Instead of participating in the Monthly Rewind meme, every three months I’ll update the world on my life from the previous season. Enjoy the Seasonal Rewind!

Through the Lens

As you may have noticed, I did not update and post about October through December. I was barely on the blog then, which in turn meant I barely looked at other blogs, or commented, or any of that. With the start of the new year, I wanted to begin with a blank page! It’s still a bit quiet here and my participation throughout the community, but life happens and I don’t ever want this blog to feel like a chore.

So in images, here were my top six favorite books of 2017, and celebrating the release of Chainbreaker and Impossible Saints, both on January 2!

Life Highlights

So many great things happened between October to now. Nina’s deal announcement! Tasha’s deal announcement! My birthday (here and here)! My friend’s second baby was born! Another friend announced her first pregnancy! The holidays were fun too, with Bach’s Magnificat at Christmas and Beethoven’s Mass in C in March. And finally, my best friend’s wedding just a few days ago, in which I was her maid of honor. Needless to say, life’s been busy.

Bookmarked in the Community

Ah yes, this is going to look very sad, okay? Please, no judgement!

1. A New Year of New Books: My 2018 TBR @ GReadsBooks — Ginger has some excellent contemporary YA and adult recommendations here. She doesn’t go for the overly fluffy or the overly dark. There’s a sweet spot right in the middle of the spectrum, and her recommendations tend to be pretty spot on to my taste, too.
2. Slacking Off on Your Favs @ Bring My Books — Lindsey talks about how life can really get in the way of doing your favorite things, and when you finally have those free days to do all the things you love, you find yourself…not doing them. Being a couch potato. And that’s okay.
3. 10 Books I’m Looking Forward to in 2018 @ Pretty Books — Stacey shares some of her most anticipated reads in 2018 and I, too, am looking forward to many of these! Plus, she managed to share some UK recs I have on my TBR now from Book Depository *wink*

Popular Posts on Scribbles

1. MSWL for 2018 — Not surprised one bit. I’m glad it’s getting traction. Hopefully writers find it helpful!
2. Book Cake Tag — This was a lot of fun to put together. Gosh, I love GBBO!
3. Book Review: The City of Brass by SA Chakraborty — What a beautiful and wonderful fantasy. If you haven’t had the chance yet, read this book immediately. A gem.

Cherished Reads

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan ★★★★

The City of Brass by SA Chakraborty ★★★★★

Now That You Mention It by Kristan Higgins ★★★.75 (review to come!)

Progress Update on Reading Challenges

Required Library Books: 4 / 17

The Passion of Dolssa || Big Little Lies || The Zookeeper’s Wife
Saga Volume 1

Fun Library Books: 2 / 5

Mr. Churchill’s Secretary || Surprise Me

Marillier & Gabaldon Challenge: 0 / 8

Fantasy:

The City of Brass

Historical Fiction:

Between Two Fires || Mr Churchill’s Secretary || The Passion of Dolssa

Rock My TBR: 5 / 16

Crazy Rich Asians || The Passion of Dolssa || The City of Brass
Between Two Fires || Now That You Mention It

Overall Challenge: 10 / 50

Random Obsessions

On TV/Netflix: I’m including everything I’ve watched since October, so this list feels quite long. I’m all caught up on Outlander and I loved how they tackled all the topics in Voyager. On New Year’s Eve, friends came over to watch The Crown and eat baked Brie with me and the Beau. I’m also caught up on The Great British Bake Off on Netflix, and finished the first season of Big Family Cooking Show (cute and fun, not as perfect as GBBO). Lately I’ve been rewatching New Girl on repeat, waiting for season 6 to arrive (!!!). Otherwise, the TV is on to sportsball for the Beau, so I sit on the couch with him and read instead.

On Film: Saw and loved The Darkest Hour and OF COURSE  Black Panther (I can’t wait to see how they do Infinity War now!). I also saw Dunkirk and I’m glad I saw it at home and not in theaters. The music put me on edge and I was near sobbing and tense the entire time. If I saw it on the big screen I wouldn’t have been able to finish it!

In the Shopping Bag: All the new clothes. Seriously. I gained weight in the last year (hurrah! I know that sounds weird but I’ve always been too small for my height and age, and this year I finally reached the goal weight), which means all of my bottoms and some of my tops no longer fit properly or comfortably. So now I’m in the middle of a wardrobe change. Ack!

Miscellaneous: I kinda splurged on a lot of books when my birthday rolled around… Oh, and raving over my new watch!

Looking Toward the Future

I’m looking forward to the most relaxed April through June I’ve had in years. There is literally nothing planned on my calendar, mostly because I needed to afford my trip to Greece in July. So! This means adding cooking classes, getting planters, celebrating the royal baby and royal wedding, shopping for clothes that fit me properly, and lots of spring cleaning. When I moved into this apartment it was very much unpack-and-deal-with-junk-later, but now our closets are overflowing with random boxes and miscellaneous stuff. Time to weed through things!

What have you been up to this season / this month? Any new obsessions or good reads or great music? Share some of your favorites here, and let me know if I should check out any great blog posts!