The Weekly Update: 2/14/16

 
 
So... I suppose I'm obligated to say Happy Valentine's Day? Happy Single's Awareness Day? Happy Sunday? I can't say I'm celebrating---in fact, I can't say I've ever really done much for Valentine's Day, even times when I haven't been single---but I do always love the overabundance of the color red at this time of year :-P

I finally made it to that doctor's appointment that was rescheduled. I found it amusing that the room in which I had my blood drawn had pictures of hot guys plastered all over the walls. I have to say though, it was a nice touch. It did a fairly decent job of distracting me from my fear of needles, haha.

Other than that, I don't think anything much happened that's worth sharing. Just books! But, you know, books are always good, especially considering this is a book blog :-P

*On a side note, I'm currently looking for online or work-from-home jobs. I'm not going to go into the details of why, but if you happen to know of anything available, please let me know!

Books I Finished:

Steal the Sun by Lexi Blake | books, reading, book covers
Steal the Night by Lexi Blake | books, reading, book covers
Tempest by Cari Z | books, reading, book covers
Taken by Christine Pope | books, reading, book covers
 

I finished my Thieves series reread and ended up loving it even more than before. I really think those books have officially become a comfort read for me. But now I’m looking forward to the next book in the spin-off series even more, especially since it’s finally going to answer some questions Steal the Night raised. Tempest was a Netgalley read and a beautiful paranormal love story, so I really liked it. Taken was Book 2 in a series. I enjoyed it, but I’m not sure about continuing because it seemed like not enough plot happened in either of the first two books, though I did read it in a day which means it kept my attention well enough… so I don’t know.

Song of the Week:

“Stay the Night ft. Hayley Williams” by Zedd – I chose this song because, well, I love it, but also because it’s got to be my favorite music video. If you haven’t seen it, I’m telling you, it’s BEAUTIFUL. I was going to embed the video, but unfortunately embedding was disabled for this one, so you’ll have to click the link to YouTube.

In Case You Missed It:

Cover Characteristics: Book Covers featuring People Holding Glowy Magic in Their Hands
Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Book Quotes About Love and Cats
Discussion: Time Skips in Books
Book Review: The Rest Falls Away (The Gardella Vampire Hunters Book 1) by Colleen Gleason
Book Review: Wings of Darkness (The Immortal Sorrows Book 1) by Sherri A. Wingler

The Sunday Post Link-Up:

Once again, I’m linking up to The Sunday Post at Caffeinated Book Reviewer 🙂

 
 
 
 

Talk to me!

Do you have any plans for Valentine's Day?
Did you find any good books or music this week?

 
 
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Your Thoughts

 

33 thoughts on “The Weekly Update: 2/14/16

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  1. Daniela Ark

    Happy “LOTS OF RED” day! 🙂
    a part time job… I have three friends now that are working 20 hrs a week for google. They love it so check it out!
    I can’t not believe that a doctor office/lab has pictures of hot guys on the walls! LOL that is hilarious! I actually haven’t seen a place that has pictures of hot guys on the walls. Not even the romance section of a public library or bookstore :):). You should have taken a pic Kristen for this post 🙂
    omg that cover of Ella is beautiful! I’m glad you enjoy the Thieves series! did you already post the review for some reason I think I remember something. Maybe in GR. Now off to read your review of
    Wings of Darkness!!!! “Wings” and “Darkness” in the same sentence??? O…M….G!!! that book better be good.

    1. Kristen Burns

      Yes! Lots of Red Day! Why didn’t I think of that one? Thanks for the work suggestion. I’ve looked at the search engine tester jobs, I don’t know if that’ what you’re referring to? I didn’t think about taking a picture until after! I know, I should’ve, but I was a little distracted by my fear at the time lol.

      I LOVE that cover for Ella too! It’s like half the reason I bought it. I did already post the Thieves reviews, and I updated them all on GR, so you’re not going crazy, haha.

  2. Deborah

    I hope you find what you’re looking for work-wise Kristen. Working from home can offer a good balance.

    And I’m with you on Valentine’s Day. Am single so it’s not a biggie for me though does make me feel a little more alone than usual!

    1. Kristen Burns

      Thanks! It’s just *finding* a way to work from home that’s proving difficult. Valentine’s does always remind us singlies of our singledom lol. It’s hard to escape when you’re around other people, but I’m just sitting at home today, so I have successfully avoided it 🙂

  3. Maureen's Books (@MaureenHinten)

    Happy Valentine’s Day! All that red everywhere is definitely a nice treat! 😉
    We had a nice breakfast today. That’s it for Valentine’s celebrations since my man really hates this day. Haha.. I stopped trying to buy him stuff a view years back.
    Happy reading this week 😉

    1. Kristen Burns

      Thanks! A nice breakfast sounds like a great way to celebrate 🙂 But haha, can’t say I blame him for not liking this holiday. As long as he shows you the love year-round, that’s what counts!

  4. Samantha

    I have never been a fan of Valentines day either. My high school students love it; I think its more of an ‘important’ day for them. They get to see the big gestures, the drama, etc. Its like watching reality tv. They love the angst of who will get something and who won’t. As an adult, we are kind of over it! I do love the red and pink though. I love pink!

    1. Kristen Burns

      Haha you’re right, I can see now how it does seem like a more important thing when you’re in high school. My school would sell things and various different clubs did Valentine’s Grams which the involved people interrupting classes all day to deliver them and sing or recite poetry to the recipient or whatever the gram involved. I love that you’re entertained by it—I would definitely be that way too if I worked at a school lol. I like pink too! This is definitely a great holiday in terms of colors, haha.

  5. Kim @ kimberlyfaye reads

    I think I need to go to your doctor! The only thing I had to distract me while I was having blood drawn was the phlebotomist talking to me. That’s not nearly as much fun as hot guy posters! Haha. Have a great week ahead!

  6. Lola

    I always hate doctor’s appointments, I always get very nervous. It’s nice they had pictures to distract you from. I once had a nice nurse who kept talking to me while taking my blood, which helped keep my mind of the actual blood taking.

    We usually celebrate valentine’s day with something small like a gift for the other, but mostly it’s just a normal day.

    I searched for online or work from home jobs before I started my own business and I don’t really have anything good to recommend. There isn’t much out there that’s really effective, a lot of shady sites and some scam sites, some survey type work or mystery shopping, but that doesn’t pay well at all. If a site asks you to pay something before you get the job, it’s most likely a scam. There are some publishers who hire where you can work from home. Then there is starting your own business, if you want that, which can become profitable, but also is a lot of work. Good luck with the jbo search! And have a great week!

    1. Kristen Burns

      I hate doctor appointments too, Lola. I actually hate when they talk to me while taking my blood though. I get more freaked out by concept of having a needle in my arm than the actual pain, so I, like, freeze up and don’t want to move or speak or do anything but hold as still as possible until it’s over. So the pictures worked for me lol.

      A small gift is nice 🙂

      Yeah, I’ve found most of those things you mentioned. I would love to start my own business, I have no problem keeping myself motivated and organized and all that, it’s just that I can’t think of any decent one to start :-/ Thanks though! I’m still looking! You have a great week too 🙂

      1. Lola

        For some reason talking to me is a good way to stop me from freaking out. I am terrified of the dentist and our dentist never says a word while he’s working, it’s horrible. I once had a different dentist that actually kept talking and explaining what she did and that really helped. If they don’t talk I am alone with my thoughts and that’s worse, it;s like the talking makes sure I can’t think too much? It’s interesting how different things work for different people.

        If you can keep yourself motivated and organized starting your own business would work. Maybe there’s something you like doing or something you’re good at? Maybe tie it in with one of your hobbies? You set up your own site, right? Maybe you can set-up wordpress sites for bloggers/ authors etc? Just thinking aloud :). Or if you like designing, you could do something with that. Other bookish business ideas are: editing, paid reviews, beta reading, formatting, designing covers etc, organizing blog tours, marketing/ virtual assistant.

        1. Kristen Burns

          Actually the dentist is completely different for me because, when they explain exactly what they’re doing, that makes me less scared. But having blood drawn doesn’t really have anything that requires explaining lol. But yes, different things work for different people, and I do always find people’s differences interesting.

          Thanks, I really appreciate the suggestions! I feel like I’m not good enough at any of those things though? I don’t even mean to talk down about myself, it’s just that I want to make sure people get their money’s worth. But I’m definitely going to think about your suggestions, maybe I can figure something out from them.

  7. Anissa @ She Reads Too Much

    Sounds like it’s been a great week for you! 😀 I’m actually celebrating Valentine’s today, my boyfriend booked dinner somewhere but I’m not feeling well so we’re just going to have takeout at home (and I love this even more!! muahahaha). I am a lazy slug xDxD

    1. Kristen Burns

      Aww feel better, but I’d totally enjoy the takeout more too 😛 Have a great Valentine’s Day, especially since you’ve got someone to celebrate with!

  8. Greg

    Happy singles/red/whatever day! Why should couples have all the fun ha ha? That’s hilarious about the guys on the walls! What I want to know is what do guys think when they go in that room LOL? Or maybe they have their own room? 🙂

    The Lexi Blake books look pretty good.

    I’ve worked from home for the company I work for, but it’s not a regular thing (I wish it was)! We have some remote locations so rather than drive two hours t get somewhere I can just do what I need to do from home- but yeah I would love to work full time from home. I guess there is stuff out there but it can be hard to find? Good luck and I hope it works out for ya.

  9. Greg

    Oh I almost forgot. Ratracerebellion.com might be worth checking out, I’ve heard of that site- -I think they aggregate work at home leads. Not sure how good it is but might be worth a look?

    1. Kristen Burns

      Haha singles/red/whatever day, that’s exactly what it should be called from now on. I was gonna say about the doctor’s office, maybe guys have their own room? Or maybe the female nurses who were there don’t care what the guys think since they’re the ones who have to see it the most lol.

      That’s good that at least sometimes you get to work from home. The jobs really are hard to find though! I just glanced at the website you mentioned, and it actually does seem like it might be helpful, so thank you for that 🙂

  10. Laura Thomas

    Happy Red Day sounds good to me. Not doing anything special. Spending the day watching The Walking Dead, waiting for the new episode tonight. Looks like you have some good reads to keep you company:)

    1. Kristen Burns

      I love that everyone’s calling it Red Day now, haha. I’m totally down with that name change. I don’t watch The Walking Dead, but curling up with a good TV show sounds like a good plan 🙂

  11. Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

    Hey, maybe those imaginary guys on the walls can give you enough imaginary boyfriend distraction that you don’t need to worry about a real guy – after all, imaginary (and book boyfriends) can be better than the real thing unless you have the right guy. LOL!

    1. Kristen Burns

      Haha, right? Book boyfriends and magazine photos are much easier to get along with than real life guys, and definitely more romantic in my experiences 😛

  12. Bookworm Brandee

    I’ve been un-single for 22 years, Kristen, and I’m still not a fan of V-Day. Never have been. Probably one of the things my hubs loves about me. 😉 I’m happy you had some hot guys to look at while you had your blood draw…and I hope all is good health-wise! You finished up some lovely-looking books last week. It’s nice that your re-read was such a comfort to you…I’m still working at my re-read and Kristen Ashley is also a comfort for me. 🙂 I hope your week is off to a great start!

    1. Kristen Burns

      So I’m not the only one who’s not big on V-day! I suppose I just feel like grand gestures aren’t necessary; we should show our love year-round with the little things we do. Thanks, the reread was definitely a comfort and gave me the little boost I needed to avoid a reading slump.
      Glad you’re enjoying your reread too 🙂

  13. Amber Elise @ Du Livre

    HAPPY COLOR RED DAY!!!

    Does that work? Haha! Good luck with your job search! I considered the idea of working from home once but I only found a bunch of scams. :/ It could have been my focus/field though!

    1. Kristen Burns

      Haha yes! Seriously, I should have gone with the red day thing. Next year that’s what I’m calling it lol. Thanks! There are definitely a lot of scams out there, but I know there are legit things too, so I’m still looking!

    1. Kristen Burns

      Right? If I have to go to the doctor, I definitely prefer one with pictures of hot guys, haha. Thanks, crossing my fingers about the job thing! Hayley does have a great voice, and I just adore that song!