Top 5 Tuesday: Surprising 2019 Reads!

I swear I'm not leaving again! It just turns out that back-to-back Thanksgivings and hosting 14 people was a little more than I anticipated. Who would've guessed?! Idk, maybe everyone. Anywho, the Holiday week was a freaking whirlwind to say the absolute least. I did have a wonderful time and everything went really smoothly with our first hosting of a family holiday so I'm putting this one in the win column!

2019 has been kind of a disappointing year, reading-wise for me. With so many things going on (liver donation surgery, my husband finishing his PhD, moving to New Mexico) reading has taken a back seat. I'm really looking forward to 2020 and stepping everything back up again with my reading, reviewing and blogging. We've also got our first ski trip coming up this weekend and I literally couldn't be more amped. Anyway, today I wanted to participate in Top 5 Tuesday! A weekly meme hosted by Bionic Book Worm and this weeks topic is 2019's most surprising reads!

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Top 5 Tuesday: Authors I Need to Read!

On today's episode of "Things Christina Learns About Herself", Christina learns that she starts all of her blog posts with some iteration of "Happy [insert something related to the day of the week as if the readers of this blog don't know what day of the week it is]". So to break with tradition I'm wishing you all a very somber, sad Tuesday. Just kidding! But I do need to come up with some other shtick to start my posts, good lord but I'm redundant.

Today I'm participating in Top 5 Tuesday a weekly meme hosted by Bionic Book Worm where different topics are explored each week. This week is "authors I need to read", so off we go! 

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Top 5 Tuesday: Top 5 Books On My Current TBR!

Happy hump-day fellow readers! As I mentioned yesterday I'm working on getting back into the swing of blogging and I've got another review coming at y'all on Friday. I didn't want to stack too many of them back to back and I love these little bookish memes so I thought this would be a fun way to break up the week! I know it's technically Wednesday, but Top 5 Wednesday is on a hiatus so I thought #yolo I'd just to the T5T post today!

Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Bionic Book Worm where various topics are explored every week. If you haven't checked out her blog I can't suggest it enough! It's a great way to explore lots of fun book options. 

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Top 3 Thursday: Favorite Books of 2019!

Happy "tomorrow is the start of the weekend" day everyone! So as I mentioned last week I'm dipping my toe back into the blogging game. The amount of stuff I've got to fit into the next 6 weeks is truly mind boggling but a home in the mountains is at the end of that tunnel so I'm very excited! First things first, I'm working on getting y'all a review for Run Away tomorrow and a recipe and a read post up next week as well so keep an eye out! Anyway, I was *originally* planning on posting the review today but I love the topic for today's Top 3 Thursday so here we are! Top 3 Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by A Cosy Reader where different topics are explored and today's is favorite books of 2019 so far!

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Top 5 Wednesday: Bookish Things I’ve Changed My Mind About!

I don't know about y'all but I would personally be an incredibly gracious winner of the lottery, so I don't understand why I haven't won yet. I mean, it could be in large part due to the fact that I don't gamble or play the lottery but can't a girl just catch a break? I'm hitting that mid-week slump pretty hard right now and the week long rainy weather we're having in Texas ain't helping. However! For once I don't have every moment of my weekend planned and I'll get some good relaxation in and I couldn't be more thrilled. For now though I wanted to participate in another round of Top 5 Wednesday! This is a weekly meme hosted by a group on Goodreads and is a fun way to explore different topics. This week is bookish things you've changed your mind about!

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Book Tag: The Liebster Award!

Happy Friday y'all! My best friend who has been stateside from Spain is leaving town tomorrow and I get to see her just one last time in the great state of Texas before she heads back and I wont see her again until we don't live in Texas anymore (CA-RAY-ZAY). I hope everyone has wonderful weekends planned ahead of them and that it's full of all the things you want! We here in Dallas are looking at more rain starting Sunday and going into next week. I can't say that I mind because I love all weather and there's something so *romantic* about April showers in Texas. Anywho, I've been tagged in The Liebster Award book tag by Savannah of Reviews by Savi!

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Top 3 Thursday: Bookish Places I’d Want to Visit!

It's almost the weekend, which means it is almost Sunday, which means it's almost GoT time again, WHICH MEANS it's almost time for a bunch of my favorite characters to just up and die on me. However! We still have a lot of great days between now and then so I'll just reserve my period of mourning for another time. Today is Thursday, and you know that means it's time for another round of Top 3 Thursday! This weekly meme is hosted by A Cozy Reader and this weeks topic is fictional book places you'd want to visit. I find this premise particularly fun because who hasn't been reading about beautiful *magical* places and wished they could visit.

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Top 5 Wednesday: Rainy Day Reads

Y'all this prompt literally couldn't be more perfect! It's been raining, literally non-stop in Dallas since last night so tickle me pink when I see that today's Top 5 Wednesday topic is Rainy Day reads! Unfortunately since it's a work day, I won't get too much time in reading during the rain but it's April showers time in Texas and it's supposed to rain all next week! Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by a group on Goodreads where different topics are explored. If you enjoy these memes I definitely suggest joining the group! To be honest, I'm not really sure what makes a read, a "rainy day" read but for me it's something cozy and maybe a little atmospheric.

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Top 3 Thursday: Book Club Recommendations!

Well y'all, I really think I'm finally and truly coming out of the book slump I got myself into and it's a very happy place to be. I'm almost finished with The Mother-In-Law by Sally Hepworth so keep an eye out for a Recipe and a Read post on publication day on the 23rd! This is a great one because I'm a little over halfway through and I've already got 4 recipes to choose from! Anyway, today I wanted to participate in Top 3 Thursday! This weekly meme is hosted by A Cozy Reader and this weeks topic is book club recommendations! Being a loud and proud member of both the Traveling Sisters and Traveling Friends groups on Goodreads, and really enjoying reading with my husband I've always been a big fan of book clubs and book discussions. It's such a fun way to relive a book you love, seeing it through someone else's eyes!

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Top 5 Tuesday: Books I’m Sure Will Be 5 Stars!

First thing is first y'all! Game of Thrones is back for it's final season and I can barely handle myself. Honestly, the stress of worrying if this is going to turn into another Lost situation is real and I kind of wish I just had all the knowledge of how this was going to go instead of having to watch it week to week! Here's to hoping the freakin' pack survives. Anyway, I've recently finished The Night Olivia Fell by Christina McDonald and it's a doozie of an emotional read and it took me forever to get through because I was so invested. I'll have that review up for y'all this week! Today I wanted to participate in another round of Top 5 Tuesday! This is a weekly meme hosted by Bionic Book Worm and it's one of my favorites. This weeks topic is books you predict will be 5-star reads!

This one is a little dangerous for me if we're being honest because I have a bad habit of hyping books up in my head and then being a little let down when they don't live up to my lofty expectations. I'm very good at not romanticizing situations or placing too much importance on a given event. However, that doesn't stay true for reading. I'll see a book and the synopsis will grab me and then I'll read a few glowing reviews and hype it up so much in my head there's no where to go but down. But then there are the rare few books that end up exceeding my expectations, and isn't that the dream!

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