Tag Archives: book reviews

2018 Status Update: June

Posted in For the love of books by

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June was the best. Well, the later part of the month was anyways. The first weekend was quilting retreat where I did get some good reading done. The following couple weeks I was crazy busy at work so I didn’t get any work done. But then! I went away to my family’s house in Maine for a week and I read non-stop and it was the best! I need to find a way to better balance my work and personal life so that I can fit in more reading time. Anyways, here are some highlights from June for me:

Monthly Stats:
# books read this month: 12
# pages read this month: 3,818
# books read year-to-date: 54
# pages read year-to-date: 17,668

Favorite Books I Read this Month:

The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware – 4.5 stars
The Highlander’s Promise by Lynsay Sands – 4.25 stars

Other Posts this month:

Quilting Retreat 2018
Paperback Release – The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden

Next Month TBR List:

Next month I only have a good number titles scheduled:

-90’s Bitch by Allison Yarrow
-Warrior of Clan Kincaid by Lily Blackwood
-Set the Night on Fire by Laura Trentham

Short list for July but I’m hoping to use the extra time to get through some of the other 2018 scheduled reviews that I’ve missed so far this year.  Hopefully July will be a productive month! Happy reading everyone!

2018 Status Update: February

Posted in For the love of books by

updateFebruary overall was a busy month. My husband and I had to make a very tough decision and say goodbye to our much loved Spotty (dog). We are still reeling a little from the loss but we are doing our best to appreciate the love currently surrounding us. Work has also been busy as we hit our peak of busy season, things should start to calm down now within the next couple weeks. Anyways, here are some highlights from February for me:

Monthly Stats:
# books read this month: 8
# pages read this month: 2,528
# books read year-to-date: 19
# pages read year-to-date: 5,972

Favorite Books I Read this Month:

The Woman Left Behind  by Linda Howard – 4.75 stars
A Devil in Scotland by Suzanne Enoch – 4.5 stars
The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen – 4.5 stars

Other Posts this month:

None! I have been too busy working this month and trying to get reading done

Next Month TBR List:

Next month I only have a few titles scheduled:

-Bachelor Nation by Amy Kaufman
-The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian
-Not That I Could Tell by Jessica Strawser
-The Beloveds by Maureen Lindley

Other than these titles I will be trying to catch up on the January titles that I missed (have about 5 left) and also hopefully fit in a couple more from the Backlog list (from 2017 and 2016) plus my friend Alex lent me a book to read! Lots coming up in March, will be a busy work and reading month.

Bout of Books 21 Update – Day 7

Posted in 2018, Bout of Books 21, For the love of books by

Sunday was a great reading day! We ended up staying home and not doing much, my favorite kind of Sunday plus I was able to spend most of my time reading. So my Sunday’s progress is below:

Update

Sunday

Time spent reading: (Approximately) I didn’t really track it exactly but I read off and on all day – I’d estimate about 5 hours total
Number of pages I’ve read today:  279 pages
Total number of pages I’ve read: 978 pages
Books read: Finished The Safest Lies, started The Rogue Is Back in Town
Challenges: Coincidentally I had to post a review today anyways, which was lucky since that was the challenge for Sunday! See my review of The Safest Lies here

Make sure to check out my wrap up of the challenge overall, had a great week of reading!!

Bout of Books 21 Update – Day 3

Posted in 2018, Bout of Books 21, For the love of books, Reading Challenges by

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Wednesday went well! I was able to find a little time to read during the day and then a little more before bed, so I ended up just meeting my 2 hour goal plus I finished a book. So my Wednesday’s progress is below:

Update

Wednesday

Time spent reading: (Approximately) 2 hours
Number of pages I’ve read today: 177 pages
Total number of pages I’ve read: 500 pages
Books read: Finished Like Broken China (Review to be posted later today)
Challenges: I did not participate in the daily post challenge for Wednesday

Stay tuned for continued progress made in tomorrow’s post on my Thursday update and check back later for my review on Like Broken China!!

2017 Monthly Status Update: August

Posted in 2017, ARC August 2017, For the love of books, Reading Challenges by

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August was a crazy hectic month for me. Work is picking up like crazy and between that, the Terryville Fair, and my family’s trip to Maine, there hasn’t been a moment to spare! Thankfully my time in Maine mostly consists of reading so I was still able to get a good amount of reading done and I even have a great jump off start to September too. So below is my progress for August:

Monthly Stats:
# books read this month: 9
# pages read this month: 2,958
# books read year-to-date: 73
# pages read year-to-date: 21,756

Favorite Books I Read:

Emma in the Night by Wendy Walker – 5.0 stars
Seeing Red by Sandra Brown – 4.25 stars

Other Posts this month:

ARC August 2017 Reading Challenge Sign Up
ARC August 2017 – Check in #1 – 8/1-8/7
ARC August 2017 – Check in #2 – 8/8-8/13
ARC August 2017 – Check in #1 – 8/14-8/20
If the Creek Don’t Rise BLOG TOUR!! 
ARC August Final Check in and Wrap up

Status of 2017 Reading Challenges:

  1. Finish 2016 ARC’s from NetGalley that I missed – Haven’t read any since last month so still have 27 to go (though stay tuned for September progress!)
  2. Participate in 2 reading challenges – During May I participated in the Bout of Books challenge and during this past month I participated in ARC August so this Goal is checked!
  3. Other goals:
    1. Write shorter reviews – I think I’m doing better at this, this past month I was able to get out a few shorter ones
    2. Continue establishing relationships – I think I’m doing it, we’ll see how it goes I guess!

Next Month TBR List:

I read all but two of the books on my TBR from last month plus a few more! Some of them I technically finished in September but I won’t include them at this point on my TBR for the next month since they’re already read. I actually don’t have many on the TBR list this month since I didn’t have a lot that I signed up for in September. I am hoping to get to some of the books on my backlog in addition to the ones listed below but I haven’t decided which ones yet. I will have to see where the wind takes me!!

-The Uncertain Season by Ann Howard Creel
-Pretend You’re Safe by Alexandra Ivy
-Every Boy’s Got One
-The Best Kind of People
-The Visitors
-The Scot Beds His Wife
-Select
-A Season of You

My birthday is coming up soon and I can’t wait to spend it with my nose in a book!! Happy reading everyone!!

ARC August 2017 – Check in #1 – 8/1-8/7

Posted in 2017, ARC August 2017, For the love of books, Reading Challenges by

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So the first week of ARC August 2017 was slightly productive. I managed to read a good amount during the week but Friday my husband and I went on a winery trip and then Saturday and Sunday I was traveling and visiting with family. So the weekend was pretty busy, not much reading got done but many good times were had! So here’s where I stand:

MY PROGRESS

-Are You Sleeping by Kathleen Barber – Reading now
-Emerald Coast by Anita Hughes – Read and reviewed
-Leave the Night On by Laura Trentham – Read and reviewed
-If The Creek Don’t Rise by Leah Weiss
-Bad Girl Gone by Temple Mathews
-Emma in the Night by Wendy Walker
-Seeing Red by Sandra Brown
-13 Dates by Matt Dunn
-The Other Girl by Erica Spindler
-Ready to Run by Lauren Layne
-The Uncertain Season by Ann Howard Creel
-Pretend You’re Safe by Alexandra Ivy

Books Read August 1st – 7th

Emerald Coast by Anita Hughes – 1.0 stars
Leave The Night On by Laura Trentham – 3.5 stars

Plan for Upcoming Week

Work for me this week is going to be a bear so I’m not sure how much reading I’ll get done but I’m hoping to get a couple books in. Goal Day is thankfully this Saturday so that will give me a chance to get some solid reading devoted time (hopefully). We’ll see how it goes though, happy reading everyone!

2017 Monthly Status Update: May

Posted in For the love of books by

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Wow so May was a pretty crazy month. I participated in the Bout of Books 19 reading challenge and I also participated in a couple blog tours. I think I got a lot of reading done considering my work schedule, which exploded this month. I tried my best to keep up but there are a few May releases that I missed and will have to catch up with later this year. So anyways, here is my progress for the month of May!

Monthly Stats:
# books read this month: 9
# pages read this month: 2,945
# books read year-to-date: 48
# pages read year-to-date: 13,673

Favorite Books I Read:

The Perfect Stranger by Megan Miranda – 4.75 stars
The Simplicity of Cider by Amy E. Reichert – 4.5 stars

Other Posts this month:

My gosh this was a crazy month for other posts. I had so many fun things going on this month:

Never Trust a Pirate BLOG TOUR!!
The Bad Luck Bride BLOG TOUR!!
Bout of Books 19 – Sign Up Post
Bout of Books 19 Update – Day 1
Bout of Books 19 Update – Day 2
Bout of Books 19 Update – Day 3
Day 4 Challenge: Character Dating Profile
Bout of Books 19 Update – Day 4
Bout of Books 19 Update – Day 5
Bout of Books 19 Update – Day 6
Bout of Books 19 Update & WRAP UP

Status of 2017 Reading Challenges:

  1. Finish 2016 ARC’s from NetGalley that I missed – Haven’t read any since last month so still have 27 to go
  2. Participate in 2 reading challenges – During May I participated in the Bout of Books challenge, see all my posts listed out in the Other Posts category above. Next one is scheduled for August
  3. Other goals:
    1. Write shorter reviews – I think I’m doing better at this, this past month I was able to get out a few shorter ones
    2. Continue establishing relationships – I think I’m doing it, we’ll see how it goes I guess!

Next Month TBR List:

-Meet Me At Beachcomber Bay by Jill Mansell
-Nothing Like a Duke by Jane Ashford
-Seven Days of You by Cecilia Vinesse
-The Whole Art of Detection by Lyndsay Faye
-The Fall of Lisa Bellow by Susan Perabo
-Never Let You Go by Chevy Stevens
-Dead Letters by Caite Dolan-Leach
-The End of Temperance Dane by Wendy Webb
-Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
-The Party by Robyn Harding
-No Turning Back by Tracy Buchanan
-Night Circus by Erin Morgensten
-The Breakdown by B.A. Paris
-Here and Gone by Haylen Beck
-Duke With Benefits by Manda Collins

Bout of Books 19 Update & WRAP UP

Posted in 2017, Bout of Books 19, For the love of books, Reading Challenges by

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Day 7 was mostly spent with family and I also spent the morning volunteering but I managed to read about 2 hours at night before bed. My Sunday’s progress is below followed by my wrap up of my overall Bout of Books accomplishments:

Updates

Sunday
Number of pages I’ve read today: 110
Total number of pages I’ve read: 1,076
Books read today: I finished Mediterranean Caper by Clive Cussler, review will be up tonight!
Challenges: Sunday was a free day so there was no challenge

Time Devoted to Reading

My goal was to devote at least 2 hours a day to reading and I unfortunately did not reach that goal every day! I read about 17 hours over the course of the 7 days which was good, but last year for this challenge I read 27 hours so there was a definite decline. And I only read just over 1,000 pages compared to over 1,700 pages so while I accomplished a lot in one week I wish it had gone a little better!

My Goals

My goal for this read-a-thon was to do the daily challenges, read about two hours a day and have fun! I posted a update every day on how the previous day went and I also did Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday‘s “challenge” post.  I really had a lot of fun with Thursday’s “Character Dating profile” post!

Books to Read

Overall I think it was a pretty successful week considering how many other engagements / work projects I had going on. I had a great time participating and I will definitely want to participate in another Bout of Books in the future!

2017 Monthly Status Update: April

Posted in For the love of books by

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Monthly Stats:
# books read this month: 11
# pages read this month: 3,572
# books read year-to-date: 39
# pages read year-to-date: 10,728

Favorite Books I Read:

My One True Highlander by Suzanne Enoch – 4.5 stars
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden – 4.5 stars

Other Posts this month:

DREAM CRATE – Loot Crate
COVER REVEAL – The Duke of Defiance by Darcy Burke

Status of 2017 Reading Challenges:

  1. Finish 2016 ARC’s from NetGalley that I missed – Haven’t read any since last month so still have 27 to go
  2. Participate in 2 reading challenges – Scheduled for May and August
  3. Other goals:
    1. Write shorter reviews – I think I’m doing better at this, this past month I was able to get out a few shorter ones
    2. Continue establishing relationships – I think I’m doing it, we’ll see how it goes I guess!

Next Month TBR List:

-White Sand, Blue Sea by Anita Hughes (half-way through now)
-Meet Me At Beachcomber Bay by Jill Mansell
-The Bad Luck Bride by Janna MacGregor
-Never Trust a Pirate by Valerie Bowman
-Nothing Like a Duke by Jane Ashford
-Mediterranean Caper by Clive Cussler
-Cocoa Beach by Beatriz Williams
-Seven Days of You by Cecilia Vinesse
-The Whole Art of Detection by Lyndsay Faye
-The Fall of Lisa Bellow by Susan Perabo
-Never Let You Go by Chevy Stevens
-Dead Letters by Caite Dolan-Leach

ARC August Check in #3 – 8/13-8/20

Posted in 2016, ARC August 2016, Reading Challenges by

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What a productive week. I’m so glad that I got to spend the week in Maine relaxing with my family and having a great time. And luckily while relaxing there was a lot of available time for catching up on my reading! I read about a book a day, though not all counted for this challenge. Since I didn’t have any wi-fi or electricity in Maine, I spent all of today catching up on blog posts.

My Progress:

I didn’t really have an exact plan for what I would read but I will go off the original list posted and just disclose any variations from said original list:

-The Secret Ingredient of Wishes by Susan Elizabeth Crispell – Read and reviewed – Week 2
-Results May Vary by Bethany Chase – Read and reviewed – Week 2
-Sting by Sandra Brown – Read and reviewed
-The Form of Things Unknown by Robin Bridges – Read and reviewed
-Quarter Life Poetry by Samantha Jayne – Read and reviewed
-Behave by Andromeda Romano-Lax
-Thirty Days to Thirty by Courtney Psak
-All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda – Read and reviewed
-Dear Amy by Helen Callaghan
-The Killing Game by Nancy Bush
-Luck, Love, and Lemon Pie by Amy E. Reichert
-The Singles Game by Lauren Weisberger
-If You Left by Ashley Prentice Norton
-All Is Not Forgotten by Wendy Walker
-To Have and To Hold by Laura McHugh
-The Book That Matters Most by Ann Hood
-My Husband’s Son by Deborah O’Connor
-First Comes Love by Emily Giffin
-Stormswept by Sabrina Jeffries
-Once a Soldier by Mary Jo Putney
Additions to original list:
-I’ve Got Sand In All the Wrong Places by Lisa Scottline and Francesca Serritella – Read and reviewed
-The 24-Hour Wine Expert by Jancis Robinson
-Butter and Scotch by Allison Kave and Keavy Landreth
-I Take You by Eliza Kennedy

Books Read August 13th-20th

I’ve Got Sand in ALl the Wrong Places by Lisa Scottoline and Francesca Serritella – 2.5 stars
Sting by Sandra Brown – 4.25 stars
The Form of Things Unknown by Robin Bridges – 3.75 stars
Quarter Life Poetry by Samantha Jayne – 3.25 stars
All The Missing Girls by Megan Miranda – 4.75 stars

Plan for Upcoming Week

My plan for next week is to try and get a couple more books read off the list. This is the last full week of the challenge but its also the week of the Fair and I will have a lot of catching up to do at work since I was off this past week. So not sure exactly how much reading I’ll get done. I’m already thrilled with the progress I’ve made though, 5 books off the list over the past week is such a relief! Happy reading to everyone!