April Wrapup: A lot of Reading and the book blogger awards

April is over, and that means that I’m starting to look forward on the very end of the school year.  Because April was CRAZY I wasn’t able to keep up on blogging as much as I would have liked, and so I’m sorry to you guys for that, but I’m worried that the next few months will get even worse, considering summer and finals and everything combined.  Anyways… there was actually quite a bit that got done this month (even if I wasn’t as active in the blogging world), so I’m excited to share!!!

The Book Blogger Awards…

There’s only a couple of days left to submit your nominations for the book blogger awards!!!!  I haven’t gotten as many submissions as I’d hoped to thus far, so I really need your support to spread the word, and actually nominate people.  Even if you only have good responses for a couple of categories, that’s better than nothing!!!!!!!  If you need a link back to the post with rules and category nominations, click HERE

Books Completed…

I had 5 books on my TBR for this month, and finished 3 of them.  One, The Host, I just stopped because it was terrible and I hadn’t even added it to my Goodreads “reading” list yet so it didn’t seem worth it to push through.  I plan on coming back in another throw of boredom later on.  The others I’m still reading, just slowly and steadily.  The ones I finished are below!

1. Smugglers and Scones– I can’t remember if I finished this in actual April, or just right after I published my March wrap, but either way I finished it recently and it was really good!! It was marketed as mystery, but I’d advise that this is a light, warm, curl up by the fire mystery read, with more interest in falling in love with the characters than catching the culprit.  That being said, I loved it.
2. The Constant Princess– It took me a long while to finish this book, but I loved it, I just didn’t have the time.  Philippa Gregory’s writing is amazing, and I loved hearing more about Katherine, now forever known as Catalina to me.  It was so amazing and you really felt like you were seeing inside of her head.
3. The Bone Witch– I received this book for review, and was a little nervous about it, but it had an INCREDIBLE plot.  The descriptions in the first 1/2 were a little overdone for me, but they relaxed somewhat as it went (or I got better at skim-skipping them) and then I was able to fully enjoy it.  plus, it’s a series with a sort of major cliffhanger.
4. Hamlet– Yes, I know this isn’t technically a book, but it was a 5 act play, and it was Shakespeare, so I think it counts.  I personally enjoyed this way less than other Shakespeare plays, which is odd since it’s one of the most popular.

The Best of the Blog…

1. Book Blogger Award Nominations-– Obviously the book blogger awards are getting a lot of attention, even if you all aren’t actually NOMINATING people, and so the rules, and then the nominations, were my most viewed posts all month.  If you haven’t read my nominations yet, make sure you do to find some great blogs.
2. Books That Would Make Great Video Games— This was a really fun t5w post to write, and I think a lot of you agreed with me!!
3. Book Haul— I got 7 books this month, which is a ton for me, and so I wrote a book haul! I’ve gotten even more excited about all the books since then, because I’ve heard amazing things about the ones I hadn’t heard of.
4. Reading Above your Grade Level (Discussion)— I’m so glad I wrote this post because I’ve gotten so many interesting perspectives on what their opinions are, and a lot of them agree with me, so *pats myself on the  back*… but seriously, everyone who commented had something I hadn’t thought of quite that way before, which is what I love about blogging
5. Book Reviews– This month, 2 book reviews went live on the blog, none for books I actually read this month.  In no particular order, Scrappy Little Nobody (4 stars) and The Fourth Monkey (3 stars).  Okay, fine, yes, there was an order.

Challenge Progress…

What’s In a Name– I’ve read 2 books for this challenge, and wrote my review for the 4th Monkey, so I’m really excited about that!!! 2/5 is right on target

Read Harder– I’m 10/24 here, which is really really good, but I finished all of the easy ones first, meaning that I’m going to have to work a lot harder to get the last 14, since they’re not genres or books that I would typically read.

1/3 Goals Update…

1. Reach 500 followers– I’m at 250 now, and it’s not even halfway through the year.  I think my growth of 150 in four months puts me behind anyways, but I knew this was a stretch and I’m proud of where I’m going.
2. Post a minimum of 2x a week all year long– I’m at 3x and haven’t messed up yet!! It’s getting harder though and I’m thinking of scaling back, or potentially bringing on a guest blogger, for the future.  Would you guys rather only have posts 2x/week, or would you like me to try to find a guest blogger to post on Wednesdays?
3. Make more blogging friends– Done!! I’ve made so many amazing friends recently, especially Emma ❤
4. Get involved in more challenges, memes, and big blogger events– well I’m running the bookish awards so that’s a good blogger event, but other than that I haven’t been doing much on this front.
5. Go to a IRL blogging or bookish event– not yet but I’m going to college in Boston so that should help
6. Read and review a total of 50 books– I’m at 32, which is well on my way to 50
7. Get enough of a following so that each of my posts receives 50 views– I’m averaging over 30, so that’s not bad
8. Reach 500 followers on Twitter– I’m 80 away as of right now.  I have no idea how up or down I go normally, so not sure if it’s a feasible goal lol

IRL Updates…

• I finished my physics class for the year, which is huge because it means wayyyyy less work for me and hopefully more time to read!!
• I officially signed the paper committing to college, which means that I’m officially going, and that’s always something to be happy about!

Reminder….

VOTE IN THE BOOK BLOGGER AWARDS!!!! THERE ARE ONLY 2 DAYS LEFT.  2 DAYS TO SHOW OTHER BOOK BLOGGERS THAT YOU LOVE THEM!!! Rules and categories are here