Countdown to Christmas & #AMonthofFaves2016

Favorite Christmas songs or albums from your growing up years...

I always really enjoyed The Muppets. Still do!!

Favorite movies or Christmas specials from your growing up years...

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Muppet Christmas Carol

Mickey's Christmas Carol

A Charlie Brown Christmas

Frosty the Snowman

Favorite present(s) from your growing up years...

Books! I was always happy when I actually got some. I remember sitting off in a corner while family was visiting and reading whatever I got on the sly. My family was a bit slow understanding that was really what I wanted...

Favorite present(s) from recent years....

Okay, it is a bit materialistic, but my Canon Camera is my favourite gift over the last few years. And, books... Always books. lol

Favorite Christmas songs or albums currently...

December goes so fast! I have only really checked out the Pentatonix new album. Otherwise, it is the old favourites. For some reason I really like Amy Grant's Christmas albums and have been listening to them for years. Then, I still listen to the Muppets. lol

Favorite Christmas movies or specials currently...

I have not watched a single Christmas movie. December is going too fast. :(

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5 Books on Our Winter Reading List #AMonthofFaves2016

After really enjoying Age of Myth, I really want to read his older stuff. Thanks to audio sales, I have this trilogy and I am really excited to check it out. I have been saving it for winter listens.

I really liked this book and a couple of the sequels. I have been meaning to reread the early books and catch-up as I own all the audios. I am hoping to start this project in 2017 and it would be nice if it was a winter project of sorts.

Otherwise, 2017 is hopefully going to be a tackle the TBR pile year, so, while I have nothing set in concrete at the moment, I have hopes!

Best Changes We Made This Year

Less pressure. If I read, I read. If I blog, I blog. If my house is perfect, my house is perfect. Instead of looking at the big picture all the time, I just worry about the smaller things that make up the larger thing. And, it seems to be working out well. I read a lot this year and that included reading slumps. I blogged more than I have in a few years. My house is not perfect, but it has been cleaner to the point where there are moments where I don't feel like I should be cleaning instead of doing something fun. I still have stressful moments where I would love to accomplish more than I do, you can see it in my blog posts, but it is more relaxed than previous years and that is what matters!

5 Fave “New to Me” Author Discoveries or Audiobook Narrations This Year

Okay, so this was a recent Top Ten Tuesday topic and you can see my 10 picks on my post.

If I had to narrow the 10 to 5, it would be hard... Let's see...

Helen Sedgwick

Mira Grant

Michael J. Sullivan

V.E. Schwab

Jay Kristoff

#AMonthofFaves & Countdown to Christmas

Favorite Book to Movie or TV Shows

Those that know me, know I do not watch much TV... So, all I can think of for this is The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, and Lord of the Rings. There are many others but I haven't read the book or I haven't seen the movie. (Like Still Alice. I have heard good things about the book, planned to read it before watching the movie, but the guy was watching it one night and I ended up watching it, too... It was really good. I still want to read the book.) 

#WeekendReading {Picking Favorites}

While I love the idea of #AMonthofFaves, I have not really visited many blogs participating. So, I am sure I will have a great answer for this once I have a chance to do some blog hopping!

The Most Unique, Weird or Most Memorable Book(s) Read This

~ We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson - This book is just creepy.

~ The Fireman by Joe Hill - This was my first longer work by Joe Hill and I really liked it, but it is outside of my normal genre reading so stands out to me.

~ Locke & Key by Joe Hill (Audio) - I have read the comics, so I knew what to expect, but this was my first time doing an adaptation of a comic and it was a lot of fun!

The movie I'm looking forward to watching this Christmas season...

I would have watched this all ready if I could find my copy. It's vanished!

A treat I love to make or eat during the holidays...

um, I don't really bake. There are only two of us and I just figure I will avoid the temptation. lol Our holiday tradition is lobster. We are having some for Christmas Eve this year.

Favourite thing I love to do with my family during the holidays...

I am not even sure if we have Christmas traditions to be honest. When we were kids we used to have fondue night on New Year's Eve. Nowadays, the holidays are just a big rush and I just kind of go with the flow.

#AMonthofFaves2016 & Countdown to Christmas

Most Useful Tools For Getting Sh&! Done

Bullet Journals - I started my bullet journal in the spring and I have managed to keep it up all year! I enjoy crossing off things that I accomplished. I have tweaked it a few times in an attempt to find something that works for me, but I may tweak it again in January when I start a fresh book.

Cleaning Schedules - I started cleaning on a schedule. It works really well! You basically do small things everyday for a month and then it doesn't seem so overwhelming. I still fall behind because other things happen and I don't have as much cleaning time as I would like, but it has worked really well this year.

Planner - I am still new to having an actual planner. When I have time to plan out the next few weeks spreads, I am great. I find if I am behind, though, I have a hard time finding time to catch up. I am hoping to get better at this as I go and then start to use it more to stay organised!

Libib - I started adding my unread books to Libib and it has been great. When I am at the second hand store and second-guessing what I own in a series, I can just bring up this app and check. I really need to finish adding to it. I stalled after I did my physical books, so still have audios and e-books left.

The album I'm looking forward to listening to this Christmas season...

I got two new ones to listen to! A Pentatonix Christmas by Pentatonix and The Frost is Over by Kate Rusby.

#AMonthofFaves2016 & Countdown to Christmas

This Is How We Read 

I have read about 293 books this year. My Goodreads says more because sometimes I had to count single volumes of comics instead of the collected editions like I do on my blog.

Most of what I read this year falls in the fantasy category in some way.

I listened to more audio than I normally do. I think I am at 34 for the year and it was partway through the year before I got back into audios. I am hoping to listen to even more in 2017.

I read a lot of graphic novels both off of my shelves, on Scribd, and through Marvel Unlimited. I did not meet my goal of having read all of the graphic novels in my house, though. I need to do that in 2017. There really are not that many I still have to get to...

If I don't count graphic novels, my most read author this year was Mira Grant. I read 4 books under her name and 1 under Seanan McGuire, her other writing name. I think Maggie Stiefvater would come in second because I read 3 books by her. 

I managed to finish a few series this year which is always a plus. There are many others that I am starting to wonder if I will ever finish...

This is How we Blog

I have the most up and down blogging style ever. The only reason I have blogged this much in the last few months is because I have started doing so many 'themed' days. If I didn't know roughly what I was posting each day, I would have likely done one post a week and that's it. 

I don't pressure myself. My goal for blogging was to do my Week in Review post every Sunday and I have accomplished that as of right now. Anything else is just an added bonus.

I am not really technical, I really need to do something about my sidebars, so the only program I really use is Canva to make the graphics I use here and there. Otherwise, I just write up posts and stick random pictures off my computer on them.

The book I'm most looking forward to reading this Holiday season...

I honestly do not read that many Christmas novels. So, I grabbed one off my shelves this week: The Walnut Tree by Charles Todd. It has been a while since I read Charles Todd, so figured it was time to get to some of my unread books by him (well, them, as it is really a mother/son team).

Countdown to Christmas & #AMonthofFaves2016

5 Popular Books Worth the Hype

1. | I actually read Illumiae and Gemina in 2016 after hearing so much about Illuminae in 2015. They were both definitely worth the read!

2. | The Nightingale was one of those 2015 books that I saw everywhere. I finally got a chance to read it a couple months ago and it was really good! I got a bit tired of WWII books for a while there, but this was worth trying them again for.

3. | The Fifth Season won the Hugo Award this year, so it was definitely buzzed about. I read it and loved it and actually bought the audiobook in the recent Audible sale because I want to reread it at some point. I am hoping to get to the sequel before the year is out or early next year.

4. | The Girls was definitely buzzed about this year and I amazingly bought it this year and read it this year. While maybe not the best book I read this year, I am still really happy that I read it and think it deserves the attention it has received.

5. | The follow-up to The Snow Child was so well done! Eowyn Ivey is an amazing author and I cannot wait to see what she comes up with next!

Is there an album or movie you like to listen to or watch first?

Not really. My music tends to move in the direction of whatever is on my computer for my first listen of the year and then branch out as December gets going. As to movies, I make sure to watch Muppet Christmas Carol before the month is over. That is about all the planning that I do for that.

Countdown to Christmas & #AMONTHOFFAVES2016

These Are A Few of My Favourite Things

My fur balls. 2016 was rough in that I lost Casey and have pretty much accepted that she is not coming back. It still doesn't feel real. But, she will never be forgotten and Chloe has fit in nicely. If Casey does ever come back, I know they will get along fine.

Audiobooks. 2016 has become the year of the audiobook for me. Going on the treadmill has really improved my ankle and listening to audiobooks at the same time played a big part in it. I am hoping 2017 will be just as great! A quick flip through my read books this year shows I have listened to 33 audios. That is a good number for me and only started part way into the year.

E-Book Sales. Thanks to 1-day e-book sales, I was able to read books that I would not normally have had the chance to this year because hardcovers are way more expensive now than they used to be. So, instead of waiting for the paperback, I was able to grab a cheap e-book copy instead. (Or, listen to the audio.)

Planners. I did a bullet journal and then added in a Happy Planner. I am kind of finding it hard to keep up with the Happy Planner lately, life has been busy, but I have kept my Bullet Journal up all year except a couple days. It just took me a bit to figure out my method.

Litsy & Instagram. I love taking pictures and now I have two apps to do it with!

These are just a few of my favourite things... What are yours?

When do you begin listening to Christmas music or watching Christmas movies?

While I will listen to Christmas music here and there during November, I only officially start listening to Christmas music and watching Christmas movies on December 1st. After seeing how bad I am at movie watching, I am hoping to get to some older Christmas classics this year. Any suggestions? I should also check out some new music... I listen to the same stuff every year!