quite shocked. It’s tiny, not only in page count (under 200), but in size as well. It looks more like a gift book than the typical Stephen King volume. I was a bit disappointed, craving a chuckster of King brilliance.
I should have trusted Uncle Steve. This tiny, miniature size book packs a big punch. King excels at horror, but he also excels at exploring and bringing to life the darkest part of our society. In this instance, he brings hope and love and light to a world that is struggling with hate and divisiveness.
I read this in one sitting and I cannot wait to read again. This is a book that I will gift to dozens of readers for it’s the very thing we need right now: Hope.
Those who know me well know that I don’t typically do cover reveals on my blog. Yet when one of my favorite thriller writers, Hilary Davidson, reached out to me, I couldn’t resist. I’m a huge fan of everything she’s written and I can’t wait to read this latest! Release date is May 19, 2019.
An apparent suicide. A mysterious disappearance. Did one man get away with murder—twice?
NYPD detective Sheryn Sterling has had her eye on Alex Traynor ever since his friend Cori fell to her death under suspicious circumstances a year ago. Cori’s death was ruled a suicide, but Sheryn thinks Alex—a wartime photojournalist suffering from PTSD—got away with murder.
When Alex’s fiancée, Emily, a talented and beloved local doctor, suddenly goes missing, Sheryn suspects that Alex is again at the center of a sticky case. Sheryn dislikes loose ends, and Cori’s death had way too many of them.
But as Sheryn starts pulling at the threads in this web, her whole theory unravels. Everyone involved remembers the night Cori died differently—and the truth about her death could be the key to solving Emily’s disappearance.
I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Longstone Lighthouse on the Farne Islands in Northumberland, England is the only home Grace Darling has known. Her father, the lighthouse keeper, has instilled in her a passion and love for the lighthouse and the sea it overlooks. Saving the lives of shipwrecked victims is one of the responsibilities of being the lighthouse keeper, so when a ship wrecks in 1838, Grace instantly joins her father in the rescue of the survivors. Following, Grace becomes a hero, an angel that swooped in to rescue the victims from the raging sea. Not a fan of the fame, Grace finds salvation in a rejuvenated friendship with a visiting artist, the brother of one of the victims she's rescued.
One hundred years later Matilda Emmerson, nineteen and pregnant, is sent from her home in Ireland to Newport, Rhode Island to wait out the arrival of her child. She resides with Harriet, an assistant lighthouse keeper who seems less than thrilled to have a guest in her home. In time, however, their connection is revealed, unveiling a bond that goes back centuries.
If this isn’t a page-turner, I don’t know what is! I devoured this in one sitting, instantly captivated by the strong, hard-headed female characters who both seemed to be ahead of their time when it came to the role of women in Society. Grace, forced into fame due to an act that she considered to be natural, and Matilda, a young mother banished from her family due to her pregnancy.
This novel is full of rich detail, from the characters to the setting. It’s not difficult to become invested in the characters and their fate. They each endured a terrible amount of tragedy and loss. The sea, too, is its own character, for it plays a very active role in the fate of those who reside near it.
All in all, I highly highly recommend this read. Be prepared to devote every waking moment!
Who is ready to get their read on!? I am! Thanks to a nice, restful evening last night I’m up and ready to go!
My real-time updates will happen on Instagram and Twitter, but I will link them all below! Here’s to a successful read-a-thon, everyone!
Update 1: When the dog wakes you up at 2:30 AM, you opt to sleep in for a bit! I’m up, showered, cinnamon roll and coffee in hand. Meatballs for munching off of later are in the crock pot. Let’s get this started! Starting off with Lauren Oliver’s Broken Things!
Update 2 (12:30 PM): First book finished! Going a little spookier with my next read!
Update 3 (6:00 PM): Second book finished. Zombie novel meets eco-thriller. Certainly unique! Switching to the Kindle now; holding a book for several hours is painful!
Update 4: (9:00): Third book finished! Removed Fantastical Tales of Terror from my reading queue. I couldn’t get into it at all. The first 4 stories were not fantastical or full of terror! Also, the font was teeny tiny; the format didn’t allow me to increase it on my Kindle either! So, I started Godsend, a book from the small press I just recently discovered. Nice, short and spooky! On to book 4!
It’s time to take a break from reading and exercise the more creative side of your brain! For this mini-challenge, I task you with creating a haiku or short story using the titles from your TBR!
Now, it doesn’t have to be anything fancy; as you’ll see in the photo below I had a challenge of doing this challenge myself!
My haiku reads:
The Bone Witch
Brightly Burning
We Sold Our Souls
Chasing Ghosts!
You can share your entries by adding the link to the Mr. Linky below! At the end of the read-a-thon, I will select one person to receive a bookish Halloween prize!
