Behind the Blog: 4 Hearts to 4½ Hearts!

Last November when I changed up my rating system I decided to convert some ratings. I do sometimes rethink ratings so I thought I'd do a post about why.

The Selection by Kiera Cass

Easy by Tammara Webber.
Lengths by Steph Campbell and Liz Reinhardt.
Lost and Found by Nicole Williams.
Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

Why!
Reread
Since the original reading and reviewing I have picked up these five books over and over. Rereading scenes, refreshing my mind of quotes or simply reminding myself of how much I enjoyed them!
Start of a great series.
With Lengths and Lost and Found they both sparked great follow ups which I found myself loving but also realising how well written, characterised and enjoyable the first instalment was. With The Selection after The Elite I found cleverly hidden hints and great follow up on little details.
Unforgettable.
Most importantly these five books have continued to entertain me long after I have finished them!

Do you ever go back and change ratings?
Much Love
Lettie
Xxx

Behind the Blog: New Rating!

I created my rating system almost a year ago and I definitely feel like it has improved my reviews and made it a lot easy to differentiate between them.
However I do think it's time for a little update and refresh!

In!

4½ Hearts 

~ I love it! It's almost perfect and I keep rereading it over and over!

It's lead me to read similar books or more of the same author.

I often feel like books I've read are more than 4 Hearts but not quite 5 so in comes 4½ hearts!
I definitely feel like 4½ hearts is needed as I always find myself struggling with my ratings, I imagine 4½ will be like an A and 5 like an A*!

Out!

 

2½ Hearts

 I liked aspects of it but something really put me off... 

I rarely use 2 or 2½ as a rating so it makes sense to combine 2 and 2½ into one rating!

 

I'm looking forward to implementing this new rating!

I'm going to do a mini series of posts on ratings and reviewing etc. just to make my new rating system more open and concise.
 

Let me know what you think!

Much Love!

Lettie

Xxx

Reviews!

'Not every book I read will be reviewed'

 
Just a little post on how I structure my reviews and their content!
 
Tone

• My reviews will always be relatively positive. Why? I am genuinely positive about everything in life, even things I don't like! If I can't find anything to like in a book I most likely won't finish it and it won't get reviewed.
• Despite this my reviews are balanced and will include books I didn't enjoy, just not books I couldn't finish or really disliked!

Layout

• I like to display the book cover and blurb of the edition I actually read..
• I always do a little introduction normally with how I came across the book and if I enjoyed it.
• I try to keep my reviews balanced by dividing the content into likes and dislikes.
• I sum up the book in the end and I now have a rating system!
• The use of a rating system is to differentiate between books.

Content

• I focus on the plot and characters more than the actual writing style.
• I always note down my likes and dislikes straight after I finish a book so it's all fresh in my mind.
• I might comment on the genre etc.
• I try my best not to include any spoilers!

How do you review?
Do you like my style?

Much Love
Lettie
Xxxx

August 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!

August in numbers!

Total posts= 14

Book read= 11

Reviews Posted= 4

Meme Posts= 5

Other Posts= 5

Total Posts- 13 (unlucky!)

What I read in August!

*Plus*
The Future of Us by Kahlen Aymes.
The Boy Who Sneaks In My Bedroom Window by Kirsty Moseley.

What I Reviewed!
Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire
The Selection by Kiera Cass
Going Under by Georgia Cates

Weaker review month than July!
However this is because I stock piled reviews for my September holiday so the blog isn't abandoned while I'm gone!
I read two more books than July and I have reviewed over half of August's books all scheduled for Thursday onwards, not too bad!

What I Posted!
Discussion post- I'm really proud of this post- it took me awhile to write and post as it was my very first discussion post so I'm happy it's been well received! Just need to decided on the next subject!
Favourtie Books Post- Check out what books have been my favourite since starting this blog!
Update post- Technically a meme update but it evaluates which of the books I anticipated I'd read over summer and the result!

Did I achieve my blog goals?

Post at least one review and one book non meme post a week.
Didn't think this one through. Before August I had written very few non meme/review posts so I set the bar way to high for August! I am hoping to spend some time coming up with a good amount of ideas for these posts for October.
Make strong progress on my challenges.
Whoops! I kind of went on a YA contemporary spree- unfortunately I'm not taking part in a contemporary challenge!
Take part in more 'activities' like readthons and read alongs.
Yay- I did this one! I took part in the Summer Wrap-Up Readathon (4th August to 12th August) and Bout of Books (13th August to 19th August). I really enjoyed this goal and I hope that next time I can take part in the social aspect of readathons as well!
Beat my total monthly posts of 17!
I totally forgot to factor in the Olympics! All my friends and family caught Olympic fever so I neglected my blog- whoops. At least it's only every four years!

What I hope to achieve in September blog wise!

• To post 15 posts- This one is more achievable than last month as already have a lot of scheduled posts ready and I've factored in outside life! I am also hoping to post at least 8 reviews.
• To improve the standard of this blog- I have updated and posted a clear Review Policy. I am launching a ratings system today to help differentiate between reviews. I would love suggestions on how else to improve!
• To learn more about blog design. - I really want to change up my blog but my knowledge of blog design is so limited. If anyone has any tips or hints please let me know!!

I really enjoyed August as a blog month, I am disappointed I didn't achieve my goals but I have set more realistic ones for this month!
I will be posting my Autumn TBR list tomorrow so stop by to see what I plan on reading!  

How was your August? Did you succumb to Olympic fever too?
Much Love
Lettite
Xxx