I can’t believe how fast this year is going. August was a really good month in some ways (my best friend got married, another close friend got engaged, more wedding planning) and very stressful in others (new sump pump & hot water heater after a flooded basement, more wedding planning), but really it was all good and here I am one step closer to my own wedding coming up! Just madness. My wallet has taken a beating so I’ve been on a book buying ban and I’ve been doing SO many things that I’ve barely had time to finish any books this month either. It’s been a bit of a slow patch for reading and blogging but hey. Sometimes life just happens! Anyway… Let’s go back and recap what happened on the blog!

• Number of Books Read In August: 6. Ouch. It’s been a really busy month and I honestly haven’t even finished a book in two weeks. I’ve just been doing ALL THE THINGS and poor reading has taken a hit!
• Popular Search Terms:  “where she went ending” // “meant to be book” // “where she went read online” and “if I stay read online” (Sorry, guys. Nope.) // “why did mia leave adam in where she went”
• More Amusing Search Terms: “do you have to read stephanie perkins book in a specific order” (Hm… I guess you don’t really HAVE to. But you really, really should!) // “angry pics of girls” (Ummm. Okay? I know this led them to the Confessions of an Angry Girl post though haha) // “ichabod crane tom mison” (score!)
• Most Referrals (non-social media): Rather Be Reading, GReads!, The Perpetual Page Turner
• Where My Blog Most Often Leads You (non-internal/social media): Books Take You Places, Allodoxophobia, The Grown-Up YA

• Thanks to Pinterest, my infographics/reading guides were some of my top hits this month! All three (Guide to Crossover Books, Guide to Contemporary, and Guide to Paranormal/Fantasy/Science-Fiction) were very popular in August!
• Also with the IF I STAY movie coming out, my reviews for If I Stay and Where She Went got a lot of hits too!
• Top Ten Tuesday from 8/19 was pretty popular with books my friends tell me I NEED to read!

Other Reviews Posted

• The Truth About Alice was a really interesting read for me! I’m so glad I read it.
• I finished The Vault of Dreamers in a day… But some things were just off for me.
• I’m so glad I listened to advice and read The Assassin’s Blade/Throne of Glass novellas before Throne of Glass! I really, really enjoyed them!
• Dangerous Boys released this month and I LOVE what Abigail Haas does with her books!
• I started off so well with Mortal Danger… but about halfway through it just fell flat for me.
• I re-read Anna and the French Kiss and it gave me even MORE feels than the first time!!
• My review for Throne of Glass went up as well! So glad I gave this series another try.
• Books in verse don’t normally appeal to me but I really liked Kiss of Broken Glass and its message.

Goodreads Reading Progress

Bloggers featured on Book and a Beverage

• 8/7/14: Anne from Lovely Literature
• 8/14/14: Michelle from Roaring Out
• 8/21/14: Lindsey from Bring My Books
• 8/28/14: Allie from Little Birdie Books

Other Features & Discussions

• I was on the blog tour for the #IslaIsComing read along and I shared some of my favorite ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS quotes in graphic form!
• On the 5th, I did Top Ten Tuesday, sharing the books I’d recommend to people wanting to try mysteries!
• Sometimes balancing my blogging life and my personal life isn’t easy… and even how I act around other book people in person!
• The first post in a new feature, Showcase Showdown featured novellas. I pitted a couple against each other for recommendations on which ones are worth the read and the money!
• Abigail Haas’ new book Dangerous Boys released this month & I shared some teasers!
• My turn on the book and beer feature Pub Date again! I shared “Back-to-School” selections for books & beer.
• I LOVE giving reading recommendations… so I started a featurette for the big book-to-movie adaptations coming out (and that have already been out) this year! Check out my recs for what to read after The Fault in Our Stars and If I Stay!
• I did a promotion for Claire Legrand’s novella Summerfall (accompanies Winterspell, coming out in Sept!)
• The Selective Collective featured A Little Something Different by Sandy Hall & I created a playlist for Gabe & Lea!

WHAT’S IN STORE FOR SEPTEMBER?

• I’m going to TRY to keep reading my September ARCs… I fell WAY behind with all of the wedding planning I had to do in August and I have a feeling that may be the case for September… But whatever I can do, I can do!
• Because of my inability to finish books this month, we’re going to try to do TWO posts for On the Same Page in Sept! Burial Rites & the Goose Girl, here we come!
• The Selective Collective will actually be taking a little hiatus… A lot of us have quite a bit going on in our lives right now but we’ll keep you informed about future books & posts!
• I’m catching up on LOTS of reviews in September! Other than that… I’m picking posts as I go along haha! It’s so busy right now, but I’m squeezing in what I can 🙂

WOWWWW August is over already too. Two more months until my wedding (which is unbelievable) and I just can’t tell if things will be a bit calmer with so many big things out of the way now or just as crazy with only two months left to go. I’m trying to keep up with my blog but understandably, it may be a bit quieter around here! 🙂