January was a long and confusing month. The weather ranged from 50 degrees (F) to -50 degrees (F) and worked consumed most of my mind. Luckily, I was able to squeeze some time for friends (and books)!
January felt like it was never going to end, so of course I can only remember what happened this past
week. I celebrated Martin Luther Christmas with some friends. We started doing this last year when we made a pact to hang out with each other once a year (adulthood is rough y'all) and so we started off with hanging out on Martin Luther King, Jr. day. This year, we watched Step Up 3 (a classic) and played a bunch of board games. It was fun!
ALA Midwinter was in late January and that consumed all of my thoughts. I think I had stress dreams two weeks up until my flight. ALA MW was an amazing whirlwind. I got to explore the city on Thursday but Friday-Monday was 'go-go-go' the entire time. Also living that West Coast life was stressful af. I think I woke up at 3 or 4 a.m. each day. Highlights of my experience were reconnecting with library workers I email with regularly, seeing our jurors' hard work during the Youth Media Awards, seeing some blogging friends (holler Wendy and Madalyn), and making those calls to publishers to let them know a title won an award.
I did manage to pop in the Exhibit Hall for about an hour but I oddly wasn't in the mood to look at books (maybe it was the exhuastion). I grabbed about 10 books including The Candle and the Flame, On the Come Up, and Let Me Here a Rhyme.
Matt came along to hang out with his sister and they had a great time together. I saw the two of them for dinner for but I was falling asleep in a corner.
I'm also impressed that I managed to make it home on time. My flights was one of the only flights that made it into Chicago because we were due to have a crazy snow storm. As I walked into O'Hare, a bunch of outgoing flights were canceled. Because I can't have too much good luck, I got sick as soon as I got back in Chicago. Typical.
I also had a virtual open house for a school I was contemplating getting my MLIS and I think I'm almost ready to commit. Applications are due May 1 so I need to move my ass.
I took a hiatus last week and thank God I had the foresight to know I would not be up to blogging and commenting. Up until my quick break from blogging, I was pretty on top of reading my February ARCs. One post I'm really happy I did was about my
2019 bujo. I think I may do quarterly updates because I'm proud of my little journal, even though I know there will always be someone who has a prettier/neater journal than I ever could.
I read 12 books and I made a goal to only read 6. #Overachiever. My favorite read of the month was A Curse so Dark and Lonely (4.5 stars) and my least favorite read of the month was Enchantee (2 stars).
February feels like such a limbo month. I may have to pop in to D.C. real quick for work but that hasn't been confirmed yet. Besides that, I only have like three February ARCs to finish and maybe four March ARCs to read and review. I'm feeling pretty good about my ARC pile! Brigid Kemmerer is stopping by Chicagoland along with Susan Dennard so I'm excited to get a signed copy of A Curse So Dark and Lonely. I hope to read 12 books this month too!
What was the most exciting moment of January for you?
What was your favorite read of January?
What's your most anticipated February release?
Labels: monthly recap, monthly wrap up, recap, wrap up
week. I celebrated Martin Luther Christmas with some friends. We started doing this last year when we made a pact to hang out with each other once a year (adulthood is rough y'all) and so we started off with hanging out on Martin Luther King, Jr. day. This year, we watched Step Up 3 (a classic) and played a bunch of board games. It was fun!
ALA Midwinter was in late January and that consumed all of my thoughts. I think I had stress dreams two weeks up until my flight. ALA MW was an amazing whirlwind. I got to explore the city on Thursday but Friday-Monday was 'go-go-go' the entire time. Also living that West Coast life was stressful af. I think I woke up at 3 or 4 a.m. each day. Highlights of my experience were reconnecting with library workers I email with regularly, seeing our jurors' hard work during the Youth Media Awards, seeing some blogging friends (holler Wendy and Madalyn), and making those calls to publishers to let them know a title won an award.
I'm also impressed that I managed to make it home on time. My flights was one of the only flights that made it into Chicago because we were due to have a crazy snow storm. As I walked into O'Hare, a bunch of outgoing flights were canceled. Because I can't have too much good luck, I got sick as soon as I got back in Chicago. Typical.
