Bout of Books 14: Goals + Updates

I haven't been on Twitter lately with the craziness that is work and with my friends being home from college, but things our slowing down, so when I saw that Bout of Books was happening this week I JUMPED ON IT!

This is going to be my Everything Post. I'll be using it as a sign-up, daily update, goals post. So onto my goals for the week:

    

Shadow and Bone and To All The Boys I've Loved Before are rereads and the other ones are books I'm dying to read. If I add anything to my goals or change anything I'll make sure to update on here.

Now for the updates, I will be posting them the day after, this means that Monday's update will go up on Tuesday, etc.

Monday:

What I'm Reading: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (Audiobook) and To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

Books I Read Today: 0

Total Number of Books I've Finished: 0

Number of Pages Read: 53 pages of To All the Boys (pgs 142-195) and 170 pages of Shadow and Bone

Monday was a pretty tough day for me. I only worked half a day but I had to get some stuff done and I wasted a bunch of time and didn't even get any of it done. But the good thing is that I read a descent amount for having such a bad day. Hopefully tomorrow will be better!

Tuesday:

What I'm Reading: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (Audiobook) and To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han and Saga Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Books I Read Today: 2

Total Number of Books I've Finished: 2

Number of Pages Read: 159 pages of To All the Boys, 61 pages of Shadow and Bone and 160 pages of Saga.

Tuesday was wayyy better. As soon as I got home from work I just read the entire night until midnight. It was great, I definitely need more nights like these. Both To All the Boys and Saga were 5 star books for me.

Wednesday:

What I'm Reading: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (Audiobook) and The Rules by Nancy Holder & Debbie Viguié

Books I Read Today: 1

Total Number of Books I've Finished: 3

Number of Pages Read: 137 pages of Shadow and Bone (Finished) and 62 pages of The Rules

I had a better reading day Tuesday, but this was still decent. I adored Shadow and Bone just as much as the first time I read it, and I usually like the audiobook less than the physical book, but that wasn't the case this time. I'm excited to finally continue with the series.

Thursday:

What I'm Reading: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (Audiobook) and The Rules by Nancy Holder & Debbie Viguié

Books I Read Today: 0

Total Number of Books I've Finished: 3

Number of Pages Read: NOTHING.....

Basically...I have nothing to say.

Good luck to everyone participating! I hope you all meet your goals and if you have a goal post or a daily update post link them in the comments!

Top Ten Goals/Resolutions For 2015

The new year is fast approaching, it's that time to reorganize our shelves, our lives, and our blogs. This week we get to share some of our Goals for 2015 and that's exactly what Jacquelyn and I have prepared for you today.

1. My Goodreads challenge is the one thing I tend to stick by. In 2015 I plan on reading 105 books in order to complete the 105 challenge hosted by Nori. I'll be talking more about this in my post for tomorrow, where I go into detail about all the challenges I'm going to attempt. This is big for me since I've never completed a challenge (besides the Goodreads challenge) and I haven't set my goal as 100 since 2012. I'm going to set out to read at least 50 pages a day in order to complete my goal. I have a feeling I'm going to need a lot of cheerleaders.

2. This goal goes with the 105 challenge, and that is to read a book in French. If you didn't know, I graduated from college in December with a minor in French, but I know that if I don't keep practicing I'm going to forget everything I know. So along with reading a book in French I also want to watch a French film a month. They're usually dark, depressing, and forbidden so one a month is all I can take. OH! And I also want to keep track of all the movies I watch in 2015. There's an app called Libib that makes this super easy.

3. COMMENTING ON COMMENTS (any Grace Helbig fans out there?). I want to increase my participation in the blogging community, so I'm going to try to comment on 10 blogs every day or every other day. I'm going to try my hardest to stick to it. I'm even setting an alarm on my phone to remind me every day.

4. This is a personal life goal for me...BLOGILATES. I know of a ton of other book bloggers who take part in the monthly Blogilates calendar and I want to join in. I did it for a week in December and honestly felt so great. I can't imagine what doing it for an entire month would feel like. You know I'm going to need cheerleaders and workout partners for this one as well so let me know in the comments if you're doing this.

5. Posting at least 2 times a week. I have a co-blogger now *hi Jacquelyn*, and that's really taken some of the stress off me. I hope my anxiety stays away in the new year and I don't feel stressed to put out posts on the blog. That said, I do want to create some sort of schedule where I set aside time every day, or every other day, and blog for an hour or two. That way I can post and still have time for my social life and my reading pile.

Now it's my turn to tell all of you what my goals for 2015 are! I personally love making goals for myself because I just love having something to work towards but if I set a crazy goal I usually get stressed out. That said I will be making my goals obtainable and achievable. 

1. I would like to read 150 books this year. I have read 147 so far this year so it's not that big of a jump but I think 150 is a really achievable goal for me. I would also like to be better with balancing ARCs, "me" books, and older books! I am thinking that every 3 or so ARCs I read I get to read a "me" book or an older book! 

2. Like Audris, I want to increase my participation in this community! I am pretty good with replying to comments that I get on my own posts but I don't comment on other people's blogs enough and that makes me sad because you all have lovely blogs! I would love to try and comment on blogs each day of the week with maybe an hour or two on the weekends just set aside for commenting on blogs! 

3. I want to be more organized and prepared. I would love to have a list of all of my ARCs and their release date so I can read them in the order of publication date and have their reviews up a month prior to release date. I hate when I don't read an ARC before release date so I am really hoping to become more organized with them so I can avoid this. Also, I think if I wrote my review soon after finishing the book, my reviews could be more insightful and informative than the review you would be reading that I wrote a few months after finishing the book. 

4. I would love to post 2-3 times a week and schedule posts more often. I think scheduling posts is awesome because I never know when school is going to be super busy or whatever and I wouldn't have to worry about getting a post up if I already had them scheduled! I want to be much more consistent with my posts and  have more variety. I would obviously love to post reviews and memes but also have some discussions or just chatty posts. Maybe even some fun but not book related posts! 

5. I want to meet and talk to more of you guys! This kind of goes along with the commenting goal I have but I just want to interact with more of you and meet new friends! All of my internet book friends I have so far are wonderful and I would just love to have more friends to flail over books with! I want to interact more with people and readers on blogs, Instagram, and over on Twitter!

I hope you all have a lovely New Year and reach and complete all of the goals you hope to!

Happy New Year! + Updates!

I'm currently sitting on my super comfy couch, cuddled up in the softest blanket and I couldn't be happier. I've been traveling for the past 22 days and by the end of it I was incredibly homesick, to say the least. I had no wi-fi and no phone service for most of the time and although I got to visit some amazing places (Cancun, Dominican Republic and Miami) I missed blogging from the comfort of my own home.

But now I'm here and I have some updates. While I was gone I had a pretty awesome reading month with two four star books and three five star ones.

    

1. The Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler: 4/5 stars
2. Ruby Read by Kerstin Gier: 4/5 stars
3. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell: 5/5 stars
4. The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan: 5/5 stars
5. The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken: 5/5 stars

So to say I had a great reading month would be an understatement. The Darkest Minds was one of my favorite books of the year and I can hardly wait to get my hands on Never Fade.

Bookish Goals 2014

1. Goodreads Goal: 75 books
2. Finish 12 series: I can't tell you the number of series I've started and then neglected to pick up the second book. I hope to remedy this and I've already picked out most of the series I actually want to finish but I think I might save that for a separate post.
3. Start 6 series: I've chosen these as well and my goal is to start and finish six series that everyone recommends.
4. Read what I want to read, when I want to read it: I'm not going to try to stick with monthly lists because I tend to always deviate from them and then I feel guilty. I'll probably still pick some books just so I can have some structure but they'll just be suggestions.
5. Participate in Epic Recs: I'm hoping to stick with it monthly because I like the idea of branching out and trying books other people loved.
6. Book Buying: This year I'm going to set up a budget specifically for book buying and I'm going to try to only buy books that I know I'll read this year.
7. Tackle the TBR: Try to read more of my own books. I have to read 2 of my books before I can buy one.
8. Blogging: Post when I can and not worry if I can't post as frequently. I have to learn to divide my time between school, blogging, social life and work.

So with that, I wish you all a happy new year and hope 2014 brings loads of awesomeness into your lives. What are some of your blogging goals? Link me in the comments and I'll check them out! Also, let me know if you would like to see pictures from my travels and I'll put together a post :)

End of Summer Read-a-Thon: Goals and TBR

So it's officially here! The End of Summer Read-a-Thon (hosted by Lisa from Turning Pages and myself) in a few hours and I can't wait! A few little tid bits of information; you guys can still sign up through tomorrow, there will be giveaways every day, and you must be signed up to win. For the full post that talks all about it and has the sign-up form, just go here. Now on to the fun stuff!

Goals:

I plan to read at least three to four books during the read-a-thon and I've made a list of potential candidates:

    

And two audiobook choices for when I'm working:

 

I need help though, I know I won't get to all of these (because I work on Friday and Monday) so if you've read any of these and think I should move them to the top let me know in the comments.

Snacks:

Snacks are basically the most important thing of a read-a-thon, besides the books themselves. I happen to work at a health food store so tomorrow I will be stocking up on some delicious healthy (as healthy as a cookie can be) cookies. They also have some of my favorite drinks and of course, some parmesan cheese pretzels, THE BEST READING SNACK.

If you want to see what my co-host will be reading and snacking on, just click here! She has some great books to choose from :)

I want to know what you guys will be reading and even if you're not participating, let me know if you've read any of these and what you thought!

Bout of Books Goals and Updates + Wrap Up!!!

This is my list of goals for the read-a-thon and also where I'll be posting my daily updates. My goal is to read at least a book a day. Here's what I plan to choose from:

Undeadly by Michele Vail
Hysteria by Megan Miranda
The Vampire's Assistant by Darren Shan
Such a Rush by Jennifer Echols
Click to Subscribe by L.M. Augustine
The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong
Ditched by Robin Mellon
Unremembered by Jessica Brody
The Lives We Lost by Megan Crewe
Nantucket Blue by Leila Howland

I think that list gives me a good mixture of genres with mystery, contemporary and paranormal. There are some review books in there, some library books and some books I've had on my shelves for too long. I can't wait to see how much I get through, because we all know I won't be able to get to all of them.

Link me your goals so I can see what you guys will be reading! I love seeing everyone else's goals.

Updates:

Monday
What I'm Reading: Ditched by Robin Mellom (29/273 pgs)

Books I Read Today: Undeadly by Michele Vail (done) and some of Ditched

Total Number of Books I've Finished: 1

Number of Pages Read: 301

I feel like I'm off to a good start. My goal to read a book a day is going better than expected.

Tuesday

What I'm Reading: Hysteria by Megan Miranda (43/323)

Books I Read Today: Ditched by Robin Mellom (done) and some of Hysteria

Total Number of Books I've Finished: 2

Number of Pages Read: 287 (today)/ 588 (total)

After I finished Ditched I was so hyper and couldn't decided which of my books I wanted to read next so I skimmed the first pages of a few books. But it's okay. I found my next read now.

Wednesday

What I'm Reading: Still reading Hysteria (206/323) and started Click to Subscribe (not sure how much I've read since this book is an ebook but online it says it has 252 pages)

Books I Read Today: None :(

Total Number of Books I've Finished: 2

Number of Pages Read: 213 (today), total (801)

So I didn't finish a book today because Hysteria. I MEAN WHAT IS GOING ON?! That book confused me so much. It's supposed to be a mystery but usually I'm really good at having somewhat of a clue about the mystery early on. Well, not in this one. I'm more than halfway through and I have no idea. I just had to take a break. But I'm going to be finishing both books so I should be back on track for tomorrow.

Thursday

What I'm Reading: Unremembered by Jessica Brody

Books I Read Today: 2 (finished Hysteria and Click to Subscribe)

Total Number of Books I've Finished: 4

Number of Pages Read: 336 (today)/ 1137 (total)

I finished Hysteria! (shake it off Cumberbatch style) WOOHOO! Finished off two books and started Unremembered. I'm feeling pretty great about the rest of the read-a-thon. Hopefully I can finish 3 more books by the end but it's getting harder to decide what I want to read out of the ones left. I WANT TO READ THEM ALL.

Friday

What I'm Reading: Unremembered

Books I Read Today: O

Total Number of Books I've Finished: 4

Number of Pages Read: 163 (today)/ 1,300 (total)

Unremembered is pretty good so far, but...I watched Grey's Anatomy ALL DAY. I tried to get some reading in between episodes but Netflix just starts the next episode right away. So I blame Netflix for my lack of reading. I'll stay far away from Grey's Anatomy until the read-a-thon is over and finish Unremembered and another book by the next update.  That was just a moment of weakness *sigh*.

Wrap Up:
As you guys can tell by my lack of updates on Saturday and Sunday...I didn't really read much this weekend. I watched Star Trek: Into Darkness (AND IT WAS GREAT) and I went to the beach with my family. But I did manage to finish reading Unremembered by Jessica Brody and I started The Gathering and Nantucket Blue, both seem like they're going to be great reads! So here's what I managed to read this read-a-thon:

 

Total books read: 5
Total pages read: 1,451
Final reaction: I had so much fun participating in Bout of Books, meeting new people and it gave me a chance to read some of the books I had been wanting to get to. So thank you so much to Amanda and Kelly for organizing this read-a-thon!

Comment with your update and goal links! And if you guys are updating on twitter, leave me your handles so I can find you :)

Happy New Year! 2013 Goals and Resolutions!

Wow! Guys, we have reached a new year! I know it's incredibly cliche to say this but, "THIS YEAR WENT BY SO FAST"! I hope everyone had an amazing year and that this year is even better for all of you. A new year means new resolutions that we probably won't keep up with. I know that's terrible to say but it's mainly the truth. I know a lot of people just say that they want to have fun and read what they want but I need guidelines or nothing...NOTHING will get done. I work a lot better when I have goals set up and I keep myself on track. So here are some goals I set for myself:

Reading Goals:

1. I want to do the Goodreads challenge again this year. In past years I've set it up to 100 and sadly I didn't reach it this year but that doesn't matter because I read so many amazing books (87 books). This year I am just going to set it to 50 books. I know I'll pass that but that way I won't feel so stressed, especially since my classes are going to be tougher these last few semesters of college.

2. I'm actually participating in a challenge. It's the 2013 paranormal reading challenge and you can see my intro post to that here. It just seems simple and a lot of fun.

3. I said in last year's reading goals that I wanted to read more classics. HAHAHAHAHA! I failed. I still want to try to read a few classics this year though. I am determined!

4. This year I was pretty pleased with the books I read off my own shelves. Books I had before 2012 started. I read 24 books from my shelves but this year I want to read even more. I know I can. I just have to limit the books I buy...it will be difficult but I want to read at least 30 books that were on my shelves before 2013.

Blogging Goals (these are almost the same as last year):

1. I want to start featuring my favorite book read of the month at the end of each month. I said this last year but apparently forgot. It's happening.

2. Discussion posts. I feel like we need to discuss so many things. I know I want to hear what you guys have to say on certain topics so I think it would be fun. I have some topic ideas but if you guys have anything you want me to do a discussion post on, please leave it in the comments. It would be awesome to know what you guys want to discuss.

3. Post more frequently. I know I lack posts but I want to try to organize myself and the blog more. Scheduling posts is a life saver and I want to put it to more use this year.

4. REVIEWS, REVIEWS, REVIEWS. YES. I need to review more books I read. I usually just read books and never review them.

5. I also want to become better friends with more of you guys! Yeah, you! So I will be visiting more blogs and if you have anything you want to talk to me about or say just tweet me or email me or even comment right here! :)

Life Goals:
1. I just want to have fun this year. Hang out with my friends and family and do more things outside of my comfort zone.


2. I want to start a memory jar. It seems like such a fun way to record your year. If you want to know more just click here. That girl has some seriously great ideas for documenting your life and making it the best. I'm going to be trying out more of her ideas but this is the one I know for a fact I'm doing.

3. Be more creative. Make things. CREATE.

What are your goals or resolutions? I feel like I have a lot but it just helps me stay on track with what I want to accomplish this year. Do you guys make lists or use calendars to keep up with life? Let me know too and don't forget to leave discussion post suggestions! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!