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Monthly Inventory: April 2018 + 5 Year Anniversary!

April 2018

When I first thought of starting a blog 5 years ago, I really didn’t think I would still be with it 5 years later. Hobbies for me usually come and go thanks to my attention span. But reading is something I’ve been passionate about since high school and it’s that passion that has driven my blogging over the years.

I’ve shared my story many times over the years but I feel like it’s ok to reminisce for your 5 years anniversary. I’ve come a long way from my early days of a free wordpress site. I’ve (somehow) kept this blog going through 2 post secondary degrees; the beginning of my career and as I navigate this tricky world of adulting. I’ve changed the format of my reviews, redid my site design and moved my blog to a self-hosted server as well.

I might not read as many books now as I did 5 years ago or work on my blog everyday like I used to, but I’ve come to accept that things change and sometimes you just have to go with the flow. And in honour of 5 years, I wanted to share 5 lessons I have learned about reading and blogging since I joined this community:

Blog hop and comment on other’s blogs whenever you can
- I really neglected to do this in my first year of blogging and it’s my biggest regret.
You can’t read all the books and that’s ok
- Grow your TBR but don’t be afraid to remove those that don’t interest you
Followers and ARCs aren’t everything
- Stats can be helpful but you need to be happy first and foremost
It’s ok not to read or blog everyday
- I’ve really come to grips with this over the last year
Never be afraid to be honest about your thoughts/reviews
- Don’t say what is expected but rather what you truly feel

Cheesy perhaps, but I think they are important things to keep in mind. Even a 5 year veteran like me can still get caught up in the envy and the like but you work on it a day at a time.

Thank you everyone!

Whether you are a new reader or a returning friend, thanks for 5 fantastic years! Who knows, maybe I’ll still be here in 5 more 😉

—

My Reading Month of April

I think I said it best when I tweeted out this:

I feel like this gif describes my reading month in April. Great then oh sh*t pic.twitter.com/BPMyNBUUX4

— Lauren (@SERIESousBooks) April 22, 2018

April was a month I dedicated to getting things back on track. I was behind in ARCs and my reading challenges so my focus was really on reading those key books to contribute to my reading goals for 2018. For the most part, the first two weeks of April were extremely successful. The last two sucked thanks to life getting in the way but I was still in OK shape when all was said and done.

I think for me, May is about finding that healthy balance between reading, blogging and life and I can’t wait to see what it brings!

Total for April 2018: 18 Books Read + 1 Novellas Read

DNF’d: 0 Books

Last April: 18 Books Read + 1 Novellas Read + 1 DNFs

Standout Read (★★★★★)

This book was everything I wanted it to be! I love the fake relationship trope and this one executes it perfectly! The audio version is also AMAZING! So amazing I’ve got it on my list to buy since I borrowed it from the library.

Biggest Let Down (★★)

I love a good “bad-boy-turned-good” romance but this one just fell flat. It felt rushed and not much was done with the characters either.

Most Viewed Post

Top Ten Tuesdays: Books I Loved But Will Never Reread

Most Viewed Review

Blog Tour: Suitors and Sabotage

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: 3 titles added | 5 of 25 Titles Read — Behind
Goodreads Challenge: # books added | #/190 Books — Ahead
52 Sequel Challenge: 4 titles added | 11/52 Sequels — Behind
Tackling the TBR Challenge: 1 book added | /36 Books — On Track

View my Challenge Progress Here!

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:

Keep	Keep	Keep	Keep	Pass
Pass	Keep	Keep	Pass	Keep

Pass: 3 | Keep: 7

Did I make any mistakes in letting some go or by keeping them? Let me know in the comments below!

You can still join in on these discussions:

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. Here are some of the books I have ready to go for May:

What were your biggest reading or personal accomplishments of the past month?
Leave a comment below!

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Site Update: 4th Blog Anniversary?!?!

OK, that’s a super cheesy quote but it totally works!

Blogging–while an individual task–is really all about the community. It’s a system of give and take and that’s what makes it such a beautiful thing.

I wouldn’t be here 4 years later if it wasn’t for you!

I’m pretty notorious for dropping my hobbies after a few months. But reading and blogging are two things that have been constants in my life in the last 6+ and 4 years respectively. And that is thanks to the awesome experiences I’ve had in the last 4 years.

So thank you for sticking by me!

As the quote says, it’s the little things that mean so much. Thank you for reading my blog, commenting on posts and tweets, and for always being awesome!

Some Fun Facts about my blog:

Post #s: 364 Series Reviews + 143 Standalone Reviews + 126 Feature Posts
My most viewed posts:
- For 2013: Too Far / Rosemary Beach Series by Abbi Glines
- For 2014: The Fixed Trilogy by Laurelin Paige
- For 2015: The Arcana Chronicles by Kresley Cole
- For 2016: Made Men by Sarah Brianne
- So far for 2017: SERIESous Spoilers: The Midnight Star

Any New Changes In Store?

I haven’t been very creative lately in posts (ie no new features) but I have a lot of great reviews on the way! I’m also planning on updating some of my old guides by summer’s end. Also be on the lookout for a new Kindle vs Kobo breakdown.

Any Giveaways?

Unfortunately, I don’t have the time to set up my own giveaway but I’m excited to share a giveaway for one my latest 5 star reads (I can’t recommend Ninja Girl enough!). You have a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card. Just click the cover below!

Thanks again everyone!

Monthly Inventory: March 2017

March 2017

This month has been absolute BANANAS! So little reading, so little blogging and so much work!

See, I started my new job this month and even though I will only be working part-time, I have 6 weeks of full time training to complete. Add to that a 2 hour daily commute: it’s been quite the adjustment. In fact, I’ve drafted a post about the transition from student to adult to be posted in the next few weeks. But I have to say, it’s fantastic not to have to study anymore!

So March wasn’t a great month all around for my hobbies (though looking at my stats, I guess I did better than I think) but I’m hoping April will bring back some balance…and more reading!

–

Total for March 2017: 16 Books Read + 3 Novellas Read

Last March: 16 Books Read + 4 Novellas Read

DNF’d: 5 Books

Standout Read (★★★★★)

I had a BLAST listening to the audiobook! Seriously, I felt all the feels. One minute I was laughing, the next swooning and the next shedding a bit of a tear. Such a fantastic novel! It’s one of my all time favourite novels.

Biggest Let Down (DNF)

I was so excited to read this one because we see the start of this relationship begin in the inaugural novel. But I was 40% of the way through and nothing–and I mean nothing–was happening. Sigh.

–

I thought it would be fun to keep track of my reading progress on my Kobo every month (and compare it to last year’s numbers). While I do own a Kindle now, I mostly use my Kobo for everyday reading. As per my #ShelfLove Challenge, I really want to increase the Total % of Library Complete by the end of the year.

As of:	March 31, 2017	March 31, 2016
Total % of Library Complete	20%	17%
Total # of Books Finished	542	452
Total # of Reading Hours	2289	1808

Fun Fact: In order for me to move 1% in my Kobo library, I have to finish 10 books!

–

Most Viewed Post

SERIESous Spoilers: Midnight Star

Most Viewed Review

Series Review: Rixton Falls

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 Titles Read

Aprils’s Picks:

Goodreads Challenge: 19 books added
#ShelfLove Challenge: 0 TBR Items

April’s Priority Picks:

Judge By the Cover Challenge: None
Classics Challenge: Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

April’s Classic Pick: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

View my Challenge Progress Here!

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You can still join in on these discussions:

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The blogsophere is so big that it’s hard to catch everything that is happening so I wanted to share some posts that caught my eye in the last month.

Jo @ JJ Book Blog discusses The Role of Parents in YA Fiction
Marie @ Drizzle and Hurricane Books asks about the Series & Novella Trend
Sarah @ Written Word Worlds looks at the Importance of Liking a Character

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I didn’t really listen to any music this month…how sad is that?!

–

What were your biggest reading or personal accomplishments of the past month?
Leave a comment below!

Monthly Inventory: February 2017

February 2017

Last month, I decided to bring back this feature as a monthly post. I’ve updated a lot of what I used to put in these recaps so I hope you enjoy it!

February saw the end of my career as a Full-Time Student! It’s been 6.5 long years and I can’t wait to enjoy reading guilt free once I start my permanent job this month! A much deserved vacation at the end of the month ate into my reading time but I still feel like I had a great reading month overall.

–

Total for February 2017: 13 Books Read + 4 Novellas Read

Last February: 15 Books Read + 1 Novellas Read

DNF’d: 2 Books

Standout Read (★★★★★)

I don’t read many regency/historical romances anymore, but this one reminded my why I love the genre so much! Not only did I find a new fave couple (seriously, I had butterflies the entire time I was reading this), but I started a fabulous new series and found an author I have to read more of!

Biggest Let Down (★★★/DNF’d Series)

I got this serial as a freebie years ago and needed something to escape my boring studying. But it was just so silly (as in bad to read) that it was frustrating me more than my studying!

–

As of:	February 28, 2017	February 10, 2016
Total % of Library Complete	20%	16%
Total # of Books Finished	540	434
Total # of Reading Hours	2218	1739

Fun Fact: In order for me to move 1% in my Kobo library, I have to finish 10 books!

–

Most Viewed Post

SERIESous Tips: So You Wanna Try New Adult?

Most Viewed Review

Series Review: The Wrath and the Dawn

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

–

Previously posted series reviews that got updates:

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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: 5 of 25 Titles Read

February’s 5Y5B reads:

March’s Picks:

Goodreads Challenge: 17 books added
#ShelfLove Challenge: 4 TBR Items

February’s #ShelfLove priority reads:

March’s Priority Picks:

Judge By the Cover Challenge: None
Classics Challenge: Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen (~60% finished)

March’s Classic Pick: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

View my Challenge Progress Here!

–

Earlier in February, I brought back my Tackling the TBR feature and announced my plan to get my Goodreads TBR down to 500 books.

Current TBR Shelf: 596 books
Total # of Books Removed: 315

When I made that post I had 911 books on my “want to read” and I was able to lose 319 books simply by removing any books that I hadn’t marked as high anticipation or didn’t have a copy for (that was older than 3 years). I didn’t keep track, but I also removed quite a few from my “to-read sequels” pile as well.

My goal was to remove 259 and since I did that, I don’t think I will be moving forward with my “Rule 2: remove 12 books at the end of the months” plan. But, I will be keeping a cap on the number of titles I add to my TBR moving forward.

–

You can still join in on these discussions:

SERIESous Tips: So You Wanna Try New Adult?

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When looking at everyone’s wrap-up posts and deciding what I wanted to do for mine, I found I really loved the recaps where people shared other blogger’s interesting posts. The blogsophere is so big that it’s hard to catch everything that is happening so I wanted to bring it to my blog as well.

Here are some of my favourite posts that I’ve come across the past month:

Ajoobacats @ Ajoobacats asked: Is it Self-Promotion When You Don’t Make a Penny?
Niki @ Niki Hawkes shares her Book Journaling
Shar @ Virtually Read discusses Realistic Books
Cilla @ Paved With Books looks at Rarely Writing Negative Review s
Krysta @ Pages Unbound lists The Unwritten Rules of the Blogosphere

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Honestly, I Feel it Coming by The Weeknd was my jam! It was stuck in my head during my certification exam and kept me so calm! (Plus, it reminds me of a Michael Jackson song and I love that!)

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What were your biggest reading or personal accomplishments of the past month?
Leave a comment below!

Monthly Inventory: January 2017

January 2017

It’s BACK! Last year, I tried doing quarterly recaps for the year instead of monthly, citing that monthly recaps took up a lot of my time to format (and I wasn’t sure if people enjoyed reading them). But this year, a lot of my posts have been scheduled months in advance and I miss the instant gratification that comes from writing and posting something immediately after. And so, I decided to bring this feature back but revamp it!

#bookbloggers what do you like to read about in monthly recap posts?
I want to revamp mine

— Lauren (@SERIESousBooks) February 1, 2017

I’m still looking for feedback, so please let me know what you like to see in Monthly Recaps! What makes you read that post? I know this post looks like the old ones, but I was just scrambling to put something together. (Plus, I needed to remember what I liked adding and what was a pain!)

Total for January 2017: 21 Books Read + 2 Novellas Read

Last January: 13 Books Read + 8 Novellas Read

Standout Read (★★★★★)

I couldn’t pick just one! Both are just beautiful love stories!

Biggest Let Down (★★)

I had high anticipation for this new one by Roth, but it just fell a little flat 🙁

As of:	January 31, 2017	December 31, 2016
Total % of Library Complete	20%	20%
Total # of Books Finished	531	523
Total # of Reading Hours	2150	2107

Most Viewed Post

TTT: 2016 Releases I Failed to Get my Hands On

Most Viewed Review

Come This Way

Single Sundays: Come This Way

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

Previously posted series reviews that got updates:

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

5 Year 5 Book Challenge: 2 of 25 Titles Read
Goodreads Challenge: 23 books added
#ShelfLove Challenge: 10 TBR Items
Judge By the Cover Challenge: None
Classics Challenge: Persuasion by Jane Austen

View my Progress Here!

You can still join in on these discussions:

Reading Plan for 2017

I’ve been in love with Ed Sheeran’s new singles. Seriously, Shape of my Heart gets played at least 5 times a day at my place!

What were your biggest reading or personal accomplishments of the past month?
Leave a comment below!

Quarterly Review: Fall 2016 + 2016 Summary

October – December, 2016

The last quarter of 2016 was an interesting one:

I read more books than I anticipated but I DNF’d more books than ever before.
Contemplated whether or not I was going to keep my blog as self-hosted
- which I am for another year at least
Changed my theme once again (and am SO happy I did!).
I become a Reading Advisory Expert on Riffle Books (check out their Book Expert personal recommendation system!)

By December I was ready for a fresh reading year. I started hunting for challenges in November and found some I’m excited to begin. I also started planning how I wanted to Tackle my TBR this year. I loved my reading plan for 2016 so I wanted to improve it and make sure it worked with my goals for 2017 (which you can find some of below).

Total for Quarter: 63 of Books Read + 3 of Novellas Read

BREAKDOWN:	October	November	December
Nonfiction	–	–	–
Standalones (ARCs)	1	1 (ARCs)	2 1 (ARCs)
TBR Items	2	5	6
Audiobooks	–	3	–
New Series Started (ARCs)	6 (ARCs)	1 2 (ARCs)	3 1 (ARCs)
Series Start to End	2	1	1 (ARCs)
Finished Previous Series	–	4	2
Sequels Read (ARCs)	5	4	3
DNF’d (ARCs)	–	1 1 (ARCs)	4 1 (ARCs)

~~~*~

Favourite Reads

★★★★★

Least Favourite Reads

★★

*Note: If the review is available, click on the cover! However, due to the nature of my blog (ie I review whole series) it often takes me a few weeks to publish a full review (pending book availability) so look forward to seeing some of these reviews in the upcoming weeks/months if there is no link available!

Check out my favourite (and not so favourite) reads of 2016:

Too many good deals to pass up! So I didn’t list all my purchases but my Christmas present to myself was the paperback boxset of The Mortal Instruments:

SO PRETTY!

I thought it would be fun to keep track of my reading progress from my Kobo this year. While I do own a Kindle now, I mostly use my Kobo for everyday reading. One of my goals in 2016 was to increase the % of finished novels on my Kobo with my various challenges.

Normally I do a month by month comparison but I wanted to see what my totals were like at the end of the year to the start:

Stats as of February 10, 2016
- % Of Library Complete: 16%
- # of Books Finished: 434
- # of Total Reading Hours: 1739
Stats as of January 1, 2017
- Total % Of Library Complete: 20%
- Total # of Books Finished: 523
- Total # of Reading Hours: 2107

A jump of 4% might not seem like much in theory I do have close to 1000 books/documents on my Kobo so I did make a good dent in it. And, I do have a Kindle and have been taking out more physical books from my library so my reading isn’t exclusive to my Kobo.

This is for the entire 2016 year:

Most Viewed 2016 Post

Image result for make me read it readathon

Make Me Read It Readathon 2016

Most Viewed 2016 Review

Nero (Made Men, #1)

Series Review: Made Men

Most Viewed Post

Throwdown Thursday: Crossfire vs Fifty Shades

Most Viewed Review

Release Me (Stark Trilogy, #1)

Stark Trilogy

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

My 8 most recently updated posts:

2016

The following is my year end totals for all my challenges:

365 Days of YA Challenge: 0/1 Seasonal; 0/2 Monthly; 2/4 Weekly; 3/10 Daily books
Goodreads Challenge: 260/175 books added
Rock My TBR Challenge: 8/12 months + 5/6 of Priority + 80/48 books
Book Blogger Organization Challenge: Completed all but 1 (Update Guides)
Commenting 365 Challenge: 129 Blogs visited

View my Progress Here!

2017

View my Challenge Announcement Post

5 Year 5 Book Challenge: to read select books from the last 5 years (view books)
#Shelflove Challenge: want to read 41-50 books from my TBR
Classics: hope is to read 1 per month
Judged by Cover: this is just to read random books from my library, no set goal

View my Progress Here!

2016 RESOLUTIONS:

This was a Top Ten Tuesday post I did last year. I tried my best to get as many of these done and had some mild success.

Clean up blog post tags –> WIN
Tweet at least 6 times a week (excluding post publishing tweets) –> FAIL
Update Series Recaps on monthly basis –> WIN
Visit 365 Blogs and comment (see my Challenge page for 2016) –> FAIL
Be more proactive about cross posting reviews to Goodreads/Riffle/etc –> WIN
Read 1 Netgalley book a month –> WIN
Read more books from my TBR (see my Rock my TBR Challenge Page) –> WIN
Publish my “Trilogy Termination Blitz” reviews –> FAIL (but progress made!)
Have no more than 5 books on hold at the library –> BIG WIN
Do not start a new series by an author I have unread novels from –> WIN (I think)

I also have a few bucket list items:

Participate in 2 Readathons –> Just One
Participate in 3 Twitter Chats –> WIN
Read 2 Classic Novels –> FAIL

My only resolution for 2017 is to reduce the # of books I purchase in a year. Only if they are on sale will I get the books.

You can still join in on these discussions:

Riffle List: Kick-ass Heroines
Discussion: Let Fiction be Fiction
Perfect Match: Fall 2016 Edition
Tag: Totally Didn’t
Discussion: How Long is Too Long Between Sequels
Tag: Burn, Read or Write
TTT: Most Anticipated 2017 Releases
Discussion: Is Predictable a Spoiler?

Brand new theme!
Updated old reviews with current format

Updating old Guides
Kobo vs Kindle eReaders

I suppose Bruno Mars 24K Magic was my holiday jam.

What were your biggest reading or personal accomplishments of the past year?
Leave a comment below!

SERIESous Discussion: Let Fiction be Fiction

SERIESous Discussions: Every once and awhile I will post my random ramblings about a bookish or blogging topic. Feel free to join in by making a comment below or linking back!

It’s no secret that I read a lot of New Adult Contemporary novels. I cycle through them like good candy.

So that means I come across a lot of reviews for NA works and a common comment I see is “it wasn’t realistic”. I’m sure I’ve said it in my own reviews before as well.

And I get why people (myself included) say that. When you read a contemporary novel, you expect a certain amount of truth. I mean, I basically equate “contemporary” with “everyday life”. It’s a novel that doesn’t take place in some mythical world or has lead characters that are not human. If the character goes through a particularly hard time like moving away from home or the grief of losing a loved one, you might even label it as “realistic”.

But at the end of the day, it’s still fiction.

That means you can have over the top scenarios and situations a regular, everyday person wouldn’t face. Like a vindictive ex-girlfriend who hatches some elaborate scheme to get the boyfriend back. Sure, they kinda suck when they get to be soap opera-y but it’s still fiction. It’s not supposed to be real.

fic·tion

ˈfikSH(ə)n/

noun

1. literature in the form of prose, especially short stories and novels, that describes imaginary events and people.

Which is why it grinds my gears when people get upset at novels like Fifty Shades of Grey and the like for being “unrealistic” or pushing boundaries.

Yes, Fifty Shades is not your everyday romance. It romanticizes a relationship that many see as abusive and because of that, it often gets slapped with a “unrealistic” label.

But let me remind you that it is sold in the fiction section of the book store.

Meaning it is an “imaginary” story and to a certain extent, it can have some artistic license in what it can do. It can create over the top drama because it isn’t supposed to be real. It’s a fantasy that is supposed to appeal to the reader.

Now this isn’t a conversation about Fifty Shades or the themes presented. It’s just an example that most people seem to be familiar with regardless of whether or not they have actually read the book. I could have picked any TV drama to prove my point.

And my point is, I agree with people when they are concerned with how culture integrates art (like books and TV) into their lives. When something is presented as normal and is done so in many ways (and gains notable attention for it), people start to think it is OK to have in everyday life. Like the idea that violence in video games breeds violence in real life (though that has been disproved in many studies). If you appropriate a certain attitude in society, it becomes the norm.

But where I differ is: why can’t people let fiction be fiction?

I tend to see novels as conversation starters. They open discussions about topics that society would usually shy away from. Look at the number of discussions that started regarding sexuality and romantic partnerships after Fifty Shades was released. It created a national dialogue that got people thinking and talking.

I just don’t understand why people look past the fiction label. It’s a fictional story meant to entertain its readers. And so long as the reader knows that, I don’t see any problem with it. But what we need to do as readers is make sure people do understand that. That they know when fiction is being fiction and not simply life imitating art.

How do you feel about fiction imitating life?

Connect:

Quarterly Inventory: Summer 2016

July-September 2016

I was eagerly awaiting this summer for two reasons: travelling vacations + reading…lots and lots of reading!

I got through a LOT of books in July and August thanks to the Make Me Read It Readathon and my free trial of Kindle Unlimited. Couple that with two separate road trips and zero moments of car-sickness, I was breezing through the books like no one’s business! I even finished my Goodreads Challenge for the year in early September!

I said goodbye to a lot of my favourite series this past summer, returned to some old favourites and found some new ones. It was a great summer for reading.

And how could I forget the Olympics! I was glued to my TV for two weeks cheering on my fellow Canadians as they did an amazing job representing our country. I apologize (it’s the Canadian in me) for everyone who follows me on Twitter for all the retweets and cheers I made during those two weeks. Besides getting my fill of sports, I also did some serious blog maintenance while watching–so all was not lost.

86 Books Read + 1 novellas
- 2 nonfiction audiobooks
- 11 standalones (including 4 ARCs)
- 35 of books from TBR Jar
- Started 12 new series (including 6 ARCs)
- Finished 6 series from start to end
- Finished 10 previously started series
- Read sequels for 5 previously started series

★★★★★ Favourite Reads ★★★★★

PLAY Me Before You (Me Before You, #1) Dirty English (English, #1) Beautiful Broken Promises (Broken Series Book 3) Porn Star No Pants Required April (Calendar Girl, #4) The Girl with the Windup Heart (Steampunk Chronicles, #4)

★★ Least Favourite Reads ★★

Completely Consumed (Addicted to You, #8)

The Rule Book (The Rule Breakers, #1) Elastic Hearts (Hearts, #3) Paper Hearts (Hearts, #2) One Condition (The Lust List: Kaidan Stone #1) Book Boyfriend Unbreak My Heart (Fostering Love, #1) The Truths about Dating and Mating (Riordan College, #1) Hitched: Volume One (Imperfect Love, #1) No Kissing Allowed

I thought it would be fun to keep track of my reading progress from my Kobo this year. While I do own a Kindle now, I mostly use my Kobo for everyday reading. One of my goals this year is to increase the % of finished novels on my Kobo with my various challenges.

These stats are from the screenshots I take from my Kobo on the last day of the month:

Stats as of July 31, 2016
- Total % Of Library Complete: 18%
- Total # of Books Finished: 481
- Total # of Reading Hours: 1951
Stats as of September 30, 2016
- Total % Of Library Complete: 19%
- Total # of Books Finished: 506
- Total # of Reading Hours: 2040

These are the stats that Kobo sends me for each Quarter:

kobostatssum16

At first, I was shocked that I read less this summer than in the winter/spring! But then I realized, I was reading a lot of review copies which I use my Kindle for so I have a lot of hours unaccounted for.

Most Viewed Post

Service Review: Kindle Unlimited

Most Viewed Review

Fresh Fridays: Memories

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

My most recently updated posts:

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

365 Days of YA Challenge: 0 books added
Goodreads Challenge: 87 books added

Officially completed as of September 6 with Finding Us by Megan Smith!

Rock My TBR Challenge: 6/12 + 0 of Priority

I’ve officially reached my goal of 48 books though novella serials helped reach that goal.

Book Blogger Organization Challenge: I’m all caught up now with the exception of June’s task
Commenting 365 Challenge: 129 blogs visited

View my Progress Here!

I haven’t done any other readathons this year but I was really excited to participate in the 2nd Annual Make Me Read It Readathon! With this one, YOU get to chose what books I read from a list of 10 books I had randomly chosen from my TBR Jar. You can view the choices & resaults here.

My goal was to read 4 books and so I read the 4 books with the most votes:

Air Awakens (Air Awakens, #1) The Girl with the Iron Touch (Steampunk Chronicles, #3) Kaleidoscope Hearts (Hearts, #1)

Mission accomplished! I still plan on reading the other 6 books on my list (I’ve already read three!) by the end of the year for my Rock My TBR Challenge.

You can still join in on these discussions:

Completely new look for Series Recaps!
Fixed tags for posts
Brand New Self-Hosting Guide!
My 600th post was the Series Review for Newsoul Trilogy
My 1200th “read” book on Goodreads was Until We Break by Jamie Howard!
- My 1300th “read” book on Goodreads was Beautiful Broken Promises by Kimberly Lauren
Eliminated 251 books from my Goodreads TBR (a reduction of 21%!)

Add recap buttons to previous posts
Update old reviews
Finish book series!

So everyone has a song for the summer and I just have to give my input. I think Justin Timberlake’s Can’t Stop the Feeling was the song for me (perhaps it was released too early to be “summer” worthy though). I also adore the Charlie Puth and Selena Gomez duet We Don’t Talk Anymore.

What were your biggest reading or personal accomplishments of the past month?
Leave a comment below!

Connect:

Quarterly Inventory: Spring 2016

April – June 2016

Happy CANADA DAY my fellow Canucks!

School finally finished in April for me–well, the lecture component that this! I still have my clinical placement to complete but NO MORE LECTURES!

April was a poor month for reading. Exams took up most of my time and then I went away on vacation for a week and a half, which took away a lot of my reading time. But it was nice to disconnect from books and the internet for a bit and see more of the world 🙂

In contrast, May was a great month for reading even though I started in a bit of a slump! I tackled a ton TBR reads for my Rock My TBR Challenge, even if they weren’t technically the ones I picked from my jar (they still count!) and I managed to squeeze in two series for my 365 Days of YA personal challenge. Plus, the Toronto Raptors made it the furthest they ever have in the NBA playoffs so it was a great month to be a Raptors fan!

Hard fought battle #Raptors — it’s been a joy to watch you this season ❤️‍?? #WeTheNorth #letsgoraptors

— Lauren (@SERIESousBooks) May 28, 2016

June was a smorgasbord of review copies and too many book series out from the library at once! I used my local library to its advantage to marathon through some series and get those much desired sequels. My Rock My TBR Challenge took a bit of a hit but it was worth it to get some of those series under my belt!

This recap is longer than usually but I wanted to do a mid-year review of my 2016 Resolutions and I’ve included that below!

44 Books Read + 2 novellas
- 2 nonfiction novels (audiobooks)
- 5 standalones (including 4 ARCs)
- 7 books from my TBR Jar
- Started 15 new series (including 11 ARCs)
- Finished 3 series from start to end
- Finished 8 previously started series
- Read sequels for 6 previously started series

★★★★★ Favourite Reads ★★★★★

Lady Midnight (The Dark Artifices, #1) Red Rising (Red Rising, #1) Golden Son (Red Rising, #2) Morning Star (Red Rising, #3) Kick, Push (Kick Push, #1)

★★ Least Favourite Reads ★★

Walk on Earth a Stranger (The Gold Seer Trilogy, #1) Infinite (Newsoul, #3) The Crown (The Selection, #5) She Laughs In Pink (Sheridan Hall #1)

DNF’d Reads

Falling into You (Falling, #1)

Stats as of March 31, 2016
- % Of Library Complete: 17%
- # of Books Finished: 452
- # of Total Reading Hours: 1808
Stats as of July 3, 2016
- % Of Library Complete: 17%
- # of Books Finished: 472
- # of Total Reading Hours: 1913

I had hoped for a change in the % of my library completeness but I know I wasn’t the greatest at reading my TBR books in June 🙁

Most Viewed Post

-are getting married! (3)

#MakeMeRead It Readathon Vote

Most Viewed Review

Blog Tour: The Broken Crown

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

My 8 most recently updated posts:

You can get the full details on all my challenges on my dedicated pages but here is a quick update:
365 Days of YA Challenge: 1 Weekly; 1 Daily books added
Goodreads Challenge: 46 books added
Rock My TBR Challenge: 1 book + 0 of Priority
Book Blogger Organization Challenge: Updated Old Series Posts (April Goal); Recap Updates (June)
Commenting 365 Challenge: 71 Blogs visited to date

View my Progress Here!

I thought I would give a mini-update on my 2016 Blog Resolutions:
1. Clean up blog post tags
  - I’m still working on this! I’m about halfway through!
2. Tweet at least 6 times a week (excluding post publishing tweets)
  - I was doing really well for this at the start of the year but my holidays really screwed this one up. I’m going to come up with a game plan!
3. Update Series Recaps on monthly basis
  - Every time I write a new review, I add the recap immediately! I have some updates to do, but these are in much better shape than last year!
4. Visit 365 Blogs and comment (see my Challenge page for 2016)
  - Update above but I’m definitely behind on this!
5. Be more proactive about cross posting reviews to Goodreads/Riffle/etc
  - Thanks to Trello, I’m cross posting more often and quicker than ever before!
6. Read 1 Netgalley book a month
  - Besides the month of June (where I exceeded it), I was definitely meeting this goal!
7. Read more books from my TBR (see my Rock my TBR Challenge Page)
  - I feel like I am right on track for this one even if June was a bust!
8. Publish my “Trilogy Termination Blitz” reviews
  - I’m hoping to dedicate August to this project
9. Have no more than 5 books on hold at the library
  - Mission accomplished!
10. Do not start a new series by an author I have unread novels from
  - I cheated on this goal 2X I think but I blame review opportunities for that 😉

No longer a monthly meme!

I’ve decided to make this a seasonal feature for my blog. The participation was zilch and it was a lot of work!

Fix old tags!
SERIESous Tips: Kindle vs Kobo–my personal take on owning both!
My Lady Midnight Review (& spoilers chat) will be published!
SERIESous Discussion: When an Author Switches Genres

I’m finally seeing Panic! at the Disco this week so I’m super, super excited. But to keep in the Canada Day spirit, the song that was constantly in my head was Hedley’s Lose Control 😛

How was your Spring reading?
Leave a comment below!

Connect:

Site Update: 3 Year Anniversary!

3years

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been at this whole “blogging” thing for 3 years!

I remember I made the very quick leap from signing up for Goodreads to hosting my own blog. I’m someone who goes on impulses and as soon as the idea to start a blog popped into my head, I just had to do it.

A lot has happened in 3 years.

Even last year alone had some great milestones: I started to review request copies last winter; joined Twitter last summer and moved to self-hosting this past February. That was probably my scariest endeavor to date and one that has definitely had its ups and downs for sure (such a learning curve at times!).

So thank you for sticking by me!

I want to thank everyone for reading my blog, commenting on my posts and tweets, and for always being awesome! I admit, I spent most of my first year of blogging in isolation, waiting for the people to come to me and I didn’t enjoy it all that much. I really tried to change that last year and made it a goal to get more involved–to visit more blogs and make more comments and generally see what is out there. Over the last year, I’ve really come to see what is so great about this book blogging community and I’m really excited to see what is in store in the year(s) to come!

Some Fun Facts about my blog:

The first post I actually made wasn’t a series review! GASP! I know, I was shocked too when I checked! It was actually The Taming by Teresa Toten. The first series review I wrote was for Bella Andre’s Take Me Series. (And yes, I recycled this from last year’s anniversary post but it still shocks me!)
I’ve written 285 Series Reviews to date! Plus, 119 Standalone Reviews & 84 Feature Posts
My most viewed posts:
- For 2013: Too Far / Rosemary Beach Series by Abbi Glines
- For 2014: The Fixed Trilogy by Laurelin Paige
- For 2015: The Arcana Chronicles by Kresley Cole
- And so far for 2016: TTT: TBR Books I Found From Other Blogs

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Any New Changes In Store?

At the moment, I don’t really have anything new considering all my major changes happened in the Winter. I will be publishing my guide/tips to migrating to a self-hosting site as well as a few tips posts for other things (like Audible, Kindle vs Kobo and Organization). In general, I plan on having a few more discussion posts than normal–mostly SERIESous Spoilers type of posts–later this Spring.

One thing I really want to focus on this Spring is my Trilogy Termination Posting Blitz. I’ve been saying it for over a year now because I have never managed to get the job done. I have at least 10 series that I haven’t finished the very last book for in the trilogy that I want to finish. I hope to read at least 7 of these finale books and write reviews for the entire series and post in a blitz-like fashion. I also want to do a “Purchase Purge” and only read books that I have bought and do a review blitz on them. Now that school has died down, I will definitely have more time and freedom to read so I’m really hoping this will be the year!

It’s nothing to do with my blog, but I do plan on writing more this summer. I kinda failed with NaNoWriMo in November but my prep work for it helped me get my story in a better place and I don’t want to waste that.

Any Giveaways?

These are not being hosted (I have, like, no money) by me but I thought I would share them with you:

The first is a giveaway for The Recipient, a novel I will be reviewing tomorrow! Review Spoiler Alert: It’s a great thriller book you will likely want to pick-up! You can win a copy of the book, a $25 gift-card AND a donation of $10 will be made to Amnesty International in your name by entering below (open internationally):

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The second is a giveaway for a printed copy (US/CAN only) of Love, Lies and Spies. I was a tour host for this fabulous book earlier in the week! You can enter and check out my review here!

April 2018

Thank you everyone!

My Reading Month of April

Total for April 2018: 18 Books Read + 1 Novellas Read

Standout Read (★★★★★)

Biggest Let Down (★★)

What were your biggest reading or personal accomplishments of the past month? Leave a comment below!

Disclaimer | Request a Review | Contact

OK, that’s a super cheesy quote but it totally works!

I wouldn’t be here 4 years later if it wasn’t for you!

So thank you for sticking by me!

Any New Changes In Store?

Any Giveaways?

Thanks again everyone!

March 2017

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Total for March 2017: 16 Books Read + 3 Novellas Read

Last March: 16 Books Read + 4 Novellas Read

DNF’d: 5 Books

Standout Read (★★★★★)

Biggest Let Down (DNF)

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Fun Fact: In order for me to move 1% in my Kobo library, I have to finish 10 books!

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What were your biggest reading or personal accomplishments of the past month? Leave a comment below!

February 2017

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Total for February 2017: 13 Books Read + 4 Novellas Read

Last February: 15 Books Read + 1 Novellas Read

DNF’d: 2 Books

Standout Read (★★★★★)

Biggest Let Down (★★★/DNF’d Series)

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Fun Fact: In order for me to move 1% in my Kobo library, I have to finish 10 books!

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What were your biggest reading or personal accomplishments of the past month? Leave a comment below!

January 2017

Total for January 2017: 21 Books Read + 2 Novellas Read

Standout Read (★★★★★)

Biggest Let Down (★★)

What were your biggest reading or personal accomplishments of the past month? Leave a comment below!

October – December, 2016

Total for Quarter: 63 of Books Read + 3 of Novellas Read

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Favourite Reads

Least Favourite Reads

★★

2016

2017

2016 RESOLUTIONS:

What were your biggest reading or personal accomplishments of the past year? Leave a comment below!

It’s no secret that I read a lot of New Adult Contemporary novels. I cycle through them like good candy.

But at the end of the day, it’s still fiction.

Which is why it grinds my gears when people get upset at novels like Fifty Shades of Grey and the like for being “unrealistic” or pushing boundaries.

But let me remind you that it is sold in the fiction section of the book store.

But where I differ is: why can’t people let fiction be fiction?

How do you feel about fiction imitating life?

July-September 2016

What were your biggest reading or personal accomplishments of the past month? Leave a comment below!

April – June 2016

Happy CANADA DAY my fellow Canucks!

No longer a monthly meme!

How was your Spring reading? Leave a comment below!

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been at this whole “blogging” thing for 3 years!

A lot has happened in 3 years.

So thank you for sticking by me!

Some Fun Facts about my blog:

What were your biggest reading or personal accomplishments of the past month?
Leave a comment below!

What were your biggest reading or personal accomplishments of the past month?
Leave a comment below!

What were your biggest reading or personal accomplishments of the past month?
Leave a comment below!

What were your biggest reading or personal accomplishments of the past month?
Leave a comment below!

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What were your biggest reading or personal accomplishments of the past year?
Leave a comment below!

What were your biggest reading or personal accomplishments of the past month?
Leave a comment below!

How was your Spring reading?
Leave a comment below!