Monthly Recap: May



So the month of May has come and gone in no time at all. Seriously, where did the time go? In this month I worked a lot, overtime will mean good pay but also means limited sleep and an unhappy me. My cousin finally had her baby and it was a little girl as I predicted. I went cinema far too much and scheduled too few posts. I hit a reading/life slump of epic proportions and really need to get through it soon. I went back to watching the US Office obsessively, I wish Jim Halpert existed because I would marry him. 


May

I read 9 books.

I am not happy with me, me failed!

Reviewed on blog:

Goddess by Laura Powell 3.5/5
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart 5/5
The Art of Lainey by Paula Stokes 2/5
Boys Like You by Juliana Stone 2.5/5
Life By Committee by Corey Ann Haydu 2/5 
Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas 5/5
The Distance Between Us by Kasie West 5/5 
Signed, Skye Harper by Carol Lynch Williams 2/5 
Cinder by Marissa Meyer 4/5

My average rating for reviewed books was 3.5/5, so an okay month. I look at the books I read and see some amazing books. We Were Liars completely blew me away and I was so happy it lived up to all the hype. Dangerous Girls is one that is completely underappreciated and needs more love. It's an amazing book and I highly recommend it. The Distance Between Us was such a sweet read, I became an instant Kasie West fan.



Challenges

TBR Pile Challenge

My goal: 50+ books

Have read so far: 14 books

HA!!! And I honestly thought I would read 50+ books. Yup, that's not happening.



Falling For YA
Netgalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge

My goal: 50 books

Read so far: 29 books

This one is looking a lot better and I am actually ahead on it, which is good. Hopefully I can finish it soon.





Series Challenge Button take2
Series Challenge

My goal is to complete between 7-11 series this year.

Series finished: 4 series

1. The Program & The Treatment by Suzanne Young
3. Starters & Enders by Lissa Price


4. Nantucket Blue & Nantucket Red by Leila Howland

I haven't completed any more this month, unfortunately. 



First In A Series Challenge

My goal is to start 20 series this year. 

So far I have started 14 series.

I am pretty close to this, should be able to hit the next level if I continue at this rate. 





I recently did a post about sharing the blogger love and so I wanted to start sharing some posts I enjoyed  or found interesting each month. I'll have to start bookmarking them so I don't forget them. This month will only have a few as I haven't bookmarked very many this month. I definitely need to get better at that. Here it goes:


Amanda at Book Badger put together a brilliant list of discussion post topics that people could use, talked about the importance of blog design & gave some love to her local libraries.

Notebook Sisters celebrate their 3 year blog birthday, asked publicists what they think of negative reviews, did some more hilarious Honest YA Cover & Blurbs

I discovered Debby's post on Full Fathom Five and why she boycotts them over at Snuggly Oranges.

Kelly at The Diva Booknerd started a Book Blogger Pledge and pledged to be a better book blogger. Go sign it if you haven't already. 

Olivia over at Olivia's Catastrophe shared the 10 things Finding Nemo has taught her. I found them hilarious and it made me giggle as I have been writing What Disney Taught Me posts myself (the first goes up Monday!). Mine are a lot less serious though, she makes some great points. 

I discovered Allie's post about YA rules that must be obeyed and I laughed like mental. All so true. She also discussed how long is too long when it comes to book series.

Jamie at The Perpetual Page Turner had me laughing so hard and nodding along to her list of things her husband is sick of hearing. My boyfriend is just as sick of hearing me say all of those, especially "We need new bookshelves" and "I know you don't care but I HAVE TO TELL YOU ABOUT THIS BOOK!"

The Hachette v Amazon shit storm has created a lot of blog posts. Here's author Jay Kristoff's take on it, Ellie's post & David Gaughran asks us not to believe the spin.

The Book Addicts Guide gave a great list of Young Adult & Adult Fiction books with crossover appeal.

And The Loony Teen Writer definitely hit the nail on the head with her post about Skyscraper Syndrome.




One chance to win a Kindle Fire HDX, to enter go here.

You can also enter my 1,000 Bloglovin followers giveaway below. For full details go here.






Signed, Skye Harper by Carol Lynch Williams: Review
Discussion: How Book Series Made Me Their Bitch
Top Ten Tuesday: Mind-Blowing Book Endings
Cinder by Marissa Meyer: Review
Films for Thoughts on Thursday: Godzilla 
Five Friday Favourites: Not-So-Favourite Popular Books




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20 comments:

  1. Allie @ Little Birdie Books1 June 2014 at 10:33

    You know, I totally keep forgetting to put my challenge progress in my monthly updates! I have such a fish memory.

    You're doing so well though - especially in the series challenge and the TBR one. I don't know what you're talking about, finishing 14 TBR books is great! You've got the rest of the year to do the other 36. I've only done 13 myself lol.

    (Also, thanks for the mention! :D)

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    1. Charnell @ Reviews from a Bookworm2 June 2014 at 20:43

      I am blatantly not going to do 50 but at least I have read some. If I could at least get through 30 then I think I would be happy! :) You're welcome, I love your posts :)

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  2. CG @ Paper Fury1 June 2014 at 11:20

    Woah, you are doing a LOT of challenges there. o.O I should maybe consider doing at least ONE challenge....I always feel constricted, though. Heh. But gosh I need something that'll make me stay on track with series. I either read ALL the books or just read one and wander off. lol! I can't remember how many books I read this month. It was less than 15 though, which I mean, maybe that's good? Im used to reading more! I've been swallowed...*looks around guiltily and whispers* by Supernatural. I was a LOT more productive when I didn't watch TV.

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    1. Charnell @ Reviews from a Bookworm3 June 2014 at 10:14

      I know. I signed up for the series ones after I promised myself I would start completing more series this year, I'm doing okay at the minute but not amazing. Don't ever feel guilt about being swallowed by Supernatural, I was terrible for that. Used to just sit and watch the DVDs when the boyfriend was at work, I'd spend like twelve hours a day doing it. Totally worth it ;)

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  3. Amanda Gray1 June 2014 at 11:29

    Ooo, good recap, so much happened this month without you even knowing it! Trust me hunny, for the moods we've been in, 9 and 10 books is good, that's over two books a week and that's good, trust me! Thank you for linking me though, it still sends me giddy when I see people doing that, it's like, an insane feeling of being loved, but I best stop or I'll start gushing everywhere. Since I stopped doing my challenge recaps, I have no idea where I am on those, so I'll see and find out, so behind of the little things! :O Here's to June!

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    1. Charnell @ Reviews from a Bookworm3 June 2014 at 10:15

      I think it's actually really good now too, I've got to accept that I'm not going to be getting through 15 books a month. Hopefully I can pick it up a bit this month and get a few more done. I'm aiming for 12 :)

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  4. Ula1 June 2014 at 17:00

    You had a busy month! So much has happened!
    I have to check out the posts you linked. I know about FFF, I posted about it recently myself. I am so disgusted with Frey... And then I found out he's having a book published, a YA rip-off of THG. So nasty I can't even say...

    MHAM
    DRC EU/UK Giveaway

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    1. Charnell @ Reviews from a Bookworm3 June 2014 at 10:16

      I know, it has made me positive that I never want to buy another one of his books. Those contracts are just awful and I feel pretty bad for any author that signs one.

      Delete
  5. Kindlemom1 June 2014 at 20:35

    You know for some reason May was a super hard month for me book wise as well, I either didn't feel like reading or didn't have the time to when I did. Super busy. sick and then super busy again.

    I am so looking forward to a nice calm summer.

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    1. Charnell @ Reviews from a Bookworm3 June 2014 at 10:17

      Me too, hopefully I can get more done then but I doubt it.

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  6. Unknown1 June 2014 at 23:59

    I'm doing well on all of my challenges, except the debut authors. I don't mean to pass those books up, I just have too many series at hand!

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    1. Charnell @ Reviews from a Bookworm3 June 2014 at 10:18

      I don't know how I did for debut authors this year, glad I didn't sign up for that one as I probably would have failed at it.

      Delete
  7. yaescapefromreality2 June 2014 at 14:38

    Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica. Love that!!! I still need to read Dangerous Girls and We Were Liars, but they are definitely on the list. I should keep track of series I finish, maybe it will make me feel better about how overwhelmed I feel with all of the series. Hope June is a great month! ~Pam

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    1. Charnell @ Reviews from a Bookworm3 June 2014 at 10:18

      Thanks, me too! I love me some Jim Halpert <3 I definitely recommend both, they were 5/5 reads for me.

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  8. BrittanyL2 June 2014 at 21:35

    Nine books is great! I know there's pressure to read more in our community. But honestly, that's almost two books a week. And unfortunately we don't read for a living(I WISH!), so there is life. Good job! And you've still got seven months to get your challenges completed. You can do it!
    Here's to an even better June. Happy reading! :)

    Brittany @ This is the Story of My(Reading) Life

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    1. Charnell @ Reviews from a Bookworm3 June 2014 at 10:20

      I wish too, that would be the best job ever ;) Thank you, I am definitely hoping to get more done this month.

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  9. Anna (herding cats-burning soup)3 June 2014 at 02:41

    Aws yay for the little one arriving safely! That stinks about the reading/life slump. Been there. 9 books is still great though! Annnd on to June! Hope you find your way out of the slump!

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    1. Charnell @ Reviews from a Bookworm3 June 2014 at 10:21

      Me too, hopefully June will be a much better month reading wise :)

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  10. Unknown4 June 2014 at 14:38

    It looks like you have some fun challenges to tackle! I wish you the best of luck for them. I wish I had more time to blog and read, but unfortunately, I don't. Still, it's fun to see what everyone else is doing and the books their reviewing.

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    1. Charnell @ Reviews from a Bookworm29 June 2014 at 14:25

      I wish I could find more time for reading and reviewing too, but I struggle a lot to find the time.

      Delete

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