SignedBookSundays: Signed Books, Monthly Wrap Up, & Personal Reflections

Welcome to our monthly feature where we talk about what we read, adopted into our libraries, and what’s on our minds. After hosting #SignedBookSundays for 4+ years, we are transitioning to this format as a way to share signed books and talk about bookish (and personal) highlights. Join us the last Sunday of every month!

In Case You Missed It

• Kelly shared her thoughts on Lost in the Never Woods by Aiden Thomas, which she loved (no surprise!)
• Jana shared her thoughts and personal connection to A Pho Love Story by Loan Le
• Get ready for Pride 2021 with Tom Ryan and Robin Stevenson’s When You Get the Chance
  

What We Read

Kelly: I am still reading very minimally these days. Sometimes the only thing that motivates me is an expiring library book that I waited months for…so yeah the reading slump continues… the real question is will it ever end? Here are the 4 books I finished so far this month.

• Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo – I absolutely was blown away by King of Scars, and Rule of Wolves tried to tie-up as many threads in the Grishaverse as it could. I didn’t love it as much as I did KoS, but it was still very entertaining.
• Storm and Fury by Jennifer L. Armentrout – Listen, JLA is a prolific author for a reason. She can write wildly entertaining books, while making them easy to read and quickly consumable. I am all for it and I hate that I fell behind on this series. Can’t wait to catch up!
• The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman – The day this little poem showed up on my doorstep, i read through the whole thing again, and my emotional state was whisked right back to watching her perform the poem live at the Inauguration on 1/20/21. It’ such a beautiful and moving piece of poetry.
• The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes – This one was fast-paced and very entertaining. I had some issues with the character development, but overall enjoyed the plot, and looking forward to reading book 2.
  

Christy: My reading as slowed way down compared to typical, partially because of school and work and partially because my mind has been busy and unfocused. That said, I read 7 books and started/DNF/set aside several more. Some of the highlights this month:

• The Mary Shelley Club by Goldy Moldavsky. This book easily landed on my best of list for the year. Catch my review and interview with Goldy soon!
• Admission by Julie Buxbaum. I was struggling and flipping through books before I decided I needed a sure hit. I have loved all of Julie’s books and Admission was no different!
• Other Boys by Damian Alexander. I’ve waited years to read Damian’s debut, having met him through my friend, Kevin. The only bad thing I can say is that you all have to wait until September to experience this amazing read. Damian captures middle school in a way that will suck readers in. Preorder his memoir today.

What We Added

Kelly: Someone please send help. I can’t stop buying books…even though I am barely reading books. I think I really have been buying to make up for my lack of reading, and my spouse might be ready to take my credit cards away from me. Some highlights (because like I said, I am buying a lot right now) and credit to the publishers is given if they provided me a free finished or advance copy.

Hauled:

ARCs:
The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gould – courtesy of Wednesday Books
The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid – courtesy of Harper Voyager
Don’t Hate the Player by Alexis Nedd – courtesy of Bloomsbury
Better than the Movies by Lynn Painter – courtesy of Simon & Schuster

Finished Copies:
What’s Not to Love by Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka – courtesy of Penguin Teen
She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen (signed)
Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley (signed)
The Key to You & Me by Jaye Robin Brown (signed)
Kate in Waiting by Becky Albertalli (signed)
When We Were Infinitie by Kelly Loy Gilbert (signed)
The Mirror Season by Anna-Marie McLemore (painted edges)

Featured PreOrders: (not an affiliate, just excited)
V.E. Schwab’s ExtraOrdinary Comic Collector’s Pack includes an exclusive cover from Another Universe
Illumicrate Debut Box: Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

Christy: I’m at the point in the pandemic where I really miss live events. Finding author signings is tougher than ever (though Kelly does a lot of the work on our Signed Books page!) and so my book purchasing has slowed down. Even so, quite a few books entered my library this month and below are a few highlights!

• She’s Too Pretty to Burn by Wendy Heard. I would read Wendy’s grocery list and I can’t wait to read her YA debut!
• Can’t Take that Away by Steven Salvatore. I won this from my friend, Carter. Go follow him!
• Lost in the Never Woods by Aiden Thomas. Having hand-signed copies of both of Aiden’s books is such a treat. Plus I got my preorder incentives and THAT PIN.
• Strange Creatures by Phoebe North. I won a contest that Phoebe hosted and can’t wait to dive in!

On the Top of Our Minds

Kelly: Social Media is a curse and a triumph. I never feel good enough, and I also can’t seem to step away. But I have been trying to focus on posting on IG at least 5xs a week, which has been working so far and let’s me feel okay about skipping a day or two when I need a break.

One of the biggest decisions I had to make was to pause our #SignedBookSundays bookstagram challenge. To be honest, the participation is lower than ever, and I keep falling further behind on picking winners and getting books to them and I just feel like every month the dread just piles up higher, so I had to take a break even after 4+ years of the challenge. I plan on focusing on getting some winners some books and then possibly relaunching the challenge.

Christy: As you likely know, I stepped away from bookish social media rather abruptly mid-month. It likely seemed sudden to you but it was something I had been thinking about for a long time. Social media has not brought me joy for a long time – maybe ever! Work has been incredibly busy and school has added to that. My mental energy tanked and the pressures of social media made it 10000x worse. So I decided to cut it out of my life for now. This has lead to some less desirable consequences, such as being out of the loop for news and such or missing my friends (I do!). Not sure when, if ever, I’ll be back but I am still reading and supporting authors. Still blogging! You’ll find me here still.

It hasn’t been all doom and gloom. Some of the things bringing me joy right now are: finding the Peloton app (and refinding my love for fitness), watching Cruel Summer (a mix of my fav 90s stories and a Kara Thomas novel!), buying tickets for Disneyland (we are going for Star Wars day and Jana and I are going over Memorial Day weekend!), visiting Downtown Disney, and digging out all the weeds in our backyard.