January 2015: Recap & Wrap-Up!

If I thought last year went fast then I have no idea what happened to January. No really. Where did January go!? 2014 went by too quickly and one month of 2015 is already gone. BUT the good news is, I already feel good about what I read in January and what I’ve accomplished! I lowered my Goodreads challenge to 100 books for the year. The past two years I’ve read over 120 (130 books two years ago) but I was so stressed out about always keeping up with my challenge that it took some of the fun out of it. I’m already just RIGHT on track with 100 books but it feels good to be on track and then slipping ahead every now and then!

• Number of Books Read In January: 8. Hooray! That’s a pretty good start to the year!
• Popular Search Terms:  “the kill order” & “books like if I stay” // “book addict’s guide” // “where she went ending” (they are pretty much the same nowadays!)
• More Amusing Search Terms: “bestfriends turn lovers short erotica stories” (not that kind of blog!)  // “is emilie de ravin on the cover of where she went” (she is NOT… but it looks like her!) // “teenage romantic love story:i had sex with my bestfriends brother” (well okay then)
• Most Referrals (non-social media): Rather Be Reading, What Sarah Read, So Obsessed With
• Where My Blog Most Often Leads You (non-internal/social media): Tripping Over Books, Books Take You Places, Feed Your Fiction Addiction

• We kicked off the second round of On the Same Page’s Secret Sister project! Lots of people checking out the intro post this month!
• The Book Blogger Organization Challenge is officially underway!
• Once again, my “Guide” to Crossover books was in the top of my stats! Hooray! This is one of my favorites.

Other Reviews Posted

• I did a two-for-one review of Brandon Sanderson’s LEGION novellas!
• I caught up on a whoooole bunch of reviews with a collection of mini-reviews!
• I re-read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and found that it was still my favorite of the series!
• There Will Be Lies by Nick Lake was interesting but maybe not the book for me

Goodreads Reading Progress

Bloggers featured on Book and a Beverage

• 1/1/15: Lindsey from A Bookish Sinister Kid
• 1/8/15: Ginger from GReads!
• 1/15/15: Andi from Andi’s ABCs
• 1/22/15: Nicole from Feed Your Fiction Addiction
• 1/29/15: Lisa from Bookish Broads

Other Features & Discussions

• I shared my favorite Divergent read alikes! If you’re looking for what to read after Divergent, check these out!
• Andi’s ABCs and I hosted the Statistics Survey and my answers posted in early Jan!
• I was on the blog tour for THERE WILL BE LIES and I shared my favorite liars in literature and movies/TV!
• We read SNOW WHITE AND ROSE RED in December with On the Same Page and our posts went up this month
• I was on the blog tour for FAIREST and I shared the Lunar Love!
• On 1/13, I shared my top 2014 releases that I didn’t get to with Top Ten Tuesday
• I had two Pub Date posts! I shared my Book & Beer Resolutions and Valentines!
• I was also on the blog tour for FIGHT FOR POWER and author Eric Walters had a fun guest post about his favorite characters!
• Jan 20th’s Top Ten Tuesday was a freebie so I shared my top ten fantasy books so far!
• I had a discussion about changing ratings and if you’ve ever changed one, why?
• I joined TTT on 1/27 for my favorite buddy reads & read alongs (a variation on book club choices)

WHAT’S IN STORE FOR FEBRUARY?

• February’s focus for the Book Blogger Organization Challenge is all about blog maintenance! If you need to fix up old reviews, correct broken links, install new plug-ins, update graphics, and more, come join us!
• I’m at ALA this weekend so keep your eyes peel for a recap, photos, and more!
• MORE BLOG TOURS. I have at least three more to come but I promise, they’re all for books I’ve really, really loved!
• Andi’s ABCs and I are bringing you yet another feature! It’s called “Have You Seen This…” and it will be a new spot for people to hunt for hard-to-find editions of books. Check back February 6th!
• Lots of reviews coming up, plus I’ll be on a Valentine’s-themed blog hop!