This is one of my favorite Agatha Christie mysteries to date. There’s a great cast of characters that really keep the mystery up in the air until the very last minute.
On the Blog:
A lot happened this year!
I began
The Agatha Christie Project. I made a whole page about it and the whole aim is to consume as much Agatha Christie as humanly possible.
I began a blog redesign that will likely not be finished until the middle of next year. Still, I got many of the drop-down menus finished and I just have some new graphics to create and a few new pages to write some code for.
I finally started being more active on
Instagram (for a while anyway). I’m going to be more active on there more regularly as I’ve been really getting into editing pictures and the works. Follow me @blueeyebooks!
I began my Recommendations series with my first post in May:
A Beginner’s Guide to ‘New’ YA Fantasy. I’m going to be continuing this series with different genres and age groups because I read from such a diverse set of genres.
I continued on with my Guide series, posting about
The Basics of HTML. I’m planning on really dedicating myself to that series next year.
A bit of a side note, I was also informed that I was selected to be advertised as one of the top 100 YA blogs (although there are so many blogs not listed that are so much more amazing).
Life Update:
This year was an eventful year to say the least. As I said above, I was doing great during spring semester staying on top of both my uni and blogging obligations but during fall semester, that really fell by the wayside. My largest goal for next year? Make sure I have enough time at the end of the week to do blogging and especially actually do my part as a co-host of 50/50 Friday (if you haven’t figured it out,
Carrie is an absolute gem and just in general a productivity queen).
I got a job at my university’s writing center so basically I’ll get paid for helping people with their writing which is so lovely! I also got a job working in the honors office at my uni which will be a great experience as well. All to fund a trip to the coast to get some hands on experience capturing and tagging sharks and rays during the summer!
I took my first truly creative writing class and I’m so proud of some of the pieces I’ve written. A snippet of poetry for you:
You try to push me and I nearly fall, down and
down and I brace for impact but it never
comes. There’s only that feeling you wish
would fly away from the smoke of your fire.
My heels are suspended over
an abyss that no one has ever felt
the bottom of and I catch my breath, staring
into your gravity.
I know what this is.
I know what you are.
I finished crocheting my first ever blanket which is a huge accomplishment for me considering I’ve only ever had the patience for scarves.
Last winter break I donated 12″ of hair to a charity that makes wigs for children with hair loss. I like to grow out my hair and donate it every two and a half years or so.
As for TV shows this year, I’ve become obsessed with Bones (I needed a break from Criminal Minds and this is so good), The Great British Baking Show (although the new episodes aren’t nearly as good as the ones with Mel and Sue and Mary Berry), Grey’s Anatomy (new season on Netflix, yes!), The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (SO good), Criminal Minds (how could I resist another rewatch?), Gossip Girl (so awful but so addicting), Sherlock (glorious, just glorious), Forensic Files (these are so, so biased but good still), Black Mirror (these are all incredibly insightful and amazing), The Handmaid’s Tale (there are no words), and Pretty Little Liars (again, I’m rewatch trash).
Notable movies I’ve seen in the past year include Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch, need I say more?), Baby Driver (the plot may have been a bit iffy but the soundtrack and Ansel Elgort are fabulous), Moana (total rewatch material), Arrival (really interesting and complex), Coco (literally made me cry so much), Justice League (eh it was okay, more notably it was a good intro into DC for me), Game Night (kind of stupid in a way but hilarious), Black Panther (GORGEOUS), Mamma Mia 2 (that soundtrack tho), A Quiet Place (legit so freaky), Fight Club (I hadn’t seen this before and I don’t know how that’s possible because it twists your mind so much), To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (made my heart melt), Love, Simon (the perfect example of a cinnamon roll wrapped around an important message), Avengers: Infinity War (OMG), Thor: Ragnarok (finally getting around to this and I have to say the different style is interesting but good), Baywatch (funny for the most part), Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (I really need to rewatch HP to connect all these together), Ready Player One (I really need to read this book), Dumplin’ (so great), Tag (loved it all).
Whew! I’m going to wrap it up here because this is getting a little long. I’m going to make another post soon about my R&R/ARC status (I’ve seen others do the State of the ARC and it seems like a great organizational and accountability tool that I need in my life). So until then!
You have a very detailed analysis here! I’m glad you had a productive reading year. Happy new year 🙂
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Thank you, Emily! To you as well!
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I've had Silent Spring on my Amazon Wishlist for nearly a year now because I really want to read it, but it hasn't quite made the Buy button yet. It's supposed to be amazingly insightful so I'm keen for your review :-)I hope you get a less intense time at uni this semester?!
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It is! I enjoyed the read immensely. I'm hoping to buy a hardcover version for my shelves so I can reread it and review it :)Haha you and me both! I've got a month to recover in January before going back so I'm hoping to take this time to prepare for the onslaught. At least one piece of good news: this is the last semester that will be really super intense and busy!Thanks for stopping by, Stephanie!
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I love your colourful graphs!I hope this school semester goes well for you. as for tv shows or films I enjoyed, I loved the Haunting of Hill House. unfortunately, I didn't have much time to watch stuff because of school Happy new year!
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I love how detailed you get with all your graphs, it's just so lovely to look at! Also, I'm so jealous that you can crochet, I feel so useless because I just can't seem to pick it up and have been trying for years! I hope 2019 is amazing for you. Also, I think you're a gem as well ❤
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You have had a busy year! I too an also rewatch trash and PLL is on my list after I finish The Vampire Diaries (and all of its associated spin offs LOL). That's so cool that you started an IRL book club! How does the club select which backlist title to read each month?
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98 is such a lovely amount and I hope you will be able to enjoy reading so much in 2019 as well 🙂 It is one I recently got and am looking forward to. The Kite Runner is one of my favourite books of all time so I am so glad you loved it ^>^ And I read Simon vs this year and also really enjoyed it too. Hopefully you can spread out your reading throughout the year this time. And I also really like that you have so many high ratings generally speaking!
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Thank you, Wren! I hope the next semester goes well too… I suppose the only way to get through it is to be prepared and enjoy it 🙂 I really want to start watching The Haunting of Hill House! Normally, I'm not a fan of the scary stuff but the previews for that look so good (mostly because I want to know what's behind all the mystery of the house). I hope you have a lovely 2019 and thanks for stopping by!
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Thank you, Carrie! I find that it's so much easier to digest what my reading trends for the year (and over the years) have been if they're in graph form. I feel like I have a bit of an advantage when it comes to crocheting because my mom taught me to knit when I was in elementary school so I'm used to the basic concept of it. Just keep at it! It takes a ton of practice (trust me, I have like five 'hot pads', if they can even be called that, that I crocheted in my beginning days)!<3 ❤ ❤ Thanks for stopping by and sticking with me 🙂
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Tell me about it! I'm hoping this summer will be super chill (except July when I go on my research trip) so I'll be able to actually get caught up on R&R's and that whole jig. I still need to watch The Vampire Diaries! I'm such trash for the Vampire Academy movie (it's awful but so addicting and I want to buy it so I can rewatch it forever) and I've been wanting to get into other vampire TV shows. Right? I've always wanted to be a part of one! I was in one in high school but I wasn't really friends with any of the people in it and none of us really 'clicked' so I was really excited when some of my IRL friends from one of my English classes were actually interested in reading YA books with me. Right now, we have a Goodreads group where we all put books that we want to read on the shelf and at each meeting, we pick the next book (one book a month). To pick we just go through that shelf and see what book none of us have read (because honestly discussing is so much fun when you get the visceral first-read reactions) and is available at at least one of the local libraries (there are two in our area plus a digital library). It's been really great to read some of the books that I've been wanting to read FOREVER. Thanks for stopping by, Cristina, and I hope you have a lovely 2019!
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🙂 Normally I don't count my rereads as actual 'reads' (I haven't been putting them into Goodreads) but for my wrap-up, that number made me feel better than 65 (or whatever it is). I'm actually thinking of doing a post discussing whether or not to count rereads as 'reads' because whenever I reread, I tend to skim most of the book and just read in depth my favorite parts which I don't think I would really count as reading the whole book. I'm really interested to hear what you think of It! I'm hoping to write up a review eventually (I'll probably have to reread the first half of the book to actually write a good, thorough review). Yes The Kite Runner is so good! I'm so glad I decided to not read it in public because I was bawling for the entire second half of the book. Simon is so great! And the movie omg! I need to buy that movie asap so I can rewatch it for days. I'm actually really glad I had to buy Simon (the book) for one of my English classes because now I can reread it as well. Haha me too! I'm just hoping that the only reading slump this year will happen from March-May (aka the seventh circle of hell in spring semester). I'm generally happy about the high ratings as well! Part of me worries that maybe I'm too generous with my stars but honestly I'm probably just getting better at reading only the books that really appeal to me and that I think I'll enjoy. Thanks for stopping by, Olivia!
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Good luck on your goals! I struggled this fall as well, mainly with keeping up the blog. I'm a teacher and things got very hectic. Here's to lots of reading in 2019!
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Thank you, Sarah! I'm definitely going to need it. I cannot even imagine juggling lesson plans and grading and life and blogging; I bow to you. Thanks for stopping by and best of luck keeping up with everything next year!
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I am fully obsessed with statistics so this was so interesting to read! And OMG pie charts and everything. This is incredible!
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Thank you, Clare! I am too 🙂 I love it when bloggers have graphs and things because then it's so easy to compare reading habits and it's so lovely to look at so I decided I had to start doing my own. Thanks for stopping by!
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I love your reading charts!I've never read an Agatha Christie book before, but I've always wanted to. I bought one a few months ago, but I haven't gotten to it yet. I'm looking forward to reading it!
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Thank you, Angela! I highly recommend them! They're really nice books to invest a day in reading and you get so pulled into the plot and all the mystery. I hope you love it!
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