Bookish Resolutions for 2017

WOW, it's officially 2017 and if you are anything like me, that means it's time to start some goals/resolutions for the upcoming year.  While I have health and happiness/family goals, what I am going to share with you today are my bookish goal for 2017.

1. Goodreads Reading Challenge - It's been a couple of years now that I have been doing the Goodreads Reading Challenge and I always set my goal to 25 books because I don't want to overwhelm myself... we spend a good amount of the summer on the ball field.  However, this year, I will be increasing that total to 35 books.  A nice, attainable goal!  You can follow along with my progress by becoming a follower/friend on Goodreads.
2. Paper & Glam Book Club - I have done a dedicated post on the Paper & Glam Book Club so I encourage you to read that (here) but quickly, I will be joining everyone in reading each of the monthly book picks and partaking in the group chat.
3. Fiction/Non-Fiction/Classic Ratio - I think this should have been my #1 resolution because I honestly think it will be the most challenging.  I am a die-hard fiction fan... more so adult fiction but I also enjoy reading young adult stories... basically, any and all fiction is my jam.  In 2017, I would like to incorporate more of the other genres into my reading because I feel like I am missing out on some amazing stories because my mind is narrow and limited.  While I intend to try for one non-fiction and one classic a month, I may switch that up as I go along so stay tuned... I will definitely keep this updated.  Thankfully, the Paper & Glam Book Club crossed over with this resolution a little as the book list for the year includes both of these genres... YAY!
4. Book-Buying Ban - This will be a short lived goal but I would like to read ALL of the books on my bookshelf at home.  Basically, those books that I have already spent money on adding to my personal library, that still need to be read.  I purchased them for some reason so let's knock this off!  I will still be able to borrow books from the library but nothing will be purchased (unless through gift cards, etc) until the shelf is empty!

So there you have it, my 2017 New Year Bookish Goals!  I will do an update quarterly to let you all know how the goals are going.

Holiday Reads | The Mistletoe Promise by Richard Paul Evans

The Mistletoe Promise by Richard Paul Evans

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, November 2014

Genre: Fiction, Christmas

Pages: eBook, 203 pages

Rating: 5/5 stars

Summary (from chapters.indigo.ca):

Elise Dutton dreads the arrival of another holiday season. Three years earlier, her husband cheated on her with her best friend, resulting in a bitter divorce that left her alone, broken, and distrustful.

Then, one November day, a stranger approaches Elise in the mall food court. Though she recognizes the man from her building, Elise has never formally met him. Tired of spending the holidays alone, the man offers her a proposition. For the next eight weeks—until the evening of December 24—he suggests that they pretend to be a couple. He draws up a contract with four rules:

1. No deep, probing personal questions
2. No drama
3. No telling anyone the truth about the relationship
4. The contract is void on Christmas Day

The lonely Elise surprises herself by agreeing to the idea. As the charade progresses, the safety of her fake relationship begins to mend her badly broken heart. But just as she begins to find joy again, her long-held secret threatens to unravel the emerging relationship. But she might not be the only one with secrets.

Review:

Richard Paul Evans was one of those go-to Christmas authors that I read back when I was reviewing books... now that I am back at it, I feel it's only fitting that in the first Christmas season back, I revisit his work.

The Mistletoe Promise is the first book in a trilogy and it adds the romance and happiness that you expect in a Christmas story but it also has an element of mystery and suspense that I wasn't expecting. As mystery/suspense/thriller is my favourite genre, it was a very welcome surprise.

The story centres around Elise, a depressed, divorced woman with a past that haunts her and Nicholas, a man who seems too good to be true but you know there is something beneath the surface... it's just a matter of when and where their stories will come out and how much it will affect the relationship they are working to build. I really enjoyed these characters and found myself wanting to learn more and more about them and while I don't know that their story continues through books 2 and 3, I am hoping they at least make an appearance.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and have already requested The Mistletoe Inn from the library... hoping I can get it in before Christmas. Such a good read!

I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh

I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh

Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group, May 2016

Genre: Fiction

Pages: Paperback, 384 pages

Rating: 5/5 stars

Summary (from chapters.indigo.ca):

On a rainy afternoon, a mother's life is shattered as her son slips from her grip and runs into the street…

I Let You Go follows Jenna Gray as she moves to a ramshackle cottage on the remote Welsh coast, trying to escape the memory of the car accident that plays again and again in her mind, desperate to heal from the loss of her child and the rest of her painful past.

At the same time, the novel tracks the pair of Bristol police investigators trying to get to the bottom of this hit-and-run. As they chase down one hopeless lead after another, they find themselves as drawn to each other as they are to the frustrating, twist-filled case before them.

Review:

Yet another book review that I am starting with a giant WOW! What an amazing debut novel for Clare Mackintosh... a story that grabs you from the first page and keeps you guessing right up to the last page.  You know the type of book that leaves you hungry for more?  That is exactly what I Let You Go does!!

While I found the start of the story insane, it slowed off just a little to the point that I started thinking that this book wasn't going to live up to it's hype.  However, I hit the halfway point and  the book took a sudden turn that made you go from thinking it's 'just okay' to 'this book is crazy good'.  It became that page turner that I was expecting and I fell in love with Clare's ability to build a story.  Her characters were lovable and relateable ... people who made mistakes and now have to spend a lifetime dealing with the consequences.

I am so excited to read Clare's next book because if this is any indication... I will be a forever fan!

Paper & Glam Book Club | 2017

As we are in the last month of 2016, it's time to start thinking of plans for the new year and as I have decided that reading will be my new, born-again, passion, I thought joining a book club would be a fantastic idea.   While I love to socialize, I am still, what I would classify as an introvert (with an A-type personality... does that even exist?) so I prefer the online type of community as opposed to an actual meeting, at someones house with real people.  With all that in mind, I decided to join the Paper & Glam Book Club run by Lisamarie (YouTube/Goodreads).

Thankfully, Lisamarie makes it super easy to see if you will be interested in the club's book picks by releasing a dedicated video, showcasing each of the books.

What I love about her list for 2017 is that it is a good mix of fiction, non-fiction and classics.  Being a huge fan of fiction, I think that this will be the perfect way for me to get into reading more non-fiction and even pick up some of the classics... I always want to but just never seem to 'find the time'.

So, if you are interested in joining a book club for the upcoming year, but weren't sure where to go, consider the Paper & Glam Book Club... we can read together and discuss books online!

Paper & Glam Book Club Goodreads page: here
Paper & Glam YouTube channel: here
Paper & Glam Facebook page: here

While you clicking links, add me as a friend on Goodreads as well... click here!