Heartbeat Monthly (23): December 2019

Posted by Jessi (Geo) on January 26, 2020 | 0 Comments

Okay so I’m a bit late on my December wrap up, oops. It’s been hard to keep up with them lately, but I’ve been doing a lot better about blogging regularly!

December haul

Bought

Nerdy Post Harry Potter dust jacket set
Shelflove Crate 52 Reading Challenges deck

Freebies

From the publisher

Witches of Ash & Ruin by E. Latimer (thank you Freeform!)
The Night Country by Melissa Albert (thank you Flatiron Books!)

Gifted

These were the bookish things I got for Christmas!

Harry Potter pillow (my friend Sarah made it!)
Chocolate frog collectible figure
Sirus Black’s wand & bookmark

The chocolate frog and wand came from my boyfriend’s brother & girlfriend! I also got Harry Potter trivial pursuit from his grandma!

December Wrap Up

Books I read

10 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston – ★★★½
Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin – ★★★★
Skyward by Brandon Sanderson (AUDIO, re-read) – ★★★★★
Circe by Madeline Miller – ★★★½
Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim (AUDIO) – DNF
Starsight by Brandon Sanderson – ★★★★½
The Girl the Sea Gave Back by Adrienne Young – DNF
Fireborne by Rosaria Munda (AUDIO) – ★★½
Gemina by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman (AUDIO, re-read) – ★★★★★+
Red Rising by Pierce Brown (AUDIO, re-read) – ★★★★★

Pages read: 3,999
Average rating: 4.1
Favorite book read in December: Gemina
Least favorite book read in December: Fireborne

Book reviews posted

What I’ve been up to this month

Adam and I had a wonderful Christmas! In addition to picking out our very first live tree together, we made ornaments and cookies together, watched a bunch of Christmas stuff, made gingerbread houses with our friends, and we celebrated 6 months together! We got to spend the week of Christmas in Florida with my parents – who, due to some health issues, were unable to travel up to Ohio to spend it with us. I’m so very grateful that Adam was willing to go to them, even though it meant leaving his family for Christmas. He’s the best!

We had a great time in Florida – I got to spend some quality time with my parents, and I got to see my sister and niece because they came down, too. Adam and I used a Hotels reward night to get a major discount on a SUPER fancy hotel on our way down, it was amazing! We split the trip up into two days, it was so nice. We stayed in a tent for the week while down there, which was fun. On the way back, we split the trip in half again and stayed at another hotel. We had plenty of time to relax – we went to see the new Star Wars movie that night (it was good, but a bit cliche, sorry not sorry) and had a nice breakfast and took our time getting out in the morning. It was a great vacation!