The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news, post a recap for the week before, showcase books and things we have received, etc.
This has been a week of several ups and downs for me. For one, the holidays are coming up and I will be getting extra days off because of that. The problem is, I won’t be getting holiday pay and I don’t have the option to work those days. That’s really a double edge sword with Christmas around the corner and I’m trying to get presents for my boys. It also doesn’t help that I needed new tires and that was almost a $500 investment in itself. But with the help of my grandmother, I paid for the back set and she helped me get the front. So at least I’m set for whenever winter finally shows up. But then my SUV started acting up the very next day… Ironic, isn’t it? You start to feel like you’re getting ahead only to get shoved back a few notches? Fortunately, it turned out my battery which had been diagnosed at being in its last stages of its life last Christmas Eve, finally was giving me its last few moments. So there went another $150 that I was trying to save to help with covering bills at the end of the month, when my check was going to be shorter. So for the sake of making sure my SUV will last the winter and I won’t have to trek four miles in snow to work and then another four in the middle of the night from work (more if I can’t find someone to bring my son to me that late at night), I went ahead and got the oil changed, even though I was still under the recommended mileage marker, but a week overdue for it. So in just the last few weeks (including my grandmother’s contribution), I have put $700 in my SUV. That’s almost enough to cover my rent, electric and gas for the month.
Needless to say, the worrying about finances is affecting my ability to focus on books. Fortunately I’m ahead on my reading schedule and I only have one book to review in the next two weeks. I just sometimes wish that I could stay ahead of the game at least for some amount of time before every thing falls out from beneath me. Even more so, I wish I didn’t worry so much. We should be more than okay, but it’s the uncertainty of it all that really bothers me most, you know?
On the plus side, my SUV is running well and the check engine light is finally gone (I guess it was trying to tell me my battery was dying all along). Also this has been a lucky week for me when it comes to book giveaways. I typically only try my hand at the ones that look interesting and yet, it’s paid off. I managed to win a book from Goodreads as well as four more through other giveaways. Of course, the bookworm in me is excited about having more books… even as my more practical side is screaming out about how I don’t have enough time for all the books I have now. But this is part of the cycle for us, right? We start to get a little ahead on our TBR (but let’s face it, never more than a fraction ahead) and then we start adding more to the pile. Perhaps one of these days I’ll just overhaul my TBR and start fresh? Anyways, that’s my bumpy week in a nutshell. How was yours?
All book covers are linked to my personal review of the book or it’s Goodreads or Amazon page.
I actually didn’t think I got a lot of reading done last week. But as I went over the numbers, I’m about par to where I usually am every week and I will have finished my current book by the time this post goes up. I’m adding my House of Night reread to this list, because I did technically reread most of it this week. But it’ll eventually be backdated to the last time I read it. So I guess that’s good enough for me! Here are the reviews and posts from this week:
Blog Tours
Short Story Reviews
Older Reviews
Posts
Reading Challenge: October Update
November 2015 Featured Book: Murder at Redwood Cove by Janet Finsilver
New to the TBR: The 13th Descent & The 13th Brigade by Ky Lehman
Top Ten Tuesdays #8: Top Sophomore Novels
New to the TBR: Baad Dog by Sal Conte
What Are You Reading Wednesday #9: Destined
Q&A Interview with Phil Harvey
New to the TBR: Winter by Marissa Meyer
New to the TBR: The Walking Dead: Invasion by Robert Kirkman
New to the TBR: The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan
Feature and Follow Friday #8: Replace An Author
My blog tour for this past weekend fell through, so I was actually able to get a head of my book schedule. Now I’m focusing on trying to throw in more of my library books in so I can get that number down somewhat. Fortunately, with me having four days off for Thanksgiving, that will give me a chance to get some extra reading in, but for now I’m doing pretty good. Here’s my upcoming TBR list in no particular order:
For the most part, I’ve stayed true to my promise to lay off putting things on hold at the library. In the wake of ARC-palooza last month, I’m really behind on my library books. Granted, I’ve been actively putting any of the Buffy comics on hold when I start getting low, but I don’t really count that as they take about thirty minutes… Read More
I have a few new books from Netgalley this week. I also got several author review requests and signed up for another blog tour for next month. I am very excited to continue to add more variety into my reading regiment.
I’ve still yet to receive Fear Street Saga #1: The Betrayal. The Burning came in on Friday and I got an e-mail confirmation that it has shipped, but I won’t hold my breath until it actually gets here. On the other hand, this has a been a quiet week for me in regards to purchasing books. I have only picked up one new book. However, as mentioned above, I won a lot of books this week, so I look forward to receiving and reading those!
The Writer's Inkwell 
Oh, I hear you about how financial disasters seem to come in groups…you can almost count on it. Like all the appliances and electronics going out at the same time, or the car things happening.
The good news…maybe there will now be a reprieve.
Your books look tempting…enjoy! I am curious about Merry Mary.
Here are
MY WEEKLY UPDATES
Merry Mary is really adorable. I hope you enjoy it!
As long as you’re safe is all that matters, right? I tell my husband that if he needs new tires or whatever for his truck and don’t even flinch at the cost, just get it done! I’ll be hitting you up soon again as promised for next review, busy getting the last stages in place and ready to launch. So excited and can’t wait to see what you think!
For me, yes, that’s all that matters. But you know how children are. Especially the ones who still believe in Santa. If Santa doesn’t deliver something special, then it can ruin the magic of Christmas for them. I just need to figure out how to get something special without spending a ton of money.
And great! I can’t wait to read it! 😀
I wouldn’t worry too much about presents. Those are not what they will remember, usually. If you know what days you will be off maybe you could pick up something those days at a store?
I wish it were that easy. Seasonal jobs were filled last month and no one is willing to let me work only on the weekends. I’m just going to be cautious and only pay my bills until I’m sure everything is paid at the first of the month.