February 2016 – Monthly Wrap-Up

Posted February 29, 2016 by Carole in Monthly Wrap-Up / 16 Comments

February 2016
It is really hard for me to believe that the second month of 2016 is already coming to an end.  It has been a great month for me in terms of reading and blogging.  I thought I would sum up this month as I get ready for March!
Books Read 

Audiobooks Completed 

Blogger Thoughts
  • We are two months into the year and I have had at least one post on my blog every day so far.  It’s not really a big thing but I am kind of proud of it anyway.
  • I only had one post connected with a blog tour this month and I do really like the change.  I am not against blog tours but I had been doing more than I could handle at times last year.  I am signed up for a couple of blog tours next month and I am actually feeling excited about it again.  
  • I am still making an effort to visit as many blogs as possible but unfortunately I feel like I have fallen way behind this month.  I promise that I am trying but life has just been very busy this month.
  • I feel like my ARC pile is really not getting any better.  I am reading but having a really hard time staying away from making new requests.  I hope to make some progress in March.
  • I have decided to try to go to as many author events in my area as I can fit into my schedule.  I went to see Victoria Aveyard & Sophie Jordan and Ruta Sepetys this month and had a lot of fun at both events.  
Outside of the Blog
  • The weather in my area has been crazy this month.  We have had some really warm days which I loved but I think it made the cold even worse when it came back.  My daughter was excited that she had a day off of school last week due to snow.  It wasn’t really a bad snow but the timing of the storm came at the perfect time for a snow day to be called.
  • My daughter kept us crazy busy this month.  She was in the pit orchestra for the school musical which performed for 4 days this month plus late practices leading up to it.  She also just returned home from a trip to Chicago with her jazz ensemble.  We are on the countdown at our house until she will be old enough to get her license and drive herself to some of her activities.  Less than 6 months now.
  • I felt pretty sick for most of last week and even ended up taking a sick day from work.   I wasn’t very active online for much of the time I was feeling bad which was a change for me.
  • The puppies are still keeping me on my toes.  Molly is 4 months old now and she is a little troublemaker at times.  Stella is 8 months old this week and is really starting to listen a lot better and is calming down a bit.  Cookie will be 11 years old in March and is tolerating the puppies pretty well on most days.
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16 responses to “February 2016 – Monthly Wrap-Up

  1. Looks like a great month!! That is really impressive to post almost every day. Hope you're feeling better now!! Can't wait to see what you think of Wink Poppy Midnight. Hope you have a great March!

  2. Wow! You've had a crazy month! I can definitely relate to counting down the days till the kids get their license! The relief of not having to keep up with their schedules just about balances out the worry and the expense (or at least it did for me!). I've cut down on my blog tours as well for pretty much the same reason you have. Blog tours made it harder for me to make progress on either my pile of ARCs or my own TBR shelf. Hope you're feeling lots better and that March is fantastic!

    • I was really stressed out when my oldest daughter got her license but that was largely because she was a sneaky kid that never listened. My youngest is really a rule follower so I am not too stressed about her driving. I am ready to lighten my own load a bit. Blog tours should be fun. I was doing too many to have any fun and I don't think that my taste in books was represented very well. Signing up only when I can't wait to get my hands on the book is really the way to go.

  3. Great month for reading and posting reviews. I've been doing better on that front, but am still behind a few reviews. I may just stop trying to review every book I read on my blog, but rather just write a simple one on Goodreads. I think I've done well on ARCs, but I did get more to review for the next few months, which I'm looking forward to.

    • I am always behind on writing reviews. I sometimes wait way too long to actually sit down and write the review and I have to really do some thinking in order to even do it. I should probably skip a couple of reviews but I really want to be able to say that I review every book that I read.

  4. I'm so jealous. I've only read two or so books this month. Maybe I'll get to read one over spring break…

    Happy leap day!

    • But you are in college and I am just a boring old lady 🙂 I actually think that this was a pretty slow reading month for me since I usually get through a lot more books. With the puppies, this may be my new normal for a while.

  5. wow looks like you have had a great month!! Congrats. And look at all those books. I hear ya about ARC's though….I have been making an effort to request less…but its so HARD!! Hope March is a great reading month for you.

  6. Anonymous

    A post every day is more than impressive! It’s good to shake up the meme’s and tours too. No need to stress out when blogging should be for fun ☺.

    It’s unnaturally difficult to stay away from new ARCs. Even if you manage to somehow stay off the sites, there’s the site email, or other people’s blogs. I would be convinced you were a mythical being if you didn’t give in 😉

    Hope you feel better soon and the weather mellows out. (Can’t help the kids, furry and not, as much :P) and hope you have a wonderful March!

  7. I can't believe it's March already either. It sounds like you had a good February. I cut way back on tours the end of last year and loved it. It felt so freeing. Next month I've got several and I'm already wishing I hadn't committed myself like that–all are books I plan to read anyway, and so I figured it wouldn't hurt. There's just something though about having a deadline . . . Maybe I'll go tour free this summer. And I know what you mean about that ARC pile not going down. I haven't been as good as I had wanted to be in staying away from NetGalley. 🙁

    I love that your daughter is so musical. I wonder if my daughter will be. She likes to sing (probably because I'm always singing), but it's not her strong suit. Haha It sounds like she keeps you very busy!

    I hope you are feeling better. Carole. It's my turn to be sick this week. I'm hoping I don't need to take any time off work, but I have a feeling my coworkers might wish I would if my cough gets any worse. It's bad timing really. I have company coming this weekend. I hope you have a great week!

    • It is a lot less stressful for me to not have so many deadlines. I am stressing a little bit about the blog tours that I have scheduled at the end of March even though I already had the books to read. I am sure that it is all in my head.

      My daughter is really talented and it is so much fun to see all of the things she is doing with her trombone. Marching band, pep band, jazz band, wind ensemble…it has been one thing after another. It is the good kind of busy.

      I do hope that you start feeling better soon. Getting ready for company while sick is no fun at all.