New Year's Resolution - Book Edition

This new year I've made the resolution to not buy any more books. I have so many books on my Kindle and book holds at the library and stacks of real paper books in my house that it's getting out of hand. I plan to trade with friends and family, too, which will be a fun way of connecting. I did get a 6-month subscription to the Book of the Month Club for Christmas (thankyouthankyou) so that will help my shopping bug, and there's the library, too, which gets underutilized. 

At any rate, this is a doable resolution,  I think. Have you made any New Year's resolutions?

Book Winners and Book Review - "The Sudden Appearance of Hope" by Claire North

First of all, the winners!

Libellula Jewelry and Linda Landig

Thanks for playing!

Both will receive one of my favorite books I've read this year, Claire North's "The Sudden Appearance of Hope".

I was captivated a couple of years ago by another favorite author, V. E. Schwab and her book "The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue". Chances are if you liked that one, you'll like this one. Both books have a main character who can't be remembered, but they are each their own very special book.

From the GoodReads blurb, I was intrigued...

My name is Hope Arden, and you won't know who I am. But we've met before - a thousand times.

It started when I was sixteen years old.

A father forgetting to drive me to school. A mother setting the table for three, not four. A friend who looks at me and sees a stranger.

No matter what I do, the words I say, the crimes I commit, you will never remember who I am.

That makes my life difficult. It also makes me dangerous.

___ ..__.__...___

This book is about more than a girl who can't be remembered (an awesome thing if you're a thief, which she is, a terrible thing if you want friends, of which she has none). It's also about an app called Perfection which gives the user points and perks as they follow the road to being a Perfect person. (Side-eyeing really hard at Instagram right now.) The app is huge and everyone in the world wants in on it, even when the stakes for achieving said perfection get high. The social-media-poking in the book really got to me because I have yet to figure out how to manage proper expectations of my life when I consume social media, and I often go on mini-breaks (again, side-eyeing you, Instagram) to keep focused and balanced.

Hope is absolutely not about Perfection and the story charges along to an end that stuck with me for days. TSAOH made me think about the world, myself, and a lot of  personal "what ifs". It also made me think about what perfection really is and if it even exists. It's very much a science fiction book complete with hacking and Hope's peculiar condition, but it's also a social story that revolves around identity. My identity right now is going through big changes, so this book spoke to me not just on the "damn, Claire North can really craft a beautiful sentence" level, but on a visceral, human level.

At first, the book was confusing, but I stuck with it and eventually, all will be  revealed. I hope you read it and let me know what you think!

XO Lori

How to Add a Holiday Tradition to Your Book Club PLUS GIVEAWAY!

If you love books as much as I do, you probably want to share that love with others. I'm not lucky enough to belong to a book club, but I decided to start a new tradition with my daughters-in-law that could just as easily be tweaked for your holiday book club meeting.

I'm really fortunate both DILs love to read and trading book titles over the years has been amazing. This year, though, I decided to pick two of my favorite books from this year and put them under the tree for Stephanie and Laurian. I'm really excited to see what they think about what I'd like to make a new holiday tradition.

If you're in a book club, why not do something similar? Draw names, choose a book you love that you didn't read this year in book club, write a little note about why you loved it, and gift it! Everyone gets to go home with a new book and since they're your book club buddies, chances are you have a feel for what they might like out of the many favorites you love.

If you're worried about giving a book the person has already read, don't. Honestly, if someone gifted me a book they loved and I'd already read it, I'd read it again, keeping in mind why the person liked it. I've had some amazing reads after giving a book I previously didn't care for second chance due to the enthusiastic encouragement of a fellow reader. (Stephen King's "Dark Tower" series, I'm looking at you!)

Besides, rereading has become a more common thing for me in the past ten years or so and to me it's like visiting an old friend. I always find something new in it. So bring on the recommendations!

I'm going to give away one of my favorite books that I read this year. It may be a current book, it may be some years old, but I read it this year and it affected me. You will get a brand new book.

You get an entry to the giveaway by:

1) Commenting below and telling me your favorite book/series, 

and

2) Not required, but you get an extra chance by posting this on Instagram and/or Facebook. Let me know you did that with the links in your comment.

And that's it! You have three chances to win! The giveaway closes Saturday the 17th of December, and I will announce the winner on the 18th. 

__ .. _ . __..__

*** Be sure to leave me a way to contact you in case you win (email, IG handle, FB handle, etc). And due to the insanity of shipping costs, this particular giveaway is for US only. I apologize. **

Thank you for reading! Don't forget to enter by telling me what your favorite book is, or what kinds of books you like!

XO Lori