Category: Monthly Wrap Up

Well. After having an okay April (4 books read), I turned it around in May with an awesome month of finishing SIX books! I fully thank Bout of Books for the jumpstart my reading needed. Great books also helped 🙂

Books read: 6 (YTD: 25)

The Paris Vendetta by Steve Berry
The Blonde by Anna Godbersen
Critical Damage by Robert K. Lewis
New York Dead by Stuart Woods
Someone You Know by Brian McGilloway
The Kafka Society by Ron Felber

Pages read: 2167 (YTD: 8738)

Challenge Progress:

Eclectic Reader Challenge: 4/12
Official TBR Pile Challenge: 4/12
What’s in a Name Challenge: 1/5

Books received: 4 (see list here)

Hard copy Review books: 1
Purchased New: 3

Memes posted: 3

Events Participated In: Bout of Books

I read a total of 7 hours and 22 minutes
I read 441 pages
I finished 1 book

Recipes shared: 1

Cheesy Turkey Nachos

I knew I was going to hit the wall. I knew it was inevitable. It happened this month. I just lost the reading mojo that I had the first three months of the year. Not sure what happened, but I’m slumping pretty badly. I hope I can snap out of it relatively quickly. Regardless, here’s what I read in April:

Books read: 4 (YTD: 19)

Duke City Split by Max Austin
Children of the Revolution by Peter Robinson
Storm Front by Jim Butcher
The Spymistress by Jennifer Chiaverini 

Pages read: 1262 (YTD: 6571)

Challenge Progress:

Eclectic Reader Challenge: 3/12
Official TBR Pile Challenge: 2/12
What’s in a Name Challenge: 1/5

Books received: 6 (see list here)

Hard copy Review books: 3
Electronic Review Books: 2
Paperbackswap Box-of-Books Trade: 1

Memes posted: 5

Events Participated In: None

Recipes shared: 0

March was an awesome reading month! I have really hit a great stride in picking out the best books, ever! It’s like everything I’ve read has been so enjoyable this year! I’m terrified I’m going to hit a wall since I’ve had so many great books already! But for now, I just keep chugging along with my reading. Oh and I promise I’ll have some new recipes to share with you in April! I’ve been cooking a bit more lately and I’ve already got at least one to share! Anyway, here’s what I read in March:

Books read: 6 (YTD: 15)

Watching the Dark by Peter Robinson
Bye Bye, Baby by Max Allan Collins
The Sound of Broken Glass by Deborah Crombie
The Accident by Chris Pavone
The Weight of Blood by Laura McHugh
Club Dead by Charlaine Harris

Pages read: 1966 (YTD: 5309)

Challenge Progress:

Eclectic Reader Challenge: 3/12
Official TBR Pile Challenge: 2/12
What’s in a Name Challenge: 1/5

Books received: 26 (see list here)

Purchased New: 3
Purchased Used: 5
Hard copy Review books: 4
Electronic Review Books: 2
Paperbackswap Point: 6
Paperbackswap Box-of-Books Trade: 5
Grandmother: 1

Memes posted: 7

Events Participated In: None

Recipes shared: 0

February turned out to be a pretty decent month. I actually really enjoyed all the books I read this month. The only thing disappointing is that I was only able to read one of my own books, and I didn’t make it a priority to read a book for the TBR Challenge. I’m also a little disappointed that I wasn’t able to share any recipes this month. But honestly, I only tried one new recipe and it was a bit of a bust. Oh well, there’s always next month 🙂

Books read: 5 (YTD: 9)

The Execution by Dick Wolf
The Innocent Sleep by Karen Perry 
Fade Away by Harlan Coben
Fortunate Son by David Marlett
Precious Thing by Colette McBeth (Review coming 3/4/14)

Pages read: 1583 (YTD: 3343)

Challenge Progress:

Eclectic Reader Challenge: 3/12
Official TBR Pile Challenge: 1/12
What’s in a Name Challenge: 1/6

Books received: 13 (see list here)

Purchased at Used Book Store: 10
Hard copy Review books: 3

Memes posted: 5

Events Participated In: None

Recipes shared: 0

I haven’t done a monthly wrap-up post in what feels like forever. But part of my personal resolutions for this blog was to keep myself on track by posting them again. It’s just a way for me to focus on my blog a little more than I have been in the last year or so. I have a new resolve to make this blog into something more stable and I’m determined to see it through!

I’m sure the format of these posts will change until I find one that I like best, so bear with me on that. But here’s what I’ve got for you this month..

Books read: 4

The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon (Review coming 2/11/14)
Little Girl Lost by Brian McGilloway (Review coming 2/18/14)
The Hostage by W.E.B. Griffin
Separation of Power by Vince Flynn

Pages read: 1760

Challenge Progress:

Eclectic Reader Challenge: 2/12
Official TBR Pile Challenge: 1/12
What’s in a Name Challenge: 1/6

Books received: 16 (see list here)

Purchased New: 4
Received from Paperbackswap: 2
E-Galleys: 4
Hard copy Review books: 2
From my Grandmother: 4

Memes posted: 8

Events Participated In: Bout of Books

I read a total of 7 hours and 36 minutes
I read 467 pages
I finished 1 book

Recipes shared: 2

Mexican Lasagna
Pizza Chicken Roll-Ups

Wow. Did I have one heck of a reading month! SEVEN books! Say what?! Seriously it’s been over a year since I’ve read that many books in one month! I just had some really good reads and never got bogged down. There are a couple of books that I can’t link to their reviews yet … one is scheduled for later in February and one is scheduled for April.

Clicking on the book covers will take you to the reviews …except for A Murder at Rosamund’s Gate and The Man From 2063 which are scheduled for April 23rd and February 26th, respectively.

DNF #1

Books Read: 7
Pages Read: 2,322
New-to-Me Authors: 6
Fiction: 7

• Historical Fiction: 2
• Mystery/Thriller: 4
• Romantic Suspense: 1

Non-Fiction: 0
Review Books: 6
Personal Books: 1
Books Acquired: 22
Books Sent to New Homes: 5
Favorite Book Read this Month: Oooh, so hard to pick …. probably The One I Left Behind with A Murder at Rosamund’s Gate very close behind.

Okay, so I’m only a few days late. It’s not like I’ve been super busy, just really lazy is more accurate. There were even a couple of nights last week when I didn’t even turn the computer on. And I really know better than that because then my Google Reader gets out of hand and I hate being tempted to push that nasty “Mark All as Read” button. I usually don’t push it unless it’s really out of hand, like when I get back from a vacation.

Anyway, visually here’s what I read in January, clicking on the image will take you to my review:

Impressive, I know. I’m just not reading a whole lot at a time … just little snippets here and there. It definitely makes finishing a book in a timely manner very difficult.

And for a quick breakdown of the numbers:

*Books Read: 3
*Fiction: 3
*Non-Fiction: 0
*Pages Read: 1,326
*Best Book: Damage by John Lescroart
*Books Acquired: 9
*Books Sent to New Homes: 6

That wraps up my reviews for January. I’m also going to start wrapping up my non-review posts this year.

• I broke down my 2011 reading with lots of nifty charts and graphs.
• I shared something very personal going on with my pregnancy. I have come to terms with what is discussed in this post, I am no longer stressing about it. What happens, happens.
• I had two rambling posts. You can find them here and here.
• My furbaby, Buster, turned 3 this year … check out just a small sampling of the cutest pictures I have of him!
• I had two Mailbox Monday posts … one spotlighted a book I was super excited to get and the other is the next book in a series that I’m enjoying.

So, I’m not really sure what will be coming up this week on the blog yet. I don’t have a Mailbox Monday post for this week, no books came in. (Not like that’s such a terrible thing) I am about 150 pages from finishing the book I’m currently reading, Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow. I hope to get that finished up and a review posted. I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow, I’m sure I will post something about what I find out, even though nothing exciting is scheduled for this appointment … just a normal check-up.

I finally got the nursery furniture ordered and am starting to really think about how I want to decorate. I have known for some time that I want a sports theme, and I think I’m going to put some Fatheads on the walls for decorations rather than having to paint. I’m weird, I know. But I’m really not impressed by the decorations I’ve seen in stores. I know this will sound silly, but they all seem so babyish. I have yet to find a sports theme without monkeys or bears or something silly on them. I’m just not into that. So I figure I can just decorate with Fatheads and they will grow with G. My family thinks I’m nuts, but my husband is all for it! Haha!

Well I think that’s about all I’ve got for right now. I hope everyone has a good up-coming week. I will be busy at work, so who knows how much reading I will really get done. And I still need to get to working on my books for the carpet guys, I still don’t know where I’m going to put them all temporarily! Ughhhh.

Once again, I had a terrible reading month. I’m still struggling with the nausea. And because of that, I’m just simply not reading. But as I said last month, it’s okay 🙂

Just like in October, I only read 3 books in November. But they were all pretty good books.

Visually:

Statistically:

• Books Read: 3
• Pages Read: 1,176
• Rating Breakdown:
  * 5/5 – 1
  *4/5 – 1
  *3.5/5 – 1
• New Authors: 1
• Fiction: 3
• Non-Fiction: 0
• Favorite For the Month: The Confession by John Grisham
• Least Favorite For the Month: The Baffled Beatlemaniac Caper by Sally Carpenter
• Number of Books I Acquired This Month: 9
• Number of Books I Sent to New Homes This Month: 1

Well after reading up a storm in August and September it was bound to happen: a slump. And really it’s not a big deal. I’ve got other things going on in my life right now. I’m nauseous 24/7 with “morning” sickness (yeah, like that’s an accurate term when it’s 10:30pm and I’m running to the bathroom). Monday (11/7) will mark the 5th week of the nausea. Since I’m only going to be 10 weeks on 11/7, I could have a few more weeks of this. But a girl can hope it will end sooner than later, right?

So I guess I have put off the inevitable. I have to share my embarrassingly small reading month for October. Having read 18 books in August and September, it pains me to say that I only finished 3 (THREE!) books in October. And I don’t really expect my reading to pick up anytime soon. Between everything that’s going on with my body right now and then a baby coming next year, how am I supposed to make time to read anyway? I guess I’ll work it out eventually, but it will take time and I’m warning my readers right now: I’m going to be hit or miss around here.

Oh and I still have to write a review for Envy, it’s only been ages since I finished it. *Sigh*

Visually:

Statistically:

• Books Read: 3
• Pages Read: 3
• Rating Breakdown: 1,203
  * 5/5 – 1
  *4.5/5 – 0
  *4/5 – 1
  *3.5/5 – 1
  *3/5 –
• New Authors: 1
• Fiction: 3
• Non-Fiction: 0
• Favorite For the Month: Envy by Gregg Olsen
• Least Favorite For the Month: The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen
• Number of Books I Acquired This Month: 18
• Number of Books I Sent to New Homes This Month: 33

September was another really good reading month. I read some really good books and am very pleased with where I stand for the year right now. I was also glad  to know that I didn’t bring in too many books this month, I definitely need a break from that 🙂

Visually:

Statistically:

• Books Read: 9
• Pages Read: 3,408
• Rating Breakdown:
  * 5/5 – 3
  *4.5/5 – 5
  *4/5 – 0
  *3.5/5 – 0
  *3/5 – 1
• New Authors: 6
• Fiction: 7
• Non-Fiction: 2
• Favorite For the Month: It’s Classified by Nicolle Wallace
• Least Favorite For the Month: The Blue Edge of Midnight by Jonathon King
• Number of Books I Acquired This Month: 10
• Number of Books I Sent to New Homes This Month: 11