2015 – A Year in Review

Friends. I know it’s the end of February and that means I’m oh…almost two months late in posting my 2015 Year in Review blog entry. But better late than never right? Is there ever really a time when it’s too late to share book recommendations? (Answer: There is never a bad time to share book recommendations)

SO. 2015. I completed my goal of reading 140 books. In actuality I read 182 over the course of the year.

Now for the hard part of the post: my top ten reads of 2015!

1. Before We Were Strangers by Renee Carlino
2. Bringing Home the Bad Boy by Jessica Lemmon
3. When a Scot Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare
4. The Billionaire Takes a Bride by Jessica Clare
5. The Cut & Run series by Abigail Roux
   •  Cut & Run
   • Sticks & Stones
   • Fish & Chips
   • Divide & Conquer
   • Armed & Dangerous
   • Stars & Stripes
   • Touch & Geaux
   • Ball & Chain
   • Crash & Burn
6. Splintered Trilogy by A.G. Howard
   • Splintered
   • Unhinged
   • Ensnared
7. The Tairen Soul series by C.L. Wilson
   • Lord of the Fading LAnds
   • Lady of Light and Shadow
   • King of Sword and Sky
   • Queen of Song and Souls
   • Crown of Crystal Flame
8. Enslaved by Virginia Henley
9. An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn
10. The Boleyn Trilogy by Laura Andersen
    • The Boleyn King
    • The Boleyn Deceit
    • The Boleyn Reckoning

And because 10 is just not enough, here are some more of my favorite reads of 2015, in no particular order:

• Pride, Prejudice, & Secrets by C.P. Odom
• Bound by Flames by Jeaniene Frost
• The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever by Julia Quinn
• Wishing for a Highlander by Jessi Gage
• Serving Pleasure by Alisha Rai
• Act Like It by Lucy Parker
• It’s Only Love by Marie Force

2015 was a romance heavy reading year for me (whatever haters, I love love.) I’m trying to diversify myself a bit more in 2016. So far, so good. What did you read in 2015? Give me some of your recommendations!

New Year; New Challenges, Episode V

So here we are near the end of January and I’m only just now getting around to posting my annual “New Year; New Challenges” post. I received a promotion at work right around Thanksgiving and have been trying to deal with the change to my schedule. Having a job with irregular hours can sometimes throw off my schedule outside of work. I’m trying to find my balance between work, life, and blogging, and I appreciate you all sticking with the blog as I figure it out.

With all of that being said, here is my goal for 2015: 140 books. Since I successfully completed reading 100 books in 2014, 10 more books gets added to my goal. (2011 = 100 books, 2012 = 110 books, 2013 = 120 books, 2014 = 130 books, etc) As per years past, you can keep track of my reading progress and what books I’ve read here.

In no particular order, here are some of the books releasing in 2015 that I’m looking forward to reading!

1. Fairest by Marissa Meyer
2. Bound by Flames by Jeaniene Frost
3. Picnic in Provence by Elizabeth Bard
4. And I Love Her by Marie Force
5. The Heir by Kiera Cass
6. Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes by Rick Riordan
7. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (This is an exclusive collector’s edition!)
8. The Seven  Sisters by Lucinda Riley
9. When A Scot Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare
10. Murder at Beechwood by Alyssa Maxwell
11. Dearest Rogue by Elizabeth Hoyt
12. Tiny Little Things by Beatriz Williams
13. One Night with a Billionaire by Jessica Clare
14. Lady Maybe by Julie Klassen
15. A Worthy Pursuit by Karen Witemeyer

Well readers, what are your reading goals for 2015? What titles are you excited to read?

2014 – A Year in Review

Here we are again, at the end of another year! As today is the last day of 2014, it’s time for my annual “Year in Review” post.

As of the writing of this post I’ve finished reading 182 books. 13 of those books were ones I read with my 7 month-old niece, so for argument’s sake let’s say 169. My starting goal was to read 130 books, so I’m counting 2014’s reading challenge as a completed success! That means adding another ten books to next year’s challenge for a total of 140 books! (Here’s to hoping I make it!)

And now the difficult part…picking my top ten reads of 2014!

1. Landline by Rainbow Rowell
2. Lizzy and Jane by Katherine Reay
3. Laugh by Mary Ann Rivers
4. Romancing the Duke/Say Yes to the Marquess by Tessa Dare
5. Neanderthal Seeks Human by Penny Reid (Really, the entire Knitting in the City series)
6. The Chocolate Touch by Laura Florand
7. Cinder/Scarlet/Cress by Marissa Meyer
8. The River of No Return by Bee Ridgway
9. Before I Go by Colleen Oakley
10. Murder at the Breakers by Alyssa Maxwell

With the amount of books I read in a year, choosing a top 10 seems stupid. With that said, here are all my runners-up (in no particular order)!

• Unmasking Juliet by Teri Wilson
• The Persuasion of Miss Jane Austen by Shannon Winslow
• Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
• Consequences by C.P. Odom
• Summer Rain/Winter Rain Anthologies by Various
• Never Judge A Lady by Her Cover by Sarah MacLean
• Salvation by Noelle Adams

Ok readers, I’m passing the torch to you. What did you read this year? Any books or authors that stand out? Share them below! Enjoy the rest of your New Year’s Eve! See you in 2015!

New Year; New Challenges, Episode IV

January 1, 2014. The official start of yet another year’s 100 book reading challenge. This year my goal will be 130 books. Every year that I’ve been successful in reading 100 books I tack on another 10 for the following year. (2011 = 100 books, 2012 = 110 books, 2013 = 120 books, etc.) I’m always giddy with anticipation for the new year’s challenge to start. Seeing my book counter reset to 0 again motivates me like nothing else. You can keep track of what I’m reading throughout the year by viewing my book list page here!

In no particular order, here are some of the titles I’m looking forward to reading in 2014:

1. The Midnight Rose by Lucinda Riley
2. The Dancing Master by Julie Klassen
3. Romancing the Duke by Tessa Dare
4. Full Steam Ahead by Karen Witemeyer
5. Written In My Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon
6. The Forbidden Queen by Anne O’Brien

I’m sure that as the year unfolds I’ll be continually adding to this list. After all, I am a book addict and I can never have enough books to read.

So readers, what are you looking forward to reading this year? Share some titles with me below!

2013 – A Year In Review

It’s totally cliché, but where the hell has this year gone? With today being the very last day of 2013 I figured I’d do a quick “Year in Review” post to talk about my progress with reading challenges and also to discuss my favorite books of the year!

Quick rundown on how I did with my reading challenges: I successfully read 120 books this year. In fact, as of the time of writing this post I am at 199 books for the year! (WOOT!) You can see all the books I’ve read with links to their reviews here. Now, a bit of bad news. I utterly failed (for the second year in a row) the audio book challenge. I didn’t listen to 1 audio book this year (read: pathetic.) I also didn’t do so great with the Book to Movie challenge either, with only 2 out of 12 read. Now, to the good news: I completed 78% of the Color Coded Challenge, or 7 out of 9 reads. I actually had a blast doing this challenge. You don’t realize how many books use colors in their titles until you do a challenge like this! Additionally, I unsurprisingly completed the Historical Fiction Challenge as well as the Pride and Prejudice Bicentenary challenge with no trouble at all.

And now for the difficult part: Picking my favorite reads of 2013.

1. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
2. The Lavender Garden by Lucinda Riley (look for my review next week!!!)
3. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
4. The Story Guy by Mary Ann Rivers/Making It Last by Ruthie Knox
5. Beauty and the Billionaire by Jessica Clare
6. Blackmoore by Julianne Donaldson
7. Death in the Floating City by Tasha Alexander/Easy by Tammara Webber
8. Shades of Earth by Beth Revis
9. Twice Tempted by Jeaniene Frost
10. The Secret of Ella and Micha/The Forever of Ella and Micha by Jessica Sorensen

Having read almost 200 books this year, choosing 10 (really 12) of my favorites almost killed me. So, in the effort of easing my conscience I’m giving you some of my runners-up (in no particular order)!

1. Pride, Prejudice, and the Perfect Match by Marilyn Brant
2. The Edelstein Trilogie by Kersin Gier (Book one, two, & three)
3. The Westfield Wolves/Regency Vampyre Series by Lydia Dare
4. Return to Longbourn by Shannon Winslow
5. The Tutor’s Daughter by Julie Klassen
6. Losing It by Cora Carmack
7. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
8. Bittersweet by Noelle Adams

This was hands down the hardest year yet to pick my favorite books. When you read almost 200 books in a year I guess that should be expected, no?

Ok, the burden is being passed to you. What did you love reading this year?!? Please let us know below. And finally, enjoy the rest of your New Year’s Day, hopefully with a great book. See you in 2014!

A 2013 Reading Challenge – Austenprose’s Pride and Prejudice Bicentenary Challenge

So if you didn’t know already, Jane Austen is my favorite author. In fact my top two favorite books of all time (Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion) were both written by her.  The year 2013 marks the 200th anniversary of Pride and Prejudice!  It’s no surprise that Austen’s novels are still popular and relevant 200 years later.  She wrote stories filled with themes that are relevant no matter what time period you live in.  She is, in one word, timeless.

To mark this anniversary, Austenprose is hosting the Pride and Prejudice bicentenary challenge and I’m happy to announce my participation!  I’m signing up at the “aficionada” level which requires I read/watch 9-12 books/movies relating to Pride and Prejudice.  It’s safe to say that I’m going to blow through this challenge.

If you’re interested in joining yourself, you can find all the pertinent details here.  Good luck!

New Year; New Challenges, the Third

This is my third New Year; New Challenges post and I have to tell you, I still get excited writing them.  Just knowing that I’m beginning another 365 day period of challenging myself to read an ass-ton of books excites me.  Since I completed the 110 books I set as my goal for 2012, I’ve decided to stick with tradition and add another 10 books to my goal for 2013.  Therefore, my starting goal for this year will be 120 books!  In case you missed all of the reading challenges I’ve signed up for (on top of my overall goal), you can click here to view my progress.

Here’s what I’m looking forward to reading (in no particular order) in 2013:

1. The Tutor’s Daughter by Julie Klassen
2. Shades of Earth by Beth Revis
3. Sever by Lauren DeStefano
4. Lord of Darkness by Elizabeth Hoyt
5. Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris
6. Any Duchess Will Do by Tessa Dare
7. The Mistress by Tiffany Reisz

I know that this is a bit of a short list, but I’m hoping that as the year progresses, more new and exciting books will be announced from my favorite authors.  2012 was a great year for both new books and additions to series that I already loved, so I’m hoping that 2013 will be just as fun, if not more so!

As always, I encourage you to try your own reading challenges!  My biggest piece of advice is to start small.  There is nothing wrong with saying that you want to read 10 books this year.  Make a small goal, meet that goal, then increase it!  Tell me about your own goals, as well as the books you’re excited about reading, below.

2012 – A Year in Review

And with it being  January 1st, 2013 we can officially end 2012 and all its reading goals.  I’m very happy to say that I have succeeded in reading my 110 books for the year and exceeded that goal by a whopping 74 books!  With the success of this year I’ll up my reading goal again for 2013.  Keep an eye out for my annual New Year, New Challenges post for a breakdown of what I’m looking to accomplish.

2012 has definitely been a year of eclectic reading for me.  It’s difficult to pick my favorite books of the year since I read so many, but here is my best go:

1. The Girl on the Cliff by Lucinda Riley
2. The Orchid House by Lucinda Riley
3. Dangerous to Know by Tasha Alexander
4. A Million Suns by Beth Revis
5. The Apothecary’s Daughter by Julie Klassen
6. When Beauty Tamed the Beast by Eloisa James
7. The Siren by Tiffany Reisz
8. Short Straw Bride by Karen Witemeyer
9. In A Treacherous Court by Michelle Diener/The Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick
10. Fever by Lauren DeStefano

Damn. That was difficult.

My reading challenges wrap up is as follows: I once again blew through the Historical Fiction challenge (woot woot!).  I also succeeded in my first year participating in the Around the Stack challenge!  Now for the bad parts. The TBR challenge and the Audio challenge both got only one completed review each out of me.  I know I failed the audio challenge because of 1Q84 (AH SO LONG), plus my addiction of reading newer books killed any hope I had of finishing the TBR challenge.  A 50% completion rate for the challenges isn’t terrible, but I’d still liked to have completed 100%.

Even though it’s 2013 I still have some books to review that I finished in 2012, so keep an eye out for them.  You can also see a listing of EVERYTHING I read this year, including review links, here.

Well, there you go folks.  My 2012 year in review.  Enjoy the rest of your New Year’s and join me again tomorrow as we kick off a new year and new challenges!

A 2013 Reading Challenge – My Reader’s Block’s Color Coded Challenge

Are you getting tired of my reading challenge posts yet? I promise this is the last one I’m doing for 2013! I’m participating (for the first time) in the color coded challenge, hosted by My Reader’s Block!

The aim of the challenge is to read books that have colors in their titles. Looking back at my reading list for 2012 I would have kicked ass.  I’m hoping that I make it through all 9 categories for 2013!  If you’re interested in learning more about this challenge or signing up yourself click here.

Happy Reading!

A 2013 Reading Challenge – Teresa’s Reading Corner’s Audio Book Challenge

So I’ll admit it. I utterly FAILED at the audio book challenge this year (THANKS 1Q84). Seriously it took me almost 7 months to finish 1Q84. With that massive audio book out-of-the-way I’m attempting this challenge again!  Thanks to Teresa’s Reading Corner for hosting the challenge again this year!

I’m signing up at the lowest level, also known as “flirting.”  This means my goal is to listen to and review 6 audio books.  If you too would like to sign up for this challenge click here.

Happy listening!