YEARLY GOAL

• READING GOAL: 125 Books
  Woohoo! Smashed this goal!
  • Q1: 60 books
  • Q2: 51 books
  • Q3: 72 books

QUARTERLY GOAL

• 2nd QUARTER GOAL: CATCH UP ON NETGALLEY BACKLOG
  Current NetGalley Ratio: 74%
  Hey! Look! It went up by a few peecentages! It will probably head back down soon. I reviewed 4 ARCs from my backlog. I am very happy because it means I’ll be able to request new ones! Ha! The life of a reader, right?! Looking for new books when there are still so many unread on the shelf.

• 2nd QUARTER GOAL: READ JADE CITY & THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS
  So…I forgot about these because I was too wrapped up with other things and other books.

GOALS ACCOMPLISHED

Yearly

• Blogging Goal: 51 Posts
• Blogging Goal: 1 Year Milestone

Quarterly

• Read Cinderella is Dead

FINAL ASSESSMENT: THREE out of THREE YEARLY GOALS HAVE BEEN SMASHED! WOOHOO!

• readathons are more likely to be accomplished in the summer.
  I successfully completed all the prompts for Trope-ical Readathon: August 2021. It was as I suspected during March that I would be able to be productive with reading when it didn’t contend with work. I’ll still participate in the Spring round of it but will keep in mind that it’s okay to not complete all the prompts.

• it’s good to venture into different subgenres when a slump is lurking.
  Romances are my comfort reads, but I generally stick to the same type of contemporary romances. When work and school got a little too much for me at the beginning of the semester, I turned to rereads. As some of the books started to feel dull, I dove into subgenres I normally do not read. I read a few military romance thrillers–something I wouldn’t have considered before– and it helped me get out of the slump. Of course, I kept wanting to turn to the last page to find out the ending.

• scheduling and structure help me blog and plan ahead. Who knew?
  Obviously many of you did! (Those of you who plan ahead are friggin’ amazing! I don’t know how you do it!) I was just slow on the uptake (heh…) because I am such a mood everything, and I was still trying to figure out what worked for me. I finally found a schedule and structure that work for me with scheduled memes posted during the work week. Reviews alternate depending on when I’m able to write them. Because of this new found schedule, I’ve been able to plan a week or two ahead, although not all the time. While it’s not a lot of time, it gives me some wiggle room and I don’t feel as overwhelmed.

I’m still working on the review for this because I have a million things to say and I need to make it shorter. This was an amazing space opera. Ia Cocha is my new favorite hero. She is fantastic. I hope Milan will write more novels! (Review from A Myriad of Books; Quote: The girl slammed)

BROUGHT Me COMFORT

Around the end of August and September, I started heading into a slump because work and school got overwhelming. I turned to one of my favorite reads His Road Home (2014) and it helped a lot. It’s a short novella with a uplifting fake-fiance romance. (My Review)

INDUCeD A (BOOK) HANGOVER

I love Kennedy Ryan and her writing is superb! I both loved and hated this book because there’s a trigger here that I didn’t know about (cheating) when I picked it up. But…it’s Kennedy Ryan so I couldn’t not read it. This is an enemies-to-lovers romance that exudes so much emotion that you’ll feel drained but want to reread your favorite parts. I spent a few weeks reeling in both love and pain over the book. (Review from ReadingFrenzyBlog; Quotes: Odds don’t tell, What if)

EXCEEDED MY EXPECTATiONS

Despite attending an author event with Amber McBride, who is amazing by the way, where so many of the attendees loved her book, it was still completely unexpected when I burst into tears. I loved the book so much! It was a 5-star read for me. (My Review)

• I will try to catch up on my backlog of ARCs. I have slowed down tremendously in requesting ARCs, although I just requested some a few days ago. I really need to complete a few I still have from Q1 (3 books) and Q2 (4 books)–I’m not including the ones for Q3 or else I might keel over…hahaha. I cannot believe this is the last quarter of the year! (Reindeer Readathon here I come!)

• Let’s try this again…I will finally read:
  • Jade City (2017).
  • These Violent Delights (2020).

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.

Wrap Ups are some of my favorite blog posts to read when I go blog hopping. Try as I may, I can never never get my own monthly wrap ups completed so I decided quarterly reports might be the most practical way to go.

• READING GOAL: 125 Books
  This doesn’t really include all the rereads. My end of the year goal was to complete 125 books. If I keep up the momentum, it looks like I’ll be on the way to completing my goal ahead of schedule. I’m excited! I’ve already read 60 books from January through March.

• BLOGGING GOAL: 51 Posts
  Woohoo! I not only met but surpassed this goal. I really didn’t think I’d be posting very much at all but I guess having a plan and being organized helps. Since the beginning of the year, I written more than 60 posts.

• BLOGGING GOAL: 1 YEAR MILESTONE
  If I continue to blog consistently, I will hit my 1 year milestone in June. I’m excited. When I started, I wasn’t even sure how this would all go. Now, it’s been nearly a year. Where has the time gone?! Is it too early for me to start planning a post for it? Heh…

FINAL ASSESSMENT: ON TRACK

• participating in readathons when school is in session is hard. I had a difficult time trying to read all the prompts for Tropeical Readathon, and I also didn’t keep track as well as I would have liked. I’m pretty sure I didn’t track the books that were not challenges very well.

• I am more likely to finish a book when I feel obligated or there seems a publication date is in sight. My turnover for books on my TBR was surprisingly not too bad, completing 10 of the original books on the Tropeical Readathon TBR and only exchanging out 4 book. I also read other things.

I liked it immensely when I first read this in January. Since then, I’ve already reread it at least once and skimmed my favorite parts multiple times. It still makes me fluttery inside. It’s safe to say this is probably my favorite book of this quarter. It keeps getting better the more I read it, becoming a comfort read. (My Review)

I ENJOYeD FROM A FAVORITE AUTHOR

The writing is a different from what I’m used to from Loring but I still found it be wonderfully written. According to reviews on Goodreads I’m definitely in the minority on this (65% rate it 4 stars or lower; average rating is 4.98). It’s not overly funny like most of Loring’s novels, and it’s more complicated than most of her other books. The leads are with other people while they’re also in a strictly platonic marriage of convenience. While each was looking for something more, they both also understood their intentions when they got married so there were no unexpected expectations. The characters felt raw and more prone to making mistakes. I stayed in a book coma long after I finished it.

DESERVES MORE ATTENTiON

I’d highly recommend Mercurial; it book deserves so much more buzz than it has received. The magic system is unique. Two of the three characters are kickass females. It explores faith, redemption, and love. It’s fast-paced and kept me guessing how it would end. (My Review)

EXCEEDED MY EXPECTATiONS

Ninth House just blew me away. I went in not expecting to like it very much because the beginning dragged a bit but then different pieces started falling into place. I’m still trying to write my review for this. It deserves a review. I understand why so many individuals praise Bardugo. I have all of the books Grishaverse books on my TBR and cannot wait to get started on them.

• I will try to catch up on my backlog of ARCs. I was doing really well and reading them ahead of their publication dates but I had to switch my attention to work because of an impending meeting, which also led to a bit of blogging slump. That week ended up toppling what little progress I was making at bringing up my ratio NetGalley. I am trying to stay hopeful here but darn it if more great books aren’t already coming out!

• I will finally read Cinderella is Dead (2020). Completing this book has remained elusive for some reason. Okay…let’s be honest. I’m a total mood reader so I keep jumping on new books instead. I need to jump on this book though.