I just can’t wrap my head around the fact it’s my birthday month already… Where did the first two months of 2018 go? February was quite a good month despite the hot weather, although I guess I shouldn’t complain about the weather at all and enjoy it while it lasts. 😉 Lots of fun things happened during February, including a trip which kind of turned into a ‘baby-hopping’ visit to see a few of our friends and their little ones. I’ve also started a new crochet project; a throw this time! Ah, and remember little Delilah Bard? She isn’t so little anymore and celebrated her first birthday last month!

As far as reading and blogging goes, I’m happy to announce the stubborn reading and blogging slump has stayed away for another month and hopefully will never come back. I’m hiding garlic in corners just in case. 😉 I somehow managed to keep right on schedule with my current reviews as well, which is kind of scary since I still have that feeling I should have some pending review hiding somewhere haha. But I love that it’s taking away a lot of the stress. Another thing you might have noticed I haven’t been bloghopping, commenting, on social media as often as before the slump. As much as I love doing those things, I’ve decided to let life come first and put a limit to those elements to keep me sane. Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten you! I’m just a little behind with those things. ❤

February was a good month with no less than 15 books finished and my very first 5 star read of the year! Ratings were high in general with only three books having a 3 star rating or below.

Now to the bookish numbers:

  • Number of books read in February: 15
  • Total number of books read this year: 37
  • Total number of pages read in February: 4.935
  • Total number of pages read this year: 11.471

I didn’t get a new 5 star read this year, but that doesn’t surprise me that much since I don’t hand out the full rating a lot. No less than 10 books were rated 4 stars or above though, something I’m quite happy with. And only three titles received a rating below 3 stars! Not bad at all. Also, the Lilac Girls buddy read with Nicki @ Secret Library was a big success.

FEBRUARY READS

5 STARS: Absolutely and entirely mind blowing! I suggest you to pick up a copy now. 

The Good Daughter – by Karin Slaughter

4.5 STARS: This one was almost perfect. Surely fantastic! 

The Visitor – by K.L. Slater // Barbed Wire Heart – by Tess Sharpe

4 STARS: Wow, this was really good. Close to amazing!

The Lot Of A Nobody – by Dave Johnston // Black Heart – by Anna-Lou Weatherley // Hollo – by Devon Michael // Lilac Girls – by Martha Hall Kelly // What Blooms From Dust – by James Markert

3.5 STARS: Great read. Really entertaining!

As Dead As It Gets – by Katie Alender // The Art Of French Kissing – by Brianna R. Shrum // Proof Of Lies – by Diana Rodriguez Wallach // All Things Bright And Strange – by James Markert

3 STARS: It was a nice read, but not fantastic. 

Wires And Nerve – by Marissa Meyer

2.5 STARS: I give this one the benefit of the doubt. Nothing too exciting.

Take The Key And Lock Her Up – by Ally Carter

2 STARS: It was ok. But mostly ‘meh’.

A Castle In Romagna – by Igor Stiks

I haven’t joined a lot of challenges this year so far, mostly because I decided to focus more on ‘fun’ reading and less on goals I have to complete. Things are going way better than thought though… And I was able to both cross off a lot of ARCs and read a bunch of books for the Beat The Backlist challenge.

# CHALLENGES #

As for my other goals… I managed to finish two more series, bringing the total up to three! And I finished another one this month already, so this goal is going way better than planned. I managed to add another international author as well, which I’m really happy about. Note: I’m calling authors international when they were born in a non-English country (AKA UK, Ireland, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, you get the idea). As for the rest of them: the classics and rereading will have to wait until I have more time, but I’m hoping to at least squeeze in a Dutch read by next month. The challenges I will probably complete whenever I can participate in the next BoB read-a-thon… And as far as running goes: I’m having a bout of bad luck with injuries, so I haven’t really been able to exercise much until recently. Fingers crossed my knee/ankle will stop messing with me this month so I can keep trying to get back on track!

# OTHER READING/BLOGGING GOALS #

  • Read at least 3 classics (rereads don’t count) 0/3
  • Complete at least 5 series (rereads don’t count) 3/5 (The Conspiracy Of Us, Bad Girls Don’t Die, Embassy Row)
  • Reread at least 2 books 0/2
  • Bring my physical TBR pile below 300 books and keep it that way. 400/300
  • Read at least one book over 800 pages 0/1 (maximum 528 pages)
  • Read at least 1 book in Spanish 0/1
  • Read at least 1 book in Dutch 0/1
  • Read more international authors/translations (at least 10) 3/10 (Stage Four (The Netherlands)/ Born A Crime (South Africa)/ Halfway (India)/ A Castle In Romagna (Croatia))
  • Join at least 5 challenges during the year 4/5
  • Keep my Netgalley ratio above the 80% currently at 92%
  • Reach 5km running! 2000m/5000m

Happy March and Happy Reading! 

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