{Month in Review/Monthly Preview} My recent trip to Broadway, all the blind unboxing, and excitement for BEA!


  
It's finally May!!!! Signings, Broadway, BEA...!!!♥

Sorry for the slight delay in brining this to you! I know I do this post on Sundays, but yesterday I went to the zoo for the first time in years (Actually, I've never been to this particular zoo before, but semantics!) and didn't have time to completely finish this in the morning. Sorry!! But it was worth it... ^.~

ANYWAY!!

May is going to be SUCH a busy month for me!!! There are two really local awesome signings happening--one of them this week for Sarah J. Maas, whose new book A COURT OF WINGS AND FURY comes out TOMORROW and AHHHH!!!!

THEN I'll be making not one but TWO trips to NYC!!! I'm seeing Dear Evan Hansen on Broadway in a couple of weeks, then going back on the 31st because it's time for the Book Expo of America!!! I'm so excited!!! Will any of you be there? Let me know; maybe we can meet up!

Broadway, it's all about the Broadway!!!

This past month, I took a day trip up to NYC to see both Amélie (Yes, it's based on the French Movie! And YES, it's starring Phillipa Soo, who played Eliza in Hamilton!!!) and Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812.

There was also a really cool flower show with a carnival theme going on in Macy's, which I hadn't been expecting!





The Great Comet was the true stand-out. It was amazing to see an international superstar like Josh Groban life, and I was SUPER impressed with Denée Benton, who played Natasha. I'd love to see her win a Tony in June because she moved me so much! The show was like NOTHING I've seen on Broadway and sooooo interactive. (If you're going to BEA/BookCon and want to catch a show, I'd recommend it!!)





Amélie is worth seeing if you want to see Phillipa Soo live. Her and Adam Chanler-Berat were fantastic. As a writer, I also loved the way we see the whimsy in which Amélie looks at the word. But I'm really glad I had discounted tickets because the show was shorter than I expected and overall, it wasn't memorable! 




...although all the marketing WILL make you want to be a kid again when you eat raspberries!




I'm excited to go back to NYC this month to catch Dear Evan Hansen, which is hyped to be this year's Tony Winner. I've been planning to see it for over a year now, since it closed off-Broadway to transfer and I found out about it a touch too late to get tickets! 

NEXT month during BEA, I have tickets to see Come From Away (The dark horse to win the Tony) and Anastasia (My childhood!!!) 

And there are still shows I want to see, but I just don't have the budget to do more!!!! Thankfully, I snagged a lot of of these shows discounted, or the theatre was smaller and the cheap seats were great seats!

If you plan to see The Great Comet, Dear Evan Hansen, and/or Come From Away, be forewarned: TGC and DEH are NEXT TO EACH OTHER on a crowded street, and CFA is RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET. And next to another theater. And they're on the same road as Disney's The Lion King. So the street is a mess. But the company it keeps? Brilliant!!!

(Left: Dear Evan Hansen; Right: Come From Away)

#OTSPSecretSister

This month, my OTSPSecretSister themed to the month again, with lots of Easter treats!!! I also LOVED the Ariel stationary. And I'm SO BUMMED that I still haven't read RISE OF FIRE because I LOVED the first book last year--a 2016 favorite--and have been SO excited for this sequel!!!





NAIL POLISH!

I've still been trying to grow my nails out again! (So I haven't really been taking pictures because they're short and BLAH).

But I had to do something fun for NYC! I chose red because all of the art for Amélie is red, then added some whimsical white dots--and one of the costumes was red and white polka dots, too, so it made me happy!!! Ironically, the red I used was "5 Apples Tall," and I wore it to the Big Apple, so!!!




APRIL BOOK HAUL!


Here are all the books I brought into my life in April!

I think.

They were kind of scattered all over the place this month! ^^;;;

I purchased all of these:


While THE UPSIDE OF UNREQUITED was through OwlCrate, the other books were
purchased at a store! I meant to purchase LABYRINTH LOST last fall, but it was on my OTSP list,
so I had to wait 6 months!! She was signing locally, so I finally snagged it!
These are the books I added to my mom's March Book Outlet Sale Order, so I didn't have it to show off to you in the last round-up!

These are all the e-books I bought this past month!
A lot of good sales!!! These were all $1.99-$2.99!!!


I was sent all of this for review:

Here is the huge stack of awesome stuff I was sent for review this month!!!
(I'm so glad Mandy is here to co-review because SO MANY BOOKS!!!)
Some of these are for Broadway World, but we can't wait to talk more about these books soon!!!
(Oops, two books that escaped my pile of review books!!! These, too!!)

All the e-ARCs I received for review this past month!
(Except DEATH AND NIGHT, which was from a pre-order!)


PHOTOS OF THE MONTH

Here are some of the photos I've taken and shared this month!



Loved seeing Leanna Renee Hieber and Zoraida Córdova at a local signing!!!

I haven't posted my unboxing yet because I got two boxes the same week and only
uploaded Owlcrate so far, but I have some Disney Funko Treasures to share this week!!!

My pre-order swag from A CONJURING OF LIGHT by V.E. Schwab arrived!!!

Ack, and the back was autographed!? What a fun surprise!!

I love coming home to a stack of books!!!
What's inside!?
And what's in the pink one?????
The pink one!!!
Ooooh, some great goodies from Owlcrate this month!!!
My first-ever Novelly Yours Candle purchase!!!

I love this Novelly Yours Candle packaging with a bookish quote!!!

MUSIC 🎶

I've had music from Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 stuck in my head since seeing the show. And I've had "Evermore" from the live-action Beauty and the Beast stuck in my head this week!!! Along with some other songs from the movie, but mostly that one!

MOVIES AND TV

We're stilly slowly catching up on Agents of SHIELD, and we've been watching Once Upon a Time since it came back on air. I've been looking forward to next week's musical episode since hearing it was coming a few months ago!!!

I did binge-watch the new Freeform series Famous in Love!

That was my April.

How was yours???

Here's a look at everything that happened this past month!
 

ONGOING GIVEAWAYS:

*Win a SIGNED COPY of THE SACRIFICE OF SUNSHINE GIRL by Paige McKenzie (5/2)
*FINDING GABRIEL by Rachel L. Demeter (5/3)
*Win a ONE MONTH SUBSCRIPTION TO OWLCRATE from BLOOD ROAD author Amanda McCrina! (5/7)

Check out the May Blog Tour Schedule for more upcoming giveaways!
MAY BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE
(Most blog tour stops feature giveaways as well!)

*AIR AND ASH by Alex Lidell  {5/2 review}
*DRAGONS OF NOVA by Elise Kova {5/4 cover reveal}
*AIR AND ASH by Alex Lidell {5/9 interview}
*WE WERE LIARS by E. Lockhart {5/17 guest post}
*DARK BREAKS THE DAWN by Sara B. Larson {5/30 guest post}

 

READING NOW:
{All links to Goodreads!}

*Just finished re-reading A COURT OF MIST AND FURY by Sarah J. Maas, and ACOWAR comes out tomorrow, so...!!!

PLANNING TO READ IN MAY:

*THE FLAME IN THE MIST by Reneé Ahdieh
*THE NAMES THEY GAVE US by Emery Lord
*THE SEAFARER'S KISS by Julia Ember
*NOTEWORTHY by Riley Reigate
*SPILL ZONE by Scott Westerfeld
*THE BEAR AND THE NIGHTINGALE by Katherine Arden
*RISE OF FIRE by Sophie Jordan
*THE SHIP BEYOND TIME by Heidi Heilig
*A FACE LIKE GLASS by Frances Hardinge
*LIKE A RIVER GLORIOUS by Rae Carson
*Re-readA DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC by V.E. Schwab so I can move onto A GATHERING OF SHADOWS and A CONJURING OF LIGHT...
 
[link to my GoodReads account so you can see my blurb feed as I read]
READ IN APRIL:
{All links to Goodreads!}

TOTAL: 9 novels and 4 picture books!

*GASTON by Kelly DiPucchio {Picture Book}
*ANTOINETTE by Kelly DiPucchio {Picture Book}
*THE GEEK'S GUIDE TO UNREQUITED LOVE by Sarvenaz Tash {YA}
*WARCROSS by Marie Lu {YA}
*RAPUNZEL by Chloe Perkins {Picture Book}
*ROAR by Cora Carmack {YA}
*STAR-CROSSED by Barbara Dee {MG}
*THE LEGEND OF ROCK PAPER SCISSORS by Oliver Jeffers {Picture Book}
*AIR AND ASH by Alex Lidell {YA}
*ALEX AND ELIZA by Melissa de la Cruz {YA}
*BLOOD ROAD by Amanda  McCrina {YA}
*A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES  by Sarah J. Maas {Upper YA}
*A COURT OF MIST AND FURY by Sarah J. Maas {Upper YA}

REVIEWED IN APRIL:
{All link to our reviews!}

*WARCROSS by Marie Lu {YA} [Spotlight; full review to come in September!]
*BEAUTY OF THE BEAST by Rachel L. Demeter {Adult}
---A second spotlight post here!
*CAGE OF DECEIT by Jennifer Anne Davis {YA} [Redux; Excerpt from new sequel]
*CINDER AND ELLA by Kelly Oram {YA} [Redux; Excerpt from new sequel]
*THE HAUNTING OF SUNSHINE GIRL by Paige McKenzie {YA}
*GEEKERELLA by Ashley Poston {YA} [Design Vlog Spotlight]
*FAMOUS IN LOVE by Rebecca Serle {YA}
*BLOOD ROAD by Amanda McCrina {YA} 

REVIEWED AT BROADWAY WORLD...so you may have missed it!

*Check out everything I reviewed at Broadway World this past month in Saturday's wrap-up!

FEATURES IN MARCH:

*Rounding up all my March 2017 reviews posted over at Broadway World in case you missed seeing them! 
*{Month in Review/Monthly Preview} Beauty and the Beast, Book Signings, and Broadway, oh my!
*Interviewing Paige McKenzie, Author of THE SACRIFICE OF SUNSHINE GIRL!!!!
*{Vlog} Showing off TWENTY THREE books from the latest Book Outlet sale!!!!
*Unboxing My First-Ever Novelly Yours Candle Order! (Candles for Book Lovers and Writers, Whoo-hoo!!!)
*Official Cover Reveal: HIDE FROM ME by Mary Lindsey, presented by Entangled TEEN!
*Top Ten Books on my Spring TBR!
*Unboxing the April 2017 Owlcrate! (And guesses for May 2017 with its EXCLUSIVE Cover!!!)
*Disney Hyperion's New Imprint, RICK RIORDAN PRESENTS, Announces First Three Acquisitions, To Publish In 2018!
*Interviewing Melissa de la Cruz, Author of ALEX & ELIZA!


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