CHRISTMAS IS OVER, bookworms! I counted down from fifty-something days and now IT’S GONE! I guess now we can count down to 364 days, right? (Or 365… because 2016 is a leap year? I don’t know. This stuff confuses me.) The good news is that with Christmas comes lots of books. And I have quite the stack this year.

SEVEN BOOKS. (Plus one on my brand-new Kindle Paperwhite, YEEESSSS.) (Oh oh oh AND a $10 B&N GIFT CARD FOR MUA.) My family knows me so well.

Starting from the bottom:

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard: Can we just go completely crazy right now with the excitement, because I’m telling you, this book is the next big thing. And I WILL be on The Red Queen train. I missed it for a bunch of other popular books (like… um… the Divergent series, which loads have you have read and finally I’m catching up) but I shall be apart of this one! I read it a few weeks ago but now I OWN IT! But that’s not all.

DO YOU SEE THAT? Do you see it?? That’s SIGNED. Apparently it’s the time of year for Barnes & Noble to get a bunch of signed books, so when I saw that they had Red Queen signed, I flipped out. I bought a copy for my pen pal Brooke, but not for myself. (Because I’m not made of money, evidently.) We ended up at B&N two times in a week (oh the joy!) and I was super sad because they didn’t have any more signed copies! BUT MY MOM, bookworms. She’s such a sneaky sneaky lady. (My dad, too. It’s no wonder I get it from them.) She bought the last one! I WILL LOVE HER FOREVER.

The Hired Girl by Laura Amy Schlitz: For the first time in a while, I actually picked this one up myself instead of seeing it on Goodreads or one of your blogs. The cover caught my attention, because it’s absolutely gorgeous. It’s a historical fiction, too, and based on the author’s grandmother. EEP.

The Golden Braid by Melanie Dickerson: Melanie Dickerson is the best. Not only does she write some fabulous teen Christian fiction, it’s actually good. I crave some clean fiction, particularly with some romance – is that too much to ask? – and apparently it is. Yes, there are always titles like My Amish Boyfriend, but I really have no desire to read that. But Melanie Dickerson’s books are always amazing (I’ve given away several of her books and you can read my reviews for The Captive Maiden, The Huntress Of Thornbeck Forest, and The Princess Spy.)

Last In A Long Line Of Rebels by Lisa Lewis Tyre: Now this is a book my aunt got me, because it so happens she’s a friend of the author’s! HOW COOL IS THAT. I don’t think people realize how cool it is to be friends with an author. I mean, do you realize that your friend creates and talks to people in their head and writes thousands of words, sometimes hundreds and then edits and edits and edits so you can enjoy writing that is somewhat sane? it’s pretty awesome. This book looks pretty good, too, so I’m excited to read it.

The Elite and The One by Kiera Cass: I OWN THE ENTIRE SELECTION SERIES YAAAY. If you’ve read my blog for a while, you know how much I love these books. And now I own allll of them. AND TWO ARE SIGNED. (Which means for my cousin who wants to read them – yessss Sydney yesssss – she can’t borrow the first or fourth book. Sorry, Syd, you’re outta luck.) Now I must wait endlessly for The Crown, which comes out May 3rd while I’m in the middle of the Caribbean somewhere. Sigh… you think Mexico or Jamaica will have a copy? Because I want that book the DAY it comes out. AND I’LL BE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN. NOOOO. (sorry mom and dad I promise I’m not really complaining about the cruise.)

Coming Apart: Book Nine In The Main Street Series by Ann M. Martin: This series has been a favorite of mine for five years now. (Almost six?) That is to say, it’s one of my oldest favorite books. I’ve been re-reading them for a long time. Except for book nine. Because I owned books one-eight and then TEN. NO NINE. It’s driven my crazy for three long years and finally I own the COMPLETE series. I feel so accomplished. Thanks Grandma!

Oh and we can’t forget about the book I’m currently reading, which I borrowed from the library on my NEW KINDLE PAPERWHITE. (it is so awesome, I may even write a post dedicated to why it is so great. I really love it! ME. LOVING an e-reader. Needless to say, I am pretty excited.) So I’m reading Insurgent. It’s… a bit slow, as I’m smack-dab in the middle… but I’m sure it will get better. Once I get over the middle point.

Also: in case you didn’t see, I’m doing a big giveaway – TWO, actually! – for a copy of one of my favorite 2015 books and a $10 Barnes & Noble gift card! You can enter that here and also take a minute or two to do a survey for me. I want to see what you like about my blog and how I can make it better in 2016! I’m loving all your answers so far, particularly the ones you answered yourself. 🙂 You’re all so sweet, it made my day reading your answers! I’ll be answering some of the questions and talking about the results sometime next week.

what are you reading? and what did you get for christmas??