A Month of Favorites ~ A Year in Books Timeline

A Month of Favorites is hosted by Girlxoxo, Traveling with T & Estella's Revenge.


Today's "A Month of Favorites" post is about creating a timeline of your Year in Books. I read a LOT this year, so we'll see if I can figure out what kinds of things to post, where.

In Sept of last year, we have finally bought a PS3 along with the game we had been waiting on ~ Grand Theft Auto 5. We were playing the CRAP outta it, so as the year began, I only challenged myself to 152 (a jokey number between hubby and I) books for the year, figuring I'd be playing GTAV for quite a while. I was right, and the first few months of the year are light (for ME), but then the year really took off. :) I upped my goal at GoodReads twice, finally leaving it, and surpassing it, a month or so ago. I'll hit 300 books for the year, the most since I've started keeping track.

I was going to do my own pretty graph thing, but I couldn't get it to look how I wanted it to, and I'll spend all day on it, getting it just right, if I didn't stop now, so I just deleted it. You'll have to settle for a VERY long verbal graph, If you choose to read it all. Anyone notice that I love to ramble?!


As expected, the year started off light. I was playing a LOT of GTAV. It was the first game I've ever played online with real people, and I actually made "friends", as much as you can be friends, running around killing each other in the game. It was really fun and I really got into making races (as I knew I would) and I had a bunch of people who raced my races with me, no matter how crazy they got, and damn, did I make some C-R-A-Z-Y ass races!!! Not only did I make CRAZY races (Power Insane is my favorite), I also made over 100!!!! If you play GTAV on PS3, feel free to look up my races at Rockstar ~ ImzadiRose. Anyways, so I knew my reading would be light for me. I understand that I still read a ton to some people, even on my light months.

For the First Quarter of the year, I read just 45 books. I was mainly playing then, and just reading at night, or times that a book came out I was waiting on or one caught my attention. Notable books, or times, in the first 3 months of the year ~

• Started my Blog on March 12th
• Posted 9 blog posts
• 18 new to me authors which accounted for 29 of my 45 books
• January Favorite ~ Cinder by Marissa Meyer
• February Favorite ~ I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga
• March Favorite ~ All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill
• 1st Q Favorite ~ Cinder
• 1st Q Least Favorite ~ Night Owl by M. Pierce

Though still caught up in GTA in April, my interest started to decrease in May and I started getting back to my books, and my Blog started picking up in April. I discovered Read-a-Thons such as Dewey's and Bout of Books, and I made some blogging friends. For the 2nd Quarter of the year, I read 73 books. Here's what the second 3 months of the year looked like ~

• Posted 90 Blog Posts!
• Posted first Author Requested Book Review ~ Deadly Fantasies by Kelly Miller
• Posted 17 Book Reviews
• Participated in my first Dewey's Read-a-Thon
• Participated in my first Bout of Books Read-a-Thon
• 24 new to me authors which accounted for 39 of my 73 books
• Read my favorite book of the year ~ The Shadow of the Wind
• April Favorite ~ The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
• May Favorites ~ Redshirts by John Scalzi & Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge
• June Favorite ~ The Witness by Nora Roberts
• 2nd Q Favorite ~ The Shadow of the Wind ~ My Review
• 2nd Q Least Favorite ~ The Austere Academy by Lemony Snicket

The 3rd Quarter of the year brought my most reading, by far. In July, I was part of a team challenge at GoodReads that ended up running 7 weeks, from mid July until the end of August. My team started off strong and stayed strong. We fell out of first place only one time, the whole 7 weeks and ended up winning the challenge ~ YAY Astronomers!! :) It was a TON of fun and I really really pushed myself, especially in August, when there was another round of Bout of Books. For the 3 months, I read 120 books ~ 58 of which were during the month of August! It was a crazy, but fun time. Here's how the 3rd Q of the year looked ~

• Posted 88 Blog Posts!
• Posted 20 Book Reviews
• Favorite Posts ~ I talked extensively about Erotica, talking Sex & my view of BDSM
• In August, discovered I like some comics! Have read 56 to date (Dec 10th)
• In September, I discovered the TBR List Poll meme, which I love.
• 38 new to me authors which accounted for 57 of my 120 books
• July Favorites ~ Close your Eyes by Iris Johansen & Timebound by Rysa Walker
• August Favorite ~ Lock In by John Scalzi
• September Favorite ~ Festive in Death by J.D. Robb
• 3rd Q Favorite ~ Lock In ~ My Review
• 3rd Q Least Favorite ~ Ruse by Kaley Copely

Finally, the 4th Quarter is still in swing. Depending on how these last 3 weeks go, I look to be on par with my 2nd Quarter number of books. In Oct & Nov I read 49 books, and so far for Dec (as of the 10th) I'm at 9 books, with 2 I will likely finish today. I have completed 296 books for the year (so far) and am excited to surpass 300 soon!

• So far, I've posted 50 Blog Posts!
• Posted 11 Book Reviews
• Favorite Post ~ Posted about our 10 Year Anniversary
• VOTE NOW on what book I should read in Dec for the TBR List Poll
• 16 new to me authors which accounted for 25 of my 58 (and counting) books
• Have read 296 books, so far, this year
• Have read 56 comics, so far, this year
• October Favorites ~ 15 Minutes by Jill Cooper
• November Favorite ~ The Great Zoo of China by Matthew Reilly
• December (so far) Favorite ~ Horde by Ann Aguirre
• 4th Q Favorite ~ The Great Zoo of China ~ My Review
• 4th Q Least Favorite ~ Queen of Clubs by Katie de Long

Graph Style ~


Graph maker

And now, if you made it this far, I THANK YOU!! I will end this here and give your tired eyes a break. As for me, I suddenly have the desire to go make a race!! GTAV, here I come! :)