Another month has gone by, and that means it’s time for another wrap up! This month I did SLIGHTLY more reading, and definitely a lot more book purchasing and acquiring, so hopefully this will be a fun way to catch up on all the bookish things I’ve been up to!
Books Read:
I read two whole books this month! Yes, that’s right. I upgraded from a singular novella last month, to double the amount of books! Who knows, maybe next month I’ll have managed to read 4 books, and the doubling will only continue!
Both books that I finished last month were 4 stars! Always Be My Duchess was a fun fake dating historical romance, while The Hookup Plan was the final book in the companion series that included The Boyfriend Project and The Dating Playbook, both of which I’ve reviewed on the blog!
Books Acquired:
This month I somehow acquired 10 books from a variety of places! I’d better start reading faster, before my TBR greatly outnumbers the amount I’m able to read!
Purchased:
The first book I purchased in September was actually one that I pre-ordered a few months ago. It arrived in August to my parent’s home, but I didn’t get my hands on it until September, when I went home for Labor Day. That book is of course, Love on the Brain. I’ve heard some mixed things about this book, so I’m curious what I’ll think of it!
Win Me Something and Primer were books I bought in an independent book store close to where I now live! I went with a coworker after work one day, and I had her help me pick which books I bought! I’m interested to see what I think of these two!
Meanwhile, these three books were actually also purchased with the very same coworker, though at a Barnes & Noble this time! I originally went to the B&N to pick up a book I’m annotating for someone, but I ended up buying 3 books for myself while I was there. Oops! Fly By Night was a graphic novel I had heard nothing about. But loving graphic novels, I decided to pick it up. Horimiya was specifically recommended by my coworker. And Do You Take This Man had been a book I’d been considering buying for a while before making the purchase upon seeing it in stores. I’m hoping I can read all of these purchases soon!
Giveaway:
I was lucky enough to win the Discussion Challenge Giveaway for July, and I chose The Hookup Plan as my gift of choice. As you’ve seen, I’ve already read and enjoyed it, so thank you so much to Nicole and Shannon for hosting this challenge and giveaway!
Publisher:
I also was absolutely BLESSED with publisher mail! I had requested a physical copy of A Merry Little Meet Cute a few months ago, but didn’t think I’d ever get a copy from Avon. So imagine my surprise when I ended up with a copy waiting for me at my parent’s home!
Then I was lucky enough to be sent a copy of Paris Daillencourt is About to Crumble by Alexis Hall. Not only that, but when I reached out about getting the first book, Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake to read beforehand, Forever was kind enough to send me that as well! What a haul!
Quarterly Goals Update:
Honestly, part of what delayed this post getting published was this section. I was determined to update you all, but also needed to look up some details to see how I was doing with certain goals. But I finally made the time to do my research and now I’m able to report on my progress! If you want to see more details about any of these goals, feel free to read up in my original post were these goals were set!
Discussion Challenge:
Since my last goals check in, I have written two more discussion posts! I thought that number would be zero, so I’m considering that a win! I have continued to discuss in every quarter so far this year!
Only Buying 60 Books in 2022:
If I have counted correctly, I have only purchased 40 books so far this year in the months of January through September. Since in 9 months I technically was allowed to purchase up to 45 books and still be on track, I’d say this goal is going really well!
Continue Unhauling:
I mean, since I haven’t been reading much these past 3 months, there hasn’t been much to unhaul, but I still am in the mindset of getting rid of the books I don’t enjoy. So, I’m going to say I’m continuing to do well for this one!
Reaching 950 Followers:
Like I said last quarter, I doubt this one will happen because I haven’t been doing my part by posting. But that’s okay! There are 911 of you right now that I am extremely grateful for! If I happen to reach this arbitrary milestone, I will be ecstatic, but if not, I will be quite content!
Reading Experiments:
1. New Genres
In addition to poetry, I’ve now read multiple sci-fi books, and one non-fiction essay collection! I may not end up meeting the exact parameters of the goal I set out, but I definitely will have branched out a bit in terms of genre by the end of the year! Especially since a few of my current reads are helping me with this goal!
2. Writing Reviews for a Month
I really should just write reviews for the two books I read this month and be done with this goal/experiment. Hmmmm, maybe that’s what I’ll do! But as of now, I have not succeeded. Here’s to hoping I manage to accomplish this in the next 3 months!
Achieving the 100% NetGalley Feedback Ratio:
Listen, you all have seen how little I’ve been reading. I’m practically always on the verge of a slump, so reading review books is NOT my priority right now. This is the goal I am most likely to fail at. Does anyone here think I can read and review 5 books in 3 months? Because I don’t! So, not much progress made this quarter, and I don’t have much hope for these last 3 months either. I guess I’ll just try to get as close as I can to completing this goal, while at the same time making my peace with not achieving this one.
Do A Quarterly Check In:
I have successfully completed this goal! I did a check in for March, June, and now September! There won’t be a December check in, since I’ll just be going over my goals in more detail and telling you my thoughts, not only on whether or not they were successful, but whether or not I’d consider doing them again, if I enjoyed the challenges and more!
Things I Did:
I can’t think of much that I did in September. I’m sure some things must have happened.
OH! YES!
I went glass blowing as part of a team building activity for work! It was very cool! I now have a pretty ornament that I made myself! (Of course I don’t celebrate Christmas and therefore have no use for an ornament, but at least it’s pretty!)
Things will definitely be occupying my time for the first half of October, but there is a chance you’ll start getting more consistent content from me soon! Let’s hope!
Paper Procrastinators 
I recently borrowed Primer from my library and really enjoyed it. A Merry Little Meet Cute looks like a lot of fun – I think I’ll add it to my winter tbr.
I’m obsessed with my Netgalley %. Not long after I joined, a publisher accepted two of my requests with just a few days left before the book was archived and I didn’t realise, so I didn’t get chance to read and review them. I’m high in the 90s, but the perfectionist in me wants to get it back to 100%. It will take a while!
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It’s funny because I had seen Primer around for a bit whenever I browsed for graphic novels to read and never gave it much thought, but I ended up actually really enjoying it! And I hope you end up enjoying A Merry Little Meet Cute! I’ve actually started it, but haven’t picked it back up since all the moving and starting a new job started messing with my reading, so I really need to finish it up soon!
I’m quite obsessed as well! But that is so frustrating! Are you able to get the books from the library or something so that you can read and review them? That’s my trick whenever I can’t read the NetGalley version for whatever reason. And I’m in the high 90s as well, but like you, I just really want to reach 100%!
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That ornament is so pretty! 🤩 I’ve never tried glass blowing, but it sounds like a ton of fun!
Anyway, I’m glad you seem to have had a good past month, and I’ll keep my fingers crossed that those book numbers keep doubling 😂
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Thank you! I had never tried glass blowing before either, but it ended up being so much fun! I already want to go back to try making something more complicated!
Thank you! Last month definitely had more reading, and I can see my reading momentum building up this month as well, so hopefully reading will be back as part of my daily routine soon!
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Ahh I almost purchased love on the brain too- but alas I was sent to the bookstore to buy mother’s a notebook so.. I choosed not to drift from my mission ahah.
Goodjob with the objectives, as long as we keep going forward, that’s all that matters! 🥰 I’ve also had been doing really great for new genres, though I went more for eroticas & horrors. Glass blowing sounds absolutely amazing and so fun!
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Wow! I’m quite impressed that you managed to leave the bookstore without purchasing a book for yourself. I know I most definitely would have ended up purchasing a book for myself, especially if I already had one in mind!
Thank you! And that’s such a great mindset to have! I’m so glad you’ve been reading more new genres as well! I hope you’ve found some great books by branching out!
And glass blowing was definitely a lot of fun! I actually would love to be able to do it again in the near future!
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Right? I did look around, but I wanted to focus more on french books and nothing was of interest 😅
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Those are some good goals to achieve. Gook luck.
Have a great reading month.
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Thank you! I hope you have a great reading month as well!
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