Top Ten Tuesday! 2013 Reads!

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by: The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic: Top Ten Books I Resolve To Read In 2013

 

New Year! New books to read!

However I have a few books I didn't get around to reading last year that I don't want to forget about!

The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien

I have started this one! Got distracted by Christmas!

 

Insurgent by Veronica Roth



I loved Divergent but I know Insurgent will be better

 

Crossed by Ally Condie

No excuses now Reached is out as well!

 

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

 Requiem is out in March so I can read the series straight through no waiting!

 

In Honour by Jessi Kirby

 

Hopefully this one will come down to under £5! I sampled it and I know I will love it!

 

Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally

 

This one is very popular and well reviewed! I finally bit the bullet and brought it!

 

Callum and Harper by Fisher Amelie

I loved Thomas and January and the review was one of my most read posts!

 

Throne of Glass by Sarah.J.Maas

I will read Throne of Glass! I owe it so no excuses! 

 

 ArchEnemy by Frank Beddor

I will finish The Looking Glass Wars!

 

The Vincent Boys by Abbi Glines 

I downloaded this one awhile back! I love Abbi Glines so I need to read this one!

 

This ten will not get away from me this year!

What do you want to read this year?

Much Love!

Lettie

Xxxx

Challenge Update!

As much as I hate to wish this year away 2012 is closing in on it's finish line which means I should be winding up my challenges..... Whoops!
I seem to have lost momentum despite challenge progress being one of my October goals so I'm using this update post to see where I am and what I want to read!

Those Books I Should Have Read 2012 Reading Challenge

Aim=12! So far 6....

So I'm actually halfway through this one!
Books I should of picked up!
To Read
The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien, Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer and Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan.
Books sat on my shelf brought and unread!
To Read
Daughter of the Flames by Zoe Marriott, Forest Born by Shannon Hale

Finishing the Series Reading Challenge 2012

Aim- Finish 2 series So far- *tumbleweed*

By far the least progress, even posting Top Ten Series I Haven't Finished didn't fire up progress like I hoped it would!

Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor
To Read- ArchEnemy
Tales of Otori by Lian Hearn.
To Read Heaven's Net is Wide and Harsh Cry of the Heron

Dystopia 2012 Challenge
Aim=5 books *changed* 15 books. So far 8.... 

I achieved my original aim! But I set a new one so I'm hoping to reach it too!
To Read
Insurgent by Veronica Roth
Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Crossed by Ally Condie
Reached by Ally Condie
Spark by Amy Kathleen Ryan
Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Sad truth about my lack of progress is every single book in this post apart from Reached is currently in my possession whether I brought it , borrowed from a friend or the library! Just need to read them!

How are you doing with your challenges?
Much Love!
Lettie
Xxx

October Round Up!

Monthly Feature- rounds up all the books I've read, progress on challenges and reviews my blogging!

It is kind of an expansion (?) of my favourite memes hosted by the lovely Shelia over at Book Journey!

 
Quick update! I've been taken ill by some random flu as well as being a good daughter/granddaughter painting, decorating and taking apart kitchens so sorry for the lack of blogging!

October in numbers!

Total posts= 16

Books read= 6  

Reviews Posted= 4

Meme Posts= 4
Other Posts= 8

 

What I read in October!

 I think I've been busy decorating and reading non fiction books on careers etc to read as much as I would of liked!
 
What I Reviewed!
Thomas and January by Fisher Amelie.
Easy by Tammara Webber.
Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi.
Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
 
Not too bad on the reviewing front not as great as I'd hoped though! 

What I Posted!
Challenge Motivation!- This one should go live tomorrow!  
Top Ten Minor Characters!- If you've read my reviews you know I love minor characters so this Top Ten was hard to narrow down!
Bloggiesta Wrap Up!- Sums up my Bloggiesta experience and accomplishments!
Blog Tours
Forbidden Mind Blog Tour
Book Promo
6 Seconds of Life Blitz- Touring this blog next month!
Move by Brina Courtney 
Don't Panic by Lindsay Paige

 Did I achieve my goals?
To blog to a schedule.-
Almost! I kept to my planned schedule quite well for half of October however my blog plans for November and surprise real life schedule changes hindered me! I did find planning a schedule made me much more organised and aware of how I was blogging- scheduling is now my top blogging tool!
To make progress on my challenges.
I didn't make much progress on this one! I did only read five books though so I'm not too surprised! More on this on below!
To post two non meme/review posts.
I did post alot more book promo style posts and my challenge update post however my planned posts got moved to November... So this is half successful
To tweet every blog post.
Thanks to Tanya  who pointed out that I could link my Blog to my Twitter = goal achieved! Yay!

What I hope to achieve in November!

• To successfully host my feature month!- I've got a contemporary themed month planned and a detailed schedule planned out so I want to keep to it better than I did in October.
• To make progress on my challenges!- I'm posting a challenge update post tomorrow so I can layout exactly what I need to read to complete my challenges! Posting my goals and plans on this blog will make me feel more accountable!
• To update my blog pages!- I want to put all the books I've rated under the relevant rating on the rating page. Update my about me page. Blogkeeping really!

How's your October/week been?
Much Love!
Lettie
Xxx

Monday Round Up!

 One of my favourite memes hosted by the lovely Shelia over at Book Journey!

What do you think of the new header? I've been playing around with doing my own recently! :)
I've had a great week! Caught up with a couple of old friends and went to the Circus- who doesn't love the circus? Not even working four days with little notice could ruin my week!
However my surprise work did affect my blogging schedule and Seeing Redd got sidelined!
 
 
Reviews!
Easy by Tammara Webber- 4 Hearts! Cannot stop re-reading this one!

Other posts!
Top Ten Minor Characters- Check out my favourite minor characters!
Move by Brina Courtney- Book Blast for this new book!

Read!

 Really enjoyed one and I'm writing my review notes all ready for my blog tour stop on 9th November!
 
Reading!

 
Seeing Redd got sidelined with work last week, but I am enjoying it!
 
What's Next!

6 Seconds as it's the next on my TBR blog tour list!

Upcoming Reviews!
Under The Never Sky by Veronica Rossi- Loved this one!
The Lost Son By Tamra Torero and Preston Norton- This one got sidelines last week as it wasn't prewritten!

How has your week been?
Let me know!
Much love!
Lettie
Xxx

Monday Round Up!

 

One of my favourite memes hosted by the lovely Shelia over at Book Journey!
 
This is my first round up post since August!
I've had a good week! I manged to fit in a Freshers week visit to my old Uni to see my friends and took my Godson to the museum! I've been a bit slower with reading- no idea why! But I have been keeping up my scheduling and getting posts scheduled!

Reviews!
Thomas and January by Fisher Amelie. 4 Hearts!
Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan 4 Hearts!

Other posts!
Bloggiesta Wrap Up- Check out how I did with my blog goals!
Forbidden Mind Tour- Check out an exclusive extract of the book!
6 Seconds of Life Promo post- Got me excited to read the book asap!
 
Read!

 
I finished off my Steph Campbell binge with her latest release- loved it! I'll be doing one giant review post for all her books next month :)
 
Reading!

 
Two books at once is a old habit of mine!
I'm currently reading Seeing Redd in a bid to finish up The Looking Glass Wars trilogy- enjoying it so far! Swell is for a blog tour next month and so far so good!
 
What's Next!

 
 As I mentioned in the promo blitz this one is for a blog tour- I'm so intrigued by the concept! 
 

Upcoming Reviews!
The Lost Son By Tamra Torero and Preston Norton-This is published tomorrow and my review will be up this week!
Easy by Tamara Webber- Loved this one! Review will be up Sunday!
 
Upcoming Posts!
Top Ten Minor Characters- Check back tomorrow to see who my Top Ten minor characters are!
 
The perks of a schedule is I know exactly what I'm posting and when!

How has your week been?
Let me know!
Much love!
Lettie
Xxx

September Round Up!

Monthly Feature- rounds up all the books I've read, progress on challenges and reviews my blogging!

It is kind of an expansion (?) of my favourite memes hosted by the lovely Shelia over at Book Journey!

September in numbers!

Total posts= 15

Books read= 11

Books listened to= 2 ½

Reviews Posted= 5

Meme Posts= 4
Other Posts= 6

Total days spent in the UK= 12

 

What I read in September!

*Plus*
The Lost Son by Preston Norton and Tamra Torero
 
What I Reviewed!
Frozen by Mary Casanova.
Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan.
Sam Cruz's Infallible Guide To Getting Girls by Tellulah Darling.
Because of Low by Abbi Glines.
Matched by Ally Condie
Stronger review month! I seem to be reviewing my books accidentally in order which is handy!
I'm hoping my scheduling will make the number of reviews a month higher and more consistent from now on..
 
What I Posted!
Reviews- A post clarifying my personal approach to reviewing.
Bloggiesta- Brilliant event which really helped me with my monthly goals! Check out my goals post to see what else I cleaned up blogwise.
Autumn TBR- What I plan on reading this season!
Cover Reveal- Check out the beautiful cover on Abbi Glines' next instalment of Sea Breeze!
Series I need to finish!- This top ten kind of works as a 'to read' list for my series challenge.
 
Did I achieve my goals?
To post 15 posts.
Just achieved this one! I think I managed it, thanks to my holiday forcing me to schedule posts in advance. However my short notice holiday stopped my hope of 8 reviews as I didn't have time to write them up and schedule them before leaving for France.
To improve the standard of this blog.
I think I've achieved this one but it's an ongoing process. My review policy is clear and concise. My ratings system has made me think more about my reviews, which I hope has made them better. Bloggiesta gave me the chance to improve it further with the mini challenges.
To learn more about blog design.
I've tried but I think this goal will take longer than a month! The Bloggiesta mini challenges were so helpful for this one so it's an ongoing process.
  
What I hope to achieve in October!

• To blog to a schedule.- I created a proper blog schedule for bloggiesta which I will be posting later, I'm hoping to keep to it in order to give this blog a clearly defined structure and reliability.
• To make progress on my challenges.- I've been slacking on the majority of my challenges, in particular finishing the series. I'm hoping to make a lot more progress in October.
• To post two non meme/review posts.- This was originally last month's goal until I realised I wouldn't be able to write them up before going away! I've got a least one written up ready so hopefully this will be an easy goal!
• To tweet every blog post.- I used to do this all the time and it generated a lot of traffic! Need to get back into the habit.

September was an odd blogging month as I was away for the majority of the month so I wasn't actively blogging! I will be posting my Bloggiesta wrap up with my schedule so hopefully this month will be run smoothly!

How was your September blog/book/life wise?
Much Love!
Lettie
Xxx

Stacking The Shelves!

What is Stacking The Shelves all about?

Stacking The Shelves is hosted by Tynga all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

Picked up a few books this week and I stumbled across this meme! Such a good idea :)

Borrowed
From friends!

As I mentioned in my Holiday post I need to read the Artemis Fowl series asap- luckily my friend was happy to lend me the first two!
Once I unearth Seeing Redd and read it I'll have Archenemy on hand to finish off the series!

Library

My late reserve book which a friend had to pick up for me- Glow was so intriguing I'm excited for the sequel!
I love Paige Toon but I don't always love her books so I decided to borrow instead of buy this one.

Books for Tours

I've signed up for a couple of November blog tours due to Bloggiesta and received the books!
I'm so excited for Shallow- I loved Going Under.
Swell sounds a bit different which is always good!

Previewed

I'm on a Amazon ban (again!) because my TBR list is getting of control! So I've been previewing books to see if I want them :)

Measuring Up and Crash are sort of 'random finds- their previews were so intriguing definitely on the ebook wish list!
Breathe- I really need to read the first Sea Breeze book especially as I love the others so much!
Shallow- I was checking it out as I really enjoyed Going Under!

I've added quite a few books to my TBR this week!
Let me know if you love any of them!

Much Love!
Lettie
Xxx

Top Ten Tuesday- Series I Haven't Finished

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by: The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic is Top Ten Series I Haven't Finished.

 

I'm back from holiday and already posted a cover reveal for Just For Now!

This theme is brilliant as I'm currently failing my Finishing the Series Reading Challenge 2012 so this will remind me what series I need to bump up my TBR list.

 

The ones I just need to pick up!

Books of Bayern

I loved Goose Girl and Enna Burning so I pounced on River Secrets! I just haven't got around to reading Forest Born even though it sat on my Uni book shelf for ages!

Tales of the Otori

I love the original trilogy (the middle three) but the other two I  keep bumping down the TBR list for no real reason.

 

Looking Glass Wars

I read the Looking Glass Wars in hardback ages ago but by the time Seeing Redd came out I just didn't pick it up. I reread Looking Glass Wars on holiday and promptly borrowed the next two from my friend!

 

The ones that I started at the wrong time!

 



Inheritance Cycle

I read and loved Eragon but with Univerity and work I just didn't have the time to devote to reading such a long series! I now feel like I need to reread Eragon before finishing the series but I do have the first three ready so no excuses!

 

The Books of Pellinor

 Loved The Gift but I just didn't have time for the whole series- will be picking it up soon!

 

Inkheart Trilogy

Same story different trilogy! Loved the first book but no time for series! Once again it's a case of needing to reread Inkheart and get back in to the series.

 
 
 The ones I feel are finished

The Shopaholic Series

I have loved the Shopaholic series and Sophie Kinsella so much for so long. I haven't read Mini Shopaholic because I kinda feel I'm done with Becky- Shopaholic and Baby was a happy realistic end!

 

Sisterhood of The Travelling Pants

I loved these when they first came out! I only recently realised there was a fifth one. I've heard it's bittersweet so I'm debating whether or not I should read it or leave it- I felt Forever in Blue ended almost perfectly!

Not quite ten but I limited it to series I genuinely want to finish or loved!

I think my issue with not finishing series is I either  lose momentum  when I have to wait for instalments or I just don't have the time to read them back to back.

 

Hopefully I will be able to finish at least two of those for my Challenge!

Let me know if you have any series you need to finish or if you have any opinions on the ones I need to finish!

 

Much Love!

Lettie

Xxx