Monthly Inventory: June 2019

June 2019

In May, I made a lot of changes when it came to my reading and blogging and June was the first month of trying out this new approach…and it was pretty great!

I had a two main tasks I wanted to get done this past month. One: I finished all the ARCs I had signed up for (and resisted the urges to sign up for multiple review copies). Two: I only read sequels (with the exception of ARCs) of series I had already started. Both went really well!

And since we are halfway through the year, I thought it would be fun to do the Mid-Year Freak Out Tag (originally created by Ely and Chami) like I did last year:

Mid Year Freak Out Tag

Best Book Read So Far	Best Sequel Read So Far	New Release TBR
Can’t Wait for Its Release	Biggest Disappointment	Biggest Surprise
Need to Read by Year End	New Fictional CrushEnzo	New Fave Character Kopano
Tear Jerker	Made Me Happy	Fave Review Written

The other highlight of June was watching the Toronto Raptors (finally) win the NBA Championship!!! I have such a soft spot for this team ever since I lived in TO during their playoff run a few years ago. It’s been a long time coming so it was great to watch them get to the end (and seal the deal!). And I loved how it brought our country and communities together. What a ride!

Image result for we the north

Total for June 2019: 11 Books Read + 5 Novellas Read

DNF’d: 2 Book (my first ones this year!)

Last June: 14 Books Read + 0 Novellas Read + 3 DNFs

Standout Read (★★★★★)

I’ve been DYING for Celia’s story and this certainly didn’t disappoint! I need the sequel right now…the fall is too far away.

Biggest Let Down (DNF)

This the first book I DNF’d this year. This just wasn’t the book for me. There was too much dialogue and I couldn’t feel the chemistry between the leads.

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:	July 1, 2019	June 30, 2018
Total % of Library Complete	25%	23%
Total # of Books Finished	304	280
Total # of Reading Hours	2656	2511

Most Viewed Post

SERIESous Tips: How I Read 200+ Books a Year!

Most Viewed Review

Blog Tour: Slayed by Laurelin Paige

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: 0 books added | 7 of 25 Titles Read – 5 Books Behind
Goodreads Challenge: 16 books added | 81/200 Books – 18 Books Behind
Tackling the TBR Challenge: 4 books added | 11/24 Books – On Track!

View my Challenge Progress Here!

Sequel Month #2!

In an effort to reduce the number of book series I have on the go (123 and counting!), I’ve decided to dedicate 4 months of 2019 to sequels. I had great results in February for the first month (approximately 78% of my books read were sequels). You can see the breakdown of what I read below:

# of Sequels Read: 15+2
1. The Emerald Sea by Richelle Mead (The Glittering Court #3)
2. We Can be Mended by Veronica Roth (Divergent #3.5)
3. Fugitive Six by Pittacus Lore (Lorien Legacies Reborn #2)
4. The Lost Sisters by Holly Black (The Folk of the Air #1.5)
5. DNF — The Game Changer by Jacqueline Snowe (Cleat Chasers #2)
6. Fearless by Shae Ross (Pretty Smart Girls #2)
7. Avenged by Amy Tintera (Ruined Trilogy #2)
8. Five Days Until You by Monica Murphy (One Week Girlfriend #4.5)
9. Revealed by H M Ward (The Secret Life of Trystan Scott #5)
10. A Gathering Tempest by Catherine Payne Jones (Broken Tides #0.5)
11. Crosscurrent by Catherine Payne Jones (Broken Tides #2)
12. Allied by Amy Tintera (Ruined Trilogy #3)
13. DNF – Professor With Benefits by Hazel Kelly (Beta Brothers #3)
14. The Towering Sky by Katharine McGee (The Thousandth Floor #3)
15. Fireblood by Elly Blake (Frostblood Saga #2)
16. Stolen by Truths by Ella Miles (Truth or Lies #4)
17. Smoke in the Sun by Renée Ahdieh (Flame in the Mist #2)
18. In Progress – At Any Moment by Brenna Aubrey (At Any Price #3)
19. In Progress – Someday by David Levithan (Every Day #3)
# of Series Finished: 6+(1)
1. The Glittering Court
2. (Cleat Chasers)
3. Pretty Smart Girls
4. One Week Girlfriend
5. Ruined Trilogy
6. The Thousandth Floor
7. Flame in the Mist

I’m SUPER happy with how many series I got to this past month! I finished up a few that have been in limbo for some years and it was nice to return to those worlds.

Cleaning Up My Goodreads Shelves:

My main mission for 2018 was bringing my “Want to Read” shelf (new to me books) on Goodreads to a number below 500—and I totally did that! So this year, I’m aiming for a “Want to Read” shelf that is less than 400 titles. I’ve also set a goal to get my “Sequel” shelf below 250 titles.

	Currently	April 1, 2019
Want to Read (New)	468	465
To Read (Sequels)	247	261

While these numbers aren’t vastly different, I’m very happy that I have stayed the course. As you can see about, I got through a lot of sequels this past month which was FABULOUS! Now that the nice weather has arrived here in Canada, I hope to spend the rest of the summer reading outside and getting those numbers a little lower.

I used to do a big Goodreads Purge twice a year but I like the idea of doing a little bit at a time and had great success last year doing this on a monthly basis. The idea is to go through 5-10 books on your Goodreads TBR list chronologically and decide if they should stay or go. My 10 titles consist of 7 “new to me” titles and 3 “previously started series” titles.

This month:

Keep	Keep	Pass	Pass	Keep
Keep	Keep	Keep	Keep	Pass

Pass: 3 | Keep: 7

Grand Total YTD: Pass: 18 | Keep: 42

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.

My Progress for January to June, 2019:

ARCs Read: 23 | ARCs Overdue: 1+1* | Upcoming: 1

(May State: ARCs Read: 20 | ARCs Overdue: 2+1* | Upcoming: 1

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

Going Forward:

DO YOU SEE THOSE NUMBERS!?! I’ve come a long way and I’m so proud of myself! I know I have a few street team reads to read later this summer and the upcoming ARC is a sequel for a series I’ve done blog tour stops for in the past. But otherwise, I’m commitment free for the rest of the summer so I’m hoping I can concentrate on bringing up my reading challenges (and getting those last 2 ARCs finished).

You can still join in on these discussions:

SERIESous Tips: How I Read 200+ Books a Year

Each month I have a list of 11 books I’ve selected to read for that particular month. These books include review copies and reading challenge picks. The focus for July is reading some of my 5 Year 5 Book Challenge picks. Here are some of the books I have ready to go for July:

The Dark Days Club (Lady Helen, #1) Love Me Never (Lovely Vicious, #1) More Than Music (Chasing The Dream, #1)

I think I’m going to dedicate August to reading only owned novels so I can make a bigger dent in those numbers. Most of my reading challenge picks for July are books I own but I do have a couple of library reads I want to get in as well.