My Week in Books Archives - Novel Visits

What I’ve Been Reading Lately 2/1/21

Susie — Mon, 01 Feb 2021 11:00:27 +0000

It’s been a while since you’ve seen a Monday post from me, so let me explain. My life is pretty hectic right now with both work and home. I’m in phase 1 of a 2 or 3 part remodel/redecorating project at my house. Just doing things like picking paint colors and looking at furniture online are eating up huge chunks of my time. Then at work, we’re preparing to move into a hybrid model sometime in the next month or so. I will still be teaching online, for the kids who opt for that. It still means change though, as some of my students will stay the same, but I’ll also get many new ones. Top that off with our schedule is changing and it’s all a bit stressful.

But, the main reason I’m not posting as much here is because my heart just isn’t fully in it right now. I’m posting regularly on Instagram @novelvisits and really consider that my main platform for now. I’ll still check in now and then with posts like this. I’ll do a set of mini-reviews of all I’ve read at the end of each month, and I’ll do the posts I love like book previews, reading guides, best of lists, etc. I hope you’ll bare with me as I figure things out!

Hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Recent Reads

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2/1/21 appeared first on Novel Visits.

My Week in Books (x2) 1/11/21 | More

Susie — Mon, 11 Jan 2021 11:00:02 +0000

It’s difficult to even know what to say about the insurrection on the capital last week. I wish I was shocked, but on some level I wasn’t. We’ve been in a deep downward spiral for a long, long time. It’s terrifying and shameful. As much as I have hope that the new administration will be able to bring change, it’s hard not to be worried. They have a big job to do and a huge faction of people who want to make sure they fail. It’s worrisome. The two thing I’d wish for the U.S. right now are that we could return to confidence in our leaders, and pride in our country. We don’t all need to agree, but we do all need to agree to work together peacefully and find paths toward compromise. But, can we?

My 2021 reading continues to be excellent with three more books finished, all in the “really liked” column! I did have my first DNF of the year which I’ll talk about below. I have some upcoming books, I’m truly excited to read, so life looks good on the reading front. Honestly, life would be so much harder right now without books to get lost in!

Hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Last 2 Weeks’ Reads

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My Week in Books for 12/28/20 | More

Susie — Mon, 28 Dec 2020 11:00:18 +0000

I hope everyone is recovered from your holiday celebrations, whatever form they may have taken. We still have New Year’s Day to look forward to, where we just might all shout “FINALLY!” I don’t think the world has ever been more ready to see a year end. It’s been so strange, so long, and so sad that turning the calendar to 2021 will feel like a relief even with the tough months that we still have coming. Through it all books have remained a steady, and calming presence in my life. I’m happy to report that the last couple of weeks my reading has been on fire. January 2021 has one great book after another being released.

Incase you missed it a couple of weeks back, many of those books were featured in my Winter Preview 2021 and last week I revealed my Best Books of 2020. Tomorrow I’m excited to be sharing my Favorite Backlist Books Read in 2020 and Thursday will be my December Book Reviews, which will include the last five 2020 books I read. So, I have a lot going on this week!

Hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Last 2 Weeks’ Reads

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My Week in Books for 12/14/20 | More

Susie — Mon, 14 Dec 2020 11:00:42 +0000

Happy Holidays to all of you! I hope this strangest of holiday seasons is going well for you and that you’re finding plenty of time for books. I’m excited that we’re all going to be getting the gift of a COVID vaccine in the coming year (and some even sooner), but sadly we have some dark days to get through first. We can do it! I’m also excited that this is my last week of school for 2020 and then I’ll have a much needed break.

On the reading front, I’ve been on a pretty good roll and have been VERY busy with end of year posts. The following have already posted:

Six Books That Deserved the Hype, Plus Six That Didn’t
Six 2020 Underrated Gems to Read Right Now!
DEBUTS – My Favorites of 2020
AUDIOBOOKS – My Favorites from 2020

Coming up:
NONFICTION – My Favorites of 2020 (tomorrow)
Novel Visits ~ Winter Preview 2021 (Thursday)
Best Books of 2020 (next Monday)
Best Backlist Books I Read in 2020 (December 29th)

Now let’s get on to books!

Hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Last 2 Weeks’ Reads

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My Week in Books (x2) for 11/30/20 | More

Susie — Mon, 30 Nov 2020 11:00:56 +0000

Phew! One big holiday down and now one to go. I hope yours was wonderful even if a little out of the ordinary. Around here it was a quiet Thanksgiving, but Christmas will be more lively spent with two little ones who are already excited about Santa. Like many of you I’m in the midst of Christmas shopping, something I was already doing primarily online, but this year it’s the only way to go. With a little more downtime than usual, I’ve managed to get quite a bit of reading in these last couple of weeks AND I’ve beeb busy working on a BUNCH of fun end-of-year posts. Come back tomorrow for the first of many I’ll be sharing in December.

Hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Last 2 Weeks’ Reads

The first three books here I’ve already reviewed in last week’s November 2020 Book Reviews, so I’m not going to say much about any of them. Pop on over if you want to know more….

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My Week in Books for 11/16/20 | More

Susie — Mon, 16 Nov 2020 11:00:32 +0000

Hey, everyone! I hope last week was good to you. For me, it was a week of calm and that almost felt strange. Between the election and work things have been so ramped up that when the election was finally over and I had an easier work week. Weirdly, it felt like something was missing. I know that sounds sick! I did have the new daily coronavirus counts to worry about, but I also got plenty of time with books which is always a good thing. I hope your time for books has been plentiful, as well.

With all that calm, I should have managed a book review or two last week, but I failed on that score. I will have a full review on Wednesday and my monthly mini-reviews the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

Hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Last Week’s Reads

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My Week in Books for 11/9/20

Susie — Mon, 09 Nov 2020 11:00:09 +0000

Oh happy day! Finally, 2020 does something right. I am so thrilled to see Joe Biden and Kamala Harris heading to the White House. I know half the country doesn’t feel this way, and I feel for them, but perhaps with a little more calm in out government both sides can once again learn to work together. I keep reassuring my adult children that compromise used to work in our country. We can only hope. Additionally, I’m thrilled that my young granddaughters will grow up seeing the first of many women leading at the top levels of our country. Go, Kamala!

Now, onto books! My reading has been on the slow side, thanks to hours spent watching election coverage, but I finished my last ARC of the year last week. (Not including some that I ended up taking a pass on.) I’ve now moved into a sort of impulse reading phase. It’s sort of free reading, but not very organized and completely dictated by mood…the only way to go right now!

Hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Last Week’s Reads

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My Week in Books for 11/2/20 | More

Susie — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 11:00:19 +0000

I’m going to start off today by wishing my sister and amazing friend, Lori (AKA Recipe Girl), a very Happy Birthday! So, the week is starting out on a high note, but we’ll see where it goes from there???

I hope all is right in your world and that you’ve been lucky enough to be reading some wonderful books. My own reading was s little slow last week, as my workload was high between catching up from being gone for 8 days and holding 25 virtual conferences. I really liked doing the conferences virtually, and definitely feel like that’s something we can keep from this time of online learning. So, with that I only managed to finish one book, and get well into another. The book I’m reading right now is my final ARC for 2020 and then I plan on going back and picking up books I missed along the way. Freestyle reading!

Hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Last Week’s Read

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My Week in Books for 10/26/20 | More

Susie — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 10:00:12 +0000

It’s been a busy couple of weeks, but much was done. My sister, brother and I spent nearly a week moving our mom from independent living into a very nice assisted living apartment. It was a big job with many decisions to be made, but we made a great team. Though the task was exhausting and sad, there was also a lot of laughter. Mom seemed to like her new place and is in the process of adjusting to her new living arrangements. It was great to see her (we each had to pass tow COVID tests to be in her new building) and to be able to do this for her. I returned to work on Friday and conferences start on Monday, so I have had A LOT of catching up to do. It was definitely a working weekend, but I think life will get back to normal soon. For obvious reasons, my reading was on the slow side these last couple of weeks, but what I lacked in quantity, I made up for with quality! I hope your reading has been going as well.

Hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Last 2 Week’s Reads

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My Week in Books (x2) for 10/12/20 | More

Susie — Mon, 12 Oct 2020 12:50:39 +0000

.Can you believe it’s nearly the middle of October? I hope the fall has been going well (or at least better) for all of you. School has finally begun to settle down for me. I still don’t enjoy teaching through a computer, but am finding it all a little more manageable. I missed this Monday check in last week because I’d had my 3 and 4 year old grandkids for the weekend. They are lots of fun and have SO much energy, but leave absolutely no time for anything! So, today I’ll be sharing my books for the last couple weeks, and then I’m afraid I’ll be MIA for couple of weeks. My sister, brother and I will be meeting up in Nevada to move our elderly mom from independent living to assisted living. It was a tough call, but one that had to be made, and in the end will be much safer for her. So, I’ll be gone from work for eight days and am sure I won’t get any blogging done for the next couple of weeks, either. I will post on Instagram @novelvisits, so please follow me there, if you’re not already.

Last week I shared reviews of two books I loved, A Knock at Midnight by Brittany K. Barnett and Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam. Both are books I highly recommend and that will definitely be in the running for my Best Books of 2020 list.

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Last 2 Week’s Reads

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