Challenges 2015!

After my surprisingly successful 2014 with challenges I'm looking forward to new challenges!

Everything YA.

 Hosted by Elyssa at Books and Iced Coffee

Objective: To keep reading more Young Adult books! This year Elyssa has added a monthly mini challenge which I am hoping to take part in.
Aim: 20! As I completed this challenge last year I've upped my aim.

First Reads Reading Challenge

hosted by b00k r3vi3ws

Objective: To keep reading and discovering new authors!
Aim: 26-50 Lover level. I've kept my aim the same as last year as I didn't quite reach it.

Netgalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge

hosted by Emily of Falling for YA,

Objective: To keep up with my NetGalley requests!
Aim: 25, Silver level. The same as last year as I don't want NetGalley to account for a large proportion of my total.

 

TBR Pile Challenge

Hosted by Evie of Bookish

Objective: To make sure my TBR list goes down! I missed a few books in 2014 so I've got a few ready to read!

Aim: 11-20 books, A Friendly Hug. 2015 will be the year I reach this goal!

 

“Real” Book Challenge!

 hosted by Swoony Boys Podcast and Fic Fare.  

Objective: To read all the books on my shelves, I  often find myself reading more e-books as they are easier to multitask with!

Aim:11-20 - Real Book Enthusiast. I lowered the level as I didn't reach my goal last year.

Flights of Fantasy Challenge!

 hosted by Alexa Loves Books and Hello Chelly.  

Objective: To rediscover my favourite genre! This is replacing my yearly dystopia challenge as I found myself reaching for more fantasy based books.

Aim: 15. Hopefully not too ambitious!

105 Challenge!

  hosted by Nori of  Read Write Love 28. 

Objective: To read 105 books!

Aim: 105!
Categories:  12 companion books. 11 Arcs. 10 contemporaries. 9 New Adult. 8 2015 releases. 7 series' books. 6 books from my bookshelf. 5 2014 releases. 4 dystopias. 3 covers with dresses. 2 hardbacks. 1 Sci-Fi.
 What challenges have you signed up for this year?
Much love!
Lettie
Xxx

2015!

Happy New Year!!

2014 was my least successful blogging year but years are full of highs and lows! I had a
great year career wise which unfortunately meant a low year blogging. I am proud of myself for sticking to blogging and this year my focus will be on consistency.

Last Year's Goals.

• Social Media. This is on-going I was better in 2014 than 2013.
• Diversity~ I was achieving this up until my blogging slump, I had interviews, discussions, behind the blog, and self challenges.
• Blog Design- This goal is rolling over as I'm in the final stages!
• Posts. I didn't reach my goal once even during my good blogging period so I may have been too ambitious.
• Books. Well.... I didn't even get halfway to 200!

2015 Goals.

My main focus is on consistency so my goals are realistic.

• Posts. 100 posts is my goal! Roughly 8 a month which I think I can average over the year.
• Books. I'm aiming for 105 with a special challenge which I will detail in my challenge post.
• Diversity. My main aim here is consistency, even when I'm in a slump or busy I need to make sure my posts are diverse.
• Social Media. I need to get back in to tweeting and instagramming regularly!
• Schedule. I had a good scheduling plan going but I slipped and it disappeared! I have Feb and March in Uni so I want to schedule for April and May.
• Continuity. No matter how hard or

Fingers crossed I achieve my goals this year!

What are you hoping to achieve this year?

Much Love!

Lettie.

Xxx

August: A Review.

 

Monthly Feature- rounds up all the books I've read, progress on challenges and monthly blogging goals!
 
I can't believe I haven't done a monthly review since 2013! I'm reviving them starting with August.

August in Numbers!

Total posts= 7

Books read= 9

Reviews Posted= 3

 

What I read in August!

 

August reviews!

The One by Kiera Cass.

After The Storm by Marie Landry.

Torn Away by Jennifer Brown.

August posts!

Stacking The Shelves: July.
TBR: Arc August.
Beach Reads Giveaway!
Mini Reviews.
Third Review!

August posts from the Blogosphere!

• Fun summery series with related posts and interviews based around Morgan Matson's books, Alexa & Judith's Epic Summer Read-Along
• I loved Brittany's recommendations of what to read If You Liked… If I Stay.
• I really appreciated Debby's How to posts especially How to Keep Track, I've made up my own spread sheets and they are so useful!
• I also adored Debby's Pretty Dress Covers post.
• I completely agree with Jamie's Operation Make Myself Suck Less At Series, and I will be doing a similar post later this month!

August Challenges...
Whoops! I posted my ambitious Summer Sign Ups! in July with high hopes.... I didn't reach any of my goals!
I read 4 books and gave up on another 2 for Arc August.
I completely failed the Monster Reviewathon and Beat the Heat Readathon as I've got a lot of reading to do for my course which I didn't realise I had!
I'm still going with my Bingo Challenge though as I'm extending my summer with a holiday! So I will wrap that up with a post next week.

September blogging goals!
Pre-Schedule- I'm anticiapating being really busy with my PGCE but I want to write up a post as week to keep my blog going. I've got 8 posts scheduled so far.
Social Media~ With blogging taking a back burner to my PGCE I'm planning to use Twitter and Instagram to keep up with the blog world and keep my blog going. So follow me on both of those!
Reviews~ More reviews! I want to post at least 6 reviews this month!

How was your August?
Looking forward to Autumn?
Much Love!
Lettie.
Xxx

TBR: Arc August.

Arc August has officially started! I've put together a TBR of many NetGalley titles that I need to read. I'm hoping to read at least 10.

Which one do you think I should read first?

Be sure to check out my sign up post to see what else I've signed up for this August!
Much Love!
Lettie
Xxx

Summer Sign Ups!

I wasn't going to sign up to any read-a-thons as I have my Summer Bingo Challenge to keep up with but then these three challenges popped up in my news feed...

Arc August

 
ARC August is a month long challenge Octavia hosts as a way to help motivate people to tackle their huge (and small) ARC piles.
Sign up here.

Why?
I've gotten majorly behind with NetGalley so I thought this would be the best motivation!
Aim?
I'm aiming to read 10 ARCs this August which should get be back on course!

The Monster Thons.

The Monster Read and Review-a-thons are a great chance for us all to get together, read some fabulous reads, and get to those reviews that we know have been sitting there waiting to be done for a little too long. Sign Up here.
I've chosen Reviewathon!

Why?
I had a bit of a reading spree so I need to do some hard core reviewing!
Aim?
I'm aiming to write a total of 14 reviews, two a day!

 

Beat the Heat Readathon

The Beat the Heat Readathon runs from August 11th to September 1st. What does this readathon entail, you ask? Well, read as much or as little as you want – the main point is to READ! You set your own goal, and for three weeks you read as many books as you can/want to reach your goal!
Sign Up here.
Why?
I just love readathons and this one sounds fun!
Aim?
I'm aiming to read about 15 books, so five more than Arc August!

Have you signed up for any readathons??
I'm really looking forward to these!

Much Love!
Lettie
Xxx

Quarterly Check Up!

For some reason I've been skipping my monthly reviews! I thought I'd do one big 'check in' for the first quarter of 2014. 2014 has been a slow blogging year so far I keep getting into little slumps so I'm hoping with my blogiversary coming up and exciting posts all planned out I can get back to my usual schedule!

January-April in Numbers

Total posts= 39

Books read= 29

Reviews Posted= 15

 

Favourite Books!
January~ Rome by Jay Crownover.
February~ Best Kind of Broken by Raen Smith.
March~ What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang.
April~ The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski.

What I've Reviewed!

Dangerous to Know and Love by Jane Harvey-Berrick.

Unraveled by Jen Frederick.

Finding It by Cora Carmack.

That One Summer, Series Review!

Racing Savannah by Miranda Kenneally.

All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill.

Taking Something by Elizabeth Lee.

The Only Exception by Magan Vernon.

Heartbeat by Elizabeth Scott.

Believe by Erin McCarthy.
Panic by Lauren Oliver.
How To Say Goodbye by Amber Lin.
These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
Saving Quinton by Jessica Sorensen.

Southbound Surrender by Raen Smith.

What I Posted!

Stacking the Shelves: April
Challenge Update 1!
Currently.... Update.

Stacking the Shelves: March

Interview: Melody Grace.

Spring Bloggiesta To Do List!

Spring Bloggiesta NetGalley Mini Challenge!

Behind the Blog: 4 Hearts to 4½ Hearts!
Thoughts on Searching for Beautiful by Nyrae Dawn.

Cover Reveal: Make it a Double by Sawyer Bennett.

Spring Reading Thing.

Monster Reviewathon: Sign Up!

Reading through the Ages- Primary School!

Stacking the Shelves Follow Up: February

Guest Post: Leigh Ann Kopans.

Stacking the Shelves: February!

Mini Reviews: Reveiw Copy Cleanup Edition!

Interview: Jay Crownover
Book Blogger Love-A-Thon Interview!
Top Ten Tuesday: Swoon Reads!
Stacking the Shelves: January 2013 Follow Up!
Anything to Have You by Paige Harbison: Sneak Peek...
Be With Me Release Day Launch!
Review Copy Cleanup!
Stacking the Shelves: January 2014!

Bout of Books 9.0

Challenges 2014!

2013: A Review!

 

Goals!

• Monthly reviews~ I'm committing to bringing back my month reviews!
• Consistency~ I want my consistency back! I'm aiming lower than usual for a target of 10 per month, hopefully it's achievable.
• 2nd Blogiversary~ I want to celebrate my blogiversary at the beginning of June with a week of reviews, features and flashbacks!

 

All laid out I feel like I've had a better start than I thought. Not as great as I had hoped and less reviews but a good start! The only way is up now!

How has 2014 been for you so far?
Much Love!
Lettie
Xxx

Spring Bloggiesta To Do List!

Spring Bloggiesta started today and runs until midnight Sunday! Participate when and how you want. This is your time to improve on those little things about your blog you’ve been thinking about for months, mark off those long to-do lists and possibly even discover a few great new blogs. Whether you have days, hours or just a few minutes we hope you’ll join us! Check out their website for the mini challenges and to link up.

With my work being short staffed I've really been struggling with consistent diverse blogging this month. Luckily Spring Bloggiesta is here in time for me to catch up/get ahead of myself blog wise.

To Do!

• Comments~ Make sure I'm as up to date with these as I think I am. I find one or two comments always slip under my radar!
• Posts~ I've actually got several post series ideas to get written up and scheduled! Realistic goal 4 posts scheduled by Sunday,
• Reviews~ I'm planning on doing the bulk of my review writing next week but I want to draft up at least 5 ready for myself.
• Challenges~ It's time for me to do a quarterly check in with all my challenge goals so I want to get that post done.
• Blog Design~ I really want a new unique design so I want to do research this Bloggiesta!

Simple goals but hopefully I can get them done. Make sure you check out my NetGalley mini challenge as well!

If you have any insights, tips or recommendations for blog design please let me know!
Good Luck!
Lettie
Xxx

Spring Reading Thing.

The Musings of a Book Addict is hosting an amazing 3 month reading challenge – The Spring Reading Thing! 20th March- 20th June 2014.

 

I've had a bit of a slow start to the year both blogging and reading so this no pressure long term challenge is just what I need. 

 

Goals 

I'm hoping to read 40 books- I need to get back on track to meet my 2014 goals! 

 

TBR! 

I've got a vague reading list but 3 months is long time to plan your reading!.

• Once We Were by Kat Zhang.
• Across a Star Swept Sea by Diana Peterfreund.
• The One by Kiera Cass.
• Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff.
• Just One Year by Gayle Foreman.
• None of the Regular Rules by Erin Downing.
• Daughter of the Flames by Zoe Marriott.
• Over It by Sarah Billington.
• Escaping Me by Elizabeth Lee.
• ...

Will you be joining in?

 

Much Love

Lettie

Xxx

Monster Reviewathon: Sign Up!

The Monster Read and Review-a-thons are a great chance for us all to get together, read some fabulous reads, and get to those reviews that we know have been sitting there waiting to be done for a little too long. You can read as much as you want. Review till you cannot review anymore. Whatever works best for you! In addition to the Thons, we will be hosting some fun related challenges, great prizes, and a Twitter party. You decide how much you want to participate. Whether it is just for a few days in reading then switching to reviewing or only participating on one or the other… what you get done depends on you!
– From The Book Monsters

I definitely need a reviewathon to catch up on my reviews! Once again I'm hoping to get ahead of myself..... Fingers crossed!

Goals 

• To schedule at least 5 reviews.
• To draft 6 reviews.

Are you taking part? Will you be reading or reviewing?

Much Love!
Lettie
Xxx

Bout of Books 9.0

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 6th and runs through Sunday, January 12th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 9.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team.

What better way to start a new year than with a readathon! Slightly last minute sign up but I'm in!

Goals

• To read 5 books. (At least one 'real' book!)
• To participate in at least one mini challenge
• To comment on other blogs  

Good Luck!
Much Love!
Lettie
XXX

2013: A Review!

I cannot believe 2013 is over! Overall a good year especially for blogging and reading! 

 

2013 in Numbers

Total posts= 175

Books read= 124

Reviews Posted= 58
Discussions= 4

 

What I read!

What I reviewed!

The Edge of Never by J.A. Redmerski. 

The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden by Jessica Sorensen.

Clash by Nicole Williams.

A Toast to the Good Times by Steph Campbell and Liz Reinhardt.

Beautiful Things Never Last by Steph Campbell.

Speechless by Hannah Harrington.

Lennon's Jinx by Chris Myers. 

Dare You To by Katie McGarry.

Make It Last by Bethany Lopez.

I Choose You by Bethany Lopez. 

Depths by Steph Campbell and Liz Reinhardt.

Falling by Jolene Perry.

Fall Guy by Liz Reinhardt.

Dizzy by Nyrae Dawn and Jolene Perry.

Measuring Up by Nyrae Dawn.

Trust in Me by Bethany Lopez.

One Week Girlfriend by Monica Murphy.

Double Clutch by Liz Reinhardt.

Losing It by Cora Carmack.

Nantucket Blue by Leila Howland.

Off Limits by Sawyer Bennett.

Nissa by Bethany Lopez.

Lost and Found by Nicole Williams.

Stripped by Brooklyn Skye.

Wait for You by J. Lynn.

Emancipating Andie by Priscilla Glenn.

Undeclared by Jen Frederick.

True by Erin McCarthy.

A Sliver of Hope by Karla J. Nellenbach.

Between Friends by Amanda Cowen.

Faking It by Cora Carmack.

Dirty Little Secret by Jennifer Echols.

Earth Girl by Janet Edwards.

Near and Far by Nicole Williams.

Out of Play by Nyrae Dawn and Jolene Perry.

Deeper We Fall by Chelsea M. Cameron.

Waiting for the Storm by Marie Landry.

Faster We Burn by Chelsea M. Cameron.

Callum and Harper by Fisher Amelie.

Ties by Steph Campbell and Liz Reinhardt. 

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas.

Unspoken by Jen Frederick.

Sweet by Erin McCarthy.

Riptides by Steph Campbell and Liz Reinhardt.

The Summer I Became a Nerd by Leah Rae Miller.

The Only One by Magan Vernon.

Finding It by Cora Carmack.

The Temptation of Lila and Ethan by Jessica Sorensen.

For Real by Chelsea M. Cameron.

Christmas Catch by Chelsea M. Cameron.

A Risk Worth Taking by Heather Hildenbrand.

Racing Savannah by Miranda Kenneally.

Drift by Steph Campbell and Liz Reinhardt.

A Season for Hope by Sarra Cannon.

Addicted for Now by Krista and Becca Ritchie.

Boys of Summer by C.J Duggan.

An Endless Summer by C.J Duggan.

That One Summer by C.J Duggan.

 

What I Discussed!

Film before Book!
Reviewing Middle books
What is New Adult?
New Rating!
 

Who I Interviewed!

Fisher Amelie 

Jolene Perry on New Adult. 

Nyrae Dawn on New Adult.  

Steph Campbell on New Adult.

Nicole Williams on New Adult.

Chelsea Fine.  

Colina Brennan

Alyssa from Books Take You Places!

 

Favourite Posts!

My Favourite Posts!~ All of New Adult Week! I really enjoyed organising my first feature week and Lettie Loves Films! I liked focussing on something other than books!

Best Blogging Month~ August!

Most Popular Reviews~ Festive Mini Reviews!

Most Popular Post~ Monday Round Up!

My Five Heart Reviews~ Speechless by Hannah Harrington., Divergent by Veronica Roth., Faster We Burn by Chelsea M. Cameron., Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas., Earth Girl by Janet Edwards.

 

What I achieved!

Social Networking- I did get better with Twitter and Goodreads but I want to keep improving!

Blog Design- Not much progress here- I made my own post headers and added some buttons but that was all. Although I did learn more about html in posts though!

Posts- My goal was to average 16 posts a month- I just missed out by averaging 15!

Books- Success! I read 124!

Continuity- I said I wanted still be blogging in 2014 and I am!

 

What I hope to achieve in 2014 (blog wise!)

• Social Media. I still feel I need to connect better with authors and bloggers using Twitter and possibly Goodreads.
• Diversity~ A consistent theme in my monthly goals is more post diversity!Reviews are important but I often notice on other blogs that people prefer to comment on discussions or features so I want to focus on post diversity to keep my blog relevant and interesting!
• Blog Design- Again I want to work on this! I'm hoping to change my background and blog header before the year is over!
• Posts. I'm sticking to a goal of average 16 posts a month as that work out at 4 a week which feels realistic.
• Books. I'm aiming higher then last year- 200!

Happy New Year!

What do you hope to achieve this year?

Much Love!

Lettie

Xxx