I'm back! *update*

Hey everyone! I hope all my fellow American’s that celebrate Thanksgiving had an awesome one! It’s been about a month since I’ve posted on here and I think it’s time to come back! I figured I would do a little update about where I have been and what’s been going on in my life.

On October 20^th I started a new job! This job is so different from my old job and I am way busier! I work very hard during the day and unlike my other job where I could read whenever, this job I only get to read on my 30 min lunch break. I am on the computer all day and I have to work quickly to get things done and sent out to where they need to go.

I obviously have the opportunity to read at home and on the weekends but I haven’t gotten into that routine yet. I will do an October/November wrap-up but *spoiler alert* I’ve only read about three books! Yikes! Every day when I come home I just sit on my couch and watch YouTube videos because it’s something I can do without thinking about it. That has been my way of relaxing lately. I haven’t even been reading other blogs or anything. However, the more comfortable I become with my job, the more I feel like reading again. I have decided that I am going to try to get into a routine for at least for the month of December and then I can start really fresh for 2015!

It’s feels great to back and I really hope I can keep up with the blog while I am working full time. I don’t doubt there will be times that I fall behind but I don’t ever plan on leaving. I promise that I will go back to reading and commenting on blogs too! 

Let me know if there are any awesome or interesting blog posts that I have missed while I’ve been gone!!

*Cheers to “starting fresh”*

Top "5" Novels & Graphic Novels of 2014 (so far)

I decided to do a different type of post today because we are over half way through the year (!) and I was watching Jillian at bookishandnerdy over on YouTube (she has a blog by the same name, HERE) and saw her video on her Favorite Books of 2014 so far and decided I wanted to do it too. I have read 59 books so far this year. My original Goodreads goal was 50 books but I have since bumped it up to 75. I’m thinking I will probably pass that too.  I decided to make a separate list for novels and graphic novels because I just don’t think you can compare the two. I cheated a little on both by including series but I did marathon read all of the series that I did list on here so I’m just counting them as one! There are definitely some that were very close runner ups. If you would like to see all of the books that I have read so far this year, check out my Goodreads Challenge HERE.

Top "5" Novels of 2014 (so far)

5. Article 5 Trilogy by Kristen Simmons

4. The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Mathieu

3. WhereLife Takes You by Claudia Y. Burgoa

2. Uninvited by Sophie Jordan

1. The Sweet Trilogy by Wendy Higgins

Top "5" Graphic Novels of 2014 (so far)

5. Smile by Raina Telgemeier

4. Astronaut Academy: Zero Gravity & Re-Entry by Dave Roman

3. Scott Pilgrim Vol. 3 & 4 by Bryan Lee O’Malley

2. Saga Vol. 1, 2, & 3 by Brian K. Vaughan

1. Fortunately,The Milk by Neill Gaiman

Let me know if you have read any of these books or what your favorite books are so far this year!! 

Happy 2nd Blogiversary to Me!!

Happy 2^nd Blogiversary to Laura in Bookland!! 

*Throws Confetti*

This week marks 2 years of my blog! I said this last year around this time but I can’t believe it’s been two years!! So awesome! HERE is my first review which went up on July 2^nd 2012. Thankfully they are now considerably better than they were back then. Lol

Life has gotten the better of me lately so I have been a little down in the dumps. My hours at work have changed and just didn’t want to do anything but be lazy and watch YouTube videos. So that’s exactly what I have been doing. I haven’t felt like reading, posting, or making videos. 

I did get this though.. AND I LOVE IT!!!!!! Took 3 sessions at about 3-4 hours a piece. I can't wait for my next one! 

Anyway,  I knew that I had to get my act together though because I wasn’t going to pass up my 2 year mark! I planned on doing a giveaway unfortunately money is very tight right now and I just can’t afford it. Hopefully I will be able to do one soon though. 

A special Thanks to all my followers who have stuck around and any new ones I've gained within the last year!!

For the next year, I plan on adding some different posts to the blog. I would like to do a bookshelf tour, some discussion posts, and making my reviews a little more in-depth. I might even change my blog design but I haven’t fully decided on that yet. 

If you have any suggestions that you think will help make my blog better please let me know!! Also let me know if there are any books you would like to see me review, whether they are old or new!

2014 Blogging Resolutions

2013 was a really good year for me. My blog turned 1 year old and I started getting more followers on YouTube. I started getting accepted for more review requests and even started doing blog tours, cover reveals, and other fun things. Even with accomplishing that I still really want to step up my game in 2014. So here are my goals that I want to strive to complete.

·         Network

·      This is a huge thing for me because I really suck at it. I usually comment on the book haul posts but nothing else. If I want more followers and I want to make some friends in the community then I really need to put myself out there.

·      I also need to remember to link up my meme posts. I participate in Wishlist Wednesday and a combination of Showcase Sunday and Stacking the Shelves but I always forget to link up the posts.

·         Create original posts

·      This is pretty self-explanatory. I post something pretty much every day but I would like to create some more original content. I also need to promote my 2B Tuesday posts more.

·         Blog Consistently

·      Many of my posts are able to be written before they are set to go live. I need to pick a day during the week and prewrite my posts so they go up at a certain time everyday. That way people know when to except my posts. I hate when I don’t have a post go up until late in the day.

·         Catch up with NetGalley/Edelweiss reviews

·      This is a major thing for me. I am participating in a Review book challenge and I really hope that it will help. I have a pretty good percentage on NeGalley but my Edelweiss account has a lot of books that need review. I’m hoping to cut those amounts in half.

·         Get books reviewed before the due date

·      This goes along with catching up on my NeGalley/Edelweiss books. I get quite a few books before they are released but hardly ever get to them in time. I would love to be able to get the majority of them reviewed about a week before the book is released.

·         Make better reviews

·      I need to have more in-depth reviews. I don’t usually talk a lot about the writing style, the characters, or things like that. I usually just state what I liked and disliked.  I am definitely not a professional but I would like my reviews to come off as if they were. I want to start taking notes as I’m reading and set up a template for my reviews so they are consistent and informative.

·         Complete 2014 challenges

·      The last two years I have failed at every challenge I have signed up for except for the Goodreads challenge. I am bound and determined to complete them all this year. Hopefully I can accomplish more than what I have set as my goals for each. If you would like to see my list of challenges then click HERE.

·      My Goodreads challenge is to read 75 books. I’m hoping to get more than that but I feel like that is a good number.

That’s it for my goals! Wish me luck!! Did you have any goals for this year? Let me know in the comments or post a link to your goals!