September End of the Month Wrap-Up Post

Okay, September has been a crazy, crazy month!  Very busy, but also the end of the month was awesome because of my trip to New Orleans for NOLA StoryCon!  I'll share more about all of that probably in my end of the week post this coming Sunday.  This post is for last month, and I kind of have a set format that I'm going to try to stick to in order to save time.

Unfortunately, I didn't get too many people to sign up this year.  Only 3 people besides myself.  So I'm thinking, if they are okay with it, I may just give them each a $10 gift card or order from TBD just for participating and forget the giveaway rafflecopter.  I'll be getting in contact with them sometime this week.  As for how I did with my own goals on this, my goal was 8, and I only got 6 done:

1. Swan Riders (Prisoners of Peace #2) by Erin Bow *
2. Redeeming Trust (sequel to Broken Trust) by Michelle Sodaro *
3. One King's Way (On Dublin Street # 6.5) by Samantha Young
4. Cream of the Crop (Hudson Valley #2) by Alice Clayton
5. Elementals 4:  The Portal to Kerberos by Michelle Madow
6. Endless Knight (The Arcana Chronicles #2) by Kresley Cole

One of the sequels I haven't had a chance to review yet, so I don't have a link for you to click on yet.  I'm thinking next year I'm not going to do this challenge.  Doesn't seem to be catching on, in fact seems to be kind of dying.  Since next year I want to focus more on writing, this will probably fall right in line with that.

I did not get a discussion posted in September.  :-(  I may try to  make up for it when I do the Blog Ahead Challenge this month to get ready for November and NaNoWriMo.  So look forward to possibly two discussions in November.

I got quite a few in this month it seems.  Some new series that I do love, and a couple that are authors I'm not going to be reading more by.  I've only started two of the series I planned to start, but have definitely gone way past the goal of four new series for the year.  If you're interested in joining into this challenge, you still can by going HERE. 

• Smut by Karina Halle
• Draw (Gentry Boys #1) by Cora Brent
• Luck on the Line (On the Verge #1) by Zoraida Cordova
• All Lined Up (Rusk University #1) by Cora Carmack
• Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine
• Inclusions (Flawless #1) by Emily Duvall
• Legal by Bree Dahlia
• The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich

 Only one this month.  Still not so great.  And I added a ton of new books, especially after NOLA StoryCon this past weekend.

• The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich

Now this month, when they did some revamping to the website, I realized I had a few on there that I needed to post reviews on. And by doing that, I ended up raising my percentage to 73%!  Yay!  I actually went and found 9 books I'd requested and hadn't done reviews/feedback for.  So technically I didn't really do any this month to share, but I did get my % up by going back and making up for lost time on some others.

I really didn't do any big series enders this time.  But I do have a second book in a duology, I think I can count that.

• Redeeming Trust (Broken Trust #2) by Michelle Sodaro

One of my resolutions for next year is definitely going to be to not have so many challenges and resolutions to do each month!  LOL!  Once again, I'll be doing the short, short version.

• Still doing well with  not downloading egalleys from Netgalley or Edelweiss, but have asked a few tour groups for review books.  Need to cut back on that as well!
• Still basically posting every day.
• End of month post - check!
• Still getting two reviews a week at least, but still have a stack of books needing to be reviewed!  Must work on that this month.  I hope.  I did post two reviews that were books in the same series together in one post, so that was a good thing.  Did some other posting of more than one review a day when I had the time.
• I had money saved clear up until a couple weeks before I was going to New Orleans.  Then I ended up taking some clothes back to get money back.  And I ended up selling my laptop, or supposedly selling it.  Hopefully by the time this post goes live on Thursday, I will have the money.  I just wish I'd had it before I went to New Orleans.  However, thanks to the trip, once I get the money from the laptop, it will be to pay some bills off.
• My walking goal didn't quite make it the whole month.  With getting really busy getting ready for New Orleans, I let it slide.  This month I really need to get back on track to the three times a week.  

Some statistics from the past month:

• # of books read:  19 (same as last month)
• # of full reviews posted on blog:  15
• # of mini-reviews posted on blog:  8

Possible October TBR:

• Illusion (The Heir of Watson Island #3) by Martina Boone
• Black Widow #2:  Red Vengeance by Margaret Stohl
• Glitter by Aprilynne Pike
• The Diabolic by SJ Kincaid
• Fangirl  by Rainbow Rowell
• Bright Side by Kim Holden
• Be With Me (Wait for You #2) by J. Lynn
• Ice-Out (sequel to Frozen) by Mary Casanova
• The Women in the Walls by Amy Lukavics
• Wrecked by Maria Padian
• Secrets in the Snow by Michaela MacColl
• The Boy is Back by Meg Cabot
• I'm Not Your Manic Pixie Dream Girl by Gretchen McNeil
• Foreplay (The Ivy Chronicles #1) by Sophie Jordan
• Point of Retreated (Slammed #2) by Colleen Hoover
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts 1 and 2

Now that does not include any ebooks that I may get to as well.  And a few listed up there are audiobooks.

How was your September?

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2016 and Two New Challenges.

 

It's 2016!  Hopefully a better year for everyone, whether you had a good or bad 2015.  I'm planning to get more organized with my blog this year, and I was already doing  pretty well this past year.  But along with the organization, I'm going to do a couple more Challenges, and part of that organization will include keeping track of how I'm doing with those Challenges at the end of each month.  I already posted about doing the TBR Pile Reading Challenge, as well as my own It's New to Me Series Starter Challenge.  Today I'm going to share two other challenges I've decided to join in on, the 2016 Netgalley Reading Challenge, and the 2016 Bookish Resolutions Challenge.  

2016 Netgalley Reading Challenge:

The purpose of this is to get your feedback rating on Netgalley up to 80%.  I was there at one time.  But I've since dropped to 70%.  I'm going to start out easy on my goal with this one for this first year I'm trying, and try to give feedback on 10 books, new or old requests, on Netgalley.

 

2016 Bookish Resolutions Challenge:

I usually try to do some resolutions for my blog, and when I came across this challenge, it sounded like the right way to go this year.   

Blogging goals:

•  Subscribe to comments - I always make sure to reply to comments on my blog, and I do go comment on other blogs, but I rarely go back and see if I got a reply from the owner of the blog.  So this year, I'm going to subscribe to replies to my comments and be sure to go back and join into any conversations that may start when I post a comment.  
• Only download 2 e-galleys per week - In order to keep myself from ending up like I did at the end of this year, with having to give up and not read everything before it expired, I will only allow myself to actually download 2 e-galleys a week.  In fact, I may only write if they are ones I can download, and only download them when I get to the point where I'm ready to read them. That will help on Netgalley, with not dropping my feedback average anymore.  
• One goal I had last year was to post every day of the week.  I'm not going to keep that up, it just got to be too much.  Not that it won't ever happen, it's just not something I have to do.  In order to help with this, I will not sign up for more than one tour a week, unless, of course, one that I cannot skip comes around.
• This year I will have an end of the month post EVERY month, where I check in with all of the challenges I'm doing and keep track of them.
• I will keep one of my same goals from last year, at least two reviews every week.  I feel that is an important thing, as my blog is supposed to be about book reviews mostly, and that is why I started it.

Reading goals:

• I have several books that were recommended to me, and are actually YA books.  So my goal this year is to read more of my recommended books.  I won't set this one too high, as a lot of my recommendations aren't ones I would normally read.  I think I'll set it at 3 or 4.
• I used to have a goal with classics.  I still have a few on my shelves that I had planned to read before I got stuck on the last classic I tried.  So I will set a goal to get to those this year.  Maybe 3-4.
• Of course my Goodreads goal is 140 books.

Personal goals:

• First, I have GOT to start walking again.  I'm paying for membership at Planet Fitness, which is only $10 a month, but still.  Plus I need to lose weight, and that is the only way to really get it going.
• Save money to fix/replace my air conditioner.  That should have been done last year, but I was able to get through this summer with my A/C working okay.  
• Keep house organized/clean.  Now, part of this has to do with dealing with my dogs.  So that is something I'll have to figure out completely. But my dogs are staying with a friend today and tomorrow, so that I'll have all tomorrow to get at least a start on that.  

So those are my goals.  I plan to check back in at the end of every month to see just how I did this time!

Sunday Post #46 and Stacking the Shelves December 20th, 2015

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted  @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news ~ A post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme.  I had a busy week last week!

Last week on the blog:

• Blog tours:  The Concealed by Sarah Kleck (Giveaway),  Ascendancy by Karri Thompson (Giveaway),  Half in Love with Death by Emily Ross (Giveaway)
• Reviews:  Until Beth by Lisa Amowitz, Evertrue by Brodi Ashton
• Cover Characteristic:  Snakes
• Waiting on Wednesday:  Wax by Gina Damico

Last week was really busy with it being the last week of school before our winter break.  Not only that, we got our huge delivery of the books our library ordered to refresh and update our collection.  Over two thousand books, in 99 boxes.  Yeah, all week I was singing:  "99 boxes of new books in the library, 99 boxes of books, open one up, shelve all the books, 98 boxes of new books in the library."  Try to get that out of your  head now.  I've still got sign ups for my "It's New to Me" Challenge going, as well as the giveaways for even just promoting it for me.  I'm thinking of maybe even changing the rules of the challenge so that it's not just new series, but maybe it could be new authors as well.  For new, I mean authors that you keep hearing about, and keep meaning to read, but have yet to start.  Just an idea.  Here are the links to the challenge and other giveaways I've got going till the end of the month.

• It's New to Me Challenge
• Debut author:  Lance Rubin
• Debut author:  Holly Bodger

This week on the blog:

• Waiting on Wednesday
• Top 10 of 2015 Challenge:   Best books read, best covers, Best -------of 2015(haven't decided, maybe bad boys), Best book boyfriends, Top 10 I'm looking forward to in 2016
• Reviews:  HEAR by Robin Epstein, The Wicked Will Rise by Danielle Paige (audiobook)
• Possible Review:  Every Last Breath by Jennifer L. Armentrout
• Possible Challenge Sign-ups:  2016 Bookish Resolutions,  2016 TBR Reading Pile Challenge, 
• Possible Christmas GIF post

Looking forward to doing the fun top 10 lists.  A couple reviews, although one book I'm reading right now I probably won't be reviewing till it comes out later as part of a blog tour.  No school this week, although I'll still be working at the bookstore Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.  I don't really want to work so much, but I'm happy for the money.  Plus, most of the time the hours are night, or if they are day, it's not till like 10 am, so definitely sleeping in, which is nice for staying up late and reading.  I actually don't have any tours I signed up to be a part of this week for a change.  Of course with the holiday this week, Thursday I'll be celebrating Christmas with my mom, stepdad, brother, sister-in-law, and my sweet 3 year old niece.  Then on Christmas day I'll celebrate with my dad, stepmom, and two sisters. 

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.  It is a way for us to share the new books we have collected.  Once again I had a major book haul this week.  And some awesome ones at that!Physical books:

These four books came from the Scholastic Warehouse sale.  All were half price.  I now, or as soon as one more trade comes through, will have all the Lunar Chronicles books ready to sit down and just read all the way through!

The first book you see is a book that was self-published by the Young Writers group at the high school where I am a librarian last year.  It contains poems and short stories that they wrote.  I finally got a copy for myself, as well as a copy for my library.  The second book is the final book in the Rot and Ruin series by Jonathan Maberry.  I would like to read it before the end of the year to add to my Series Ender Challenge goal.   

These two books I won.  The first one was through the Titans Thursday giveaway that Author Victoria Scott held.  I got to pick any book I wanted from the Book Depository.  The 2nd one I won from Britt at Please Feed the Bookworm.  However I now have two copies of this ARC, so one of them will probably be going up for trade on either Twitter or the Facebook group I've been trading in lately.

These two I got through trades.  I hadn't heard of Newt's Emerald until I saw it on a list the person had for trade.  I'm interested to see how it is!  Ice Kissed I've already read, and loved.  But I read the whole series as e-galleys, so I now need to own them, especially with those beautiful covers.  I still need the first and last books.

And the most exciting of all the books I got this week:

The box showed up and said "Ready to Ride".  I knew right away what was inside, an ARC for Victoria Scott's upcoming book Titans.  I can't wait to pick it up and get started!  The ARC itself had a plain white cover, so there was a poster in the box with it.

Netgalley:

Edelweiss:

Now I know I said I was going to try to calm down on egalleys.  But what I've done, is write them down in my calendar, and then if I get time to get to them, I will go download them.  They are all ones that I was auto-approved for, so don't have to request them.  They'll be there until a certain date for me to download if I want to.  

So that is all I added to my bookshelves this week.  And also what I've got coming up.  I'm hoping to do another holiday post on Christmas with lots of Supernatural and other awesome gifs.  What did you add to your shelves this weekend, and what are you looking forward to this week?