Weekly Wrap-Up #207 – January 19th, 2025

Posted January 19, 2025 by Lisa Mandina in Weekly Wrap Up / 22 Comments

I’m connecting up once again with Kimberly at Caffeinated Reviewer.

Sunday was really hard to get out of bed knowing that Monday for sure would be back to work and getting up with the alarm again. The snow had melted down enough that Argyle was able to run over to the fence, although it was a hopping run and his whole legs were in the snow. I went over and shoveled a little bit of the path so he can go bark at his friends when they are outside. Which he got to do a bit today. I did lots of blogging and more reading, and then went to my mom’s house for family dinner.

Monday was sooooooo hard to get up! And it was really cold! They’ve got the main entrance at school blocked off as they are getting ready to do some construction on three of our entrances. Unfortunately that is where my parking spot is. So that kind of sucks. It was a crazy busy day as the counselors always set up shop in the library on the first day of each semester for any schedule issues. So we had students lined up to get things fixed most of the day because they came down each class. Did I mention yet that I won a $500 gift certificate to First Book? It’s a site that provide heavily discounted books that are newer and are diverse. I applied back in the fall and got the gift certificate in the mail today. I went in and bought all of it already! I will have to hand catalog it all, but that’s okay. Came home to do a bit of blogging and relax after the first day back at school. Anyone else participate in the Buy Nothing groups on Facebook? My mom donates stuff to people all the time, and so I decided to sign up for the one in my area. I gave my first item away, a dining/accent chair I had that my brother and sister-in-law gave me probably 10 or more years ago and I just really don’t use it.

Tuesday still cold outside! It was a busy day for me again in the library. Several English teachers bringing classes down to check out novels for class, or teachers checking out classroom sets of novels if there weren’t enough for each student to have their own. Lots of people wanting me to schedule things on the library calendar for the next couple months. The district decided what days to use for our snow day make ups for last week. Looks like we will have school on Presidents’ Day in February, as well as a professional development day in March, and something being switched with the days off for Parent conferences in March right before Spring Break. I left work early to go see my endocrinologist. Early bloodwork results showed my A1C is down below 6 again, so that’s good! Then it was Dora’s 14th birthday, so I got fun treats and a new toy for her and Argyle to celebrate. I had a Zoom meeting for the AASL Membership Engagement Committee at 6 pm. Which I really feel like I’m not doing a great job for this committee.

Wednesday was cold, but not as cold. Remember how I had to leave early on Tuesday? Well I came in on Wednesday morning to a bunch of auction boxes of science textbooks on the library tables, with no note/notice, etc. I was going to just assume they should be taken to the warehouse/loading dock by the custodians, till I looked at the list of books in one of the boxes and realized these were books that I had checked out within the past year. So now I am waiting on the science department head to let me know if these really should go or not. Stopped by to see my friend with puppies, got to hold them for a bit. Then I came home to do a tiny bit of blogging before going out to dinner with my mom at a local fried chicken restaurant we hadn’t been to in a while.

Thursday was a bit warmer. More snow melted, but still it was difficult to get my trash can out for Friday’s trash pick up. School was busy. We had a staff meeting after school that lasted till almost 3:30 and they didn’t even get through everything. I got home and let the dogs out, fed them, then my mom texted and asked if I wanted to go to Home Goods with her and also get dinner. Since I am looking for a new dog bed for their cage, I decided to go with her. I didn’t find a dog bed that was what I wanted. We had dinner at McAlistair’s Deli. I’m loving the Sugar Plum Tea they’ve had since the holidays.

Friday morning I struggled a bit getting my trash can out and propping it in the still piled up snow on the side of my driveway so I could still get my car out to go to work. It was a busy day in the library. When I got a denied request for a Lynn Painter book on Edelweiss, I reached out to the contact at Berkley who has been sending me links to book without my requesting them, and asked if she could get it for me. Also realized I hadn’t read the last book, Accidentally Amy, forgot to put it in my blog calendar, duh! So I started that e-galley today instead of the ARC I’d planned to start. Stopped by the grocery store on the way home, and then just hung out at home, did some blogging, and watched the final season 7 episode of Outlander, there was lots of crying. I also posted a promo about my author friend today, along with a giveaway for any of her books you’d like to try! Check it out HERE.

Saturday morning it was frigidly cold again! Went to have our weekly coffee date for the first time in weeks with my dad, stepmom, and youngest sister. Then came home to watch the game and hang out with the dogs. Another winning game, even with some moments that were disappointing. And I know some people will complain about some of the calls, but honestly, there were plays that went both ways that didn’t make sense. I finished reading one of the e-books on my COYER list while watching the game too. Oh, since I decided an ARC I finished on Thursday would just go into my L-L-L-Little Reviews post at the end of the month, I ended up posting a Discussion post today.

The first two were ARCs. First review was posted this past week. The second review I’m saving for my L-L-L review post at the end of the month. Third was one of my COYER reads that I finished up while watching the Chiefs game and it also will be in the L-L-L post.

ARCs:

None

Audiobooks:

None

Bookish Stuff:

None

E-galleys:

First is for a Rachel’s Random Resources blog tour review in February. Second is for the author’s review team for a review on the 28th. Third is for another author team review, February 11th. Fourth is from the publisher, I entered to win a physical ARC, but just got the e-galley. It comes out at the beginning of March. Fifth is for an author’s review request, it comes out the end of this month. Last was an e-galley request from Edelweiss that comes out this summer.

Free e-books:

I read the second in this series and had wanted to read the first, so when I saw it free on Amazon, I grabbed it. Originally it was called Disaster Girl.

Physical books:

Got a finished copy of this from the publisher that I read an e-galley of earlier this month. I’ll be taking this copy to my school library.

Finally another Chiefs game on Saturday. Final episode of this season of Outlander was Friday, and I finished up my rewatch up to when it came out. No idea how long till season 8 will be streamed, although I know they are already done filming it. Oh my gosh, I cried so much between both of the deaths in the episode, and the possible surprise twist at the end. With that surprise twist I immediately wondered if it was in the books or something the show had added, and wondered if there was any possible way I could get all the rest of the books read before the next season comes out. Now mind you, all the books are at the bare minimum 800 pages, most 1000 or more pages.

First is an e-galley I was late on because I forgot to put it in my blog calendar, second is an ARC, and third is an e-galley. All reviews should be this week. I also have a Top 10 Tuesday post scheduled and a blitz.

My new monthly giveaway I am making it a big one with 6 winners, to get rid of a TON of the books on my pile. Although it might also keep me from having the monthly giveaways for a while. You can enter HERE.

And please go check out my promo post on my author friend, if you like to support indie authors, I’d love to have you go follow her on her socials even if you don’t want to enter the giveaway for any of her books you’d like to try! Check that post out HERE please!

We’re now more than halfway through January. How has it been for you? How was this past week for you?

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22 responses to “Weekly Wrap-Up #207 – January 19th, 2025

  1. Sounds like a decent week if very cold! I didn’t go out this week so I couldn’t say what the weather was! Lol. It was getting to more bearable temps and our snow/ice was starting to melt so that was nice! hoping that means our mail carrier is done stacking packages on the mailbox. We finally learned they were doing this because of said ice. Which I get, but then also since the deliveries were coming after dark, it was more beneficial for porch pirates than anything. But whatever. Congrats on winning the $500 gift card for your library! That’s awesome! Also yay for your A1C being down! That’s also great! And Happy belated Birthday to Dora! Glad the week went well for the most part!

    Nice new reads too! I’m getting curious about They Bloom at Night! The creepy cover is calling to me! Lol. Hope you enjoy all of your new reads!

    Here’s my StS

    Have a GREAT day!

    Old Follower 🙂

    • Lisa Mandina

      I mean at least they were putting the packages not on the snow? I had an Amazon package delivered that was set up against my house, but also basically next to a pile of snow. Ugh. I’m ready for the snow to be gone. But I’m not disappointed if we have another inclement weather day due to the really cold temps at the beginning of this week, especially since this time they’ll be the AMI days we haven’t used any of yet. I had entered to win a physical ARC of They Bloom at Night, but only got an e-galley, figured I’ll still read it!

  2. The temperatures are keeping us all indoors. Sounds like you had a busy/productive week at work despite the chill.

    After Life has a beautiful cover.

    Happy reading!

  3. Wow you guys are already having to make up snow days? We usually get at least 5 before we have to talk about make ups. Well, it was 5 when the state counted school by days. Now we count by hours, so most schools have like 10 extra days built in. Its suppose to get crazy cold here this week. Friday it was in the 40’s and it felt like a heat wave! The snow is still around on the grass though. Yay for getting your A1C down! That’s awesome!

    Samantha recently posted: #SundayPost: January 19th
    • Lisa Mandina

      We had 5 straight snow days, not even the AMI days where kids did work from home. So that’s why they went ahead and decided to set what days to make up. We can still have 5 AMI days though, without having to add time, so I’m all for using them!

  4. Your week sounds a bit busy. I am also reading Accidentally Amy. I was going to listen to the audio but then remembered something about the book being updated. I’m listening to Deep End by Ali Hazelwood and it’s got the STEM stuff but also BDSM which I haven’t read any of that kind of thing in awhile. It feels BDSM lite though, and isn’t bothering me. I feel behind and hope to catch up this week. Love the photos!

    Anne – Books of My Heart This is my Sunday Post

    • Lisa Mandina

      It was so busy after a week off of school! Yeah, not sure if they updated the audio yet or not! Ali Hazelwood occasionally goes a little farther in some of her books than I normally read, but usually it’s not too far. We’ll see when I get to it!

  5. Congratulations on winning the $500 gift certificate to First Book! That must have been a nice surprise. Happy birthday to Dora–the dogs look like they are having so much fun with their new toy. 🙂

    On the plus side, it’s a shortened week this week with the holiday. Hopefully your work week goes smoothly.

    I love the cover of the Kelley Armstrong book. It looks like it will be a fun read. I hope you have a good week, Lisa. Enjoy your reading!

  6. We’ve had more snow in January than we have the last two years combined I think. We have an arctic snap coming up through Wednesday so I am counting the days until it is gone. I managed to get some cute snow pick of the pups though. Congrats on the gift card win – that’s a big help I bet. I finished an ARC this week and hope to get my review posted Monday. My goal is to do better with my Netgalley stuff this year. So far so good. I really need to request the Armstrong romance as I loved the first one. Hope you and the pups have a wonderful week!

    Barb @ Booker T's Farm recently posted: Farm News - January 19, 2025
    • Lisa Mandina

      Yep, we’ve got the cold here too! They canceled school for Tuesday already because of the cold. Some day I want to go back and read books I requested years ago on NG but never read.

  7. Sounds like a busy week, but not as bad as it could have been. Hopefully it will warm up – are you in this new Polar Vortex starting today? We are FINALLY getting some snow, but I think only 4-5″ it’s coming overnight. Then we get cold for the rest of the week. My kids both went back to college today, so I’ll spend the week getting my house back in order!

    • Lisa Mandina

      Yep, it is cooooooold! In fact they already canceled school for Tuesday because of the cold. But it should be warming up a bit after that. Ooh, enjoy the snow! And I’m sure you’ll miss the kids, but it will be nice to get the house back in order too.

  8. The weather sounds like it was really cold and you got some snow as well. We had cold weather too last some, but no snow only some ice and slippery roads. Yay for winning that gift certificate for First Books. I like that idea of a buy nothing group, that sounds like a great way to donate some items you don’t use. Those pictures of your dogs with their new toys are cute. Nice haul of new books you got this week, I hope you’ll enjoy that Kelley Armstrong book, I still have to read the first one in that series. I hope next week is a good one for you!

    • Lisa Mandina

      Normally the trash isn’t a problem. Plus before my shed got messed up and I had to tear it down this past fall, my mower went in there. Now my mower is in my garage which means I can’t keep the big trash can in the garage. So I have to push it around the side of the house and then it wasn’t shoveled because of that, lol. No school today, and just got the call that they canceled tomorrow because of the cold!

  9. It’s hard having to do normal life activities with snow! Bummer that you have to make those days you were off up. I’m going to look into that Kelley Armstrong romance. So uplifting to cuddle with puppies or kittens! They’re so cute. Stay warm and safe, Lisa!

    Rachel @Waves of Fiction recently posted: Sunday Post #280
    • Lisa Mandina

      I mean at least we only have to make up 3 of them. And we still have all of our virtual learning days that we can use, except the one we used today for the below zero temps.

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