This month has had it's ups and downs. I really needed the mini-break away from work and the blog that I gave myself. I spent six days, mostly indoors, relaxing, reading and spending time with the boyfriend. It helped me feel a lot better and I wasn't as stressed afterwards. It made going back to work even harder but I have three weeks off to look forward to at Christmas. The break allowed me to read a lot more than usual. I had more time on my hands and felt calmer which made reading a lot easier for me.
August
I read 12 books.
I'd been averaging about 8 books a month, which I was never happy with. But I work a lot and then spend a ton of time blogging, so I had to be satisfied with it. Thankfully the time off allowed me to read a lot more and I am happy that I got 12 read.
Reviewed on blog:
Red Rising by Pierce Brown: 4.5/5
If I Stay by Gayle Forman 5/5
Mini Reviews: Anatomy of a Misfit by Andrea Portes 2/4 & Rites of Passage by Joy N. Hensley DNF
Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan 3/5
Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan 3/5
The 100 by Kass Morgan 4/5
Day 21 by Kass Morgan 3.5/5
Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis 4.5/5
The Young Elites by Marie Lu 3/5
If I Stay by Gayle Forman 5/5
Mini Reviews: Anatomy of a Misfit by Andrea Portes 2/4 & Rites of Passage by Joy N. Hensley DNF
Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan 3/5
Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan 3/5
The 100 by Kass Morgan 4/5
Day 21 by Kass Morgan 3.5/5
Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis 4.5/5
The Young Elites by Marie Lu 3/5
I managed to post 10 reviews in September, which I am really happy with. Two were mini-reviews but I am still pleased with that number. If I Stay as a reread, so I won't count it as my top read of the month. My top read of the month will definitely be Not a Drop to Drink, it was sooooo good and so much better than I had expected. My most disappointing read was The Young Elites because I was so sure I was going to love it and then I just really didnt. My average rating was 3.6/5, which makes me think I had an average reads month. A few great reads, but the majority were nothing special.
Posts
Top Ten Tuesday:
Book Characters That Would Be Sitting at My Lunch Table
Underrated Books and Authors
Authors I Need To Read More Books From
Underrated Books and Authors
Authors I Need To Read More Books From
Films for Thoughts on Thursday:
Five Friday Favourites:
Book Hauls:
Discussions:
Other:
Monthly Recap: August
The GIF and TBR Tags
I'm Taking a Mini-Break
My Blogoversary Celebration and Giveaway
Challenges
TBR Pile Challenge
My goal: 50+ books
Have read so far: 20 books
I added 2 books this month - Not a Drop to Drink and The 100.
Netgalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge
My goal: 50 books
Read so far: 54 books
I added 8 more books to this challenge and have now completed it! Woop woop!
Series Challenge
My goal is to complete between 7-11 series this year.
Series finished: 5 series
1. The Program & The Treatment by Suzanne Young
3. Starters & Enders by Lissa Price
4. Nantucket Blue & Nantucket Red by Leila Howland
5. Pivot Point & Split Second by Kasie West
4. Nantucket Blue & Nantucket Red by Leila Howland
5. Pivot Point & Split Second by Kasie West
First In A Series Challenge
My goal is to start 20 series this year.
So far I have started 31series.
This month I started 5 more series. If I Stay was a reread so I won't count it.
With the blog break and also getting behind on visiting blogs at the start of the month, I don't have too many posts bookmarked.
Amber @ Young Adult Indulgences talks about her summary and book blurb turn offs.
Cait @ Notebook Sisters shared 10 ways to make a book blogger furious and she was spot on with all of them.
Alma @ Journey Through Fiction shared the things she wished she had known before she started blogging.
Stacie @ Books Galore discussed neglecting books.
J. C. Lemon spoke about word choice and repetition in songs.
Cait @ Notebook Sisters gave 28 true reasons why being a bookworm sucks.
Amanda @ Book Badger looked at the phases she goes through when saying goodbye to a series.
Cait @ Notebook Sisters made my day when she posted another Honest YA Covers post.
Awesome on the Internet
THE MOST AWESOME THING TO HAPPEN THIS MONTH!
In my blogoversary post I posted my giveaway to celebrate 1 year of blogging. I am giving one winner the chance to win up to £40 worth of books of their choice from Book Depository. I am also giving one runner up a book of their choice, worth up to £10 from Book Depository.
My Blogoversary Celebration and Giveaway
Day 21 by Kass Morgan (The 100 #2): 3.5/5 Review
Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis: 4.5/5 Review
Five Friday Favourites: Favourite Book Scenes
My Weekly Book Haul: 27/09/2014
The Young Elites by Marie Lu: 3/5 Review
The Bookshelf Tag
Mini-Reviews: Falling Into Place / Four
I think you did really well, especially considering how much you worked. You read some pretty great books even if you didn't absolutely love them all.
ReplyDeleteIt was a good reading month in terms of quantity, not the best for quality.
DeleteImpressive month! Not sure what book I would want, it would take some serious time to look through my TBR list. Thanks for the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, thanks for entering :)
DeleteYAY FOR (finally!) A MOCKINGJAY TRAILER! OMG I AM LITERALLY BUSTING WITH EXCITEMENT FOR IT. *flails around the house* Ohhh, but I am also grinning widely because you linked to my posts and THANK YOU. It makes me feel special. ^-^
ReplyDelete*ahem* So yes. I get kind of annoyed when all my reads seem to be "good" but not "FREAKING AWESOME". I live for the mindblowing ones. So I need more of them. *nods* I think I read about 20 books in September? I was reading like a fiend for a while there. lol
I CAN'T WAIT FOR THAT FILM!!! The trailer just has me so desperate to see it, it's not fair that I have to wait. Haha, I would love to get through 20 books in a month, I'd finally complete my reading challenge on Goodreads.
DeleteWow! What a month of reading! Three weeks of break for Christmas? That does sound amazing! Hopefully you have an even better October and happy reading! x
ReplyDeleteJess @ My Reading Dress
I know, I am sooooo excited for those three weeks off. It can not get here quick enough.
DeleteYay, it sounds like you are definitely a lot more refreshed and you got lots of reading done, which is super productive :) A shame The young elites was disappointing, as I loved the Legend series. Hope you have a great October!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the Legend series too, The Young Elites just didn't work for me at all. It feels like I haven't had any time off now, haha.
DeleteYay for the mini break helping! And for getting some extra reads in :) Hope you have a great start to Oct!
ReplyDeleteThe mini break was much needed, just wish it had felt like it actually made a difference.
DeleteYay, the Mockingjay trailer!! I just had to watch it again (for the billionth time) and now I really want to watch Catching Fire again :D 12 books in a month is amazing, but I’m sorry that all of they weren’t awesome reads. I just bought Not a Drop to Drink, and I really hope I love it too. (And thank you so much for linking up to my post *big hugs!*)
ReplyDeleteI NEED MOCKINGJAY! I hate and love trailers, they just make the wait so much more unbearable! I hope you love it too :) :) :)
DeleteSounds like you got some great books read during your brake! Not a Drop to Drink sounds interesting and I've been wanting to read If I Stay and the Percy Jackson books for awhile.
ReplyDeleteI did, it was more quantity rather than quality but there were so good books in there.
DeleteThat's a lot of books read! I need to figure out how many series I'm currently in the middle of and try to finish more.
ReplyDeleteMockingjay! So excited for that, it looks sooooo good! ~Pam
I am in the middle of far too many series. I worked it out once and it was scary.
DeleteYAY for time to yourself!
ReplyDeleteBlogs are definitely like a second job. I really don't think none bloggers understand the amount of work it takes to keep one alive. I know I didn't until I started one. Every month I feel like I need a break. It could be that I am beyond horrible at pre-scheduling posts. I'm trying to change that, but not having the best luck yet.
Anyhow, 12 books is awesome! Well done! Hopefully your October is just as great on the reading front(well I guess even better on the star rating side). :)
Happy reading!
Brittany @ This is the Story of My(Reading) Life
I know, I had no clue how much time goes into blogging until I started. If I had known, I would have scheduled posts well ahead of time. I get three weeks off over Christmas and plan to take a break before that so I can have my December posts scheduled for it.
DeleteThis month was a good month for you! Well done. :) You only had one film this month though! I like reading your film reviews. It makes a change from all the book posts I get on my feed.
ReplyDelete(Have you seen the new neon Hunger Games Trilogy covers at your library? At work we just had them delivered in. I can't decide whether I like them or not.) Have a good weekeeeend
I saw them at my local bookshop and couldn't decide either. Finally decided that I am not a fan. They're just so unnecessarily bright.
DeleteI know... I hadn't been to the cinema in a while because there was nothing I wanted to see. My DVDs weren't calling to me either and neither was Netflix. These last two weeks I have seen 3 movies and plan to see a 4th tonight.. so expect more movie reviews soon.
Thank you! I was happy with 12 too, that's a lot more than usual for me. I think everyone else LOVED The Young Elites, so you'll probably be fine with it. It just... nope, didn't work for me.
ReplyDelete