Monthly Musings and Year End Wrap Up – December 2014

This is a where I look back at what I read (or tried to read) during the past month. I also plan on highlighting my experiences in any book club reads I from the month as well. I will always start with any books I would label as a surprise find/under-read books so if anyone missed my reviews for them, and don’t make it to the end of this post, they’ll be easy to find.

How is not just December, but all of 2014 finished already?? December was a slower month for me reading and review wise, but overall, it’s been a good year. Technically my blog started over a year ago, but initially it was just a place for me to store reviews that I wrote for other sites. In May I decided I enjoyed having my own space enough that I upgraded my blog and started really try to run my own blog and not just use it as storage space. I am quite happy with that decision. It takes time, so months I do better than others, but I enjoy it and all the bloggers I have met because of it. Sharing love for books and exchanging ideas, reactions and new finds is a what makes me want to keep on doing this. So, to everyone out there that takes the time to stop by and read my rambling thoughts: THANK YOU!!  And of course, publishers that deem my rambling posts worthy of receiving ARCs? THANK YOU as well. You all are rock!

Review Summary [December]

• [1 Dec] NOS4A2 by Joe Hill ★★★★★
• [12 Dec] The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison DNF
• [14 Dec] The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes ★★★★½
• [24 Dec] Golden Son by Pierce Brown ★★★★★
• [30 Dec] The Lesser Dead by Christopher Buehlman ★★★★

Tough Traveling with the Tough Guide Tour [December]

• [25 Dec] Tough Traveling – Kings

I was quite happy to participate in a Mind Meld on SF Signal this month. This was my question What was your favorite live action or animated genre television show of 2014? What made it so enjoyable? You can go read the responses. Some really interesting/cool picks. But, I still stand by mine. 🙂

Looking Forward to January 2015

I have some amazing books on tap for January!! I’ve already read The Providence of Fire by Brian Staveley and Golden Son by Pierce Brown, two January releases that are setting the bar for 2015 awfully high. A few more I plan to read this month:

I added a 2015 Anticipated Releases page that I will update through out the year. It has anything I’m looking forward to this year, and links to reviews as I complete them.

Goals for 2015

• I am going to up my goal to reading 60 books a year. I’ve always set it at 52 before and I exceeded that the past few years (and it’s way less than so many bloggers). For me 1 book a week is a very manageable amount. There are weeks where I will read 2 or maybe 3 books, and other times where it might take me a few weeks to finish a single book. I read books for fun, not for stress, but I think 60 is doable. If I exceed it, kudos! More reading fun for me! If I don’t reach it, hopefully I still get 52.
• Blog wise, my goals are to write a few more non-review posts. I have ideas for discussion posts, but often don’t make the time to see them through. I’d like to try and make these a more regular feature (or at least try a few more times to see how it works out).
• Do more Flashback Friday reviews to add reviews for books I read before I started blogging
• Keep up my Backlist Burndown effort. I love reading new releases, but I also want to make sure I read some of the previously published books that I know I will love.
• I also want to start hosting giveaways. I’ve yet to try one, but I think that’s going to change. Hopefully soon.
• Lastly, I’d like to look into having guest posts or author interviews. I have interviewed one author, but not for my blog. I actually really enjoyed it and was quite impressed with how friendly and responsive the author was.

How I did for 2014 Goals

Goodreads Goal of 52 books. Read. Met. Exceeded.

I am showing 1 book short for the 2014 Worlds Without End Women of Genre Reading Challenge. I know I have read more than 12 new to me women authors, but some of them were not available to enter. I had thought I still found 12, but when I looked today, I hadn’t, which makes me a little sad. Oh well.

This one may have been a bit of a gimme because I selected the Pick and Mix one. All I had to do was  read 12 genre books. Easy. Done. Maybe next year I will try for something a bit more challenging.