Thank you, I'll miss this, and you.

Hello friends!

I can't believe this will be my last post on this blog. It's been a journey all these years, one I'm not likely to forget. If it weren't for book blogging, so many other things wouldn't have come my way, so I'll always be eternally grateful for what this community has done to enrich my life. I've made many friends, discovered tons of new authors, experienced some amazing books, and just had an exceptionally wonderful time doing it. Not to mention, if it weren't for the book blogging community, I never would have begun my author career.

While I'll miss this and discussing books with you on here, I know that it's for the best for me to focus my time and energy on my writing and real life responsibilities.

This is my final post on here, but it's not the last time you'll ever hear from me. I'll still be available on social media, including my Jessica and Lilly Twitter accounts. And this isn't the last time I'll ever blog either because I have my author blogs for Jessica L. Tate books and Lilly Avalon books. Please feel free to follow on there and tweet me anytime. If you ever want to chat you can reach me at impulsivities[at]gmail[dot]com if you prefer email. And since I'll never stop reading, feel free to friend me on Goodreads to keep up with the books I'm currently reading.

Thank you, genuinely, from the bottom of my heart for coming along on this ride. I hope you're all staying safe in this difficult times.

I'll see you around! Love you!

Life is all about change...

Good morning, lovely readers!

How are you? I hope everything is well with you and you managed to survive January. Did it feel like it lasted forever to you, too? Hope you've stayed warm if you were stuck in the polar vortex like me!

I wanted to share a quick post to fill you in on the latest with my life.

First of all, December kicked my butt as far as free time and focus goes. I had to work overtime at work for the full week before Christmas, as well as rushing around for last minute gifts and making sure I had packages and cards put together to send off. All of them were going to be late since I didn't have time to go to the post office to stand in line or get stamps. I legit kept forgetting to get stamps. Lol. Then at the end of the month, both my husband and I came down with the stomach flu which took us both our for a few days each. Luckily my husband was already off work for the holiday, but I had to call in sick and felt so bad. I never call in sick.

Then January arrived and for some reason it felt like literally every time something really good would happen, something bad would follow. Not necessarily something REALLY bad, just something that threw a wrench into the daily routine. At the beginning of the month my husband asked if I could start looking for a new job. The one I had was part-time, limited hours unless it was a holiday, and we've been wanting to save up for a house. So I sort of reluctantly started looking for a job. I didn't want to let down my current job at the time and leave them without a replacement for me.

I honestly didn't expect to get a new job as quickly as I did... but I have a new job now! It's a call center job, which is something I'm pretty good at after spending years in customer service. I'm still currently in training and having to get up early, which is a pain since I'm not only a night owl, but my husband works second shift. I can't wait for my new schedule to start, which will coincide with my husband's schedule, thank goodness. We can both use a reprieve from all this getting up early nonsense. Hahaha!

So... my whole point of this little life update is that there may be some more delays in posts yet again. I think I'll be taking part, if not all, of February off while I get myself into a routine for my new job. It's going very well so I have confidence I'll be able to get everything back on track soon.

I have LOTS of fun stuff in the works for the blog, just haven't had much time to get it put together. At least you have something to look forward to!

In the meantime, you guys take care!

Talk to you more soon!

Why, hello there!

*waves* Hi, hello, howdy!

I've missed you and I've missed this SO MUCH.

I thought I'd restart this blog with a quick post about what's changed in my life since the blog went on a sudden hiatus. I didn't mean for the hiatus to happen, especially without notice, but life got in the way. Sadly, blogging became more like work rather than a fun hobby. I felt obligated to post all my reviews and read more new releases to remain relevant. So I decided to just stop and figured that maybe someday I'll feel like blogging again. Even if I wasn't able to return to it, I would accept that and cherish everything that I gained from the experience. Blogging led me to friends who are like family, to amazing book recommendations, to becoming an actual author. I couldn't be more grateful.

Over the summer I was thinking about how much I would love to help fellow indie authors out more. Utilizing social media only does so much to spread the word about new books. And all self-published authors rely on getting their name and book in front of potential readers to become successful in their writing career. I began considering resurrecting this blog as a possible platform to sharing books again. At first I tried to brush the thought aside, thinking I must be insane to want to go back to it after the stress it caused me years ago.

But then I really thought about it. I missed the feeling I had when I blogged on a regular basis. It felt nice connecting to fellow readers and sharing all these awesome bookish things with others. Then I thought about what I could do to make it work for me with my life now. If it's overwhelming, I won't stick with it. So, I decided that the best method of action would be to do what I want to do, not what former-blogging-Jessica thought she needed to do. So, this blog will be casual, mostly focused on bookish things (especially leaning toward self-published authors and self-publishing in general), but will also feature a sprinkling of other interesting things like stuff happening in my life.

I wanted to start off with an introductory-type post. Even though most of you will remember me and some of you followed me on social media, I thought it would be good to play a bit of catch up on changes in my life. So here's some pictures and stories!

Before and After!

I dyed my hair back to my natural color after being blonde for wayyyyyy too long. I didn't hate being blonde, it definitely was cool to be blonde, but it took far too much work and I didn't like how blech my hair looked when I went too long between getting the roots done. Plus, I like being a brunette. It looks the best on me.

Glasses!

For a few years, I had noticed my eyesight wasn't as good as it used to be. It gradually got worse and I kept pushing eye exams off because I thought I could handle it. Well, I had to get my license renewed this summer on my 33rd birthday, so it became a requirement for me to get glasses or else not qualify to drive temporarily. I actually LOVE wearing glasses now. I can see a whole lot better than before. I hadn't even realized how bad it got until I put the glasses on.

Kyle and me

The last personal post I had on here said that I was engaged... but I'm married now! Yep, Kyle and I tied the knot on January 13th 2017, over a year and a half ago. We debated on having a small ceremony with close family and friends, then went with going to the courthouse without anybody. It was a simple ceremony, we didn't take many pictures, but the memories matter most. We moved to a bigger apartment not long after getting married. And in January we'll be moving again, only into a house this time. We'll still be renting, but it'll have much more space so we can organize our lives a lot easier. Then for probably at least two or three years we'll stay there and save up to buy a house.


I'm going to end this post there for now and continue with more random tidbits of my life in other posts in the future. Don't want this one to get too long!

Anyways, I'm so happy to be here again with everyone! I hope to chat with all of you more soon!


Until next time,

I'm Back, Baby!

That's right, folks! After a *counts* practically 7 month hiatus, I'm back to blogging. It's been tough, you guys. Blogging has been part of my life for a LONG time. I was nearing my 5 year blog-o-versary when I had to take a break (I think I'll have a giveaway for that soon since I missed it).

Five years. I've been blogging for FIVE YEARS.

Kinda mind-boggling, isn't it? I know there are a lot of people who have blogged for longer than that, but it still feels so... unreal, you know? Like 1/6 of my life has been spent blogging. LOL. And that's pretty cool.

I attempted to relaunch this blog back in August, but it was to no avail because I didn't have enough time in the months before to get posts set up and written. So, I switched it to October since that felt more manageable.

What have I been up to?

All sorts of things! Okay, not really. But I have been busy. I spent a few months working 6 days a week at my job. They're only half days, so hour-wise it wasn't bad, but it left me very little free time. My eBay business has been picking up, which has caused my tiny apartment to become an almost hoarder's paradise. Just kidding! It's not that bad, just a little full. I'm still making bottle cap charms, and consistently designing new ones. Also, the boyfriend I mentioned before? We're now engaged!

So, I guess things have been a little busy. Ha!

Now that I'm back at Thoughts, I'm going to be changing things up a bit. There will still be reviews, of course, but I want to expand a little bit. I've decided to start some bookish Top 3 and Top 5 lists, mostly recommendations and themed. Plus there will be discussion posts (reading and writing related) and random posts (I want to share some real life stuff around here occasionally). I even made some new pretty post headers, too. See??? *points down*

All in all I want to keep everything light and casual so that I'm not all-consumed and fall into another hiatus because it's too overwhelming. There are going to be moments where I'll need a small break (like a week or two off for real life things), but I'm going to keep those to a minimum and make sure I have something scheduled so that it isn't that long between posts. I mean, I am getting married and need to have some time off for that, right? Not to mention we're going to be buying a house and moving.

But I don't want to leave like this again! I'm surprised I managed to stay away this long without completely going crazy. ^_^

Anyways! It's good to be back! I'm planning on making October an easy month where I do just a little bit to get back in the groove, but starting in November I'll have a few more posts.

Talk to you guys more soon!!!

Thoughts will be undergoing a temporary hiatus...

Hello to all of you wonderful followers!

I'm sure some of you have noticed my absence on the blog since the beginning of the year. I've been wanting to write this post for a LONG TIME, but my life has been chaos for most of the last few months. So, here we go...

Like I said, things have been chaotic for me. Some has been good, some hasn't been as good. I'm going to focus more on the good in this post, but here's a brief rundown of it all.

To say I burned myself out last year would be the understatement of this year.

I wrote hundreds of posts last year, not only for this blog, but also for my short-lived author blog, The Authorteers. I liked that I was staying busy, doing something I love to do (blogging), and I couldn't imagine slowing down because I enjoyed it so much. Then November and December rolled around and I found myself losing interest in getting stuff done for the blog. I wanted to postpone things, or do something else entirely. I didn't like where it was going, so I tried to kick myself in the booty to get it moving. It kinda worked... and it kinda didn't. My bloggy motivation was almost nonexistent.

It didn't help that my former roommate and I decided to go our separate ways. I knew it was coming last year, but then once 2016 rolled around and I had to start searching for a new apartment AND packing for yet another move (this is the 4th apartment I've lived in in the last few years), I was sorta like a kid again with the whole "I don't wanna!" attitude. I'm just going to say this: Moving. Sucks. I'd like to say that I hope I never have to do it again, but I don't want to live in apartments forever either, so I'll have to move at least one more time in my life.

As I'm (finally) writing this post, I'm getting myself settled into this new apartment (see above pic, which also showcases my super awesome new haircut). Unpacking and organizing and breaking down boxes to recycle (there's this HUGE pile of cardboard next to my front door). It's further away from work than I used to be, but it does have some benefits. One of which is that I'm in a pretty nice city with lots of things to do (many are in walking distance). Second, I'm closer to my boyfriend.

And that brings me to the good! My boyfriend. He and I met at the end of 2015 and we've pretty much been inseparable. In the back of my mind I thought it would take me a long time to find someone I feel like I have a connection to. Like how it's one thing for you both to like Linkin Park, it's an entirely different thing when you have obscure things in common. He's the first person I haven't had to introduce Veronica Mars to because he'd already seen it, not to mention he's seen older movies like Fried Green Tomatoes and actually likes to watch them. And then we're completely on the same page about the same things... it's like we're totally in sync and it boggles my mind when I try to figure out how in the world this has all happened.

Anyways... here's the two of us recently... I love this picture.

He and I decided to pool our collective resources together to open up an eBay store. It was something we bounced around a little bit since I was selling a bunch of stuff on there earlier this year, but then eBay did a special promotion to get a discount on opening up a store and I figured I might as well jump on it now and get it going sooner. So I spend a lot of time getting stuff listed (which is a breeze on my phone), and then shipping when it sold. And this was between him and I spending time together AND packing all my stuff.

But I should get back on point, right?

So, what's happening with Thoughts? First off, I love this blog. I've loved it from the moment I created it and through all the ups and downs and changes that have taken place not only in my life, but also in my reading. Let's not forget all the amazing and wonderful and beautiful people I have met along the way because of this blog getting started. I could never give it up entirely. I just couldn't.

Which brings me to what will be happening on here. I debated in my mind what I wanted to do and how I wanted to go about this for months. Back when I was trying to get myself back on track, I talked myself out of going on hiatus. Unfortunately, that seems to be the only way this is going to work for me. With the new apartment and my online businesses, I've got a lot on my plate that needs to be sorted out. All of my items for sale are stacked precariously against a wall near other piles of boxes... and a decent number of those items need to be either relisted or put into lots... none of which I can do because I still haven't unpacked the stuff I own!

So what does this "hiatus" mean exactly?

Well, I'm going to give myself a few months to get everything back together again. Not only organizing my life in the new apartment and my online sales, but also getting reviews and other posts written. As of right now, I have 2 NetGalley reviews that need to be written/posted, plus a handful of other review books that need reviews written. Then there are several books I never reviewed from awhile back that were read in 2014 and 2015, and that's just borderline unacceptable.

Will I have any posts before this hiatus is over? Of course! I'll still be doing my Thoughts and Daydreams posts with Marie Landry every month. Plus, I'd like to do a quick little post showing off my new place once I get it all set up (including an updated shelfie). And I'll likely at least get the review book reviews posted to the blog (but at the very least they'll be up on Goodreads).

What else can be expected when the blog is back on track? Well, I've been pondering a few possibilities. I would like to start a feature on Thoughts for indie authors--not something authors come to me to be featured/host giveaways/promote--but something where I just showcase an author. No frills, no gimmicks... just spreading the word about awesome unknown authors to help get their books in the hands of new readers. As an indie author myself, I know how much even just a little bit of publicity helps. It may only generate a couple extra sales, but that's okay! I want to give back to the community and give my fellow authors a virtual high five for just being awesome. Plus, I'd like to have monthly swag pack giveaways. I have so many random swag things and I would love to be able to send them out to followers. Also, I want to make my reviews more fun. Like with GIFs and quotes from the book.

When will the hiatus end?

Now that I can't answer right now. I have it in my mind sometime in June or July, but we'll see. Once I know which day it is, I will totally let you know either on my Twitter or Facebook page. So, you better be following my posts on both! I'll still be available on social media, especially Twitter, so definitely hit me up for some book chatting because you know I'm down for that. I've been slacking off on my reading for 2016 (according to Goodreads as I'm writing this, I'm 2 books behind schedule), but I'm slowly getting back to it now that things have settled down a bit. I actually spent like ten minutes going through my Kindle and Nook apps on my phone to download a bunch of the books on my list of books I want to read this year so that they're ready for me when I'm looking for a new one to pick up.

So I'm getting there! Slowly but surely, this will all be back to normal... or at least as normal as I can be. Lol.

Anyways! I hope all is well with you guys! I'll be getting back to checking out your blogs and commenting again as soon as I can. I miss you all bunches and can't wait to see how everything is going for you because you're awesome!

Have a wonderful spring! I will see you this summer!!

It's a new year... Jessica's 2016 Plans!

Hello everyone! Welcome to 2016!

Every new year that comes along brings all sorts of possibilities into the picture. For book lovers, it can mean all sorts of things. For me and this blog, it means lots of stuff.

For starters, I'm going to aim (yet again) to read a minimum of 52 books. I increased my goal twice last year (to 100, then to 200), but I didn't read much in December and believe it would be good to be reasonable for now. I also want to finish getting caught up on review books (there aren't many left) and get caught up on overdue reviews of non-review books (that got lost in the shuffle because of review books). I'm planning on some other features on the blog as well (more to come on that soon), since as of right now it's mostly reviews.

I've been doing a lot of thinking over the last couple months and have decided I'm going to start writing some more personal posts on my author blog. These will be of the non-bookish sort, so I thought it might be good to place them over there instead of here. There may also be some writing related ones, too. Be sure to follow that blog so that you can read those posts. I will share them on Twitter as well, so if you're not following me there, you should do that!

I'm looking forward to a brand new year full of possibility and wonder and amazing books! How about you?

March Update at Thoughts (including a few thoughts on the #Divergent movie)

I've decided to do monthly updates instead of weekly updates here at Thoughts. So here's a racap of the month of March for you.

~*Reviews*~

TOTAL: 7

As You Turn Away by Molli Moran
He Belongs With Me by Sarah Darlington
Kiss Me at Midnight by Diane Alberts
Just One Night by Lauren Layne
Asking For Trouble by Tessa Bailey
One Night in Santiago by Audra North
Hard To Handle by Jessica Lemmon

~*Books Finished*~

TOTAL: 9

Something Borrowed by Adriana Hunter
Secrets of Seduction (Legendary Lovers #3) by Nicole Jordan
After the Storm (Angel Island #2) by Marie Landry
The Trouble With Honor (The Cabot Sisters #1) by Julie London
Layers Peeled (Layers Trilogy #2) by Lacey Silks
Star-Crossed by Luna LaCour
Fool Me Twice (Rules for the Reckless #2) by Meridith Duran
In Bloom (The Brightside #1) by Katie Delahanty
 Escorted (Escorted #1) by Claire Kent

~*Tours/Blasts/Reveals*~

Book Blitz: Shattered Worlds Boxed Set
Release Day Blitz: He Belongs With Me by Sarah Darlington
Book Tour and Excerpt: Invisible by L.A. Remenicky
Tour: Mail-Order Groom by Cindy Flores Martinez
 Teaser Poster for the Hothouse Flower by Krista and Becca Ritchie Promo Tour!

~*Otherwise*~

It's Release Day for As You Turn Away by Molli Moran!
Stacking The Shelves #23: Febuary Edition
Waiting On Wednesday (18): The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

~*As for me...*~

Well, March has been a major month of ups and downs in every sense. I had to spend most of the month packing and then moving to a new apartment. A lot of it seemed to go smoothly enough, but now I'm running into other issues that need to be resolved quickly. Ah, the joys of being an adult!

So, anyways...

I've been at the new place for a week and I'm still trying to unpack sections little by little. It looks a lot better than the first couple days. Luckily for me, I have an extra closet to put random stuff in for now--like my online sale stuff and stuff I'm going to donate to a thrift store. So it is A LOT nicer because the clutter isn't as overwhelming.

Unfortunately, between packing and moving and unpacking and working way too much overtime (again), I haven't had ANY free time for writing. AT ALL. And that's just disappointing. Very disappointing. I'll probably have to push the release date for Not Until Tonight back yet again. Once I finish writing the whole thing, I'll decide on a new date. For now, I'm changing it to May (tentatively on the 9th, but I may have to push that back) because I want to give it enough time. I hate delaying it though.

BUT!!! When I get settled in here (which should be within the next week *fingers crossed*) I'll be able to get back to Not Until Tonight and that makes me happy because I want to share this story. And when I'm finished with this one, I can start writing another one and that makes me happier because I have SO MANY STORIES to tell.

~*Divergent...*~

Other than all the above, not much else has been happening due to no free time. I DID go see Divergent the weekend it came out and it was pretty good. As I was watching it the first time, I was thinking about all the different things that take place throughout in the book and matching up and awaiting the next. There were several aspects missing, which was a little bit frustrating... BUT... they only have so much time in the movie. I was mostly concerned because there are things tied to the second book that needed to be explored in the first movie to make sense. I can't complain though because they did do a good job, and I really enjoyed the acting all around (especially Theo James *swoon*). I'll probably go see it at least one more time in the theater.

People are saying stuff about them splitting Allegiant into two parts. In my opinion, I don't see it happening. I mean, yeah, they probably WILL just to bring in more money, but nothing really HAPPENED in the third book to warrant dragging it out. And considering the fact that the first movie wasn't as big as they anticipated, not to mention the heated dislike of the third book, I'm doubting they'll extend it to four movies total. This is just me speaking though. *shrugs*

Hopefully everyone has had a great March and here's to a great April!!

February Update at Thoughts

I've decided to do monthly updates instead of weekly updates here at Thoughts. So here's a racap of the month of February for you.

~*Reviews*~

TOTAL: 7

Sneaking Candy by Lisa Burstein
Down for the Count by Christine Bell
No Dress Required by Cari Quinn
Addicted for Now by Krista Ritchie & Becca Ritchie
Love the One You're With by Lauren Layne
Only In Vegas by Lindsey Brookes
Sleepless in Las Vegas by Colleen Collins

~*Books Finished*~

TOTAL: 9

Domino Effect (The Domino Trilogy #1) by Jill Elaine Hughes
Kiss Me at Midnight by Diane Alberts
Changing His Game by Justine Elvira
One Night in Santiago by Audra North
The Billionaire's Paradigm: His Absolute Purpose (The Billionaire's Paradigm #1-7) by Cerys du Lys
 Unlikely (L.A. Nights #1) by Sylvie Fox
Impasse (L.A. Nights #1) by Sylvie Fox
He Belongs With Me by Sarah Darlington
Just One Night (Sex, Love & Stiletto #3) by Lauren Layne

~*Tours/Blasts/Reveals*~

Cover Reveal: He Belongs With Me by Sarah Darlington
Cover Reveal: After the Storm by Marie Landry
Book Blitz: In Pursuit by Olivia Luck
Book Blitz: Here All Along by Lilly Avalon
Cover Reveal: Desire (Brightest Kind of Darkness #4) by PT Michelle
Blog Tour: Saving Toby by Suzanne McKenna Link

~*Otherwise*~

Stacking The Shelves #22: January Edition
 Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books That Will Make You Swoon
If Only We Four-month-i-versary #Giveaway spectacular!

~*As for me...*~

Well! February has been slightly better than January. I say slightly because a few snags came up along the way, aside from more weather related frustration (welcome to Ohio). One of those snags is that I need to move... AGAIN. As you may remember, I moved out on my own last year around this time (March 23rd to be exact). My lease is almost up and I just got notice that my monthly rent is increasing... by much more than I can afford. So! I'm going to be moving out and into another apartment, one that will be much closer to work.

While this change might be tolerable, I'm more irritated by the heap of annoyances that come with the moving. #1: I have to pack everything up and MOVE again. #2: I have to change my address with every company, and let me tell you, that just takes up way too much time. #3: I lose a huge chunk of my free time because I'm trying to pack, transport all my stuff, and take care of all necessary business associated with moving.

And losing my free time means not much time to write. That one burns me up the most. I've been working REALLY hard trying to write Not Until Tonight so that I can publish it on time. I already moved the release date up from February to March... and now I'm having to move it from March to April.

*sigh*

But I'm not going to let the negative win! I'm viewing it this way: It gives me plenty of time to finish, send to betas, set up the cover reveal/release day blitz/mini blog tour, send out ARCs... So, I'm remaining optimistic about the changes ahead!

Hopefully everyone has had a great February and here's to a great March!!

January Update at Thoughts

I've decided to do monthly updates instead of weekly updates here at Thoughts. So here's a racap of the month of January for you.

~*Reviews*~

TOTAL: 7

Entwine by Rebecca Berto
The Almost Girl by Amalie Howard
Layers Deep by Lacey Silks
Wrong Bed, Right Guy by Katee Robert
Wicked Heat by Nicola Marsh
Sweet Victory by Ember Casey
Allegiant by Veronica Roth

~*Books Finished*~

TOTAL: 6

Only In Vegas by Lindsey Brookes
Addicted for Now (Addicted, #2) by Krista & Becca Ritchie
Asking for Trouble (Line of Duty, #4) by Tessa Bailey
Love the One You're With (Sex, Love & Stiletto #2) by Lauren Layne
Sleepless in Las Vegas by Colleen Collins

As You Turn Away (The Walker Boys #1) by Molli Moran

~*Tours/Blasts/Reveals*~

Cover Reveal: As You Turn Away by Molli Moran
Book Blitz: Where Life Takes You by Claudia Y. Burgoa
Cover Reveal: Almost Broken Up by A.O. Peart
Book Blitz: Forever Loved by Deanna Roy  

Book Blitz: Layers Peeled by Lacey Silks
Book Blitz: All I Ever Wanted: An Abbott Springs Anthology
Cover Reveal: Ringer C.J. Duggan
Cover Reveal: Here All Along by Lilly Avalon
Waiting On Wednesday (17): Lady Thief by A.C. Gaughen

~*Otherwise*~

Life starts now.
Stacking The Shelves #21: December Edition

~*As for me...*~

Well, not too much to report. I spend most of January INDOORS for two reasons: #1. The weather has been absolutely horrible in Ohio, and #2. I was sick for two weeks. Which, the weather did not assist in me getting better faster. The cold I can handle as long as I can be indoors most of the time and be well stocked on food and necessities. It's when I have to DRIVE on the icy roads that it is a problem. We had, I think, three days under a Level 3 Snow Emergency. Unfortunately, since I work in the medical field, I can't just say, "Sorry, not allowed to be on the road." I am expected to show up. Le sigh. But, what was nice is that two of my coworkers with better vehicles than mine were able to pick me up and take me home that week. I don't know what I would have done without them!

I've been making more of an effort to write since the new year started. I try to write at least a little bit every day, and I think I have been able to do that. Maybe not "sit down and write" kind of write, but I'm always thinking about my stories and coming up with new ideas to actually "sit down and write" out in their entirety later. So, I'd say it's been a good month when it comes to writing. ^_^

Hopefully everyone has had a great January and here's to a great February!!

Life starts now.

As some of you may know, I very much love To Write Love On Her Arms. It's an amazing movement that offers hope to the hopeless and I have to say, the encouraging words they post keep me positive and happy. There was a post entitled "Welcome to Midnight" on their blog (first posted in 2011) and they've been heavily promoting it this year too. I absolutely fell in love with it. There is something about it that just causes me to become full of life again.

I am always talking about how I want to make a certain year the best year ever. I say it every year. I said it for 2013 here on this blog. And every year goes by with not much changing. 2013 brought about some bigger changes than normal for me, and they've been great. However, I want more in 2014. Just as I do every year.

As far as WHAT I want in 2014, I haven't quite figured that part out yet. I don't want to write up some list of things I want to do because as soon as lists are involved in a plan like this, nothing happens (just like several things I thought I could do in 2013 never happened). If I restrict myself to a list, I may not be open to possibilities. And that's what I want: to be open to amazing possibilities and opportunities and to take them. I have so many things on my bucket list (AKA my Jessica List) and when the chance arises, I will make it happen.

I may be only 28 but I feel as though there is much to do while I'm still young. I want to do these things. I don't want life to pass me by and then one day I wake up and I'm too old to do them anymore.

It's time.

I want 2014 to become the best year ever. Will it? Only time can tell. And even if it doesn't, you better believe I am going to try my hardest to make it as amazing as I possibly can.

Life starts now.

The 2013 Official Wrap Up Post

I know, right? It's the end of 2013 and I can't believe it! Here's a wrap up on my year at Thoughts with links to all the reviews posted this year and all the books I read.

The Books I Read...

1. Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky

2. Nobody But Us by Kristen Halbrook

3. Desire by Kailin Gow

4. Rapunzel Untangled by Cindy C. Bennett

5. The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

6. Elixir by Hilary Duff

7. Being Henry David by Cal Armistead

8. Casey Barnes Eponymous by E.A. Rigg

9. Waiting For The Storm by Marie Landry

10. Going Vintage by Lindsay Leavitt

11. Pretty Girl-13 by Liz Coley

12. Wallbanger by Alice Clayton

13. Mrs. Frisby And The Rats Of NIHM by Robert C. O'Brien

14. Anna And The French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

15. Snowed Over by Angie Stanton

16. Triangles by Ellen Hopkins

17. Edge Of Disaster by A.M. Hargrove

18. The Authoritative Calvin And Hobbes by Bill Watterson

19. Just One Day by Gayle Forman

20. Shut Out by Kody Kepplinger

21. The Get Fuzzy Experience: Are You Bucksperienced by Darby Conley

22. Suffocate by S.R. Johannes

23. Serial Hottie by Kelly Oram

24. Escape Theory by Margaux Froley

25. Precious Things by Stephanie Parent

26. Addicted To You by Krista Richie & Becca Richie

27. Losing It by Cora Carmack
28. Requiem by Lauren Oliver

29. Green Eyes by Abe Birnbaum

30. Garfield: The Cat Show by Norma Simone

31. Hysteria by Megan Miranda

32. Getting Over Garrett Delaney by Abby McDonald

33. Walt Disney's Cinderella by Walt Disney Company

34. A Busy Day For Stegosaurus by Dawn Bentley

35. Psych Major Syndrome by Alicia Thompson

36. His Wicked Games by Ember Casey

37. Garfield Out To Lunch by Jim Davis

38. Locked by Maya Cross

39. Foreplay by Sophie Jordan

40. A Thirty-Something Girl by L.M. Stull

41. Fearless by Tawny Weber

42. Words of Lust by Lise Horton

43. Cake by Lauren Dane

44. Truth or Dare by Ember Casey

45. Fanny by Stephen Cosgrove

46. Like Mandarin by Kirsten Hubbard

47. The Most Wonderful Time of the Year by Marie Landry

48. Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

49. Northanger Alibi by Jenni James

50. No Strings Attached by Nicolette Day

51. Stealing Parker by Miranda Kenneally

52. After the Kiss by Lauren Layne

53. Wrong Bed, Right Guy by Katee Robert

54. Finding It by Cora Carmack

55. Wicked Heat by Nicola Marsh

56. Undressed by Marie Landry

57. Smoke by Ellen Hopkins

58. Becoming Bryn by Angela Carling

59. Rushing Into Love by Ashelyn Drake

60. Layers Deep by Lacey Silks

61. To Be Perfectly Honest by Sonya Sones

62. Switched by Cassie Mae

63. My First, My Last by Lacey Silks

64. Hard to Handle by Jessica Lemmon

65. The Almost Girl by Amalie Howard
66. Kiss Me Again by Rachel Vail

67. Entwine by Rebecca Berto

68. Allegiant by Veronica Roth

69. Sweet Victory by Ember Casey

70. Down for the Count by Christine Bell

71. No Dress Required by Cari Quinn

72. Sneaking Candy by Lisa Burstein

73. Elevator Heat by B.D. Rowe

74. Bossy Request by Lacey Silks

75. Six Dinner Sid by Inga Moore

The Books I Reviewed...

1). Cummings, E.E.: Complete Poems, 1904-1962 (01/02/2013)
2). Scheidt, Erica Lorraine: Uses For Boys (01/08/2013)
3). Clare, Cassandra: City Of Bones (The Mortal Instruments #1) (01/10/2013)
4). Madsen, Cindy: All The Broken Pieces (01/15/2013)
5). Halbrook, Kristen: Nobody But Us (01/22/2013)
6). Peterfreund, Diana: Among The Nameless Stars (For Darkness Shows The Stars #0.5) (01/24/2013)
7). Kant, Komal: Impossible (With Me #1) (01/29/2013)
8). Bennett, Cindy C.: Rapunzel Untangled (02/05/2013)
9). Heath, Amanda: This Beautiful Thing (Young Love #1) (02/07/2013)
10). Gow, Kailin: Desire (Desire #1) (02/12/2013)
11). Rowell, Rainbow: Eleanor & Park (02/19/2013)
12). Kacvinski, Katie: Awaken (Awaken #1) (02/21/2013)
13). Armistead, Cal: Being Henry David (02/26/2013)
14). Beagle, Peter S.: The Last Unicorn (The Last Unicorn #1) (03/05/2013)
15). Duff, Hilary: Elixir (Elixir #1) (03/07/2013)
16). Coley, Liz: Pretty Girl-13 (03/12/2013)
17). Leavitt, Lindsey: Going Vintage (03/19/2013)
18). Rigg, E.A.: Casey Barnes Eponymous (04/02/2013)
19). Landry, Marie: Waiting For The Storm (05/07/2013) 
20). Clayton, Alice: Wallbanger (Cocktail #1) (05/21/2013)
21). O'Brien, Robert C.: Mrs. Frisby And The Rats Of NIMH (05/28/2013)
22). Perkins, Stephanie: Anna And The French Kiss (Anna And The French Kiss #1) (06/04/2013)
23). Stanton, Angie: Snowed Over (06/11/2013)
24). Hopkins, Ellen: Triangles (06/18/2013)
25). Hargrove, A.M.: Edge Of Disaster (An Edge Novel #1) (06/25/2013)
26). Keplinger, Kody: Shut Out (07/02/2013)
27). Forman, Gayle: Just One Day (Just One Day #1) (07/09/2013)
28). Johannes, S.R.: Suffocate (The Breathless #1) (07/15/2013)
29). Oram, Kelly: Serial Hottie (07/23/2013)
30). Froley, Margaux: Escape Theory (Keaton School #1) (07/30/2013)
31). Parent, Stephanie: Precious Things (08/06/2013)
32). Richie, Krista & Richie, Becca: Addicted To You (Addicted #1) (08/14/2013)
33). Carmack, Cora: Losing It (Losing It #1) (08/22/2013)
34). Oliver, Lauren: Requiem (Delirium #3) (08/27/2013)
35). Miranda, Megan: Hysteria (09/03/2013)
36). Horton, Lise: Words Of Lust (09/12/2013)
37). Weber, Tawny: Fearless (09/14/2013)
38). Dane, Lauren: Cake (09/15/2013)
39). Casey, Ember: His Wicked Games (His Wicked Games #1) (09/17/2013)
40). Cross, Maya: Locked (The Alpha Group #1) (09/24/2013)
41). White, E.B.: Charlotte's Web (09/28/2013)
42). Casey, Ember: Truth Or Dare (His Wicked Games #2) (10/01/2013)
43). McDonald, Abby: Getting Over Garrett Delaney (10/15/2013)
44). Stull, L.M.: A Thirty-Something Girl (10/22/2013)
45). Thompson, Alicia: Psych Major Syndrome (10/24/2013)
46). Landry, Marie: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year (11/05/2013)
47). Jordan, Sophie: Foreplay (The Ivy Chronicles #1) (11/06/2013)
48). Kenneally, Miranda: Stealing Parker (Hundred Oaks #2) (11/15/2013)
49). James, Jenni: Northanger Alibi (The Jane Austen Diaries #2) (11/20/2013)
50). Drake, Ashelyn: Rushing Into Love (Campus Romance #3) (11/21/2013)
51). Carling, Angela: Becoming Bryn (11/26/2013)
52). Hubbard, Kirsten: Like Mandarin (11/28/2013)
53). Carmack, Cora: Finding It (Losing It #3) (11/29/2013)
54). Mae, Cassie: Switched (12/03/2013)
55). Hopkins, Ellen: Smoke (Burned #2) (12/13/2013)
56). Sones, Sonya: To Be Perfectly Honest: A Novel Based on an Untrue Story (12/16/2013)
57). Vail, Rachel: Kiss Me Again (If We Kiss #2) (12/21/2013)
58). Layne, Lauren: After the Kiss (Sex, Love & Stiletto, #1) (12/23/2013)
59). Day, Nicolette: No Strings Attached (Falling For You #1) (12/27/2013)

2014 Bloggish (and Bookish) Plans

2013 is coming to a close and it's time to start thinking ahead on 2014 and what I want to be doing with the blog. There won't be as many changes as I thought when I started this post, but there will be some. I've been trying to find a balance between everything, and this blog needs some balancing out. I would like to contribute something more than all the same, but I don't want to overwhelm myself with extra work.

So here we go...

End of the Month Updates

I really like doing the monthly updates versus the weekly updates. It's less time consuming and it is a lot easier to keep track of. And personally, I think it looks a lot better than my weekly updates did. The weekly updates were just too hard for me to keep up with. So, the monthly updates are here to stay!

Once a Month Non-Meme Post

I really REALLY got out of the habit of posting discussion and personal posts this year. Part of the reason why is probably because it takes a long time for me to write up a whole post about a certain topic. I'll get started on it, but never finish because I run out of time. Instead of putting up some out of reach goal, I want to start by at least putting together ONE post per month that isn't a review or meme or blitz or tour. It might be personal or it might be bookish. I just want to add a little more quality to my blog, which it has been seriously lacking for awhile.

Memes/Blitzes/Tours

While I'm not a huge fan of memes, I still like to participate in Stacking the Shelves once a month. I also want to once in awhile participate in other memes, like Top Ten Tuesday or Waiting On Wednesday, when I feel like I can put one together. There are certain TTT that have themes I feel I can make a top ten with, and sometimes there are certain books we really want to read and want to tell our blog buddies all about. So, why not?

As far as blitzes and tours go, I like to participate in some of these. Part of the reason why is because I'm an indie author and I want to help out other indie authors in promoting their books. Also, there are some that feature books I have read and want to promote. If my post can help them sell a book or two, then my job is complete. There are at least two friends who are putting out their debut novel in 2014, so I definitely want to do what I can for them.

Reviews

I've been able to manage one review a week on average this year, and I would like to keep that up for next year too. It would be nice if I could increase the number of reviews per month to average more like 6-7 instead of just 4-5. So, I'm going to aim for higher if possible, but as long as I can continue to write one a week, I'll be happy.

Reading Goals

I set a really high goal this year (of reading 75 books total), thinking it would be a piece of cake for me to reach it. Little did I know, I would have obstacles and slumps. So I started to read shorter books and children's books to add to the book total. It helped get me a little further ahead while I was waiting for more time to read longer books. I managed to reach the goal, which seems like a miracle, but I don't think I want to do that again. So, I'm setting my goal back down to 52 like it was in 2012. One book a week is a good goal. It allows me more free time to write like I want to in 2014.

I'm also going to continue with my goal of reading ONE classic book a year. I think it's a worthwhile goal for even non-readerly types of people. And by classic book, I mean anything published before 1980. There are lots of great books from the 50s, 60s, and 70s and they shouldn't be overlooked. I haven't decided which one I want to read yet, but possibly one of the three I didn't read this year (Anne of Green Gables or Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery or 101 Dalmatians by Dodie Smith).

There you have it!

That's all I can think of at the moment. Of course, I always adapt things through the year. I've adapted through 2013 to keep things fresh, and to keep me motivated to keep going on this blog. It's easy to get in a blogging slump but sometimes all you need is to change things up to get the love for blogging back.

Can't wait to see all of you around in 2014!