#AMonthofFaves2016: Badass Books I Loved in 2016

Today's #AMonthofFaves prompt:

#AMonthofFaves {The Reading Year} - reading stats etc. / Top 10 Books that Blew My Mind in 2016

When I think back on the year, it doesn't stand out as a great reading year. However, like so many things tainted with negativity, that negativity can seep in and take over, blotting out the good stuff. Such was the case as I looked back over my books read in 2016. There was never any way of narrowing it down to 10 overall favorites, so here we have my badass 2016 reading by category.

Voila! Thank you, 2016, for not sucking completely.

Visit GirlXOXO.com and TravelingWithT.com for my cohosts' faves! <3 nbsp="" p="">

Badass Fiction

Mr. Splitfoot by Samantha Hunt for beautiful atmosphere and endearing characters.
The Unfinished World: Stories by Amber Sparks for gorgeous weirdness.
The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud for its rage.
The Regional Office is Under Attack! by Manuel Gonzales for women kicking ass.
13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl by Mona Awad for nuance and a sense of the familiar.
Running the Rift by Naomi Benaron for brutal honesty and truly memorable characters.
The Book of Unknown Americans by Christina Henriquez for inciting empathy. I want to give this to EVERYONE.
I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett for practical magic and a heroine I want to be.

Badass Comics and Graphic Novels 

Aya by Marguerite Abouet and Clement Oubrerie for charm and wit and a look at Africa that avoids stereotypes.
Something New by Lucy Knisley for taking the topic of marriage, weddings, and DIY and expanding it to something so quirky, and charming, and meaningful. For tackling the big topics along with the obvious ones.
Captain Marvel Volume 1: Higher, Further, Faster, More by Kelly Sue DeConnick and David Lopez for a badass superhero with a sense of humor.

Badass Non-Fiction

Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin for surprising me and pissing me off.
Running Like a Girl by Alexandra Heminsley for helping me believe I could run.
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling for making me laugh, making me love and admire Kaling even more.
When Women Were Birds by Terry Tempest Williams for a close look at silence and an examination of voice that I really needed to read.

The Badass Classic

The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham for making me cry despite its problems.

Badass YA

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson for being a book I wanted to hug.
Gabi, a Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero for an outspoken, fierce heroine....even though she doubted herself.
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo for grabbing me immediately. And the Darkling.

And the inevitable problem of making these lists before the end of the year: I'm still reading. In fact, I'm in the middle of Just Mercy by Bryan Stephenson and Terry Pratchett's final book, The Shepherd's Crown. There's a high probability that both of those books belong on this list.

What were your faves?

#AMonthofFaves: 5 Fave Posts from 2014

Today is the last day of #AMonthofFaves! I can't believe it's over! We're finishing up the event, and the year, with a look back at our favorite or most popular posts of 2014. In general I picked favorites, though some of these were the most commented-upon of my blogging year. It's nice when the faves and the feedback line up like that!

Link up at Traveling with T today!

15 Topics for Your Blogging Blues - I definitely had to take my own advice and topic reminders in the latter half of the year!

Relevance in Blogging for Armchair BEA - We're all relevant to someone, but we have to know our goals and be happy with our progress.

Confronting Books: Ruby by Cynthia Bond - Some books are so hard to read but so worth the effort.

That Post I Never Wrote About the Wedding!  - A personal post looking back on our wedding a couple of months after the fact. It's been such a big year!

And a post I did not write, but one that is so close to my heart, I couldn't help but revisit it. Heather's letter to me after she returned to North Carolina after the wedding.

THANK YOU all for being with us for this event! 

#AMonthofFaves: Top 10 Goals or Resolutions

Hey hey hey! Today is the next-to-last day of #AMonthofFaves, and I'm sad to see it go. It's been kind of nice to have a schedule of topics laid out and not have to think too much in planning ahead. I can definitely say that this experience has given my blogging mojo a huuuuge boost, for which I'm very very thankful. 

A big thank you to Tanya Patrice who masterminded this whole thing, and to Tamara for co-hosting! 

Without further ado....goals for 2015!

I'm keeping it simple this year, for sure. These aren't so much finite goals as things I'd like to continue from this year...

• Keep obligations to a minimum
• Listen to my reading moods
• Don't be afraid to ditch a book if it's not working
• More comics
• More diverse reading
• Read from the TBR

Ok, not ten, but all worthy goals, yes? What about yours? 

#AMonthofFaves: The Post-Christmas Post!

Hello there, friends! Sorry I missed posting the day after Christmas. I was right on track posting every day for #AMonthofFaves until then, but with the boy home from his dad's and the eating/gifting hangover, I just couldn't swing it. 

Today is your choice of book discussion or review, and I'm pretty sure we're linking up at Traveling with T. At this point my days are all messed up! 

I'm back today with the post-Christmas post! I didn't think it'd be a very bookish Christmas since I've been a little mum on the book front with my family this year. I've been much more vocal about clothes and makeup, but of course Heather the wonder-bestie came through in the books department.

This is a wonderful combo platter of birthday and Christmas gifts since we're both usually a little behind with our mailing. In the top right and bottom left corners, you'll see some GORGEOUS hand-knitted scarves. I'm totally in love with both. There's also: 

• Y: The Last Man (vol. 1, deluxe edition) by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra 
• Bone: Out From Boneville (vol. 1) by Jeff Smith
• My favorite Charles Dickens quote suitable for framing
• "In My Humble Opinion" journal
• A beautifully illustrated "Just Buy the Shoes" journal
• Japanese Cherry Blossom (Bath and Body Works) body cream
• Owl Christmas ornaments! 
• A hilarious pug notepad
• "I Still Believe in 398.2" necklace. That's the dewey decimal number for folk and fairy tales!

As usual, Heather TOTALLY freaking gets me. I love everything in this package, and I'm already wearing, using, slathering on all of it! 

My husband and my mom really hooked me up! My mom got me a makeup brush set, a funky necklace, and this Tarte Cosmetics "Bon Voyage" set! It includes a beautiful eyeshadow palette, two lip colors, mascara, cheek tint, maracuja oil, and a nice finishing powder. I'd been lusting after this A LOT, so I'm thrilled that she ran with it. 

I also sent a not-subtle hint (the link) to my husband about the J. Crew Chelsea leopard rain boots because they were on super sale at the time. I don't have any shoes that are good for rainy weather, and I need more closed-toe warm shoes in my life. These puppies, with some fuzzy socks, are absolute heaven. I wore them yesterday, and they are absolutely perfect! 

Greyson's dad and step-mom also got me a beautiful wooden owl hanger. I think I'm going to put it in my office at work for my coat and an extra blazer I keep around in case someone important drops in. There were also plenty of chocolate and gifted edible goodies flying around. 

Whew! It was a very merry, very busy Christmas! We spent Saturday taking down the tree, packing up the ornaments, and decluttering the house while Greyson was at a gift exchange party with his cousins. We're get-it-done people, so we never let the decor linger too long after the fact. We also spent some time purging Greyson's old toys, reorganizing the new stuff, and generally cleaning up around the house. There's more to be done in the coming week, but for now it's nice to sit back, chill out, and catch up on blogging. 

See you tomorrow as we work on rounding out #AMonthofFaves this week!

#AMonthofFaves: 5 Books That Deserve the Hype

Sometimes it's good to go back and refresh our memories about books we've loved. In the case of today's post, I went back into my Goodreads history by 20-some-odd pages to find some of those hyped books that I really think deserve their accolades and enduring good reviews. In fact, I almost chose ten because I got so swept away!

Don't forget to link up your own posts down below!

Starting with fiction, I resisted Where'd You Go, Bernadette? for ages! I just thought there was no way this seemingly chick-litish runaway hit could satisfy me, but sometimes I love being wrong. It was sharp, witty and full of charm. I'd even re-read it! 

Every RIP season you'll see The Bloody Chamber begin to pop up all over the interwebs. As a feminist fantasy classic, and a darn creepy read, it's only right. This little collection of fairy tale retellings and reimaginings is superb. Amazing writing, great thematic connections, and just a whole lotta perfection. 

I'm pretty much convinced Jhumpa Lahiri can do no wrong, and Interpreter of Maladies, a collection of short stories, has a lot to do with my feeling that way. These immigrant tales and stories of stilted communication are pitch perfect. 

And I couldn't forget two of my all-time favorite non-fiction books. 

The Year of Magical Thinking will stomp on your heart. Didion tells of her husband's passing and the ensuing grief with such vivid, raw emotion. I read this one in a day and cried buckets. 

Kitchen Confidential, by Anthony Bourdain, is all it's cracked up to be. Brash, brazen, pissed off at the world and terribly knowledeable about food and the restaurant industry, this memoir really blew the top off. While Tony has mellowed in his later years, and continues to write smart, searing work about food and travel, this is still a great place to start. 

#AMonthofFaves: 5(ish) Books I Almost Put Down

Ahhh yes, the ultimate struggle for all readers. When we feel like we're slogging through a book, do we endure or lay it aside? Most of the time, I'm in favor of laying a book aside if it isn't flipping my switch. However, I break my own rule sometimes, and these are some of the books that survived.

Don't forget to link up down below!

THREE books from this year alone. Three! But as I said, I endured through the rough patches and feel pretty rewarded by all of these. I loved the gorgeous language and intimate themes in The Dangers of Proximal Alphabets. I enjoyed Paul Auster's meta storytelling and plot layers in Oracle Night. And once I got past a barrage of dry science facts, I totally dug the adventure in The Martian.

Affinity, by Sarah Waters, is a book I worked on reading for two years. That's just stupid, right? I read snatches here and there, laid it aside, and I always came back to it because Waters' writing is impeccable, her characters are compelling, and her twists are glorious. Very glad I endured with this one. 

The Color Master: Short Stories, by Aimee Bender, was super weird. That said, the stories were also innovative and multi-layered. They challenged me while they maddened me. Definitely worth the ride. 

The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova, was frustrating in its length and it plodded along at times. However, I was really glad to finish and discuss this one for last year's RIP event. This one felt like an accomplishment!

That's my list...now how about yours? 

Book Discussion! A Favorite Video Review

Morning, y'all! Today's another you-pick-it adventure...a review or discussion of your choice! Don't forget to link up down below!

You may remember that once upon a time, I was very enthusiastic about not only blogging, but also vlogging! I'm a big proponent of BookTube and ran my own channel, but sadly, I haven't made a video in about two months. As my reading got slumpier and as my grading load got heavier in recent months, I had to let something go, and BookTube was one of the easier things to let slide because it takes time to make videos, of course.

Looking back on the experience thus far, because I really don't consider it finished, a few greatest moments come to mind. In particular, video reviews I'm really proud of. At the tippy top of that list is a video review of The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell. I have a feeling I'll jump back into BookTube when a book makes me feel like this book made me feel. It takes inspiration to crank out a really satisfying review, whether it's written or on video.




Which reviews are you proud of whether they're written or documented in some other way? 

#AMonthofFaves: Picking Favorites!

Favorites day is a great day! I love sharing the wonderful posts I've read throughout the week. Be sure to link up down below!

Let's start with Martha from Reading is Not the Challenge. She had some great ruminations on some of her favorite winter books including some recommendations of French authors in translation. Having read The Suicide Shop last year, I've been itching for some more French books!

Another fun post is from Carol's Notebook. Not only did she recommend some books that hadn't yet come to my attention, she recommended a kid's book called The Grumpy Shepherd! I think I have to have it for Greyson. 

As if my TBR wasn't huge enough already, Sharlene from Olduvai Reads is tempting me with several picks from her list including The Elegance of the Hedgehog and Last Night at the Lobster. 

And finally, Wesley at Library Educated is on the same wavelength as me! She recommends Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, by Mary Roach, and it happens to be one of my all-time favorites. Now I'm even more tempted to read another one of her recommendations, HHhH, by Laurent Binet. 

Tell me about all the great posts you read this week! 

#AMonthofFaves: 5 Must-Haves for Winter Survival (Bookish or Not)!

Check out the schedule HERE!

Today we're linking up over at Traveling with T!

Ohhhh y'all! Today's post is about my winter survival must-haves. I'm playing fast and loose with "winter survival" since Texas usually has fairly mild winters. This year seems to be on the colder, drizzlier side already, though, so I've been exploring some more things to keep my bone-dry skin moisturized and glowing as well as plenty of other fun stuff.

I've been on a makeup kick, fueled at least in part by beauty YouTubers. I have a whole post coming up on beauty channels for grown-ass women, so watch for that! In the meantime, I find it VERY hard to commit to high-end beauty products. I love to browse in Ulta and Sephora, but actually dropping $40+ for a product almost makes me break into hives. I want to use products that really work, but who wouldn't prefer a drugstore duplicate, right?

I recently picked up a super tiny bottle of the Benefit POREfessional priming balm. I've seen this primer all over the YouTubes, and I've never really used a primer, but I've noticed lately, with a switch to a long-wear foundation (that I love), that my pores look GINORMOUS around my nose and cheeks. Since the .25 ounce POREfessional is only $10, I wasn't so nutty about trying it out. And you know what?  I LOVE IT!

It has an incredibly silky feel, and I can tell when I put it in my t-zone that it really smooths out the pores and other craggy bits around my nose and eyes. It's also really hydrating, so it keeps my foundation from drying out and looking flaky later in the day.

I have watched several videos that say Maybelline Baby Skin primer does almost as good a job. It's only $5.99 for a full-size bottle, as opposed to Benefit's $31 for a full-size. I will definitely give it a go before I commit to a full-sized POREfessional. 

Also on the cosmetic front, I'm loving Maybelline Color Tattoo 24 Hour cream shadow in "Barely Branded." I received this from an awesome secret Santa, and I can't get enough of it. While my skin is super dry, my eyelids are the only oily part of my body. They seriously eat the eyeshadow I use on my lids, so this 24 hour formula is THE BOMB. It is still totally on at night when I get home from work, and it takes a little scrubbing to get it off! I also love this shade because it's shiny but still subtle, and it's totally work appropriate. 

This may be a weird pick, but it's one of my new favorite things. This is the Emergen-C Immune+ Warmer in Apple Cider. I run an 8oz cup of hot water from my Keurig, add this baby, and I have hot apple cider with some health benefits! You may remember that I'm super anemic and consistently trying to "catch up" my iron count, and since vitamin C helps iron absorb, this is a perfect afternoon drink for me. 

This one is from Kohl's...just as an example!

I have the most awesome winter coat, and it was a totally freak accident purchase. I was jacketless one day, didn't really have a good lined coat waiting for me at home, and I popped into Walmart and snapped up a navy blue windbreaker (water resistant) that happens to be lined with fleecy, furry stuff. It's not full on long-haired, matted fur, but it is a synthetic short-haired soft bundle of warmth. Hood, nicely fitted, heavy-duty. I cannot believe it's turned out to be one of my faves, but diamonds in the rough do happen! 

Last but certainly not least are my fleece-lined Roxy slip-on sneakers! These are great for running errands or even for casual Friday at work. I picked them up at T.J.Maxx because I needed a substantially warmer pair of casual shoes. I tend to wear a lot of ballet flats, and those B's are COLD! These are still light and easy, with a subtle black and gray plaid pattern, but they definitely keep out the cold...even without socks. 

What can you not live without this winter! Bookish or otherwise!

#AMonthofFaves: 5 Fave Winter Reads!

For today's #AMonthofFaves post we're picking our favorite winter reads from last year's favorites! Most of these books don't have a thing to do with winter, but they'll always be connected with winter in my mind because that's when I read them!

Link up down below!

Two books could not be more different! Empty Mansions is a fantastic non-fiction book about Huguette Clark, millionaire and recluse. I loved falling into this world of privilege and, potentially, madness! 

The Slynx,  by Tatyana Tolstaya, is a contemporary Russian novel in translation. It's about existence after "The Blast," and the ways in which Russian culture endures and morphs. This has post-apocalyptic notes and is packed with satire. While I had my doubts at first, it blew me away!

When you're brain fried from the holidays, The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories is a huge winner. The first volume remains my favorite. These are adorable, small, dainty books filled with whimsy. You really can't go wrong! 

If you haven't read Octavia Butler already, get thee to the bookstore! Kindred is about an African American woman who travels back in time in numerous instances, drawn to a young white man, while she's left to maneuver through the slave culture of the 1800s. Powerful, brutal, provocative. 

The Wife, by Meg Wolitzer, grabbed me in its first lines. A sharp examination of the literary life of privilege and the lengths people will go to in order to succeed. 

Now show us what you've got!

#AMonthofFaves: Top 10 (or 12) Books that Blew My Mind in 2014!

As "off" as I felt in 2014 at times, looking back over the year, there were some books that impacted me in big ways. Whether it was a heartrending story or a tome so full of fun I wanted to shout from the rooftops. Without further ado...the best of 2014. 

Today we're linking up with Top Ten Tuesday!

• Ruby, by Cynthia Bond
• Beloved, by Toni Morrison
• Bastard Out of Carolina, by Dorothy Allison
• The Enchanted, by Rene Denfeld
• The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss
• The Diviners, by Libba Bray
• The Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri
• Spoiled Brats: Stories, by Simon Rich
• Smoke Gets In Your Eyes and Other Lessons from the Crematory, by Caitlin Doughty
• The Shadow Hero, by Gene Luen Yang (graphic novel)
• Seconds, by Bryan Lee O'Malley (graphic novel)
• Cinnamon and Gunpowder, by Eli Brown

I know. I'm a cheater. This is 12 books. Now, let's move on. ;) 

Looking over the list, it is noteworthy that nearly half of my favorites this year were written by authors of color. I did make it a goal to read more diversely in 2014, and while I felt adrift at times, unable to do anything but read in a "free range" manner, I still managed to increase the number of POC authors on my list. It was a fantastic experience. It was an enriching experience. It's one I hope to duplicate, and even increase, in 2015. 

It seems this was also the year of opposites. On the one hand, books like Ruby and Beloved were damn near physically painful to read. They broke my heart and made me bawl like a baby. On the other side, there were books like Cinnamon and Gunpowder and Seconds that were so much fun I ate them up like candy and couldn't wait to share them with anyone who would listen. 

As much as I've complained about not feeling like my readerly self this year, it was a damn good year of reading. I hope you're finding the same as you look back over your own list. 

#AMonthofFaves: Recently Acquired

Today's topic for #AMonthofFaves is a book review or discussion of your choice! Today's link-up is with Traveling with T!

Since we have free choice today, I think we should talk about what I've been buying and downloading lately. It's kind of common knowledge by now that I haven't been reading much in the way of traditional books lately, but that doesn't mean I have to stop buying them! The urge to download is strong this time of year as more and more great books go on sale in digital formats. Not to mention that Anita and I hit up Half Price Books when she was in town recently. I'm powerless in the face of good deals.

All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr, went on sale on Amazon, and despite the fact that I find dual narratives highly suspect, I'm going to trust all the great reviews I've seen from great blogger friends. 

Speaking from Among the Bones, by Alan Bradley. Flavia de Luce is always a good idea. My husband has read ahead of me a bit, so I'll be buying I Am Half Sick of Shadows soon, and our set will be almost completely. 

Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel, because hype. 

An Untamed State, by Roxane Gay, came up for sale for $2.99. Heather and I have decided to have our hearts broken and read this one together. 

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, by Karen Joy Fowler, is a book I hadn't planned to pick up at all, but when I saw it on super sale at Half Price, I figured, why not? 

What have you added to your collection lately? 

#AMonthofFaves: Picking Favorites!

It's been another GREAT week of posts for #AMonthofFaves! I've run across lots of posts I loved, but these stuck out to me in a big way. I'm a sucker for people's faves, what can I say? Today you can link up at Traveling with T!

Akilah at The Englishist is a fellow English professor, and she shared some great tips for reducing student email. This may not be of interest to the majority of you, but BOY HOWDY, did it get my attention! After 10 years in higher education, many of those spent teaching online, I'm constantly on the lookout for others' experiences in this realm. Student email can be a real chore, so it's great to find a list of ways to improve that process.

Valeria at A Touch of Book Madness shared her favorite blogging tools! I've been blogging for a long time, and I find myself adding tools to my arsenal far less these days. Call it a rut, call it a groove, but it is what it is. Valeria and I are on the same page, as I use many of the tools she listed. HOWEVER, one specific tool on Valeria's list made me perk up immediately. Asana is a web app for teams, but the individual blogger can use it for its calendar and project lists. Sounds perfect!

What were some of your favorite posts this week? 

#AMonthofFaves: 5 Favorite {Insert Something Non-Bookish}!

Better late than never??? If you were here earlier you saw that my pre-scheduled post for today posted just fine, but it was EMPTY! Ha! Work got away from me yesterday, so now I'm back to show you...five favorite digital lifehacks OR five favorite non-bookish things! I'm going with non-bookish faves!

I'm super late to the eos lip balm party, but I am onboard now! My secret Santa from a fashion group I belong to sent me a GREAT gift, and it included eos sweet mint. I've only been using it for a day, but I love that it seems to last and last. 

I've been wayyyy into makeup lately, and I learned about the Coastal Scents Revealed and Revealed 2 palettes from watching YouTube videos. I was salivating over Urban Decay's Naked 1, 2, and 3 palettes until I found out that Coastal Scents is full of duplicate shades! And instead of $54 each, these babies are only $20! And since I grabbed them during Black Friday sales, they were only $10 each. I love the quality of the shadows, and there's a beautiful mix of colors. 

The original Revealed palette is a mixture of warm and cool tones, lots of neutrals with a few pops, and a mixture of matte and shimmer shades. Revealed 2 is more like Urban Decay's Naked 3, and it's full of beautiful rose-toned shades. Rose golds, purples. It's just heavenly, and so far it's my favorite of the two. 

Here's the first makeup look I did with Revealed 2, and it remains a fave. 

I've also been really into clothes lately (you know this if you follow me on Instagram), and I've found some amazing sales. These two beauties came from JCPenney recently. Anita from Anita Loves Books was in town visiting her mom, so we took an afternoon to lunch and shop! We both snatched up this striped Liz Claiborne sweater, and I couldn't resist this multi-colored polka dot blouse. 

I'm not sure if everyone would put their new Christmas tree on a faves list, but I love this thing. We put up our aging old tree the day after Thanksgiving, and before we knew it, it'd blown tons of lights. My mom called with the news that Home Depot had a Martha Stewart, LED, multi-function tree on sale for a wicked great price. We snapped up the last one, and it's definitely love. This booger has a remote control, and it can be set to multi-colored lights, clear, or a blinking combo of both! 

Do you see this face? How could he not be on my list? Greyson is going through one of those "I know everything and you can't convince me otherwise" phases, but he's still just as sweet as pie. Watching him enjoy the holiday season is definitely one of my favorite things. 

Now show me your favorites!