The Reading Hideaway

  Was it just me or did January just fly by?!  Month 1 of 2021 is done!  I've been perusing Pinterest for some blog post inspiration because I want to spice things up a little and a monthly wrap-up was featured on almost every idea list, so I decided to give it a try!  Let's jump right in! - Books Read - This past month, I read five books.  Two were physical books and the other three were e-books. Perfectly Yourself by Matthew Kelly Making Space by Jayne Hardy Get Out of Your Head by Jennie Allen If I Disappear by Eliza Jane Brazier Talking to Alaska by Anna Woltz  *Review coming soon* - TBR Pile for February - Playing with Fire by April Henry Attached by Amir Levine and Rachel Heller The Home Front by DW Hanneken A Killer's Daughter by Jenna Keman Destination Anywhere by Sara Barnard - Life Update - Oh gosh, where do I begin?  If you didn't know, I am currently an aviculture intern at the International Crane Foundation in Wisconsin (as in bi...

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews .  It's all about sharing books you've added to your shelves be it physical or virtual.  This means you can include books you buy in a  physical store, or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts, and of course ebooks. This week, I've added five books to my shelf! The first two books were given to me by a coworker after she saw how much I read during my lunch break!  Both are more outside of my typical realm of books, so I'm excited to give them a try!  The last three I received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.  The Home Front was released on January 26, 2021,  Playing with Fire was released on January 19, 2021 and The Woman with the Blue Star is set to be released in May 2021.

  First Line Friday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Ria from   Abstract Books .  It highlights the first line from your current read. This week, my first line is from Talking to Alaska by Anna Woltz. "So this is the plan for today: to pull off such a brilliant stunt within the first five hours that the whole school instantly finds out who I am."

*I received this book as an e-ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.* Holy.  Butternut.  Squash. This book had me feeling nauseous from the start - in that good thriller type of way.  I didn't want my lunch breaks at work to end because all I wanted to do was keep reading.  When I was reading it on the treadmill at the gym, I felt the urge to crank up the speed and run.  If I Disappear made my heart rate climb as though I was riding a rollercoaster and it was so freakin' awesome. This is Eliza Jane Brazier's debut novel and she came in with guns blazing.  I couldn't connect much to the main character, Sera, but I couldn't get enough of the predicament she got herself tangled in.  The crime podcast concept was unique and set this novel apart from others I've read.  I got a lot of A Simple Favor/The Girl on the Train vibes from this story, so if you're a fan of Hawkins or Bell you will quickly become a fan of Brazier.  I, for on...

  Waiting on Wednesday is a daily meme hosted by Jill at   Breaking the Spine .  It highlights what newly released books us bloggers are most excited to read. Title: The Ex Talk Author: Rachel Lynn Solomon Synopsis (via Goodreads):  Shay Goldstein has been a producer at her Seattle public radio station for nearly a decade, and she can't imagine working anywhere else. But lately it's been a constant clash between her and her newest colleague, Dominic Yun, who's fresh off a journalism master's program and convinced he knows everything about public radio.  When the struggling station needs a new concept, Shay proposes a show that her boss green-lights with excitement. On The Ex Talk, two exes will deliver relationship advice live, on air. Their boss decides Shay and Dominic are the perfect co-hosts, given how much they already despise each other. Neither loves the idea of lying to listeners, but it's this or unemployment. Their audience gets invested fast, and it...

  Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Miz B at   Should Be Reading .  All you do is grab your current read, open to a random page and share two (2) teaser sentences while avoiding spoilers! This week, my teaser is from Talking to Alaska by Anna Woltz. "For the past few minutes, I've been rehearsing inside my head what I need to do now.  That's why I can't do it." pg. 144

I think that the first time I heard about this book was from a friend who was using it as discipleship material.  The title caught my attention and I knew it was a book I should get my hands on.  I logged it in the back of my head for later. I've recently been on a podcast kick and have been listening to Jennie Allen's Made for This pretty consistently.  One of the seasons was even focused on Get Out of Your Head and those episodes were straight fire.  As you may know, I've been on a self-help/personal growth book kick as of late, so I finally put in a hold request for this book from my library.  I had it sitting on my floor for four weeks and was reminded that I had limited time with it when the library emailed me my early overdue notice.  It was then that I was forced to binge read this book... but honestly, it wasn't even that hard to because I couldn't get enough! I loved the mind maps, loved the layout and flow of Allen's content, loved her vulnerabi...

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews .  It's all about sharing books you've added to your shelves be it physical or virtual.  This means you can include books you buy in a  physical store, or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts, and of course ebooks. This week, I've added three books to my shelf! I received all three books from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.  Destination Anywhere is set to be released February 2021,  Kisses and Croissants  as well as What Beauty There Is is set to be released April 2021.

First Line Friday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Ria from Abstract Books .  It highlights the first line from your current read. This week, my first line is from Get Out of Your Head by Jennie Allen. "Take every thought captive."

*I received this book as an e-ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.* I don't think I could've clicked the request button any faster than I did for this book.  Setting boundaries has become a pretty big area of my life that I've chosen to really grow in (hi, I'm a Type Two on the enneagram) so  Making Space was absolutely perfect for the current season I'm in. This book had a solid flow to it and I liked how Hardy broke up the sections into different areas of your life where you can apply boundaries (work, relationships, etc).  The last chapter threw me for a loop because I didn't fully see the connection between boundaries and fighting for change, but her words were impactful nonetheless. I wound up making an album on my phone to organize my highlighted screenshots I took while reading.  Below are some of my favorite nuggets of advice that stood out to me: * "...what has worked for us may not work for someone else; our answer might not be th...

Waiting on Wednesday is a daily meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine .  It highlights what newly released books us bloggers are most excited to read. Title: She's Too Pretty to Burn Author: Wendy Heard Synopsis (via Goodreads) : An electric romance set against a rebel art scene sparks lethal danger for two girls in this expertly plotted YA thriller. For fans of E. Lockhart, Lauren Oliver and Kara Thomas. The summer is winding down in San Diego. Veronica is bored, caustically charismatic, and uninspired in her photography. Nico is insatiable, subversive, and obsessed with chaotic performance art. They’re artists first, best friends second. But that was before Mick. Delicate, lonely, magnetic Mick: the perfect subject, and Veronica’s dream girl. The days are long and hot―full of adventure―and soon they are falling in love. Falling so hard, they never imagine what comes next. One fire. Two murders. Three drowning bodies. One suspect . . . one stalker. This is a summer they won’t...

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading .  All you do is grab your current read, open to a random page and share two (2) teaser sentences while avoiding spoilers! This week, my teaser is from Get Out of Your Head by Jennie Allen. "We forget that it's actually good news that He is in control and we are not.  You and I may have many gifts and talents, but being God is not one of them."  pg. 118

First Line Friday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Ria from Abstract Books .  It highlights the first line from your current read. This week, my first line is from If I Disappear by Eliza Jane Brazier. "Every morning when I wake up to the cries of the baby next door, I turn you on."

  I was really excited about this book as it was lent to me by my best friend; however, I found it really hard to get into - even with it being a "self help" book.  I ate up To Hell with the Hustle , but I had to force myself to read Perfectly Yourself .  I think that the main reason I felt this way was because Kelly repeated the same concept over and over again: "do the next best thing" and "God wants you to be the best-version-of-yourself."  On one hand, this is a positive because I'm not going to forget what I read in this book.  On the other hand, I don't think this book needed to be 210 pages. I liked how each chapter was broken down into smaller sections (chapter seven, "Unburden Yourself", was my favorite) and I liked the recap at the end of each chapter.  This helped me keep up with what I might've read a few days earlier. Despite the repetition, there were a few quotes that resonated with me.  As I previously mentioned, a maj...

Waiting on Wednesday is a daily meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine .  It highlights what newly released books us bloggers are most excited to read. Title: The War Widow Author: Tara Moss Synopsis (via Goodreads): The war may be officially over, but journalist Billie Walker's search for a missing young immigrant man will plunge her right back into the danger and drama she thought she'd left behind in Europe in this thrilling tale of courage and secrets set in glamorous postwar Sydney.  Sydney, 1946. Though war correspondent Billie Walker is happy to finally be home, for her the heady postwar days are tarnished by the loss of her father and the disappearance in Europe of her husband, Jack. To make matters worse, now that the war is over, the newspapers are sidelining her reporting talents to prioritize jobs for returning soldiers. But Billie is a survivor and she's determined to take control of her own future. So she reopens her late father's business, a privat...

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading .  All you do is grab your current read, open to a random page and share two (2) teaser sentences while avoiding spoilers! This week, my teaser is from If I Disappear by Eliza Jane Brazier. "My heart starts to race, swelling in my chest.  'Do you think that was them?'" pg. 278

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews .  It's all about sharing books you've added to your shelves be it physical or virtual.  This means you can include books you buy in a  physical store, or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts, and of course ebooks. This week, I've added seven books to my shelf!  (I know, I need to take a chill pill...) The first six I received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review ( A Killer's Daughter  is set to be released February 2021, both  Five Ways to Fall Out of Love  and  Surviving Savannah are set to be released March 2021, Spells Trouble is set to be released May 2021, If I Disappear is set to be released the end of this month and The Last Debutantes is set to be released August 2021).  I am borrowing Attached from the library.