Showing posts with label Review Copy Cleanup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Review Copy Cleanup. Show all posts

Friday, February 28, 2014

Review Copy Cleanup Conclusion and 2014 Goals Update


http://www.booksbiscuitsandtea.co.uk/posts/review-copy-cleanup-4-0-sign-up/

Review Copy Cleanup Conclusion

So... *cough cough* I think my goals for this challenge were a little unrealistic, LOL. What with book projects and life and for-fun books that I just couldn't wait to read, I only managed to finish 3 review books out of the 11 on my list (Fly Away Home, The Thief, and Circle of Spies - all fabulous reads!). Not to mention that I've since added several more review books to my piles... Oh, well!

I've decided I need to take this thing in more manageable chunks. Maybe in March I'll try to finish 4 print books for review and 3 e-books... Or maybe we'll just see how it goes. ;) Either way, you can pretty much count on the fact that I'll be reading something!

2014 Goals Update

You can find my goals post from the beginning of the year HERE.

Personal:
  • Still nothing new to report on the job front. With being an author, freelance editor/publicist, occasional assistant to my dad, blogger/reviewer, and family girl, I haven't really been bored! I've still got to find a way to manage my time better, though.
  • Here's the breakdown in the book department:
    • Bought 3 Kindle e-books - didn't surpass my limit there! Of course, one was a collection of 7 books, but it was only $.99... And of course this isn't counting the freebies. However, I did also purchase 1 paperback yesterday, but I'm counting that toward my March purchases - I just got a little antsy. ;)
    • Requested 4 books for review: 1 e-ARC, 2 e-books from the authors (one has  yet to be sent, though), and 1 paperback that actually came as a surprise, but I'm not complaining! OK, technically there was another request in there that I haven't heard back on, so I'm not really counting on it at this point. So yeah, I guess I ended up failing a bit in this department, LOL.
  • The reviews are coming along well! I like having the snack-size option so that not all of my reviews have to be super in-depth. Again, I have a few exceptions for reviews, but otherwise, I'm trying to review almost every book I read.
  • Ah, exercise... Yeah, I kind of fell behind on that. The nice thing is, though, that I got outside a *bit* more and varied my activities due to having a guest staying with us, attending a Western-themed dinner dance, etc. 
  • I didn't end up sending a letter that last week of January, but I've been keeping up with the letter-writing since then. Can I just say I love adding wax seals to them? Kudos to the creative Jessica Dotta for getting me hooked on that. ;) My mom found the wax and seals at Michaels.
Publishing:
February was a rather fun month, overall. With the FMN blog tour, Valentine's Day (visiting my grandpa at the care home and watching Sleepless in Seattle with the fam), that Western dinner/dance, having a family friend visit, eating out quite a bit, another game night with friends - yep, good times! A cold caught me at the end of the month, but nothing some chicken noodle soup couldn't soothe, right?

How was February for you? What are you looking forward to in March?

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Review Copy Cleanup 4.0 Sign-Up!


http://www.booksbiscuitsandtea.co.uk/posts/review-copy-cleanup-4-0-sign-up/#sthash.mGSuLfG2.dpuf

I saw blogging friend Abbi (Christian Novels) sign up for this one, and while I didn't have a ton of success with the read-a-thons I participated in this last December (although they were great fun!), I'd like to try again to catch up on my review reading. Some poor review books have been languishing in my review TBR stack for far too long... Here are the details for this reading challenge:
  • Who: Open to bloggers who receive books for review
  • What: A reading challenge for catching up on review reading
  • When: February 1st-28th
  • Where: Hosted by Books, Biscuits, and Tea and Nyx Book Reviews 
  • Why: To make a dent in your review TBR and have fun with other reviewers 
February is going to be busy (honestly, when aren't we all busy? LOL) with the Forget Me Not blog tour at the start of the month, preparations for at least two blog tours in March (sign-ups are still open for both: Lena's Sweet Spring Reads Blog Tour and The Paris Connection Blog Tour), editing projects, hopefully getting a good start on Morning Glory, etc. But I would love to catch up on my review reading as much as possible. At least the read-a-thons in December helped me whittle down my review TBR pile a bit, and I haven't been requesting too many new books (although I can't seem to stop myself entirely!). So here's hoping!

Here are the review books I'd like to read/review during the challenge:

Paperback

  
The books are: Dragonwitch by Anne Elisabeth Stengl (Bethany House), All in Good Time by Maureen Lang (Tyndale Blog Network), Born of Persuasion by Jessica Dotta (from author), Mountain Homecoming by Sandra Robbins (Harvest House), Burning Sky by Lori Benton (from author), Under a Blackberry Moon by Serena B. Miller (Goodreads First Reads giveaway), and The Thief by Stephanie Landsem (Litfuse Publicity Group).

I haven't received The Thief yet, but it should be coming soon since the tour is supposed to start at the end of February.

E-book


The books are: Pilgrimage of Promise by Cathy Bryant (from author), Fly Away Home by Rachel Heffington (from author), Circle of Spies by Roseanna M. White (NetGalley), and Remnants by Lisa T. Bergren (NetGalley).

The last two aren't really crucial, as their publication dates are in April, but I'm looking forward to both and will probably be tempted to read them sooner anyway! ;)

You can follow the challenge tweets via the #RCCleanup hashtag. And if you'd like to join us, you can sign up for the reading challenge HERE!