Bookmark Lit Bulletin: September 2014

Posted September 30, 2014 / Bookmark Lit Bulletin, Features, Wrap-Ups / 0 Comments

bookmarklit bulletinHello friends! As you know, I introduced the Bookmark Lit Bulletin as a way of reviewing what I posted and did throughout the month. A lot of bloggers participate in Sunday Post or Stacking the Shelves memes, but I try to stay off the blogosphere on weekends. To that point, I post the Bookmark Lit Bulletin twice a month to serve that purpose. The first is posted for a mid-month update on the 15th, and the second is posted for a monthly wrap-up on the 30th or 31st. I post my book haul at the end of the month. For past bulletins, click here!

wrap up this month

bookish thoughts

As I’ve said a hundred times before, this month was super super busy in my personal life. Unfortunately I only managed to finish 10 books this month, which is kind of small considering how well I did last month! Most of the books were really enjoyable though. I’m happy I was given the opportunity by On The Same Page ARC tours to get two books this month (Damsel Distressed and Famous in Love). With ARC tours, you’re given a week to read the book before you have to send it along to the next person. Unfortunately that made me have to stop in my tracks with the book I was reading (my ARC of Trial By Fire, thanks Macmillan!) to read these two. Luckily it hasn’t been too hard to pick right back up with it when I can, though. I’m just grateful I had the opportunity for these ARCs, so I’m not complaining! Aside from that, I had completely forgotten I had a guest post due on the 27th until Andi reminded us all that week. Whoops! I read Just Like Fate in two days because it was so good anyways! Stay tuned for my post during Parallel Time Loop on October 13th at Andi’s ABCs. Since my reading has been very structured and scheduled this month, I’m glad that the books I’ve read have been great! I would hate to have a strict reading timeline and be forced to read books I’m not enjoying. I recently posted about my blogging schedule and started using Google Calendar to plan my posts better. It’s been great so far because I can see what I need to do, project out my review schedule, and plan when I need to read certain books.non bookish thoughts

This has been a CRAZY busy month. We moved into our new apartment at the beginning of the month, celebrated my birthday, went to alumni weekend at my college, celebrated our anniversary, and traveled to Maine for this past weekend. My boyfriend was given a paid week off from work because their customer changed their mind about shipment dates, so I was able to take off two days this week. We had some bookish adventures…until he was called back into work for the next day. I was able to head to the Big E with my mom for my second day off, so at least it wasn’t wasted. Otherwise, we’ve been enjoying our new apartment and laying low now that things have calmed down. I’ve been trying to make more personal posts on here lately, because I am always interested in learning more about the bloggers behind their blogs. It helps me vary the kinds of posts I make and share a little bit of my life. This was original going to be a book and lifestyle blog, so why not add a little of that in from time to time?

reviews features

Reviews

Challenges

  • Goodbye Summer Readathon – Started on August 27th and ran through September 15th. I created this readathon with the goal of reading books (with summery plotlines) before the season comes to an end. I did a decent job but definitely didn’t get to my entire TBR list. See my main post here.
  • Swoony September – I joined up with The Bookaholic Blurbs for Swoony September, where were read a bunch of cute contemporaries to make us swoon all month. I did an okay job, but again didn’t get to my whole TBR. I think I was a little too aggressive, especially because I was itching for a different genre within the first week of the read-a-thon! See my post here.

Blog Tours

  • Damsel Distressed Blog Tour – I got a copy of this ARC from On the Same Page ARC Tours, and was also accepted into the Blog Tour. Keep an eye out for my stop on the tour, which is my glowing review of the book, on October 6th!

Top Posts this Month

book haul

Real books:

  • Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
  • The Diviners by Libba Bray

Kindle books:sept haul

  • Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler
  • Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson
  • Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson
  • Ten by Gretchen McNeil
  • Every Ugly Word by Aimee L. Salter
  • Gates of Thread and Stone by Lori M. Lee
  • Altered by Gennifer Albin

Library Books

  • Dissonance by Erica O’Rourke
  • Just Like the Movies by Kelly Fiore
  • Ask Again Later by Liz Czukas
  • That Summer by Sarah Dessen (audiobook)

Audiobooks:

  • Breathe, Annie, Breathe by Miranda Kenneally
  • Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
  • Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer (I own the physical copy of this and haven’t been able to start it, so I figured why not buy the Daily Deal!)

Books from publishers or ARC tours:

  • Damsel Distressed by Kelsey Macke (thanks On the Same Page ARC Tours! I didn’t keep this one, but am grateful I had the opportunity to read it and love it for a week!)
  • Trial By Fire by Josephine Angelini (thanks Feiwel & Friends /Macmillan for this physical ARC! Such a lovely surprise)
  • Famous in Love by Rebecca Serle (thanks AGAIN to On the Same Page ARC Tours for this one too!)

wrap up next monthwhats nextThe Parallel Time Loop feature will be over at Andi’s ABCs (for me on the 13th), where my review for Just Like Fate will be included. I already posted my review here, but added some more fun stuff for my post over there! I think October will be a more relaxed reading month for me, since I didn’t overdo it too much with signing up for things. I really want to get going on some books that have been on my TBR for a while; a lot of them have been pushed off way too long! I’ve also been going a little crazy at my library, so I have a feeling I’ll be able to have a Book Buying Ban for October. If I can read only books from my shelves and from the library, I’ll feel much better about my money situation. There are so many ways to get books aside from purchasing them! I can’t get over how amazing it feels to have a library card again. I’ll be participating in the Ho-Ho-Ho Holiday Readathon in November as well, but haven’t really made my official “announcement” for it yet. It takes place in November, so I won’t be reading too many books on my holiday list. I want to save most of them for December!

October will be more laid back on a personal level too, I think. We may have some friends come visit at some point, and Chris’s birthday is on the 19th, but that’s really all we have. We still need to go to Boston and NYC at some point to celebrate our birthdays. We don’t really get too into Halloween, but I love that the holiday season is coming up. I love time off from work, seeing family, eating great food, and watching movies for the season! Halloweentown and Tower of Terror are classic Halloween movies that I need to see.

bookish goals

  • Read only books on my shelves, on my Kindle, or from the library. Book Buying Ban!!
  • Finish the Private series!!!! (seriously, need to do this.)
  • Start the Throne of Glass series and try not to get too addicted
  • Continue splitting up my shelves on Goodreads so I can navigate them easily
  • Read more books and post more reviews; I love the feeling of having books scheduled out for a few weeks instead of for a few days!

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