Ahhhh my favorite time of the year is HERE! I absolutely love this season for so many reasons and participating in Blogmas just adds to the FUN!
This is my 3rd year participating in Blogmas and my 3rd official Welcome to Blogmas video where I explain exactly what Blogmas is and how Book Coffee Happy will be participating.
**Aaaaand something extra fun about this year’s welcome video is that apparently for a portion of it, included are both lipstick on my teeth AND a piece of hair in my mouth.**
Thank you so much for reading Book Coffee Happy! I would be so thankful if you could do the following to support my favorite hobby…
*Follow me on Instagram* (I am VERY active on Instagram and usually update my Instastories daily)
*Please share this site with your book and blog loving friends!*
*Subscribe with your email address to my blog (scroll all the way to the bottom of this page on mobile devices OR check the top right of this screen to enter your email address)*
*If you already have a blog, please “follow” mine*
*”Like” my Facebook page (and please comment on, “like”, and share my posts)*
*Clicking and buying products through my Amazon Affiliate links. The cost to you is exactly the same and I receive a tiny commission off of your purchases.*
Book Coffee Happy’s newest series where I share the book I’m currently reading, the coffee I’m currently drinking, and 1 thing that is currently making me happy!
Typecast Giveaway Winner Video is at the bottom of this post 🙂
Book I’m Currently Reading:
I have been waiting for months to get my hands on a copy of TJ Newman’s latest book, Drowning.
I absolutely LOVED, LOVED, LOVED her first book, Falling…if you haven’t read Falling, it’s a must read! Here is a link to my review (and the synopsis) of Falling. I can’t wait to dig into her newest book, Drowning!
Goodreads Synopsis ofDrowning {TJ Newman}:
Six minutes after takeoff, Flight 1421 crashes into the Pacific Ocean. During the evacuation, an engine explodes and the plane is flooded. Those still alive are forced to close the doors—but it’s too late. The plane sinks to the bottom with twelve passengers trapped inside.
More than two hundred feet below the surface, engineer Will Kent and his eleven-year-old daughter Shannon are waist-deep in water and fighting for their lives.
Their only chance at survival is an elite rescue team on the surface led by professional diver Chris Kent—Shannon’s mother and Will’s soon-to-be ex-wife—who must work together with Will to find a way to save their daughter and rescue the passengers from the sealed airplane, which is now teetering on the edge of an undersea cliff.
There’s not much time.
There’s even less air.
Coffee I’m Currently Drinking:
So I do drink from him from time to time year round but I CONTINUOUSLY drink from him during this time of year. He’s so weird and creepy and perfect and he makes my coffee taste even more delightful. I love him so.
Currently Making Me Happy:
IT’S FALL YA’LL!!!!!!
Ahhh I love this time of year SO, SO FREAKING MUCH! Bring on all the spooky, scary, fall vibes!!
It was 85 degrees when I took this picture 2 days ago. COME ON, CHILLY WEATHER! This picture would be so much more aesthetic if I was wearing a cozy sweater, flannel shirt, or warm hoodie.
Fun Fact: As I was snapping this selfie of myself, a kind security guard came over and asked if I would like for him to take a picture of me. I said yes…but I wasn’t prepared for him to then loudly say, “OK NOW STRIKE A POSE”. So I striked a pose while laughing. An impromptu photoshoot with a stranger??? LOVED IT! People were looking. It was awkward and awesome. I’m choosing NOT to put that photo on the Internet but you get the idea…
Winner of the Typecast (Signed Copy) Giveaway Video:
Thank you to everyone who entered to win a signed copy of Typecast! Here is a video of me (actually my daughter…a Book Coffee Happy special guest star!) choosing the winner:
What are you currently reading?
What coffee are you currently enjoying?
What is 1 thing currently making you HAPPY?
Happy Friday! I hope your weekend is filled with love and BOOKS!
Xo,
Jenny
Click the image below to order the book through my Amazon affiliate link. When you order through this link, I receive a tiny commission. Thank you for your support, Xo
Thank you so much for reading Book Coffee Happy! I would be so thankful if you could do the following to support my favorite hobby…
*Follow me on Instagram* (I am VERY active on Instagram and usually update my Instastories daily)
*Please share this site with your book and blog loving friends!*
*Subscribe with your email address to my blog (scroll all the way to the bottom of this page on mobile devices OR check the top right of this screen to enter your email address)*
*If you already have a blog, please “follow” mine*
*”Like” my Facebook page (and please comment on, “like”, and share my posts)*
*Clicking and buying products through my Amazon Affiliate links. The cost to you is exactly the same and I receive a tiny commission off of your purchases.*
My husband caught my hat from the t shirt cannon at a basketball game we went to a few weeks ago. It’s massive, I can’t see anything because it covers my eyes, the front is furry, the bull is shiny, it’s all kinds of insane, and I love it so much!
I feel like with the way my reading habits have been lately, this blog should be named AUDIObook Coffee Happy 😉 I tend to go through phases when it comes to audiobooks…I listen to them back to back to back to back and then I take a break??? Obviously right now I’m in the middle of a major audiobook binge. If audiobooks aren’t your thing, just remember that many, many audiobooks can also be found in print! Here is one of the many audiobooks that I have listened to recently:
The Inmate {Freida McFadden}:
Photo Credit: Amazon
Goodreads Synopsis of The Inmate {Freida McFadden}:
There are three rules Brooke Sullivan must follow as a new nurse practitioner at a men’s maximum-security prison:
1) Treat all prisoners with respect.
2) Never reveal any personal information.
3) Never EVER become too friendly with the inmates.
But none of the staff at the prison knows Brooke has already broken the rules. Nobody knows about her intimate connection to Shane Nelson, one of the penitentiary’s most notorious and dangerous inmates.
And they certainly don’t know that Shane was Brooke’s high school sweetheart—the star quarterback who is now spending the rest of his life in prison for a series of grisly murders. Or that Brooke’s testimony was what put him there.
But Shane knows.
And he will never forget.
My Review of The Inmate {Freida McFadden}:
So it held my interest long enough that I listened to it fairly quickly but…SO MUCH of this story was so incredibly unbelievable…and not the good kind of unbelievable.
The kind of unbelievable where there is NO WAY that so much of this story could have ever happened! Just so completely unrealistic in so, so many ways. A true work of fiction indeed, lol.
So many plot twists which I love…some predictable, some not. Overall it was just eh. The first half of the story was way more interesting than the 2nd half (shouldn’t it be the other way around??)
Book Coffee Happy Epilogue:
Would I recommend it? I guess….??
Have you read this book? What did you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
Xo,
Jenny
Click the image below to order the book through my Amazon affiliate link. When you order through this link, I receive a tiny commission. Thank you for your support, Xo
Thank you so much for reading Book Coffee Happy! I would be so thankful if you could do the following to support my favorite hobby…
*Follow me on Instagram* (I am VERY active on Instagram and usually update my Instastories daily)
*Please share this site with your book and blog loving friends!*
*Subscribe with your email address to my blog (scroll all the way to the bottom of this page on mobile devices OR check the top right of this screen to enter your email address)*
*If you already have a blog, please “follow” mine*
*”Like” my Facebook page (and please comment on, “like”, and share my posts)*
*Clicking and buying products through my Amazon Affiliate links. The cost to you is exactly the same and I receive a tiny commission off of your purchases.*
The coaster that I currently keep on my nightstand 🙂
Long time no blog (well, long time meaning 7 days, lol). To go from posting a new blog post every single day since 12/1, it felt so weird to take a week off! It has been a glorious week filled with tons of family time, reading books, eating delicious food, and delighting in the fact that I have officially completed my first Blogmas! Thank you to everyone for your support of my blog this month (and all months). It’s been such a fun December here on Book Coffee Happy and I’m already starting to plan for next Blogmas 🙂
I was planning on posting my most viewed posts in January but…who wants to read any kind of 2022 recap in JANUARY?! So here I am, stopping by to post this one last blog post of 2022 and then I’ll see you back here in January.
Book Coffee Happy’s Most Viewed Posts of 2022
Checking my blog analytics is always so interesting to me. It’s helpful for me to see which types of posts you like to read! Some make total sense while some…do not, lol. Either way, here are Book Coffee Happy’s most viewed blog posts of 2022 (in order starting with the 13th most viewed post and ending with the #1 most viewed post):
This book is amazing and so is this author. I was fortunate enough to be invited to the Woman on Fire book launch party and it was such an incredible night!
Oh do people disagree with me on this book. So much so that this post was my most visited blog post of 2022!
So there you have it…Book Coffee Happy’s most viewed posts of 2022 🙂 I have so loved writing theses posts for you and I can’t wait to continue writing even more. I can’t wait to see which posts of mine you enjoy reading in 2023!
**HERE is a link to see Book Coffee Happy’s most viewed blog posts of 2021**
This blog is my favorite hobby and I would so love your support! Here are ways you can help my blog to GROW:
*Please share this page with your book and blog loving friends!*
*Please share this page with your book and blog loving friends!*
*Subscribe with your email address to my blog (scroll all the way to the bottom of this page on mobile devices OR check the top right of this screen to enter your email address)*
*If you already have a blog, please “follow” mine*
*”Like” my Facebook page (and please comment on, “like”, and share my posts)*
*Clicking and buying products through my Amazon Affiliate links. The cost to you is exactly the same and I receive a tiny commission off of your purchases.*
To quote one of the greatest television shows ever created (Sex in the City):
“And just like that”…Blogmas is over.
Blogmas 2022 Wrap Up
I did it! 5 years of blogging and I finally completed a Blogmas. I’m super proud of myself, lol. Some days were easy, some days were not. I really loved it and I had FUN! I hope all of you enjoyed it as much as I did.
And now I start planning for Blogmas 2023…Let’s gooooo 🙂
I’m planning on taking the rest of the year off from blogging but NOT from Instagram! If you don’t already follow me on Insta, please do…I usually post in my Instastories daily. Love it.
The verrrrry start of the snow yesterday! SNOW HAPPY!
I have some awesome and big goals for Book Coffee Happy in 2023 (some already in the works…stay tuned) and I’m so excited to have you along for the ride.
Thank you for supporting me, Blogmas, and Book Coffee Happy all throughout the year. I hope that whatever the end of 2022 brings you that it includes lots of love and lots of BOOKS!
This blog is my favorite hobby and I would so love your support! Here are ways you can help my blog to GROW:
*Please share this page with your book and blog loving friends!*
*Please share this page with your book and blog loving friends!*
*Subscribe with your email address to my blog (scroll all the way to the bottom of this page on mobile devices OR check the top right of this screen to enter your email address)*
*If you already have a blog, please “follow” mine*
*”Like” my Facebook page (and please comment on, “like”, and share my posts)*
*Clicking and buying products through my Amazon Affiliate links. The cost to you is exactly the same and I receive a tiny commission off of your purchases.*
Aaaaaaand then I stopped on 12/22, lol. This year I am determined to make it until 12/23!
Happy Blogmas 2022! Let’s goooooo!
Xo,
Jenny
This blog is my favorite hobby and I would so love your support! Here are ways you can help my blog to GROW:
*Please share this page with your book and blog loving friends!*
*Please share this page with your book and blog loving friends!*
*Subscribe with your email address to my blog (scroll all the way to the bottom of this page on mobile devices OR check the top right of this screen to enter your email address)*
*If you already have a blog, please “follow” mine*
*”Like” my Facebook page (and please comment on, “like”, and share my posts)*
*Clicking and buying products through my Amazon Affiliate links. The cost to you is exactly the same and I receive a tiny commission off of your purchases.*
My husband brought home the most gorgeous cupcake for me! Thankful for family, thankful for cupcakes…
I have been writing Book Coffee Happy for over 4 years and it has provided me with the creative outlet that I didn’t even know I was missing.
I absolutely love writing this little blog 🙂 The focus of it has always been and will continue to be about books but I do love when bits of my personal life creep their way into it as well.
I’ve always loved to write, I’ve always loved to read, and I’ve always loved discussing books with others. This blog as allowed for me to share my passion with so many and to meet so many wonderful people. I love connecting with authors, publishers, fellow book bloggers, and blog readers! I am grateful and thankful for every one of you.
Thankful for Book Coffee Happy
I have many, many blessings in my life and I’m proud to say that my little book blog is most definitely one of them.
Thank you to all of my readers/followers! Without you, this blog wouldn’t be nearly as much fun to write. Thank you for allowing me to share my passion with all of you!
Thanksgiving is a wonderful time for reflection on all of life’s joys and blessings. This blog has given me such joy over these past 4 years. I have so many big plans for Book Coffee Happy’s future…get ready!
Thank you for being along for the ride 🙂
Happiest of Thanksgivings to each one of you! The next time I will be posting a blog post will be on December 1st for BLOGMAS!
**If you don’t already follow Book Coffee Happy on Instagram, I would highly encourage you to do so! I am MUCH more active on Instagram these days than on any other platform (I usually post on Instagram daily in my Instastories with updates on books I’m reading, coffee I’m drinking, book related news/content, and my life in general).**
Xo,
Jenny
This blog is my favorite hobby and I would so love your support! Here are ways you can help my blog to GROW:
*Please share this page with your book and blog loving friends!*
*Please share this page with your book and blog loving friends!*
*Subscribe with your email address to my blog (scroll all the way to the bottom of this page on mobile devices OR check the top right of this screen to enter your email address)*
*If you already have a blog, please “follow” mine*
*”Like” my Facebook page (and please comment on, “like”, and share my posts)*
*Clicking and buying products through my Amazon Affiliate links. The cost to you is exactly the same and I receive a tiny commission off of your purchases.*
You can save hundreds of lives. Or the one that matters most.
A claustrophobic thriller set over twenty hours on one airplane flight, with the heart-stopping tension of The Last Flight and the wrenching emotional intensity of Room, Hostage takes us on board the inaugural nonstop flight from London to Sydney.
Mina is trying to focus on her job as a flight attendant, not the problems of her five-year-old daughter back home, or the fissures in her marriage. But the plane has barely taken off when Mina receives a chilling note from an anonymous passenger, someone intent on ensuring the plane never reaches its destination. Someone who needs Mina’s assistance and who knows exactly how to make her comply.
It’s twenty hours to landing. A lot can happen in twenty hours.
My Review of Hostage {Clare Mackintosh}:
Do you remember when I was deciding which to read of 2 books that had similar sounding stories (you can read that post HERE)? I ended up choosing the other book and absolutely LOVED IT (you can read my review of that amazing book HERE).
The subject of plane hijacking is obviously quite a heavy one and most definitely NOT one that I wanted to read back to back books about. I let a few months pass and then when I saw Hostage on the library shelf, I decided that enough time had passed between reading the 2 and I was ready to dig in!
My thoughts?
I liked the other book more. A lot more.
Hostage is good….very good. The other book is incredible.
Hostage had some interesting storylines and plot twists but none that completely grabbed me in the ways in which the other book did. I couldn’t put the other book down! I could (and did) put this one down. Often.
I WILL say that the actual way in which this story was told from the various perspectives and timelines was VERY interesting.
There was a ridiculous number of characters in this book and it was hard to keep everyone and all of their backstories straight. Shocking storylines weren’t nearly as shocking as they should have been because I didn’t know who anyone was and kept confusing the characters. I found myself flipping back to different parts of the book to refresh my memory of who everyone was. I can only imagine how frustrating listening to this as an audiobook would be.
On a side note…the editing. I must start by saying that I’m absolutely sure that editing a book is a VERY, VERY tough job. That being said, the editing in this book was…how can I say this…I’ll just give an example instead. There was a paragraph that clearly was rewritten to include more description. How do I know this? Because BOTH paragraphs made it into the final printed version of the book one right under the other. In all of my years of reading many, many, MANY books that was indeed a first for me. Yikes.
Bottom Line:
Read the other book. It’s AMAZING.
Have you read this book? What did you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
Xo,
Jenny
Click the image below to order the book through my Amazon affiliate link. When you order through this link, I receive a tiny commission. Thank you for your support, Xo
This blog is my favorite hobby and I would so love your support! Here are ways you can help my blog to GROW:
*Please share this page with your book and blog loving friends!*
*Please share this page with your book and blog loving friends!*
*Subscribe with your email address to my blog (scroll all the way to the bottom of this page on mobile devices OR check the top right of this screen to enter your email address)*
*If you already have a blog, please “follow” mine*
*”Like” my Facebook page (and please comment on, “like”, and share my posts)*
*Clicking and buying products through my Amazon Affiliate links. The cost to you is exactly the same and I receive a tiny commission off of your purchases.*
How are you? I hope you are having a wonderful week filled with love and joy. My kids are home for winter break and I couldn’t be happier…I absolutely LOVE having them home! Today we made beaded jewelry and played with magnetic dinosaurs. I hope that whatever you are doing this week brings you happiness whether you celebrate Christmas or not 🙂
I have 2 more WONDERFUL reading accessories for you today! You can read about my past reading accessory recommendations here:
So we have a real fireplace and I hate it. Give me an electric fireplace any day over the real deal! No smelly ash, nothing to clean, no logs to worry about. A simple switch to “ON” and that’s all? YES PLEASE!
My first experience with an electric fireplace was when we stayed at an Airbnb in Michigan last fall (different trip but you can read about where we stay HERE…we have rented the same Airbnb 4 times now)! From the second I turned that electric fireplace on…I. WAS. HOOKED. Omg it was positively DREAMY! Beautiful “flames” and warmth? PERFECTION.
Michigan October 2020 ❤️
As soon as we got home, I texted the owner of the Airbnb to tell her how obsessed I was with her electric fireplace and how I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
And then on my birthday last year, I opened the BEST GIFT from my husband:
It’s beautiful. I love that it’s bronze, I love that it’s small, I love everything about it.
For those first few days, I LOVED every single thing about this new addition to our home. It was small, it was beautiful, and it was WARM.
And then…it wasn’t warm. Still small, still beautiful, but…not warm. Hmmm.
Did I care? I really didn’t! By this point I was so in love with it that a little thing like heat didn’t really matter to me. That wasn’t the point anyway! I just wanted something pretty to look at while I was reading and this most definitely fit the bill.
FavoriteReading Accessory #6: Fire Crackler!!!
Immediately after I opened my birthday fireplace, my son handed me his wrapped gift. I opened it and was instantly IN LOVE!
A FIRE CRACKLER! It makes all of the sounds of a real fireplace with the push of a button. Omg it’s AWESOME.
I made this video so that you can hear it for yourself:
Fun Fact: I NEVER call it a “crackler”…I ALWAYS call it my “cackler”. I’ve even got my kids only calling it “Mommy’s Cackler”, lol. So there you have it…my perfect reading scenario. Beautiful “flames”, beautiful sounds, NO SMELLY FIREPLACE ASH.
Do you have an electric fireplace? Do you prefer real or electric? GIVE ME ELECTRIC ANYDAY! Add in a “cackler” and it’s reading perfection for me!
Click the image below to order the fire crackler through my Amazon affiliate link (I’m not including a fireplace link or even sharing where it’s from since the heater broke within days, lol…but the fire crackler works GREAT). When you order through this link, I receive a tiny commission. Thank you for your support, Xo
This blog is my favorite hobby and I would so love your support! Here are ways you can help my blog to GROW:
*Please share this page with your book and blog loving friends!*
*Please share this page with your book and blog loving friends!*
*Subscribe with your email address to my blog (scroll all the way to the bottom of this page on mobile devices OR check the top right of this screen to enter your email address)*
*If you already have a blog, please “follow” mine*
*”Like” my Facebook page (and please comment on, “like”, and share my posts)*
*Clicking and buying products through my Amazon Affiliate links. The cost to you is exactly the same and I receive a tiny commission off of your purchases.*
BLOGMAS Book Series Review: The Winter Novels 1-3 {Joanne Demaio}
Books 1-3 in the Winter Novels Series
As I mentioned in THIS POST, I took Snow Deer and Cocoa Cheer (Book #2) from a Free Little Library last spring. It’s been sitting on my shelf for exactly 8 months just waiting for this holiday season so I could finally read it!
When I reached out to Joanne Demaio, she told me that each of these books are stand alone novels and they don’t need to be read in order. While I agree that you don’t NEED to read them in order, you really SHOULD read them all in order! I absolutely loved how characters would appear from book to book and I loved learning more about their stories as the books progressed. Start with book #1 and read these books in the order in which they were written! You’ll be so happy that you did. I started with Book #2 and although it was ok to then read book #1, I would HIGHLY recommend reading them in order. Just adds to the overall character and story development.
How STUNNING are these book covers??? Each one is more beautiful than the next!
Winter Novels Book Order:
Book #1 Snowflakes and Coffee Cakes
Book #2 Snow Deer and Cocoa Cheer
Book #3 Cardinal Cabin
Book #4 First Flurries
Book #5 Eighteen Winters
Book #6 Winter House
So I started with Snow Deer and Cocoa Cheer (Book #2) and absolutely loved it. It didn’t take long for me to order the rest of the series on Amazon! HERE is the post where I discuss how I came to purchase the rest of the series.
And here’s a super weird thing. My copy of book #2 (the one that I got at the Free Little Library) smells AWESOME. I don’t know who owned this book before me or what she did to make it smell so beautiful but it’s wonderful and totally added to my enjoyment while reading. Perfume? Body spray? Air freshener? Whatever it is, it smells heavenly…8 months after I brought it home! Thank you random stranger who donated to a Little Free Library! Xo!
This book series is EXACTLY what I needed for them to be. Light, fun, and so perfectly “Christmasy” (is that a word)? It’s like Hallmark movies in book form. Adorable town, adorable residents, adorable EVERYTHING.
During the calendar year I love to read all kinds of books…some light, some heavy, some dramatic, thrillers, mysteries, YA, psychological thrillers, etc. During the holiday season, I ONLY want to read light, adorable, holiday books! This series is PERFECTION.
I am 100 percent, completely in love with the fictional town of Addison, Connecticut. Omg what a DARLING town! I want to live there!
As much as I HATE that I stopped reading after Book #3, I made the decision to do so and to save the other 3 books to read during NEXT year’s holiday season! HERE is the post where I explain why.
Stay tuned: Book Coffee Happy Blogmas 2022 already has 3 books waiting to be reviewed…and I can tell you that I love them already without even cracking open the covers.
Will keep these 3 beautiful books safely in my “To Read Stack” until the 2022 holiday season!
Can’t read to return to Addison next Christmas!
Bottom Line:
Absolutely loving this series. Perfect books to read during the holiday season!
Have you read these books? What did you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
Click the images below to order these books through my Amazon affiliate links. When you order through these links, I receive a tiny commission. Thank you for your support, Xo
Book #1:
Book #2:
Book #3:
Book #4:
Book #5:
Book #6:
This blog is my favorite hobby and I would so love your support! Here are ways you can help my blog to GROW:
*Please share this page with your book and blog loving friends!*
*Please share this page with your book and blog loving friends!*
*Subscribe with your email address to my blog (scroll all the way to the bottom of this page on mobile devices OR check the top right of this screen to enter your email address)*
*If you already have a blog, please “follow” mine*
*”Like” my Facebook page (and please comment on, “like”, and share my posts)*
*Clicking and buying products through my Amazon Affiliate links. The cost to you is exactly the same and I receive a tiny commission off of your purchases.*