my 2017 in books!

School is closed today due to freezing temperatures in my area, so I thought I'd seize the opportunity to complete Jamie from The Perpetual Page-Turner's annual end of year reading survey. My reading life took a dive last year as I got shaken up in so many ways: instead of my usual 40-50 books, in 2017 I completed 25, not counting a few additional pregnancy nutrition books. 

After accepting my new position as an instructional coach last spring, I had two jobs until the school year was over, so when I wasn't actively teaching I was working on plans for the new school. This summer was travel-heavy with a big business trip for work and our trip on the Blue Ridge Parkway. This fall, I realized how much of an impact those Mondays and Fridays reading with my students had made on my TBR pile when I didn't have that time anymore. And in my first trimester of pregnancy, I was too tired and lazy to do anything after work but watch TV or play games on my iPad. One thing that did help me get my reading groove back a bit was joining the Creating & Co. Book Club on Facebook, and I hope to continue to 
make more time to read in 2018.

2017 Reading Stats:

Number Of Books Read: 25
Number of Re-Reads: 1 (A Wrinkle in Time)
Genre You Read The Most From: YA, with the most-read categories being paranormal/fantasy and contemporary

Best in Books:

Best Book You Read In 2017? 
Best YA: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (also the most amazing debut I read in 2017, and the book that made me cry this year - that list of names.)
Best Nonfiction: Helping Children Succeed by Paul Tough
I highly recommend both of these for every educator, especially those who work with teens.

Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t? 
The Girls by Emma Cline, which is kind of a fictionalized version of the Manson family forming - the main character, Evie, becomes infatuated with an older girl who draws her into a cult led by a charismatic man. I have a weird interest in cults, but in reading this book I realized that I'd rather read memoirs about cult survivors than a fictional account.



Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read?  
Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen - and I don't want to spoil why it was so surprising for those who haven't read it yet, so I'll just say I thought I knew what genre I was reading until I realized I really didn't!

Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?
Probaby a tie between The Hate U Give and Becky Albertalli's Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda - I recommended both to all of my middle school teacher friends.

Best Series Ender read in 2017?
The Dire King by William Ritter - I loved the characters first introduced in Jackaby and didn't want to leave them, but the ending and epilogue of this book were perfect.

Favorite new author you discovered in 2017?
Emma Donoghue - after reading Room on my mom's recommendation ("book recommended by your mom" should be a category in every reading challenge, IMHO) I was excited to read her historical novel The Wonder, and definitely wasn't disappointed. The Wonder had a compelling main character who reminded me a little bit of Claire from Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series in her tenacity, and a few plot twists I definitely didn't see coming.

Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?
For me, it was Jennifer Donnelly's Revolution (my review is here)- I started empathizing so much with the main character and got so interested in the secondary plot set during the French Revolution that I had to know what happened to both heroines. It was also the most beautifully written book I read this year.

Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2017 to finally read? 
Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote. The movie has been one of my favorites since college, but when I decided to be Holly Golightly for Halloween this year, I was like, okay, I have to read the original short story now. Turns out the original Holly is a much more terrible human being than the Audrey Hepburn version...

Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2017?
Shortest: Lumberjanes Volume 1 by Noelle Stevenson (graphic novel)
Longest: The Crimson Crown by Cinda Williams Chima

Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year
Elle and Sage's friendship in Geekerella - I saw a review that described Sage and her mom as Elle's "fairy godfriends" and don't we all need a few of those in our lives? I liked that Elle's realization that Sage had really become her best friend was almost as big of a deal as the romance storyline.

Best Book You Read In 2017 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:
Daring Greatly by Brené Brown appeared in my mailbox at school - that's how my best friend recommends books, by thrusting them upon the intended reader. She thought it would be inspirational to me in starting my new job, and it certainly was - I basically highlighted something on every single page. If you need to be fired up about a creative endeavor or professional challenge, definitely recommend this one.

Other Books Completed in 2017:

•  
• 
  
• 
• 
• 
  

Blogging/Bookish Life

Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?
The Creating & Co. Book Club's RIP (Read in Peace) Readathon - the photo prompts were probably my favorite part because I got to pretend I was a bookstagrammer for a week.

Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year?
Finding time and passion for either - I love my new job and I'm so proud of my school, but work ate my life for most of this year. I took a hiatus from August-November and I feel like I've come back to blogging much happier and not feeling like I owe anyone anything or like I need to participate in a popularity contest.

Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?
Fashion: My December 2016 Stitch Fix Review
Life: I'm Back... With News!
Pinspiration: Easter in the Garden
Roundup: Galentine's Day

Post You Wished Got A Little More Love? 
I really enjoyed curating my June Pinspiration post, "Pride and Pineapples." Looking at it now has me longing for warm weather!

Looking Ahead

Books You Didn’t Get To In 2017 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2018? 
I got Sarah J. Maas' Empire of Storms, the fifth Throne of Glass book, for Christmas and can't wait to dive in even though it's a doorstopper. I saw a lot of buzz this year around The Alice Network, which sounds right up my alley with its WWI and post-WWII settings an female spies! I also want to get to Dress Codes for Small Towns by Courtney C. Stevens - love that more YA authors are featuring LGBTQ+ main characters.

Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2018 (non-debut)?
After reading Jamie's post about upcoming YA releases, I'm excited about Caleb Roehrig's White Rabbit- mystery is not usually my jam but I'm always ready to find a good one.

2018 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?
Melissa Albert's The Hazel Wood sounds so good with dark fairy tale vibes. I also want to check out the 2017 debut The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui and Samantha Mabry's A Fierce and Subtle Poison from 2016 - have any of you read either of those and loved (or hated) them?

Sequels You Are Most Anticipating in 2018?
I'm looking forward to Leah On The Offbeat by Becky Albertalli, which features Leah from Simon and the Homo Sapiens Agenda and will be out in April, Julie Murphy's Puddin', the companion to Dumplin', which is coming in May. Some sequels I didn't get to this year were The Boy on the Bridge  by M.R. Carey (sequel to The Girl with All the Gifts), The Astonishing Mistakes of Dahlia Moss by Max Wirestone (loved the first geeky mystery featuring Dahlia)

Things You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2018?
Read books I'm actually interested in instead of just reading whatever I can get for free as a reviewer - I think doing that contributed to me getting burnt out on both reading and blogging. I always told my students it was okay to abandon a book they weren't loving, but I have a very hard time doing that myself. I also want to actually read the physical books I have on my shelves that I haven't gotten to yet because I'm usually reading library books from Overdrive on my Kindle. 

I'm BACK! With news!

Well, hi there. Again.

I didn't intend to take a 5-month hiatus from blogging, but it's time to come back, because I miss engaging with friends from all over the place about what we're reading, what concerts we're going to, and more importantly, how we deal with real life when it smacks us in the face and how we celebrate when wonderful things come our way.

What happened in July? I traveled to St. Louis for a week-long training for my new position at work as a school director and instructional coach, and from then on I haven't had a slow day. I had to focus all of my mental energy and most of my physical energy on the day-to-day work of building a culture, helping teachers orient students to a new style of learning, mastering the ins and outs of a new online learning management system - basically, putting on my big girl pants and becoming the school reformer I've dreamed of being. During that work, blogging seemed frivolous. Had I ever added anything to the world by blogging, or was I adding to a lot of noise? Why did I ever think I was qualified to give anyone advice or suggestions about homemaking when I was figuring it all out myself? Moreover, I imagined a parent coming across Beyond the Aisle and, as a result, not taking my school seriously.

So while I am back, I will be doing things differently. I am not going to put pressure on myself to blog multiple times per week, because that made blogging feel like a task rather than a hobby. I'm not going to try to be anyone else's personal shopper or party planner, but I am going to continue to share cool things that I like. I still want to include book, movie, and concert reviews, but only when I'm truly impressed or moved. So why am I returning now?

I mentioned the biggest thing bringing me back to blogging already - I missed this community. Or perhaps, I miss the idea of the community I always wanted to build around this blog. Because reader, I am facing the biggest challenge and most amazing blessing of my life so far - I am going to be a mom!

Right now I am seventeen weeks pregnant with Baby Q. The verse from Psalm 30, "You have turned my weeping into dancing," came into my heart as soon as I had confirmation. Having polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), I had anticipated that becoming pregnant would be difficult for me, and given my mom's medical history I had tried my best to prepare myself for a miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, or the possibility that I might not ever be able to carry a baby. Instead, Mr. Q and I finally listened to our friends who'd been saying, "if you wait until you're 'ready,' you'll never have kids," decided we were open to the possibility of having a baby, nd God made that possibility a reality very quickly. 

So far, my pregnancy has been healthy and fairly smooth - I did deal with some morning sickness first trimester ("morning sickness", by the way, is an incredibly misleading term), and I have pretty killer heartburn constantly, but it is nothing I can't manage. I've lost rather than gained weight, but I am fairly sure it's because I'm trying to eat super clean and be active for at least a little while every day for Baby Q's sake. My mom and Mr. Q's parents and sister are over the moon excited, and my friends at work are very understanding of the days that I just need to sit at my desk instead of coaching in classrooms. I look forward to documenting Baby Q's progress here, and I know that those of you who are already mamas will have lots of helpful stories to share with me. I've missed you all, and I'm excited to be back.

2016 Reader Survey Reflection

At the beginning of the month, I was inspired to create a reader survey to get to know you better and learn more about which blog content you enjoy, what content you're not feeling anymore, and what you want to see more of in the future. Thank you so much to everyone who responded to the survey!

year in review - favorite posts of 2015

Along with the most popular posts of the year, I always like to shine a little spotlight on my personal favorites. Here are the posts I enjoyed creating and writing, the ones I enjoyed re-reading the most, and the posts that were most meaningful to me in 2015.

Inner Bookworm: My TBR List - I'm a sucker for surveys that encourage me to reflect on my reading preferences and behaviors - which is no surprise, since I'm constantly asking my students to journal about their goals and progress. I practice what I preach, y'all. I wrote a little here about how I use Interactive Notebooks at school, and I completely changed the way I use those this past semester, so I'll probably write a post about them on my classroom blog soon.

A Letter to My Younger Self - This was a really great topic from The Circle link-up. I decided to write to myself as a first-year college student. I'd also like to write to my middle/high school self and add the advice, participate in P.E. class and learn how sports work.

Style: My Second Stitch Fix - Not my most successful Fix, but it did include my favorite dress, which I refer to as my "Fleetwood Mac dress" because it was perfect concert attire.

If I Could... - Totally ripped off the idea from Micah, Holly, Erin, and Katie, but this post ended up being more personal and insightful than I imagined.

16 Weird Ways to Celebrate Star Wars Day - Once in a while I come up with a really oddball idea for a blog post. I still love this post. It truly was the year of Star Wars.

Retro Summer Style: Aquamarine and Gingham - One of Pantone's colors for summer, a major pattern trend, and a TV show/book that were right up my alley all came together to inspire one of my all-time favorite style boards. Nicole called it "daintiest little inspo board" and I think that comment was right on target - I found myself adding little '60s touches to my outfits throughout late summer and fall. I need this kind of inspiration more often.

Travelogue: Charleston, South Carolina - We had an absolutely lovely, though short vacation to Charleston this summer, and I was so happy to finally be in the city I'd read and dreamed about. It was every bit as beautiful as I'd imagined. We're so lucky to have so many amazing places within driving distance, and I'm hoping we'll have the time and budget for even more travel in 2016. I think the biggest lesson I learned from Charleston was that vacations don't have to be long or obsessively planned - exploring random streets and following friends' recommendations or random Yelp reviews can be just as memorable as a scheduled tour or complicated reservation.

Midsummer According to Instagram - I participated in several Instagram style challenges this summer, primarily to keep myself from defaulting to pajamas every day (#teacherproblems). I did not expect so many compliments from real-life friends who genuinely liked seeing my outfits every day and thought they were creative - one friend even asked if I was buying new things just for the challenges (I wasn't!).

#ROANOKESTRONG - This post was very meaningful for me to write, and I wish I hadn't had to write it. My community experienced tragedy this year that I will never forget, and for a while I wasn't sure we'd ever be able to return to normal life. Seeing Alison Parker and Adam Ward's family and friends out and about, experiencing and enjoying life after such an excruciating loss, has been really inspiring. 

#5FandomFriday: Favorite Fictional Teachers - My topic suggestion got picked for October, and I knew exactly who my list would include.

Halloween Recap: Our Adventures as Cap and Peggy - This was my favorite Halloween ever. Peggy Carter is my favorite Marvel character, I love history, and I love dressing up. It was perfect, and I have the best husband in the world.

Holiday Craft: DIY World Map Ornaments - I'm so happy with how these turned out, and really hoping some other crafty folks will use this idea! When my mom came over for Christmas Eve, I asked her if she liked my new DIY ornaments, and she looked at our tree and said, "I don't see any handmade ornaments." Crafting win!

Bloggers, what were your favorite posts from 2015? 

Share your links in the comments!

year in review: most popular posts of 2015

It's time to say goodbye to 2015, and time for me to look back on the status of the blog this year.  Google Analytics, Blogger, and Pinterest are handy tools to use to see what posts were popular this year and where visitors to Beyond the Aisle come from - I try not to obsess over stats, but they are definitely interesting to see.

Here's a peek at my stats from 2015:
Visitors - 17,336 (up over 1,000 from last year!)
Pageviews - 25,157 (up over 2,000 from last year!)

Visitors from these countries visited Beyond the Aisle in 2015:
1. United States
2. Germany (up from #5 last year!)
3. Canada
4. United Kingdom
5. Australia
6. Russia
7. France
8. Netherlands
9. Japan
10. Brazi

These cities are home to the most Beyond the Aisle readers:
1. Dresden
2. Boston
3. Baltimore (up from #6 last year!)
4. New York
5. Columbus
6. Miami
7. Charlottesville
8. Houston
9. Chicago 
10. Los Angeles

30% of Beyond the Aisle readers are 25-34 years old.
90.8% are female.

Most popular posts:

10. End of Year Book Survey

The Perpetual Page-Turner's end-of-year book survey is really comprehensive - I'll be completing the newest edition soon - and it was fun to look back on my favorites (and not-so-favorites) from 2014. In 2014, I read 45 books. My favorites were Outlander and Wild, I finally read Good Omens after hearing about it for years from fellow geek girls, I gave into Gone Girl and The Fault In Our Stars mania, and I told every Christian woman I knew to read A Year of Biblical Womanhood. I read some amazing books last year - I'm not sure this year really matched up, now that I look back! One of my goals as a reader for 2015 was to create a space for myself to "let my geek flag fly," and I think I've done that here on the blog this year!

9. #5FandomFriday: Halloween Costume Ideas I Love - Halloween is my favorite holiday, and I had fun making this list even though I already knew exactly who I was going to be for Halloween - PEGGY CARTER!

8. Fall TV Preview - One of my favorite posts to write! I'm a pop culture junkie and not ashamed to admit that I love TV - so much fun storytelling every week. Most of my favorites are on winter hiatus now, and several of the shows I was excited about in September were considerably less exciting to me once they actually came out.

7. Real Wedding: Rustic Elegance at Explore Park - the big project for my friend circle this year was the marriage of two members of our tribe who are just like family. Their wedding was full of creative ideas in a lovely, rustic venue.

6. Date Night Style with Weddington Way - This was a fun collaboration with a really cool company. I love creating style boards, but having parameters set for me forced me to get a little more creative than usual!

5. PMT Style Challenge: The Coziest Dress - I'm still definitely not a fashion blogger, but I really like sharing real-life, affordable styles, particularly when they fall into the "teacher fashion on a teacher budget" category. I still wear my cozy dress all the time - it can go from boho with layers and boots to preppy with a cardigan and flats. 

4. #5FandomFriday: Favorite Seasonal Foods - Apparently y'all like fall foods as much as I do! Give me squash, pumpkins, and apples and I am a happy girl.

3. My Fourth Stitch Fix - I Kept It All! - More fun clothes! This post got a boost because StitchFix featured it on their blog - that was a really cool moment for me.

2. Literary Junkies - July - I got to rave about my favorite author and look forward to new books being released for fall. I love the Literary Junkies link-up because I get to be in my element and the girls from Pink Heels Pink Truck and Life with a Side of Coffee come up with great questions. Between Literary Junkies and #5FandomFriday I feel like Beyond the Aisle has become a much better reflection of who I really am.

The Studio Nouveau via Intimate Weddings

1. Inspiration: Restaurant Wedding Receptions - I don't do them as often as I used to, but when I really feel inspired, I still love pulling together wedding planning inspiration for brides-to-be.

clicks of note: if you never leave...

get your week off to a colorful start...

LISTEN.

• Right now I'm rocking out to Andy Grammer's "Fine By Me" - best known for "Keep Your Head Up," he can pretty much do no wrong in my book. Linking up with Musical Mondays at My So-Called Chaos.

SWOON.

• Intimate Weddings rounds up gorgeous textured cakes.
• In love with a romantic New York City wedding at SMP.
• SW shows off this idyllic, rustic Texas ranch wedding.
• Would you wear a floral wedding gown? (Wedding Chicks)

SMILE.

• May desktops: Design Love Fest, Ruche, Sarah Hearts.
• Cosmo features a writer who wanders, but isn't lost.
• Apt. Therapy tests the best way to keep flowers fresh.
• Emily's list of can't-go-wrong blog post ideas is great.

FLASHBACK.

• Last year I rounded up my May favorites (still love all of them!), St. Germain pink wardrobe picks, and inspiration for a dogwood themed wedding.
• Two years ago, I rounded up ideas for a fiesta-inspired wedding, shared a Sunday Simplicity all about the 4's, counted a few blessings in life, and featured inspiration for a vintage lemon wedding.
• Three years ago, I met Ben Savage at a local movie premiere party and shared my favorite neon fashion and beauty finds and party ideas.  
• Four years ago, I made a flower girl basket and shared why my mom was walking me down the aisle.

clicks of note: over the seas I'll go 'til I'm home...

get your week off to a colorful start...

• I have long believed that the Monday after the Super Bowl should be a national holiday and mandatory day off work - because let's be honest, are any of us really going to be productive today?  Here are some fun clicks for the time you spend procrastinating.

LISTEN.

• Old Man Canyon sounds like what would happen if Mumford and Sons got together with Of Monsters and Men. This track, "The Road," appeals to the side of me that wants to run away to a log cabin in the woods. Today I'll be linking up with Musical Mondays at My So-Called Chaos.

SWOON.

• Bridal Musings is giving away a velvet ring box!
• Loving Katelyn Brooke's calm January moodboard.
• Via Style Bistro, ballerinas to follow on Instagram.
• SMP features a creative garden inspiration shoot.

SIMPLIFY.

• Lovely desktops from Cardstore, Ruche, and Sarah Hearts.
• Anthropologie's just-add-pants outfit formulas are so easy!
• Jo shares her method for choosing wine by similar tastes.
• Fifty useful, content-rich blog post ideas from Elle + Co.

FLASHBACK.

• Last year's Sunday Social was all about the 4's.  I also rounded up my favorite red picks for Valentine's Day, showed off some easy Valentine's Day party ideas, rounded up my favorite things for February and reflected on what I learned from 2013.
• Two years ago I created the Beyond the Aisle Facebook Page, shared ideas for a Valentine's girls night in, and rounded up bridal gowns with lace sleeves
• Three years ago I shared a pretty pink Sunday Simplicity post.
• Four years ago, I featured black and ivory tuxedo style inspiration and the reason I went with wholesale flowers for our wedding.

clicks of note: you're moving on the backroads by the rivers of my memories...

get your week off to a colorful start...

LISTEN.

• I've been a fan of The Band Perry since they played Roanoke's Festival in the Park back in 2010.  Their new single has a very traditional sound - Glen Campbell actually made this song popular in the 1970s, but TBP gives it a bluegrass twist.  I'm linking up with Musical Mondays at My So-Called Chaos.

SWOON.

• Loving this reading nook project at Apartment Therapy.
• A garden fete with a rich color pallete (Snippet and Ink)
• More rich colors at this Southern Wedding in Texas.
• The cutest anniversary session from SMP (with dogs!)

SMILE.

• Audrey's first style challenge for 2015 is one we can all do.
• A fun looking thrift store art project from Honestly WTF.
• Jimmy Fallon could have dated Nicole Kidman - hilarious.
• Lily Pulitzer's bright, cheery patterns are coming to Target.

LEARN.

• Elite Daily's resolutions you actually need for 2015.
• Helene has 30 winter blog post topics if you're feeling stuck.
• From the New York Times: can we make ourselves fall in love?
• Interesting: Wikipedia's top searches from each day in 2014.

FLASHBACK.

• Last year I chose my favorite styles from the Golden Globes along with hair and makeup, continued to work through Lara Casey's goal setting series by reflecting on what didn't work in 2013,
• Two years ago, Sunday Social was all about blogging.  I picked my favorite Golden Globes looks, collected ideas for bridal portraits, and shared my January blog loves.
• Three years ago I rounded up side braid hairstyles.