Monthly Inventory: September 2018

September 2018

September got off to a very rough start. I nearly DNF’d more books in the first 2 weeks than I did in all of August. So understandably, I felt myself getting into a bit of a reading slump by mid-month. Not fun. Was my crazy work schedule to blame? Was it my plan to only read sequels for the month of September? I’m not sure but it has been a long time since I’ve gone through what I consider to be a major reading slump so it was an unwelcome feeling.

>> SERIESous Discussion: 5 Reasons Why Novellas Stop Reading Slumps

But my mid-month, I seemed to be back on track. Like last September, I decided to make this past month all about reading sequels. Overall, with the exception of a few audiobooks and a reading challenge title, I did a pretty good job. Out of the 15 books I started and finished within this month, 10 were sequels. That’s means 67% of the titles I read this month were sequels! And while I didn’t read near as many books as I wanted to (or any of the ones I had actually listed to read), I’m still really happy that I was able to finish some pending series reviews and make a dent in my 52 Sequels Challenge.

My audiobook default speed is now officially 1.5X
Does anyone else change the speed when they listen or do you keep it at 1X?

— Lauren (@SERIESousBooks) September 4, 2018

In other news, I discovered that my new default audiobook speed is now 1.5X! When I first started listening to audiobooks, I kept the speed at 1X but I found that some narrators were talking too slowly so I sped it up to 1.25X in the last few months. But lately,even that’s too slow too! It’s crazy to me because even last year that would have been wayyy to fast to listen to. It’s been a great change though because (obviously) the books don’t take as long as to finish so I’m able to get through more in a month. Which I think is improving my overall enjoyment of the novels because they don’t seem as dragged out as they would otherwise.

Total for September 2018: 13 Books Read + 2 Novellas Read

DNF’d: 5 Books

Last September: 10 Books Read + 0 Novellas Read + 0 DNFs

Standout Read (★★★★★)

I had an absolute blast listening to the audiobook! This was such a charming contemporary story and exactly what I wanted–and needed–it to be!

Biggest Let Down (DNF)

This book had all the right checks for me–Canadian Author, Fantasy, Competition–but it fell terribly flat. I don’t think it helped that I had a mediocre reading month either. This book just couldn’t hold my attention with its stiff writing and insta-love romance.

Every quarter I take a look at my Kobo stats to see how I’m doing. My Kobo is my main reading device, used for personal and library books. My Kindle is used for ARCs but it lacks the statistic features of my Kobo.

As of:	October 2, 2018	October 9, 2017
Total % of Library Complete	25%	10%
Total # of Books Finished	288	120
Total # of Reading Hours	2551	2445

Most Viewed Post

Tips: List of Blog Tour & Review Groups

Most Viewed Review

Standalone Review: Rush

View this year’s archives for more posts and reviews!

Previously posted series reviews that got updates:

You can always get the full details on all my challenges on my dedicated page but here is a quick update:

5 Year 5 Book Challenge: DNF’d 1 Selection & 2 Sequels | 16 of 25 Titles Read – Behind!
Goodreads Challenge: 15 books added | 185/190 Books – Ahead!
52 Sequel Challenge: 7 titles added | 39/52 Sequels – Behind!
Tackling the TBR Challenge: 2 books added | 24/36 Books – Behind!

View my Challenge Progress Here!

In February 2017, I created a challenge for myself to bring my Want to Read Goodreads Shelf to 500 books. By the end of December 2017, I had brought the shelf down from 1205 to 511 books! The ultimate goal for 2018 is to get that number lower than 500 and also bring down my “sequel” shelf as well. I’ve decided that every quarter I will check my stats to see how I’m doing when it comes to cleaning up my TBR

	Currently	December 31, 2017
Want to Read (New)	490	511
To Read (Sequels)	302	301

I feel really good about my numbers as they stand. I’ve been consistently under 500 for my “new” TBR items for the last few months so I’m optimistic I can meet my goal of less than 500 by the end of the year. It would be nice to see my “sequel” reads decrease a little more by the end of the year. I think some of those numbers are inflated (I haven’t been the most proactive in removing sequels from series I’ve decided to pass on from that list) but in some ways, it’s expected that when I read books from my “new” shelf, the sequels will be added to my “sequels” shelf.

I’ve seen this meme floating around and thought it was a great idea to help me tackle my TBR list and reach that less than 500 goal. The idea is to go through 5-10 books on your Goodreads TBR list chronologically and decide if they should stay or go. I usually do a big Goodreads Purge twice a year but I like the idea of doing a little bit at a time and have decided to do this on a monthly basis.

This month (7 new to me series + 3 previously started series):

Pass	Keep	Pass	Pass	Pass
Pass	Keep	Keep	Keep	Keep

Pass: 5 | Keep: 5

Grand Totals YTD — Pass: 31 | Keep: 39

Did I give up on any too soon? Let me know in the comments below!

While this is a monthly meme hosted by Avalinah’s Books, I usually only update every quarter. However, since I participated in ARC August, I decided to do an update last month to see if the challenge had an impact on my ARC review status and I wanted to continue with my quarterly tradition by doing one for the month of September.

My Progress for January to September, 2018:

ARCs Read: 71 | ARCs Overdue: 2+2* | Upcoming: 3

(August’s State: ARCs Read: 66 | ARCs Overdue: 1* | Upcoming: 4+1(u))

*Titles given to me as a member of an author’s street team to read ASAP.

Going Forward:

ARC August helped A LOT in getting my ARC list under control. This is definitely a much more manageable TBR list. So far, I’m right on track when it comes to sticking to my 2018 Reading Plan of limiting my ARCs on a monthly basis to 3. I’ve really gotten better at not signing myself up for every blog tour that peaks my interest and I haven’t been browsing Netgalley for titles either. I have a silly work schedule for October and a vacation planned where I won’t be reading much so that really helped me stick to my limits.