September 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 September 2014 I finished 12 books:
   Book #77: Venom by Jennifer Estep (September 3, 2014) – Audiobook
   Book #78: Honor’s Price by Alexis Morgan (September 3, 2014)
   Book #79: Tangled Threads by Jennifer Estep (September 10, 2014) – Audiobook
   Book #80: Gun Shy by Eleri Stone (September 11, 2014)
   Book #81: Rock Addiction by Nalini Singh (September 14, 2014)
   Book #82: Spider’s Revenge by Jennifer Estep (September 17, 2014) – Audiobook
   Book #83: Chained by Night by Larissa Ione (September 17, 2014)
   Book #84: Frozen by Meljean Brook (September 19, 2014)
   Book #85: Rock Courtship by Nalini Singh (September 21, 2014)
   Book #86: Black Widow by Jennifer Estep (September 22, 2014)
   Book #87: Moon Called by Patricia Briggs (September 23, 2014) – Partial Audiobook
   Book #88: Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs (September 25, 2014) – Partial AudiobookIf 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 75 books through 9 months. Therefore, at 88 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.
   This is a HUGE yes for me this month! Not only did I complete the TBR of the first five books in the Elemental Assassin series, but I have started to read/listened to the MERCY THOMPSON SERIES!! This series has been on my TBR longer than any of the other books, and I am so glad I’ve finally started it. After I became hooked on the audiobooks for this series on the first title, Moon Called, I found myself reading it on my Kindle (because I have owned it forever!) as well. The combination of reading and listening had me hooked and lead me right in to the subsequent titles! Yea!!
3. Featuring more LGBTQ authors and books on the blog.
   In September 2014, we only featured one review and one author guest post in the LGBTQ category. This bums me out – I think it will be better next month!
4. Spending more time reading and less time tweaking the blog.
   Done. Read/listened to twelve books!
5. Opening up Sunday Snippets to authors as a chance to spotlight his/her work.
   This has REALLY taken off! All four Sunday Snippets in September 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 September was continue moving with purpose for 30 minutes for at least 5 days per week, with no more than 1 day off per week, but also to jog/walk at least two days/week of my workout. I’ve also joined one “fitness challenge” on LoseIt! for September to track my food and exercise for every day in September. I was successful on all accounts AND am very close to reconnecting with the allusive goal weight I reached back in June! I’ve enjoyed adding in the jogging and am surprised at how quickly I’ve settled back into some running on a weekly basis (I used to be a runner/jogger back before kids).

Coming up for October, 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 of walking/jogging on two days per week. I also plan to continue to track my food. It will be interesting to see how that goes with the cooling weather.

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

Thanks for stopping by to chat!