YEARLY GOAL

• READING GOAL: 125 Books
  I am nearly there. I think I might hit this goal by the end of Q3 (July-September). I am just 14 books shy of 125 books. Woohoo! I’m hoping there won’t be a slump. Also, Trope-ical Readathon will commence in August for it’s second round of the year. It should help me stay on track, and possibly even help me exceed my goal.
  • Q1: 60 books
  • Q2: 51 Books

• BLOGGING GOAL: 1 YEAR MILESTONE
  It’s July! I hit my one year on June 27. I’m ecstatic! I really didn’t think I’d make it a whole year and I did. I posted a blogiversary post too! Who woulda thunk that was gonna happen? Not me!

QUARTERLY GOAL

• 2nd QUARTER GOAL: CATCH UP ON NETGALLEY BACKLOG
  Current NetGalley Ratio: 72%
  I’ve been working away at those with the latest publication dates but I need to pick up my pace with those published in in February/March. Surprisingly, I kept my distance from the request button for most of the quarter but then I went on a small spree in June.

• 2nd QUARTER GOAL: READ CINDERELLA IS DEAD
  I read it all the way through! Woohoo! I’m ecstatic about this because I’ve been trying to read it since it first came out last year.

GOALS ACCOMPLISHED

• Blogging Goal: 51 Posts

FINAL ASSESSMENT: ON TRACK. TWO out of THREE YEARLY GOALS HAVE BEEN SMASHED!

• one of my favorite blog hopping activities is to search and read reviews of books I’ve read. Not only does it help me keep my TBR down since I’ve already read the book (hehehe), but it allows me to interact with more bloggers. On the other hand, this also means the amount of bookmarks of reviews has slightly increased since I like to bookmark reviews of books I’ll be reading soon so I can return to the blog post and comment.

• memes and tags help me take a break from reviews, allowing my mind to reset if necessary. Memes are a great way to interact with the bookish community but it’s also a chance to let my mind relax from writing reviews. Sometimes I feel like I’m reading one book after the next without giving myself time to breathe, to fully contemplate and appreciate what I just read before I’m moving on to the next book. Meme creators are awesome! Music Monday, Six Degrees of Separation, First Line Fridays, and Let’s Talk Bookish are now part of the blog and I hope to add a few more.

I read this in April and have not forgotten about it since I first read it. This is my favorite read of the second quarter. It’s a second chance romance but the massive amount of groveling swayed me to root for the couple. MacLean’s writing was also beautiful. There were so many quotes I loved from it. (Review)

MADe ME CRY

Nicole Lespearce throughly pierced me with Eli’s longing for her mother. I ugly cried heading into the end, and also missed my mom dearly. My partner also happened to find me in my sad state, wanted to record it for viewing later, and was immediately kicked out of the room so I could cry in peace. This was a memorable read for multiple reasons. Hahaha…(Review)

DESERVES MORE ATTENTiON

Please read books by Anela Deen! After reading In the Jaded Grove, I picked up more of her earlier novels to read and I’m excited to get started on them. (Review)

EXCEEDED MY EXPECTATiONS

I promised this book would show up again. I tend to gravitate toward emotional reads, which often ends up being slower paced as well. I was not expecting to like Before I Saw You as much as I did. It mostly took place in a single hospital room and yet I didn’t get bored. Most of the time we’re in Alfie’s and Alice’s heads and the bond that forms between them is lovely and sigh-inducing. It is such a lovely read. (Review)

• I will try to catch up on my backlog of ARCs. This is likely the goal for the foreseeable future. My NetGalley ratio keeps fluctuating up and down. A book I requested long before the publication date was finally declined…a month after it was already published. Hmm… I promise I will try to keep my requests to a minimum while I play catch up. Keyword is TRY.

• I will finally read
  • Jade City (2017). A friend recommended it and then I tried participating in a Jade City readathon, but still came up empty. I need to finish this especially with the final book coming out soon.
  • These Violent Delights (2020). I tried reading this for the Trope-ical Readathon and then for the Asian Readathon but was unable to complete it. I need to finish this because it’s companion is also going to be coming out soon.