Showing posts with label monthly wrap up. Show all posts
Showing posts with label monthly wrap up. Show all posts

Friday, May 8, 2015

April 2015 - Looking Back

In case you missed the several delayed Looking Back posts, I've been dreadfully behind on posting monthly wrap up posts. So, welcome to April 2015 Looking Back! (Aka Violet's trying to get back onto a schedule for posting...) Anyways! April was a very busy month, with a little bit of travel and hectic to-do lists making for the month to go by very quickly. I still ended up reading several books, so I thought I would share those, talk about some posts, and more!

My Reads:
4.5 Stars
*a new favorite!*
You can read my review of The Winner's Curse here.

The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski, the sequel to The Winner's Curse
4 Stars
*a new favorite!*
You can read my review of The Winner's Crime here.

Underworld by Meg Cabot, the sequel to Abandon
3.5 Stars

My Posts:
This is a new feature I'm doing with Sunny of These Stardust Words, and we had a lot of fun sharing our thoughts.
A discussion post about a book I read and loved recently and how it's inspired me to start reading more fantasy novels!
A Week of Recommendations:
This is a series I did featuring a different genre or genres of book every day with my recommendations for each.

My Reviews:

Posts I've Loved:
There are a ton of posts that I've been reading and loving more and more because I've been reading more posts on Bloglovin' lately, so I have a full and detailed list on my Bloglovin' that you can check out (here's a link to my Bloglovin' collections), and since there's over 20 posts saved on that list alone, I didn't think there'd be a very efficient way to share them in a wrap up post. If you guys would like me to pick a few randomly from my favorites posts I've read monthly collections that I think I'm going to start doing, let me know, or I'll link Paper Worlds and Swirls of Ink and my own Bloglovin' so you can check those out as well.

There's my April 2015 Looking Back post! I'm trying to think of features or ways to expand on this a little, so if you have any ideas please let me know. Also, reviews of both The Winner's Curse and The Winner's Crime are posted on the blog (linked above), and for Underworld I was thinking about reading the third book and then doing A Series in Summation review of the entire trilogy. I'll be back soon with another post, and thank you for stopping by!

From the paper world,
V

Friday, May 1, 2015

March 2015 - Looking Back

I'm getting further and further behind on these wrap up posts, I'm so sorry! But today, let's talk March. I ended up reading several books in March, continuing on with several series I had read previously as well as finding a few new reads and authors I'd never read before. I was pretty busy, but I did have some family time which was much appreciated, and announced A Week of Recommendations that I did earlier this month. Anyways, without further ado, here's March:

My Reads:
The Shadow Cabinet, the third in the Shades of London trilogy by Maureen Johnson
3.5 Stars
Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini
3.5 Stars
Winterspell by Claire Legrand
4 Stars
Dead of Winter, the third book in The Arcana Chronicles by Kresley Cole
4 Stars
The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab
4.5 Stars
*a new favorite!*
5 Stars
*a new favorite!*
The Conspiracy of Us by Maggie Hall
3.5 Stars
The Storyspinner by Becky Wallace
3.5 Stars

Overall, it was definitely a great reading month. I really enjoyed all the novels I read, and so I was very happy to have started a few new series, finished one, and continued on with several others.

My Posts:

Posts I Loved:
I was considering doing this as a separate post entirely, but I've seen several bloggers mention posts from other's they've enjoyed in their wrap ups and it seems like the best way to share all of the amazing blog posts I've seen during the month. For some of the other posts some bloggers have shared that I read and loved this past month, check out What (Posts) I've Been Reading.

Alexa Loves Books did an amazing review of one of Juliet Marillier's series that I'm really excited to read about, after seeing how she compared them all and discussed how great the books are. You can read her amazing review The Faithful, The Fiery & The Fearful.

Snuggly Oranges talked about the importance of character development and I couldn't agree more. Check out her amazing post I Read for Characters.

The Library Canary had several posts this month I thought were really great. One was another recommendation of a certain genre, and this time she shared fantasy picks, which I've been wanting to read more high fantasy. You can see her recommendations in her post So You Like Fantasy? Get Ready to Hurt Your TBR... Another one of her posts I really enjoyed was her discussion about Going In Blind and not knowing much about the novel before you read it.

I didn't end up keeping track of my book buying for the month, because it's been pretty sporadic lately anyways. 

Let me know if you guys would like to see any reviews of the books I read in March (except The Storyspinner, which I reviewed recently on the blog and linked above). I'm planning on doing a review of Dead of Winter since I've reviewed the first few books in The Arcana Chronicles, and do a Series in Summation about The Princesses of Westfalin Trilogy, and also possibly a Goodreads review on Starcrossed. But anyways, let me know if there are any reviews in particular you'd like to see on the blog next, and I'll be back soon with another post!

From the paper world,
V

Thursday, March 12, 2015

February 2015 - Looking Back

So how did February go?
February was so busy! I can't believe the month is over already. Since you've seen my January Looking Back and my February, you know that the month was also a pretty busy time on the blog as well, since I didn't even have time to post a January Looking Back during the month! I participated in several blogging events I'd really been looking forward to, and got a bit more reading done this month, which I'm really happy about.

My Reads:
Frostfire by Amanda Hocking (this series takes place after the Trylle trilogy)

My Posts:
I posted two stories for Random Acts of Kindness Week:

My Reviews:
Mortal Gods by Kendare Blake (see my review of the first book in the series, Antigoddess, here)
Mortal Heart by Robin LaFevers (this is the third book in the series His Fair Assassin, and while I haven't reviewed the first book, you can check out the Goodreads page of the first 
A Goodreads review of Fairest by Marissa Meyer (book 3.5 of The Lunar Chronicles)

My Book Buying:
I ended up picking up a few books this month after reading several others.
Thornhill by Kathleen Peacock, the sequel to Hemlock
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Here's a look back at February 2015 for me- how was the month for you? Let me know!


From the paper world,
V

Friday, March 6, 2015

January 2015 - Looking Back

I haven't done anything looking back at the month in reading, posting, and such in awhile, but I wanted to try and bring that back in 2015 for me. This is a great way to look back at the month and the books I read during it. Sorry that this is so delayed by the way- February was super busy and I wanted to take time to participate in the Random Acts of Kindness hosted by The Perpetual Page-Turner and Rather Be Reading and in the 2015 Book Blogger Love-A-Thon hosted by Alexa Loves Books. So, basically, February was super busy as well, but more on that in the next monthly wrap up!

So how did January go?
January was a month that saw me taking on a lot of challenges, bringing back some of the older types of posts I'd done last year and missed, and also just being excited about the new year in general. 

My Reads

My Posts
After doing the same type of post last year, I did a My Can't Wait Books of 2015 post, and talked about the books that I had designated to be some of my most anticipated upcoming reads of the year. 
My Favorite Books of 2014
A Top Ten Tuesday of the 2015 Debuts I'm Most Excited For
A Top Ten Tuesday Freebie where I talked about characters I wanted to travel with
I took Jamie of The Perpetual Page-Turner's 2014 End of Year Book Survey
I signed up for a lot of 2015 Challenges and shared my goals
My Most Anticipated New Releases of January 2015
I talked about Reorganizing My Bookshelves and Reading in 2015

My Reviews
A Little Something Different by Sandy Hall

My Book Buying
I ended up getting a few books off of my 'most anticipated new releases of January' list:
All Fall Down by Ally Carter
Frostfire by Amanda Hocking (this takes place in the same world as her Trylle series)

I'm currently finishing up reading both of these, so I can't wait to share my thoughts with you all! If you'd like to see a comprehensive book haul of all the books I got in January and not just the ones from my list of anticipated new releases, let me know in the comments!

So, how did January go for you? Any new favorite reads? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

From the paper world,
V

Monday, July 28, 2014

June 2014 - Monthly Wrap Up

What I Read...


The Art of Lainey by Paula Stokes
4 Stars
My Goodreads Review










No Rating Given










4 Stars










No Rating Given










4 Stars










5 Stars









3 Stars










4 Stars










2.5 Stars










4 Stars











3 Stars
My Review











4 Stars
My Review








4 Stars
My Review











12 Full length novels and 1 Novella!

What Happened on the Blog...
I started and completed my first mini series! The First Half of 2014 was my way of discussing some of the best books I read thus far in 2014, and sharing a ton of book recommendations with you all!

In general, this month was really fantastic! I'm going to be skipping the Challenge Check In feature because it hasn't been the best way to keep up with my challenges, so I'll be changing the way I keep track of that on the blog in addition to some other minor design changes I hope to be getting around to if I haven't already. I hope your June was fantastic and your July as well!

From the paper world,
V

Monday, June 9, 2014

Monthly Wrap Up - May 2014

What I Read...


Sekret (Sekret, #1)Sekret by Lindsay Smith
I read this along with Cassi of My Thoughts... Literally!
4 Stars


3.5 Stars


4 Stars

3 Stars

No Rating Given


5 Stars

3 Stars

No Rating Given

3.5 Stars

3.5 Stars

3 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

5 Stars

4 Stars

That's a total of 15 books read this month! I ended up reading quite a few books back-to-back, and there were a variety of books this month. Some I loved, some I liked, and a few were not favorites, but I still managed to read through. There were quite a few goodreads reviews posted, but I'll get to those in the next section. I was so happy to finish two books from my DNF pile- Abandon by Meg Cabot and Her Dark Curiosity by Megan Shepherd. Abandon I had been reading and wanted to start another book, so it was simply put aside temporarily. I was really annoyed with some of the characters in Her Dark Curiosity when I was first reading it, so I had set it aside and finished it this month.

What I Reviewed...








What I Posted...




...and more! Check out the archive in the sidebar for a full list of last month's posts!

Challenge Check In!

2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge
19 Reviews posted for the 2014 TBR Pile Challenge!

DAC20143

1 Review posted for the 2014 Debut Author Challenge hosted by Books Devoured and That Artsy Reader Girl.


10 Reviews posted for the 2014 Prequel & Sequel Challenge!
26 Points

summer-reading-logo-clear-background
4 Reviews posted for the 2014 Summer Reading Program.



How did your month go? I hope everyone who went to BEA had a fantastic time, and in general I hope you had a lovely month!

From the paper world,
V





Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Monthly Wrap Up - March 2014

What Happened...
This month was not the best for the blog, unfortunately I had a lot of goings-on that distracted from the blogosphere. However, I did have the opprotunity to post more of the reviews that I've had saved from earlier on in 2014, and I was really glad to be able to share some of the posts I thought would remain drafts. I'd also like to apologize for the lack of blogging this month- it was an unintentional lapse but unfortunately I have been getting busy and a bit overwhelmed. I'm hoping to return with a multitude of fun posts, and I thank you for staying with the blog.
Fiction_TheNewReality
This month I participated in Fiction the New Reality's March Madness Readathon. Jayne is an incredible book blogger and her blog is one of my favorites, so I definitely recommend you go visit! Anytime there's a Readathon I'm likely to check it out, and I was really excited to be participating in this one! So, let's see what my 'March Madness' reads were...

What I Read...
Ignite Me (Shatter Me, #3)Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi
What I Reviewed...

What I Loved...
Sweetly was my favorite read of the month, and I was surprised by how it completely amazed me. I really enjoyed Sisters Red, but Sweetly was even more incredible. I loved everything about it, but I'll save my fangirling for a review.

Although I really did love Ignite Me, I don't think I'll be doing a review of it, simply because I have no idea how to explain my thoughts and reactions to it.


So, there is my March Wrap Up! There are plenty of posts to come, and I'm excited to be blogging again. Please be patient if there are a few days when I don't blog as much, I'm still busy with everything, but I'm so happy to be back!

From the paper world,
V