Category: Wrap-Ups

Bookmark Lit Bulletin | October 2024

Posted November 6, 2024 / Bookmark Lit Bulletin, Features, Wrap-Ups / 1 Comment
Bookmark Lit Bulletin | October 2024

The Bookmark Lit Bulletin wraps up the last month in reading and what was on the blog, as well as what’s coming up next. You can check out my book haul, books read, posts shared, challenge updates, etc. You can read past bulletins here. If you’re looking for more personal updates, you can check out my Lauren Lately feature; it highlights my life events and non-bookish fun from the previous 30 days. Another weird month for October but generally read a decent amount quantity-wise… just not length-wise! I read a few novellas to flesh out the month since I just never got in a good rhythm with full-length books. I’ll see how the rest of the year goes, I guess. I don’t doubt I’ll reach my Goodreads goal but I do think there will be a lot more novellas unfortunately. I have so many novels I’m excited to read but just can’t make the time!      8 books in October 8 read  •  0 reread  •  0 DNF Pages read: 1,952 •  Average rating: 4.06 stars Genres: 5 mystery/thriller, 2 contemporary, 1 historical fiction Formats: 4 ebook, 3 mixed format, 1 hardcover Sources: 4 Kindle Unlimited, 1 BOTM, 1 library, 1 preordered, 1 purchased Age Target: 7 adult, 1 young adult      Here are all the books I read this month with ratings and one-line thoughts!      Popsugar Reading Challenge: 40% 52 Book Club: 69% Book Cover Bingo: 84% 24 in 24: 33%      Breakdown: 3 hardcovers | 1 paperback | 1 egalley | 2 ebooks | […]

Bookmark Lit Bulletin | September 2024

Posted October 9, 2024 / Bookmark Lit Bulletin, Features, Wrap-Ups / 0 Comments
Bookmark Lit Bulletin | September 2024

The Bookmark Lit Bulletin wraps up the last month in reading and what was on the blog, as well as what’s coming up next. You can check out my book haul, books read, posts shared, challenge updates, etc. You can read past bulletins here. If you’re looking for more personal updates, you can check out my Lauren Lately feature; it highlights my life events and non-bookish fun from the previous 30 days. I had a weird reading month in September, which is kind of par for the course – I always expect to do less reading when I’m bopping around for my birthday and beginning-of-fall plans. I read nearly an entire graphic novel series and just a few full-length novels so my numbers look good at least.      10 books in September 9 read  •  0 reread  •  1 DNF Pages read: 3,143 •  Average rating: 3.9 stars Genres: 5 graphic novel, 3 mystery/thriller, 2 contemporary Formats: 5 paperback, 2 ebook, 2 mixed, 1 egalley Sources: 5 purchased, 2 preordered, 2 library, 1 review Age Target: 5 young adult, 4 adult, 1 middle grade      Here are all the books I read this month with ratings and one-line thoughts!           ADORED This Series binge // // //        Popsugar Reading Challenge: 36% 52 Book Club: 65% Book Cover Bingo: 84% 24 in 24: 29%      Breakdown: 7 hardcovers | 10 paperbacks | 1 egalley | 1 ebook | 0 audiobooks All review copies were provided for free in exchange for an honest […]

Bookmark Lit Bulletin | August 2024

Posted September 5, 2024 / Bookmark Lit Bulletin, Features, Wrap-Ups / 0 Comments
Bookmark Lit Bulletin | August 2024

The Bookmark Lit Bulletin wraps up the last month in reading and what was on the blog, as well as what’s coming up next. You can check out my book haul, books read, posts shared, challenge updates, etc. You can read past bulletins here. If you’re looking for more personal updates, you can check out my Lauren Lately feature; it highlights my life events and non-bookish fun from the previous 30 days. I feel like I can’t get past the eight-book hump which always puts me on track or one book behind on my reading challenge! I know September will be harder because of my birthday and the usual things I do in early fall. I hope to get another 8-9 books done at least!      8 books in August 8 read  •  0 reread  •  0 DNF Pages read: 2,776  •  Average rating: 3.44 stars Genres: 4 mystery/thriller, 2 contemporary, 1 nonfiction, 1 magical realism Formats: 4 mixed, 3 egalley, 1 hardcover Sources: 4 review, 2 preordered, 1 purchased, 1 borrowed Age Target: 6 adult, 2 young adult      Here are all the books I read this month with ratings and one-line thoughts!      Popsugar Reading Challenge: 36% 52 Book Club: 63% Book Cover Bingo: 84% 24 in 24: 29%      Breakdown: 5 hardcovers | 1 paperback | 0 egalley | 1 ebook | 0 audiobooks All review copies were provided for free in exchange for an honest review. Physical Books Purchased at RJ Julia event: East Coasting by Chitnis, The Pairing by McQuiston BOTM: Like Mother, […]

Bookmark Lit Bulletin | July 2024

Bookmark Lit Bulletin | July 2024

The Bookmark Lit Bulletin wraps up the last month in reading and what was on the blog, as well as what’s coming up next. You can check out my book haul, books read, posts shared, challenge updates, etc. You can read past bulletins here. If you’re looking for more personal updates, you can check out my Lauren Lately feature; it highlights my life events and non-bookish fun from the previous 30 days. I had a super solid start to the month thanks to Summerween… which also explains the high number of mysteries and thrillers this month! I also just was in the MOOD for them. You’ll see a ton of them next month too because most of the books on my immediate TBR are mysteries. Hopefully I can mix in some romance too otherwise I may burn out lol. Two books at the end of July were a slog so that’s why I didn’t read as many as initially expected. And this was easily my worst reading month maybe ever rating-wise.      8 books in July 8 read  •  0 reread  •  0 DNF Pages read: 2,745  •  Average rating: 3.25 stars Genres: 4 mystery/thriller, 2 contemporary Formats: 5 mixed, 1 ebook, 1 egalley, 1 paperback Sources: 2 purchased, 2 review copies, 1 library, 1 owned, 1 borrowed, 1 BOTM Age Target: 8 adult      Here are all the books I read this month with ratings and one-line thoughts!      Popsugar Reading Challenge: 32% 52 Book Club: 56% Book Cover Bingo: 76% 24 in 24: 25% […]

*10 Years* of Book Blogging!

Posted July 17, 2024 / Features, Wrap-Ups / 0 Comments
*10 Years* of Book Blogging!

Believe it or not, this little blog is officially ten years old today yesterday. I started it one summer after finishing BEFORE I FALL by Lauren Oliver, reading some Goodreads reviews and seeing blog links in the reviews, and thinking… I could do that too! Why not? I like to read, I like to write, and I love starting and abandoning new hobbies. Well, joke is on 2014-Lauren because somehow, against all odds, 2024-Lauren still semi-regularly blogs here. The pandemic took a bit of a toll on this space for me and I’ve seen SO many blog friends come and go over the last ten years, and here I still am! Throwback to the OG header as I dive into some of the reading stats across this fucking decade. Note: stats are thanks to Storygraph, since all of my data has been imported there and is the best place to find everything. I can’t promise that it’s 100% accurate but I feel fairly confident in these numbers lol. Ten Years of Reading According to Storygraph, I’ve read over 1200 books since July 16, 2024. That’s insane. It equates to over 404k pages. I also included the fun mood chart here to give you a sense for my reading life over this ten year time period. Clearly I’m still a romance girlie (despite the fact that the bulk of those books are from the first 7ish years lol). My average time-to-finish is 5 days, which checks out in the grand scheme […]

2024 Midyear Reflection and Stats

Posted July 5, 2024 / Features, Wrap-Ups / 0 Comments
2024 Midyear Reflection and Stats

Midyear Reflection, Book Stats, and Challenges I’ve been doing midyear “wrap-ups” for years now and they’ve taken many forms. This year I’m going to expand a little more than just showing my stats and moving on, since I set a lot of goals and TBRs that I REALLY need to check in on. I’ve been failing miserably at a few and doing okay at others. Midyear Book Stats 50 / 100 Books Read       Annual Goal Check-In Stay on track or ahead of my Goodreads challenge 🤷🏼‍♀️ I’m currently on target because my goal was to get to 50 books read by the midpoint of the year, which is halfway to my 100-book goal, and I did! It says I’m a book ahead even though I’m kind of not so we’ll see. I’ve spent most of the year on track or behind, not on track or ahead. Keep up Instagram stories about TBRs and completed reads ✅ I’ve been amazing at this. Book reviews, monthly TBRs, and monthly wrap-ups are all present on my Instagram stories in highlights. Read my 24 in 24 😬 I’ve only read five of these but I do have plans to attack them as noted in my challenge check-in area below. I went ahead and planned which months I’ll read certain books in to ensure I complete the challenge, since I was really hoping to! Read bigger books ✅ I was going to give myself a shrug-emoji rating here but then I remembered that […]

Bookmark Lit Bulletin | June 2024

Bookmark Lit Bulletin | June 2024

The Bookmark Lit Bulletin wraps up the last month in reading and what was on the blog, as well as what’s coming up next. You can check out my book haul, books read, posts shared, challenge updates, etc. You can read past bulletins here. If you’re looking for more personal updates, you can check out my Lauren Lately feature; it highlights my life events and non-bookish fun from the previous 30 days. June had some help because I finished a May holdover on the first day of the month, and then kept momentum going from there! Our vacation helped; I think I finished two books that weekend alone.      10 books in June 10 read  •  0 reread  •  0 DNF Pages read: 3,554 •   Average rating: 4 stars Genres: 4 mystery/thriller, 3 contemporary, 2 dystopia, 1 graphic novel Formats: 7 mixed, 2 egalley, 1 paperback Sources: 3 owned, 2 library, 2 review, 2 preordered, 1 purchased Age Target: 6 adult, 3 young adult, 1 middle grade      Here are all the books I read this month with ratings and one-line thoughts!      Popsugar Reading Challenge: 26% 52 Book Club: 46% Book Cover Bingo: 72% 24 in 24: 21%      Breakdown: 12 hardcovers | 0 paperbacks | 3 egalleys | 1 ebook | 0 audiobooks All review copies were provided for free in exchange for an honest review. Physical Books BOTM: Jackpot Summer by Friedland, A Talent for Murder by Swanson, One Perfect Couple by Ware Preordered or purchased: Past Present Future by Solomon, What Happened to […]

Bookmark Lit Bulletin | May 2024

Bookmark Lit Bulletin | May 2024

The Bookmark Lit Bulletin wraps up the last month in reading and what was on the blog, as well as what’s coming up next. You can check out my book haul, books read, posts shared, challenge updates, etc. You can read past bulletins here. If you’re looking for more personal updates, you can check out my Lauren Lately feature; it highlights my life events and non-bookish fun from the previous 30 days. I felt like I covered a lot of ground by reading two books in two days toward the end of the month! I also expected to finish one more that week but ended up finishing the book on June 1st instead. Womp. Overall, a great reading month from a quality perspective.      7 books in May 6 read  •  1 reread  •  0 DNF Pages read: 2320 •   Average rating: 4.29 stars Genres: 3 contemporary, 2 mystery/thriller, 1 nonfiction Formats: 3 mixed, 2 hardcover, 1 paperback, 1 egalley Sources: 4 owned, 2 purchased Age Target: 6 adult, 1 young adult      Here are all the books I read this month with ratings and one-line thoughts!      Popsugar Reading Challenge: 24% 52 Book Club: 40% Book Cover Bingo: 72% 24 in 24: 21%      Breakdown: 6 hardcovers | 0 paperbacks | 5 egalleys | 0 ebooks | 0 audiobooks All review copies were provided for free in exchange for an honest review. Physical Books Purchased: This Summer Will Be Different by Fortune, Dinner Tonight by Snodgress BOTM: The Ministry of Time by Bradley, The Paradise […]

Bookmark Lit Bulletin | April 2024

Bookmark Lit Bulletin | April 2024

The Bookmark Lit Bulletin wraps up the last month in reading and what was on the blog, as well as what’s coming up next. You can check out my book haul, books read, posts shared, challenge updates, etc. You can read past bulletins here. If you’re looking for more personal updates, you can check out my Lauren Lately feature; it highlights my life events and non-bookish fun from the previous 30 days. I knew April wasn’t going to be an amazing month for reading because of our Disney trip but I’m glad I managed to finish 8 books by the end of the month! That’s my minimum goal for each month to generally stay on pace with my reading goal. I’ve been cutting it super close haha.      8 books in April 4 read  •  4 reread  •  0 DNF Pages read: 3,856 •   Average rating: 4.5 stars Genres: 4 dystopia, 1 graphic novel, 1 contemporary, 1 mystery/thriller, 1 cookbook Formats: 6 mixed format, 1 paperback, 1 hardcover Sources: 5 owned, 2 purchased, 1 libraary Age Target: 5 young adult, 2 adult, 1 middle grade      Here are all the books I read this month with ratings and one-line thoughts! The Program Reread // // //        Popsugar Reading Challenge: 22% 52 Book Club: 37% Book Cover Bingo: 68% 24 in 24: 17%      Breakdown: 7 hardcovers | 2 paperbacks | 2 egalleys | 1 ebooks | 0 audiobooks All review copies were provided for free in exchange for an honest review. Physical Books […]

Bookmark Lit Bulletin | March 2024

Bookmark Lit Bulletin | March 2024

The Bookmark Lit Bulletin wraps up the last month in reading and what was on the blog, as well as what’s coming up next. You can check out my book haul, books read, posts shared, challenge updates, etc. You can read past bulletins here. If you’re looking for more personal updates, you can check out my Lauren Lately feature; it highlights my life events and non-bookish fun from the previous 30 days. I went from reading six novellas and a few other slogs to finish with nine books in February, to reading eight full books (including a cookbook) in March. Definitely sounds better but the vibes were honestly still a little low. I haven’t had the same reading gusto I carried all through last year and am usually on track or one book behind on my reading goal. April will be tough due to travel plans but I have ideas for how to keep on track.      8 books in March 8 read  •  0 reread  •  0 DNF Pages read: 2,800 •   Average rating: 3.94 stars Genres: 5 mystery/thriller, 1 nonfiction, 1 contemporary, 1 paranormal Formats: 5 mixed format, 2 egalley, 1 hardcover Sources: 5 review, 2 borrowed, 1 purchased Age Target: 7 adult, 1 young adult      Here are all the books I read this month with ratings and one-line thoughts!      Popsugar Reading Challenge: 22% 52 Book Club: 33% Book Cover Bingo: 56% 24 in 24: 13%      Breakdown: 6 hardcovers | 0 paperbacks | 2 egalleys | 1 ebooks | 0 […]