Welcome to December’s Monthly (and YEARLY) Minutes at Midnight!

 Here’s the deal: I’ll share the books I’ve obtained, posts of interest from others, giveaways I have happening, and just general random shenanigans. You know I love a shenanigan.  Also, covers all link to Goodreads, because I am awesome. As always, I link up with the Wrap Up Round Up, too! 

The Books

For Review/From Publishers:

Hugest of thanks to St. Martin’s Press!

eARCs:

Huge thanks to the publishers for these lovelies! I actually didn’t go too nuts this month! #Progress?

Purchased:

These were mostly Kindle deals- except The Phantom Twin which is a paperback but I was too lazy to take a picture of, so. 

Won/Gifted/Traded:

Hugest of thanks to Amber and my family, as well as EpicReads and Penguin!

Books: Honor Lost by Rachel Caine & Ann Aguirre, Burn After Writing by Sharon Jones,  House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland, Katie in Waiting by Becky Albertalli, Love in English by Maria E. Andreu, Happily Ever Afters by Elise Bryant, Witches Steeped in Gold by Ciannon Smart, Bright and Dangerous Objects by Annalise Macintosh , Beach Read by Emily Henry

Notes For Other Stuff: The kids got me Niylah, Abby, and Jackson, yay! Amber got the pouch on the left from Society6– it’s from a store called The Jasper Jordan Project and they support mental health stuff. The pouch on the right is from my mom and it is designed by YOURS TRULY on Redbubble! It’s an homage to Octavia and Diyoza, the serpents overlooking Shallow Valley. I sent in the DNA test (a gift from my brother and sister-in-law!) and since it came with 3 months of Ancestry for $1, I am now VERY deep down a rabbit hole of dead family. Good times! And the final picture is an RBG ornament, and she now hangs on my tree forever. If you buy her, proceeds benefit the New York Historical Society!

Shenanigans Since Last Time:

I read 15 books this month. Not so bad, considering. I mean, 15 books with COVID? Heck yes.

SUCH a good group! Three of these made my favorites of the year, and a few more were really close!

Giveaways: Click Here, or on Sidebar

Blogosphere Bulletin

Here are some of the loveliest/most entertaining/super helpful/just plain interesting posts I found this month!

Fancy & New Since Last I Saw You!

I love looking at pretty covers! So here are some new ones that I have fallen in love with since our last update!

Pretty covers are pretty.

Things we need to talk about at this juncture/End of the Year Recap:

  • I read more books this year than I have in any other year (174!!) Thanks, pandemic. I once again let Random.org pick my reading goal. How many books am I bound to next year for Goodreads? Random was a wee bit ruder this year than the past few, but eh, could be worse!
  • I remember cutting my November post short because I was sick… apparently with COVID 🙄.  So stupid, so stupid. I mean, I was so CAREFUL but here we are. Lena and my parents also had it, which was scary. My dad and Lena and I were basically fine, but my mom was really, really sick, but I am beyond thrilled to report that she is on the mend. 
  • I posted my real The 100 ending. And it’s better than whatever JRoth came up with, just saying. Way better. Also, I am almost done with my first of my series of posts… “Superlatives of The 100”! So, stay tuned if you are a fan! 
  • Speaking of…The 100 Bookish Games are close to being ready! Inge and I have been working hard, so hopefully lots of people come out to play! I am so, so excited! 
  • 2020 is finally behind us. I mean, I want to celebrate but… I am scared. No one wants to jinx this shit! But let’s just… have (very) cautious optimism maybe? 

Have a great January, and Happy 2021, loves! Sending you tons of well-wishes for the new year!

Posted December 31, 2020 by Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight in Blog Recaps / 21 Comments

21 responses to “Monthly (and YEARLY) Minutes at Midnight: December 2020”

  2. Sam@wlabb

    My heart skipped a beat when I saw you had COVID. Sorry the Rona got you, but glad it’s behind you. Keeping your mom in my thoughts and sending well wishes. Your Christmas photo is too cute. LOVE the llama. That’s a nice stack of trade/gift/won you have up there. I will be looking forward to your thoughts on almost all of them. Congratulations on killing your GR challenge. I am wishing you and yours all the best for the new year!

    Reply
  3. Roberta R.

    Look at you, in your matching pajamas 😂. Aw, I’m sorry Covid struck, but glad to hear everyone is better now! Happy new year!

    P.S.: I just requested Folklorn (first time I heard about it) both on NG and EW, and it’s totally your fault LOL.

    Reply
  4. Beth W

    I’m so glad your mom is on the mend, and that you’re well now, too!
    Also, congrats to you on reading so much! I, conversely, read about 20 books *less* than I usually do per year. Something about the stress amped up my anxiety, which negates my ability to sit still and read. :/

    Here’s to hoping that, week by week, we move into happier, healthier, more stable times!

    Reply
  5. Kelly

    Happy new year darling Shannon and hoping you’re starting off 2021 safely and planning to do all the things we couldn’t during 2020. Fifteen books is a magnificent month of reading! I only managed to read just over fifty books for the entire year and considering we spend around five months in lockdown as well. On the plus size, I found a love for gaming and currently getting my Viking on with Assassin’s Creed. I hope you and the kids have an absolutely brilliant year my friend!

    Reply
  10. Donna

    I’m glad you are doing better. I wish I could just hide out in my house until there are vaccines for everyone but I have to go back to the office on Monday. I read a lot more books than I planned this year too. Happy New Year!

    Reply
  11. Lex @ Lexlingua

    I am POCKETing your post fo future reference — this has so many interesting reads. You seem to have read a lot — and a wonderful lot — in 2020. Both Folklorn and Small Favors look superb, and adding them right away to my TBR. Hope you have a grand 2021, happy new year!

    Reply
  13. Brooke Lorren

    I’m so sorry you all got COVID, but I’m glad you’re getting better. There’s an outbreak at the place my daughter interviewed for, now I’m glad she didn’t get the job. 15 books is amazing though! I hope 2021 is better for all of us!

    Reply
  14. Alice

    I’m so glad to hear everyone is doing better! We have had several family members get sick the past two weeks and it has been really scary, but everyone seems to finally be doing a bit better.

    Reply
  15. Malka @ Paper Procrastinators

    I’m so happy to see that you got so many awesome gifts! I hope that you end up loving all the books you got!

    Also, reading 15 books in December is super impressive! Maybe I just think of December as super busy because of finals, but I feel like the last month of the year is just not the best time for reading! And the fact that you loved so many of them is even better. I’m curious to hear what you thought of The Ex Talk since it’s one of my most anticipated releases!

    Thank you so much for sharing my post! I posted it right after finals ended, so I’m still working my way through comments since I took a few days off to recover from my stressful semester! But I’m back now!

    Also, thank you for blessing my eyes with all those beautiful covers. I love all of them this month! Although I think Gearbreakers might be my favorite.

    Anyways, good luck on reading 84 books in 2021! I hope this year is kinder to you than 2020 was! Here’s to a fantastic year!

    Reply
  16. Sammie @ The Bookwyrm's Den

    Wow, 174 books? At least the one thing you can say is 2020 helped your reading time. xD Even though, you know, half the year I felt so unmotivated to read because stress does that sometimes lol. Figures, right? So sorry to hear you ended up getting COVID, but I’m glad that it seems like you’ve made a recovery and your family is okay! I hope you all the happiness in 2021. 🙂

    Reply
  18. Karen Alderman

    Happy new year Shannon. Let’s hope 2021 is better (although as I type sh*t is going off the rails)
    My reading sucked so I set my goal for 12 books this year lol

    My SIL, her husband and one of their kids have COVID right now and say their biggest symptom is a very bad cough. Really hoping they get through it and without last effects.

    Karen @ For What It’s Worth

    Reply
  19. Marie @ drizzle & hurricane books

    I’m really glad to hear you’re doing okay and that your mom is doing better as well. Sending you all the love and positive vibes <3
    And ahh I'm spotting Happily Ever Afters, hope you'll love that one! Have a lovely month, happy new year Shannon, hope it will be a lovely one <3 <3

    Reply
  20. danielle hammelef

    I have a pre-order in for We Could Be Heroes–I love Mike Chen’s books. And I know I will also be reading The Ex-Talk as Rachel Solomon is on my auto buy/read list now. I love the cute Christmas pj photo! You guys are adorable.

    Reply

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