August 2014 summary

Back at the beginning of the new year, I listed my 2014 reading and blogging goals. I plan to post monthly updates on my goals as one of my Saturday Conversation posts near the end/beginning of each month.

1. GoodReads Reading Challenge… 100 Books.
   In August 2014 I finished 11 books:
   Book #66: In the Devil’s Nebula by Anna Hackett (August 3, 2014)
   Book #67: Spider’s Bite by Jennifer Estep (August 5, 2014) – Audiobook
   Book #68: One Night More by Mandy Baxter (August 10, 2014)
   Book #69: Daylight Again by SE Jakes (August 15, 2014)
   Book #70: Playing with Fire by Cynthia Eden (August 18, 2014)
   Book #71: Unfettered by Sasha White (August 18, 2014)
   Book #72: Not Fade Away by SE Jakes (August 19, 2014)
   Book #73: Web of Lies by Jennifer Estep (August 21, 2014) – Audiobook
   Book #74: The Maze Runner by James Dashner (August 22, 2014)
   Book #75: Forged by Desire by Bec McMaster (August 27, 2014)
   Book #76: The Curious Case of the Clockwork Menace by Bec McMaster (August 29, 2014)
   I’ve continued to listen to audiobooks, but not at the same crazy pace I did in July. I’m listening to the first five books in the Elemental Assassin series – a series I picked up with book #5.5.  If I want to finish 100 books by the end of the year, I need to read/listen on average 8.33 books per month, which is about 67 books through 8 months. Therefore, at 76 books so far this year, I am way ahead of schedule!
2. Reading books off of my TRB pile instead of picking up new-to-me authors and series.
   I actually did read a book from my TBR this month! I read the third book in the Hell or High Water series by S.E. Jakes, and also picked up the recently released novella in the series (I’m now all caught up in this series!). In addition, the first five books in the Elemental Assassin series have been on my TBR since I starting reading the series in the middle. I really enjoy this series a LOT and am glad to finally be back at the beginning. I also found time to read a book with my son, The Maze Runner. He wanted to read this one after meeting the author last spring, and I agreed to read it with him. It wasn’t on my TBR list, but it was worth it! Now the next two books in the series are on my TBR!
3. Featuring more LGBTQ authors and books on the blog.
   In August 2014, we featured two reviews, one author book tour, and one author guest post in the LGBTQ category.
4. Spending more time reading and less time tweaking the blog.
   Hmm… let’s call this one a happy medium in August. Since I did finish 11 books, I can’t say that my blogging took time away from my reading. I did do some tweaking that I’ve been wanting to do. First, I updated the “review policy” tab so you can jump right to what you are looking for. Second, I figured out how to update the paragraph styles, and I adjusted a few – something that has bugged me for a long while. Lastly, I took on hosting the #bookblogwalkers weekly check-ins for Felicia, which added some extra blog time this month.
5. Opening up Sunday Snippets to authors as a chance to spotlight his/her work.
   This has REALLY taken off! All five Sunday Snippets in August were submitted directly by the authors and/or publicists, and we are currently booked up all the way into mid-November!
6. Continue Saturday Conversations Posts, but open them up.
   As I wrote in my post dated March 15, 2014, I’m dropping the weekly Saturday Conversations post. Other than my monthly update, there are no Saturday Conversations for now.

I’ve also been participating in the #BookBlogWalkers challenge hosted by Felicia The Geeky Blogger. I do weekly updates on this goal HERE, but I’ll also do monthly updates with my monthly goal updates.

My goal for August continued to be moving with purpose for 30 minutes for at least 5 days per week with no more than 1 day off per week. I also joined one “fitness challenge” on LoseIt! for August: to track my food and exercise for every day in August. I’m happy to report I made both goals.  I’d hoped I would have taken off the excess weight I gained over the summer, but instead I’m finding myself stagnant. I’ve reached out to others, and one suggestion is to start adding some jogging into my workouts, so I’ll be trying that in September.

Coming up for September, I plan to continue my goal to walking/moving 30 minutes/day for a minimum of five days per week with only one day off per week, with the addition that I want to walk/jog on two days per week. I also plan to continue to track my food.

So how did YOUR August go? Did you accomplish any goals? Did you set any new ones? Did you read a great book?

Thanks for stopping by to chat!