I still can’t believe it’s March already! Where did February go?! Anyway, like I mentioned a while ago, I’ve decided to take it easy with all things blogging this year both because I’ve been in a blogging slump for months now and I needed to start focusing on my health again. February was my first full month of more exercise and a healthier diet… It seems to have worked, because the first 16 pounds are gone!! Way better than I could have hoped to be honest, as my Hashimoto’s seriously slows down any progress. Fingers crossed things will keep going this way!

We also went on an impromptu mini camping trip during February, spending a wonderful few days close to the river… But the biggest change in our lives apart from my new healthier lifestyle was without doubt the arrival of a new kitty. Felix adopted us as he showed up at our front door one day, demanded to be let in and refused to leave afterwards… Delilah and Jasmine still are not amused at all, but I hope things will become easier soon. xD

Now to the bookish numbers:

  • Number of books read in February: 16
  • Total number of books read in 2020: 41
  • Total number of pages read in February: 5.186
  • Total number of pages read in 2020: 13.376

As expected, I read less than usual during February, and even getting to sixteen books was mostly thanks to a couple of short and superfast reads. No new 5 star reads this time around, although I managed to enjoy most of my reads during February with only two titles 3 stars or below. Not bad at all!

FEBRUARY 2020 READS

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

Death Deserved – by Thomas Enger & Jørn Lier Horst // Things In Jars – by Jess Kidd // Deep Down Dead – by Steph Broadribb // Deep Blue Trouble – by Steph Broadribb REREAD // Deep Dirty Truth – by Steph Broadribb // Beton Rouge – by Simone Buchholz

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

Hotel On The Corner Of Bitter And Sweet – by Jamie Ford // What We Saw – by Aaron Hartzler // Perfume – by Patrick Süskind // The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry – by Rachel Joyce // Where The Lost Wander – by Amy Harmon // The Boy From The Woods – by Harlan Coben // I’ll Be Gone In The Dark – by Michelle McNamara

3.5 STARS: Great read. Really entertaining!

Blue Night – by Simone Buchholz

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

Lock Every Door – by Riley Sager

2 STARS: It was ok. But mostly ‘meh’. 

Peter Pan – by J.M. Barrie

I’ve decided to only join a limited amount of 2020 to focus more on the joy of reading without obligations again… The challenges I did join I can mostly complete without trying too hard, as the progress of these first two months are showing for sure. xD

# CHALLENGES #

As for my other goals… I managed to get my first reread in and my ARC/backlist ratio is well under 40% again; although I’m not sure if I can keep that up in March as I have quite a few ARCs pending. I’m doing pretty well with international authors/translations too and I’m looking forward to my Spanish reread of the final Harry Potter book in March!

You also might notice I’ve added a new goal at the end of my list… As I’ve mentioned before, I finally stopped procrastinating, inventing excuses and made a promise to myself to get healthy again in 2020. I still have a long way to go to reach my goal weight again, but the first pounds are gone and I’m hoping that this monthly control will help me keep going!

# OTHER READING/BLOGGING GOALS #

  • Read at least 3 (modern) classics (rereads don’t count) DONE!! 3/3 (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang // A Study In Scarlet // The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button)
  • Complete at least 10 series (rereads don’t count) 2/10 (Feverwake // Lacey Flint)
  • Reread at least 2 books 1/2 (Deep Blue Trouble)
  • Bring my physical TBR pile below 600 books and keep it that way. 717/600
  • Read at least one book over 800 pages 0/1 (highest page count 496 pages; The Unlikely Escape Of Uriah Heep)
  • Keep ARC/backlist title ratio below 40% 31,7%
  • Read at least 2 books in Spanish 0/2
  • Read at least 1 book in Dutch 0/1 
  • Read at least 15 international authors and/or translations  5/15 (Dark Mother Earth (Croatia DNF) // My Sister, The Serial Killer (Nigeria) // Perfume (Germany) // Death Deserved (Norway) // Blue Night (Germany))
  • Read at least 10 TBR jar picks 2/10 (Like This For Ever // What We Saw)
  • Join at least 5 challenges during the year 4/5 
  • Keep my Netgalley ratio above the 80% 97%
  • Get healthy again; lose at least 50 pounds by end of 2020 (of 85-95 pounds in total) 16/50

Happy March and Happy Reading! 

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