Saturday, February 02, 2019

Sunday Mews: January Wrap Up and February TBR List Poll

I am linking up to the Sunday Post hosted by the wonderful Kim of Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where participants recap our week, talk about what we are reading, share any new books that have come our way, and whatever else we want to talk about. I am also linking to Stacking the Shelves hosted by the great Team Tynga's Reviews and Marlene of Reading Reality a meme in which participants share what new books came their way recently. I am linking up to Nicole of Feed Your Addiction's Monthly Wrap-Up Post, where any book bloggers who write monthly wrap-up posts can link up and visit other bloggers to see what they have been reading.  




New to My Shelves: 

I did not have much luck during my last visit to Barnes and Noble, but the gift cards I received for Christmas were burning a hole in my pocket. I ended up ordering three books that were lingering on my wish list:

Moriarity by Annelie Wendeberg
Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II by Liz Mundy
Goodnight From London by Jennifer Robson


And I could not pass up a recent Amazon sale for Goodreads award winners, picking up copies of:


Girls Burn Brighter by Shobha Roa



Fly Girls: How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History by Keith O'Brien






Rosewater (The Wormwood Trilogy Book 1) by Tade Thompson


What I Am Reading: This winter/spring I am participating in a read-along of Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. I am behind, I am afraid, but will be catching up shortly. I am also reading  a domestic thriller, Annie Ward's Beautiful Bad, which I just started.

What I Am Watching: I was able to finish watching the available episodes of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina on Netflix. It's a definite twist on the teenage witch from my younger years, but I quite like the new, darker version. I also caught the third season of the science fiction show, The Travelers. Movie wise, I watched Albion: The Enchanted Stallion, which felt like it should have been based on a children's book. I was hoping Mouse would have been more interested in it because it seemed like the type of movie she would enjoy, but her attention was elsewhere for most of it. It was not anything fancy, if a little silly. It still made me tear up at the end.  Just Add Magic has a new season out, and so Mouse and I got started on that one this past week. It is a show we both enjoy.

Off the Blog: January found Mouse and I sick for a good part of the month. We both ended up missing a few days of school/work as a result, and are still fighting the lingering cough and congestion. Girl Scout Cookie Season is now officially underway, and Mouse is preparing for next month's Greatest Showman auditions. My mom's hip replacement surgery went without a hitch, and she is doing well. Our Christmas tree is still up. At least it is bare, I suppose. Nina appreciates that we have left it up. She gets her daily exercise in climbing up to the top and down again frequently.


Here is what I finished reading in January:
  • This Side of Murder (Verity Kent, #1) by Anna Lee Huber
  • April Fools' Fiasco (A to Z Mysteries, #9) by Ron Roy 
  • The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff
  • Judy Moody Girl Detective (Judy Moody, #9) by Megan McDonald
I was hoping to finish my January TBR poll winner in January, but it did not quite work out that way. I was not online much, especially the second half of the month hence why I did not post much. I hope to be more present in February. I have missed catching up on your news and seeing what you all are reading.


Tell me what you have been up to! What are you reading, listening to and watching? How was your January? Do you have anything planned for this month?

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Thank you for helping me decide what book from my TBR collection I should read next:

My TBR List is a meme hosted by the awesome Michelle at Because Reading. It’s a fun way to choose a book from your TBR pile to read. The 1st Sunday of every month, I will list 3 books I am considering reading and take a poll as to which you think I should read. I will read the winner that month, and my review will follow (unfortunately, not likely in the same month, but eventually--that's all I can promise). 




I was thinking the other day that I have not kept up with my desire to read more science fiction as of late, and these three titles have been calling to me in particular. I hope you will help me decide which one I should read next.


Nightchaser (Endeavor, #1) by Amanda Bouchet
Tess Bailey: the galaxy's Most Wanted. Captain Tess Bailey is in deep trouble. She and her crew are on the run, pursued by a tyrant who'll take them dead or alive. Tess's best hope is a tall, dark, and much-too-appealing stranger, Shade Ganavan, who says he can help her. But his motivations are far from clear...

Shade Ganavan: arrogance, charm...and that special something that makes you want to kick him. With the dreaded Dark Watch closing in, what Tess and Shade don't know about each other might get them killed...unless they can set aside their differences and learn to trust each other before it's too late.
[Goodreads Summary]







Stars Uncharted by S.K. Dunstall
A ragtag band of explorers are looking to make the biggest score in the galaxy in the brand-new science fiction adventure novel from the national bestselling author of Linesman.

Three people who are not who they claim to be:

Nika Rik Terri, body modder extraordinaire, has devoted her life to redesigning people's bodies right down to the molecular level. Give her a living body and a genemod machine, and she will turn out a work of art.

Josune Arriola is crew on the famous explorer ship the Hassim, whose memory banks contain records of unexplored worlds worth a fortune. But Josune and the rest of the crew are united in their single-minded pursuit of the most famous lost planet of all.

Hammond Roystan, the captain of the rival explorer ship, The Road, has many secrets. Some believe one of them is the key to finding the lost world.

Josune's captain sends her to infiltrate Roystan's ship, promising to follow. But when the Hassim exits nullspace close to Roystan's ship, it's out of control, the crew are dead, and unknown Company operatives are trying to take over. Narrowly escaping and wounded, Roystan and Josune come to Nika for treatment--and with problems of her own, she flees with them after the next Company attack.

Now they're in a race to find the lost world...and stay alive long enough to claim the biggest prize in the galaxy. [Goodreads Summary]


Terminal Alliance (Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse, #1) by Jim C. Hines
When the Krakau came to Earth, they planned to invite humanity into a growing alliance of sentient species.

This would have worked out better for all involved if they hadn’t arrived after a mutated plague wiped out half the planet, turned the rest into shambling, near-unstoppable animals, and basically destroyed human civilization. You know—your standard apocalypse.

The Krakau’s first impulse was to turn their ships around and go home. After all, it’s hard to establish diplomatic relations with mindless savages who eat your diplomats.

Their second impulse was to try to fix us.

A century later, human beings might not be what they once were, but at least they’re no longer trying to eat everyone. Mostly.

Marion “Mops” Adamopoulos is surprisingly bright (for a human). As a Lieutenant on the Earth Mercenary Corps Ship Pufferfish, she’s in charge of the Shipboard Hygiene and Sanitation team. When a bioweapon attack by an alien race wipes out the Krakau command crew and reverts the rest of the humans to their feral state, only Mops and her team are left with their minds intact.

Escaping the attacking aliens—not to mention her shambling crewmates—is only the beginning. Sure, Mops and her assortment of space janitors and plumbers can clean the ship, but flying the damn thing is another matter. As they struggle to keep the Pufferfish functioning and find a cure for their crew, they stumble onto a conspiracy that could threaten the entire alliance.

A conspiracy born from the truth of what happened on Earth all those years ago… [Goodreads Summary]




Thank you for voting! I hope you all have a wonderful week! Happy Reading!


© 2019, Musings of a Bookish Kitty. All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Musings of a Bookish Kitty or Wendy's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

54 comments:

  1. Glad to hear your mom's hip surgery went well! And I love Travelers! One of my favorite shows. I saw today though that Netflix has canceled it apparently, so we won't get a season four? I was so bummed!

    I voted Stars Uncharted since I've been doing well with science fiction lately. :)

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    1. Greg - Thank you. My mom is a real trooper. I love Travelers too. I am sorry to hear its been cancelled. I wondered about that because of the way things ended, but was hopeful anyway that there might be more. Oh well. Thank you for voting and visiting, Greg!

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  2. Girls Burn Brighter is on my TBR. Sounds like you had a good Month. Have a good week ahead.

    Gayathri @ Elgee Writes

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    1. Gayahtri - Hopefully we will both enjoy Girls Burn Brighter when we read it. I hope you have a great week as well. Thank you for visiting!

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  3. I hope the cough will go away quickly for you and Mouse. I'm glad to hear your mom is doing well after the surgery, Wendy. Have a great week and enjoy your books!

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    1. Melody - Thank you. Mouse's cough is almost gone now, thankfully, which gives me hope mine will be leaving soon as well. I hope you have a great week too! Thanks for stopping by!

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  4. The flu-type bugs are certainly doing the rounds at the moment!
    The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is one that I want to watch but it didn't feel like the right time watching it at Christmas... And we missed the Halloween window in a fit of moving house exhaustion.
    Maybe sometime soon. :)

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    1. Nicci - The viruses this year have been very nasty. It seems to be making its rounds to everyone around here. Yes, Sabrina has much more of a Halloween feel to it--although there is a Yuletide episode. I hope you enjoy it when you see it! Thanks for stopping by!

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  5. Oh no, too bad to hear that you are still a little bit ill. I think I might have caught some throat thing myself. Winter!
    I'm glad to hear your mom's doing alright.
    And we just undecorated the tree at my mom's place like a few days ago xD
    Wishing you a great week!

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    1. Evelina - I hope you aren't getting sick too! My daughter was complaining of a sore throat this morning, and that's just what we need. Another virus. :-( I'm hoping it was just an allergy thing and will be gone with no other symptoms soon. We're just getting better! We don't need to be sick again. I hope you have a great week too! Thank you for visiting.

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  6. I think the doctors need to come up with a new name for the lingering cold/cough/strep throat that seems to be going around. I hope you feel better soon.

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    1. Deb - I think you are right. Whatever this virus is, it has earned its own name. Thank you for your well wishes and for visiting.

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  7. Sorry you and Mouse were so sick in January, hope you will have a feel-good February. Do you know I can't find anyone selling GS Cookies yet? They are usually outside the grocery store on weekends but maybe because it had been cold there was none to be found. We need to have our annual fix of Thin Mints:) LOL Have a great week.

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    1. Diane - Thank you. I hope February will be better for us health wise too! I imagine the cold would keep the Girl Scouts away--at least in as cold weather as you've been having! We were out in the rain today selling at a booth. Luckily the store had a nice overhang we could stay dry under. The girls were bundled up to stay warm. It was only about 52 here, though. I hope you have a great week too! Thanks for stopping by.

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  8. I loved The Code Girls and look forward to Fly Girls!

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    1. Jenclair - I am glad to hear you loved them both. I can't wait to read them. :-) Thanks for visiting!

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  9. I hope you are both feeling better, and glad your mom's surgery went well. Enjoy your books, I spy granny square crochet in there!
    I really liked The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and am looking forward to the next season.
    Happy week!

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    1. Naida - Thank you for the well wishes! Yes, that's one of my favorite afghans from my childhood. I can't wait to see the next season of Sabrina either. :-) I hope you have a great week and thank you for visiting!

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  10. I have been eyeing The Lost Girls of Paris. Enjoy your week and your books, and here are MY WEEKLY UPDATES

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    1. Laurel-Rain - It's worth reading if you get the chance! Thank you for stopping by!

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  11. I LOVE Jim C. Hines so I had to vote for that one.
    Sorry you all didn't feel good! and glad your mom is feeling better.

    I hope this week is awesome for you, Wendy! Happy Reading! :)

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    1. Michelle - Thank you for voting! I think Terminal Alliance sounds like so much fun. :-) Thank you for the well wishes and for visiting. I hope you have a great week too!

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  12. Thank goodness your mother's hip replacement op went off without any complications, though I'm sorry to hear that you and Mouse have both been smitten:(. I voted for you to read Stars Uncharted next - I love that starscape... Have a great week.

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    1. Sarah - We were really relieved about that too. So far her recovery has been going well. Thank you for your well wishes and for voting! I hope you have a great week too.

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  13. I see you're on an historical fiction/nonfiction spree, good for you! I voted for your challenge, hope you enjoy whatever we all choose. I'm glad you and the Mouse are doing better, and your Mom too.

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    1. Rita - I do seem to be on a bit of a historical sort of run right now. Although I just started a thriller, so maybe that may be changing. I just know that most of the books attracting my attention right now are historical fiction . . . Thank you for voting, Rita. And for visiting!

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  14. I want to read Code Girls and Fly Girls. And I voted for Stars Uncharted because that one sounds like a lot of fun to me. Happy reading! :)

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    1. Lark - Don't those both sound good? I love books like that and don't read enough of them. I am glad women in history are getting more of the spotlight shown on them. Thank you for voting and visiting!

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  15. Good to hear from you, Wendy! So sorry you and Mouse have been so ill. Winter is sure tough on the respiratory system at times isn't it? And I hate when those coughs linger and linger. Glad your Mom's surgery went well. Take it easy and we'll see you when we see you, lady. Good luck with Girl Scout cookie season! :-)

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    1. Kay - Thank you for your kind thoughts. We are holding up well and I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Thank you too for visiting!

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  16. Gift cards always burn a hole in my pocket. I'm glad you and Mouse are mostly better. The flu is raging around here. :(

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    1. Kathy - I somehow manage to hold onto my Amazon ones for quite a while--but then, I often make big purchases with them. Those tend to be the rarity though. I hope everyone stays or gets healthy on your end. Being sick is no fun. Thanks for visiting!

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  17. I always love it when I get gift cards to my favorite book stores, although I tend to go a little overboard with it at times.

    Here’s my Sunday Post!

    Ronyell @ Rabbit Ears Book Blog

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    1. Ronyell - Bookstore gift cards are my favorite. :-) I tend to go overboard too! LOL Thanks for stopping by!

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  18. OK, I want to know what a Goodreads award winner is! It MUST have to do with sheer VOLUME of reading, right? :D That's you, for sure! I'm on Goodreads, but every few months try to at least record how many PBs I've read. That's about it---and Giveaways, of course :) And happy to hear your Mom's hip went well and that she's recooping in a good way! :D

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    1. Donna Marie - Near the end of every year, Goodreads does a poll on readers' favorite books per genre or category, and Amazon put several of the winning books on sale for a short time this past month. I couldn't resist picking up three of the titles because they sounded so good. I generally use Goodreads to track my reading throughout the year. Thank you for your kind thoughts for my mom. She's having to learn to get around her house again, but seems to be managing well. I hope you have a great week! Thank you for visiting!

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  19. I really like your first six books! now to try to track some of them down.

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    1. Mystica - I hope you can get hold of them! Thank you for stopping by!

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  20. Sorry I can't help with the poll.
    I'm also doing the Don Quijote readalong, with a week late. There's also one with Silvia, and she posts great stuff: https://silviacachia.wordpress.com/category/reading-don-quixote/
    My Jan recap is here: https://wordsandpeace.com/2019/02/01/2019-january-wrap-up/

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    1. Emma - You can do what I do sometimes and vote on best cover or title. :-) I'll have to check out Silvia's read-along. Thanks for the link! Thank you too for visiting!

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  21. I loved both Nightchaser and Stars Uncharted. I would say Nightchaser has a bit of romance where SU is more straight scifi so it depends on which you prefer. Enjoy! Anne - Books of My Heart

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    1. Anne - I enjoy both kinds, so I suppose it will matter on my mood. Or which one wins. :-) Thank you for stopping by!

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  22. Wasn't January just a crazy month? I hope February will be a bit more calm! I have the Code Girls book but unfortunately couldn't get into it and had to set it aside. I started it in December and just had so much work going on that I'm sure that was the issue. I do want to get back to it.

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    1. Iliana - It was crazy. I am not sure about February being more calm for us, but one can hope. I am sorry Code Girls didn't work for you. Thank you for visiting!

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  23. I really need to watch Travelers. And I'm glad to hear it went well. Hope your mum feels better soon.

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    1. Olivia - I hope you do get a chance to watch Travelers! Thank you for stopping by.

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  24. Glad to hear you are both somewhat recovered and your mom did well. 👍✨

    I was watching a video last week of cats climbing around in an artificial tree and I was thinking that the owner should just leave it up for them. Ha ha. 😸

    I hope you are having a wonderful week.

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    1. La La - Thank you! The other day our older cat was in the room and was just staring transfixed as our younger cat scurried up the tree. She was probably wishing she could do it too. I'm glad she hasn't tried. She's bigger and might really knock it over . . .

      Thank you for visiting!

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  25. Robson's cover is just lovely. Ugh on the ick. That lingering cough is no joke. I'm doing better with mine but man it gets me some nights. Whew! Hope yall have a good week!

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    1. Anna - I like that cover as well. I am glad you are doing better. I know what you mean about nights though. Hopefully we will both have it behind us soon. I hope you have a good week too. Thank you for stopping by!

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  26. This reminds me that I need to watch the rest of Sabrina. I was enjoying it but I just kind of stopped watching and forgot about it.

    I'm glad your mom recovered from her hip surgery easily!

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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    1. Nicole - I had watched the first half of Sabrina before Christmas and then took a break from it. I enjoyed it, but it isn't one I was dying to get caught up on right away. My mom is making great progress in her recovery. It's a slow process, but she's doing great. :-) Thank you for visiting!

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  27. I'm also enjoying more science fiction as well as fantasy. Happy to hear the surgery went well. My mother-in-law recently endured the same surgery and now is pain-free when walking.

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    1. Danielle - I am so glad your mother-in-law is doing well after her surgery! That is great news. My mom is making good profess and is hoping she'll be able to drive again soon. I think the doctor said another week or so before that can happen. Thank you for stopping by!

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