Happy New Year 2017!

Image from Google image search

I always used to think of a new year as a new chapter in life, but it makes so much more sense that it be a new book in the series of life. Love it! How will your story go?

1 book.
12 chapters.
365 pages.
Make. It. Awesome.
Happy New Year!

TBR: Books I'm Hoping to Read/Finish in 2017

Hello dear readers. After reading a few posts and challenges floating around the blogosphere, I've decided to put in writing my own little To Be Read list of books I'd really like to read/finish in 2017, which should help to reduce my TBR pile *ahem* room a bit... So without further ado, and in no particular order, the books I would like to read in 2017 are as follows:

1. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery - I'm planning to do a read-with-me challenge through a website I stumbled across, which will go through the whole series, plus a biography if L.M. Montgomery, and watch movies/TV shows, over the course of the year. I am a pretty big fan of the Anne of Green Gables miniseries (starring Megan Follows), but recently realized that I've never actually read the books (*shock and awe*), so it is beyond time that I did! And it just so happens that I found the box set at the thrift store this fall for a whopping $1!
2. Flawed by Cecelia Ahern - There are so many OwlCrate books which will appear on this list after this, but this one is a definite must (April 2016)! I've been wanting to read it for a couple months, but my bestie and I were hoping to read it together and compare notes, but we haven't been at a point yet where we could both read it at the same time. Hopefully early January...
3. Da Vinci's Tiger by L.M. Elliott - the second OwlCrate book I received (December 2015). I liked the other items in the box, but this book held absolutely no appeal to me. I'm still not that into it, but I'd like to try to read it before getting rid of it.
4. The Love That Split The World by Emily Henry - another OwlCrate book (February 2016). I've seen a few good reviews about this one, so I'm hoping it will be good.
5. Everland by Wendy Spinale - this is another OwlCrate book (May 2016) that I didn't have much interest in. It came in the Steampunk themed box, and I was kind of overall disappointed with the box's contents. The synopsis of the book is intriguing, I'm just a bit concerned that it will miss the mark.
6. This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab - this one came in the July 2016 OwlCrate Good vs. Evil box. I've heard really good things about this book and Victoria Schwab in general, so I kind of have high expectations for this book...
7. P.S. I Like You by Kasie West - I'm such a terrible person, but I absolutely judge books by their covers, and this one did not appeal to me in the slightest. The title and cover make it seem like the epitome of teenage high school romance, which I am very much over. But I will do my best to get through it before getting rid of it.
8. Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake - from the September 2016 OwlCrate box. It sounds like a good read, I just haven't got around to reading it yet, so hopefully next year!
9. Heartless by Marissa Meyer - from the November 2016 OwlCrate. I enjoyed the Lunar Chronicles, so I'm hoping this one lives up to Marissa's reputation. It's also a great synopsis, so... *fingers crossed*
10. Winter by Marissa Meyer - speaking of the Lunar Chronicles, I started reading this one in January 2016 and could not force myself through it. I'd like to give it another shot. Depending how I feel at the end of it will determine whether or not I will look for Fairest and Stars Above.
11. The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George - I ordered this one through Indigo early in the summer because I'd seen it around a bit, the cover intrigued me, and let's be honest, the outline? A floating bookshop with a bookseller who "prescribes" books to his clients? Sounds perfect!! It is nothing as I imagined and I've been picking away at it for months. I'd like to finish it and be done with it. I could just DNF it (Did Not Finish) but my momma didn't raise no quitter! Unless I really can't force my way through it and just hate it, then I may give in and quit.
12. The Ingenious Edgar Jones by Elizabeth Garner - This is another book that I started early in the year but wasn't all that into so I never ended up finishing it. I'd like to finally get through and move on. :)
13. The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling - Yet another book which I started this past year but didn't make it through. I want to read it simply because it is by J.K. Rowling, but I didn't like the writing all that much. I'm willing to give it a second chance, though.
14. United As One by Pittacus Lore - I finally picked up this final book of the Lorien Legacies (thank you, Indigo's Boxing Week sale), so I'm hoping to get through it next year as well, and finally put the series to rest. I haven't read the numerous complementary Lost Files, and don't really have any desire to at this point.
  

So anyway, wish me luck! I am planning to set a Goodreads goal of 40. I've read 29 so far this year (still need to double-check that there aren't a couple more I forgot to add), hopefully I will finish my current read in the next couple days. So I think that 40 is a reasonable and achievable goal (especially because I have achieved 52 in previous years, so I know I can do it!). Hopefully I will get caught up with 2016's reviews, and continue to review the books I read in 2017.

Edit: I did finish my book and therefore had a total of 30 books read in 2016. In the end, I decided to set my Goodreads goal at 35 for 2017. I will still aim for 40, but this gives me more wiggle room for those weeks and months where I don't feel like (or have time for) reading.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I'm Looking Forward To For The First Half Of 2017

Hello Reader(s)! So, I'm really not the type of person who looks up upcoming book releases. I just hear about books through friends, see things online and in stores, and read about books online (whether they be new releases or not). So I can't honestly say that I knew about any of these books before doing some research specifically for this post, but they do honestly sound like amazing reads. I won't be lining up at the door to buy them when they are released, but someday I'd like to read them.

This week's Top Ten Tuesday meme, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, is "Top Ten Books I'm Looking Forward to For the First Half of 2017." Enjoy!

1. Caraval by Stephanie Garber - expected publication: January 2017. The cover is fantastic, and this line alone in the blurb on Goodreads is enough for me "Welcome, welcome to Caraval―Stephanie Garber’s sweeping tale of two sisters who escape their ruthless father when they enter the dangerous intrigue of a legendary game." It sounds like it might be a perfect magical mix of The Night Circus, The Hunger Games, and the Lunar Chronicles.

2. Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones - expected publication: February 2017. This sounds quite intriguing. Possibly a Beauty and the Beast retelling? Not sure. If it isn't meant to be a retelling, it seems like it could be considered one.

3. Hunted by Meagan Spooner - expected publication: March 2017. This one is actually a Beauty & the Beast retelling, so that should be good. And, again, the cover is gorgeous. :)

4. By Your Side by Kasie West - expected publication: Jnauary 2017. This just looks like a cute YA romance. I feel like I may have read other books by Kasie West, but I'm not sure...

5. Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller - expected publication: February 2017. A romance about pirates! Sounds like a good time!

6. The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden - expected publication: January 2017. This blurb on Goodreads says it's for readers who loved The Night Circus. You know that The Night Circus is one of my all-time favourite books, right? So anything advertised as being similar to that is going to be on my radar! It's also a retelling of Vasilisa from Russian folklore, which Vassa in the Night also was, and I enjoyed that as well. So it should be good!

7. Gem & Dixie by Sara Zarr - expected publication: April 2017. A story about sisters from a dysfunctional family... I like it.

8. The Elementalist by V.V. Mont - expected publication: June 2017. Someone who can control the elements, and gets exiled for being a freak... yeah, I could get into that.

9. Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth - expected publication: January 2017. I love Veronica Roth's Divergent series, so I'll be all over this first book in her new duology, yes I will.

10. Wait For Me by Caroline Leech - expected publication: January 2017. Just another sweet YA romance, but this one is historical. Basically sounds like a tragic war-time love story. I could get into that. I bawled my eyes out watching Cold Mountain (Civil War; but still, tragic love story set in a war).