The Looooong and the Short of It with a Giveaway: August 2020 Wrap-Up Post and What to Expect in September

Posted September 1, 2020 by Lisa Mandina in End of the month post, giveaway / 16 Comments

August was a crazy month! I started out wanting to go into my library to work, but then they postponed the start date for teachers until the 17th, so I waited till then. But I am going to be in the library most days of the week. Will probably take one day a week to work from home while our students are remote learning for the first 9 weeks. I’ve been happy to be in my library working. I am getting a lot more done with so many things, things that were hard to do with my dogs at home interrupting me all the time. But then again I do have school things to do now too, so it’s not like I can just sit at my desk at school and read and blog.

August was really hot. Not much fun for sitting outside or mowing or doing much. I did have one weekend where I went with my family to stay in a cabin again in Branson. It was nice to just be at a cabin and not worry about anything. Had one of the teachers from my school stay with my dogs while I was there, so they have a new buddy to stay with them.

August was also a good month for reading. Only had one DNF, and I got a lot of books read too, 19 again like in July! One was a reread too.

August Reviews:

As you can see, not all book reviews were posted this month, stay tuned for them to show up in September probably. I had a disappointment with a few books I thought I’d get to read and review this month for tours, but one of them turned out for the best because I got on one of my favorite author’s review teams now! I was very disappointed to not get to read her book, especially when I had posted a joking status on Facebook asking some of my favorite romance authors to write a Dating app profile bio for me. Sara Ney actually wrote one for me! Here is what I now have on my dating apps:

Bookworm who loves long walks to the library in search of her very own page flipper. Loves Netflix and chilling with tacos, laughter not optional.

Me: Short. Kind, fun, and up for adventure.

You: Funny. Nice smile. Successful at both life and reaching things from the top shelf.

My only things I’m considering changing is the Netflix and chill part, since a lot of guys only take that as one thing, even if I am just being funny with it. But anyway, it’s much more fun and quirky than what I had before.

I only had 41 posts in August, that’s back down from July, so that is getting better. I had a few dates that were messed up from blog tours I thought I was supposed to be on but didn’t get chosen for. And then I’m trying to save my Saturdays for commenting on other blogs, and not necessarily scheduling anything for that day.

Challenges:

Back to no new ones. I did have one I was going to read, and then I realized it was actually the second part of a series so I set it aside until I get the first one read.

Blogging:

I’ve been doing some work on updating past reviews. Slowly but surely. Like when I do a new review for part of a series or by an author I’ve read before, I’m trying to go back and fix the reviews for the rest of the series or that author so that they show up in my Review archives. I also set up a little menu at the top of my Reviews by Title and Reviews by Author pages so that you can click on the letter of the alphabet to skip down to those reviews. I still should set a goal for getting more of that done each week or something. I did really great with commenting on my Saturdays that I set aside this month. I have been keeping up with at least my Wednesday posts:

Cleaning Up My TBR:

So as I’ve mentioned, I’m not doing this post anymore. However, I did go through a couple times and clear out some books. I was at 2884 on August 6th. And after a couple times this month of weeding out, but also adding new, I am currently at a total of 2776 books on my TBR on Goodreads. So it’s down over 100 books, I think that’s good.

Reading:

I’m back on track with my reading still, having finished 19 books this month! I did get to only 5 behind on my Goodreads goal, never getting farther than 7 behind this month. Now one of these was a reread that I’d started a month or so ago. And since I’m driving more this month, I got more audiobooks finished.

Writing:

Once again, nothing. As I mentioned last month, I reached back out to a published author who had looked at a couple chapters of my finished YA novel, and she is looking at the problem I have with telling instead of showing in my writing, I just have a couple more payments to her. And I have to definitely do a little self-promoting of my own self published novella, the only one so far. Again, if you’re interested in reading and reviewing, and have Kindle Unlimited, it is free. Here is a link again if you’re interested: Amazon. I would really love some reviews, I actually kind of want some that aren’t the glowing reviews that friends and family tend to give, so I know what I can work on! And I have set up a writing retreat for myself and a writer friend at the end of October at another friend’s condo in Fort Collins, Colorado. I am so ready to have that time away from all the distractions and just get some writing done!

What to Expect in September:

I plan to get a lot more inventory going now that I am back in the library, but there is also a lot of other things I might have to be doing online. We will see how the new school year goes with remote learning and what I have to do. It sounds like my colibrarian will not be coming in that much, so it will be mostly me here, which is fine. That way I won’t have to wear my mask all the time. Like I mentioned above, I’ll probably stay home one day a week for sure. And then in October I’m looking forward to a full week away!

I plan to continue doing the comments on Saturdays in September as it really was nice I think. I also have a few ARCs or review books I need to get caught up on this month, we’ll see how that goes! And I’ve actually deleted some tour group posts even though they had books that might be ones I would give a new author a try, because I just have too many reviews already scheduled. And I need to get on my TBR piles!

Here is my proposed September TBR based on blog tours and ARCs that I have:

  1. Hot Pickle by J.J. Knight – actually have already read and my review went up this morning!
  2. Behind the Plate by J. Sterling – reading at the moment, blog tour review post on September 3rd.
  3. Even if We Break by Marieke Nijkamp – Have an ARC and hope to read and post a review by September 6th
  4. Say It Ain’t So by Lani Lynn Vale – should be posting a review as part of a blog tour on September 8th
  5. The Setup by Meghan Quinn – should be reading and posting blog tour review on September 10th
  6. The Wreckage of Us by Brittainy C. Cherry – I signed up to read this as part of a blog tour I think, wanted to try something by this author that will be at Book Bonanza next year. Should be posting a review on September 12th
  7. Surrender Your Sons by Adam Sass – I have an e-galley of this that I’m going to try to get read and reviewed by September 13th
  8. Hitching the Cowboy by Kennedy Fox – Finishing up listening to this on audio right now, got it from the author or a PR company. Will be posting my review on September 15th.
  9. Flirting with 40 by K. Bromberg – even though I’m actually flirting with 50, I’m excited to read this one by K. Bromberg to post a blog tour review on September 16th.
  10. Loathe Thy Neighbor by Teagan Hunter – so I fell in love with this author from reading Cheesy on the Eyes, and immediately had to sign up for the next book she has coming out. I’ll be posting a blog tour review of this on September 17th.
  11. Melting Wynter by J. Marie – supposed to be reading this one for the 425 Madison Ave. third series and posting a review on September 18th. But as you can see that I have almost one review a day this week, so that may or may not happen.
  12. The Morning Flower by Amanda Hocking – I need to catch up on this e-galley that the publisher let me get earlier this summer. So hope to read and post a review by September 20th.
  13. Thanks for Last Night by Lauren Blakely – I read the first book in this series, Dear Sexy Ex–Boyfriend, and loved it, so had to sign up for more in the series. I should be posting a blog tour review on September 21st.
  14. Cop-Out by Misty Walker – So it seems that K. Bromberg is kind of doing with her different worlds what Penny Reid did with the SmartyPants Romance worlds. This will be my first foray into any of them, because I’ve just been so booked I couldn’t fit any into my schedule. I should be posting a blog tour review of this one on September 24th.
  15. The Midnight Circus by Jane Yolen – I got an ARC of this from the publisher and plan to read and review by September 29th.
  16. Shine by Jessica Jung – This is another exciting ARC I got from the publisher and I hope to read and post a review by September 27th.
  17. Game Winning Goal by Kay Gordon – another book in the 425 Madison Ave series, and I should be reading this month, but posting a review in October. I enjoyed the other book I read by this author in the series, Two for Holding.
  18. Eventide by Sarah Goodman – I have an ARC of this from the publisher, hope to read in order to post a review in October.
  19. Hard Fall by Sara Ney – this is the book I was really disappointed to not get to read as part of a tour, so like with the first book in the series, Hard Pass, I immediately ordered the paperback copy once it was available and read it. I just got my copy of this book 2 and now I need to get it read because I’m supposed to be on the ARC team for book 3, but again I’ll have to buy that one to have the matching set.
  20. Hard Love by Sara Ney – see the above post and this is book 3 that I hope to read for a blog tour review in October.
  21. The Bookworm’s Guide to Dating by Emma Hart – should be reading and hopefully then posting my review in October as I am part of Emma Hart’s ARC team!

So again, I probably won’t get all of those done. But we’ll see. There will probably be at least one more audiobook in there too, now that I’m driving to and from school again about 4 days a week. It will probably be Beard Science by Penny Reid, the only Winston Brothers book I haven’t actually read yet, because I started it before I got the chance to listen to Hitching the Cowboy. There’s also a possibility a couple of the ARCs I have will get pushed back due to blog tours, especially that third week this month. And there are a few that I didn’t get finished last month that I might get finished up as well.

So, how was your August? I hope everyone in your family is still safe and healthy, or that if you have anyone that has gotten sick, I hope they are recovering quickly. Our students in the school district where I work will be starting back on September 8th, and then we’re doing the first 9 weeks as virtual learning. So we will see how that goes. How are the school districts in your area handling the beginning of the year?

Giveaway:

Last month’s winner was Cassandra Darens and she is an email follower of Lisa Loves Literature, and I think she has been for a while! So glad to be able to share a prize with her! She chose to order a book for under $10 this month, so depending what might get chosen in my Blogoversary giveaway, the picture below is what you will probably have to choose from this month if you win.

Below are ARCs I’ve finished and also a finished copy of Autoboyography by Christina Lauren that is autographed. Somehow I ended up with two autographed copies! I will make the giveaway international in that you can pick a book for under $10 if The Book Depository ships to you. Just fill out the Rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Oh yeah, since I got my blogoversary post up a bit late, you can still enter that giveaway for another week or two HERE.

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16 responses to “The Looooong and the Short of It with a Giveaway: August 2020 Wrap-Up Post and What to Expect in September

  1. Nice reading month! It looks like you have some awesome reads for September. I’m curious about Even If We Break. It sounds really good. I have some ARCs I need to get read this month, but I also want to start reading more mysteries/thrillers because Fall screams mysteries and spooky books. lol

    -Lauren

    • Lisa Mandina

      It’s up as my next ARC to read. I’m trying so hard to stay current on the ARCs as I get them these days, but every once in awhile one slips through. Thanks for stopping by!

  2. I’m hoping to spend October and November tackling some of backlog of review books. I only have a couple of ARCs from favorite authors in those months. I could use December too but I usually reserve it for Christmas book binging. Check out my monthly wrap-up

    • Lisa Mandina

      I should do that. I’m trying my best right now to only sign up to review books by authors I already know and love or books that just look so good I have to read them! Thanks for stopping by!

  3. Looks like you had a good August. As you read on mine I was very unproductive as I was and sadly still am dealing with a lot of stress from being back at work. That being said, once September started I began getting back in the flow of reading and reviewing. Everyone has an off month right? Anyway, congrats on the writing and reading getting done. I am having the same difficulty with the telling instead of showing with my own book. Looks like you have a lot of books to get read and reviewed for September. I hope they all go well and are interesting. Glad you got to hear from Sara Ney, I’m really liking her books this year. I hope your September is as productive as your August was.

    Sharrice @Reese’s Reviews

    • Lisa Mandina

      Being back to school has been crazy for me so far this month! I just found out I actually have to do some Zoom meetings because they scheduled study halls in my library during remote learning! Needless to say, I was not pleased to find out only 2 days before I had to actually do this! Wish me luck today!

  4. Danielle Hammelef

    I’m glad you are enjoying your work and keeping up with your blog. Another fantastic month for you in books and posts. I have an ARC of The Black Kids and It Came From the Sky to read here and have Recommended for You ordered and hopefully on its way. Even if We Break hardcover (pre-order) is sitting on top of my physical TBR, but after just finishing a YA thriller, I wanted to put some reading distance in between similar genres (it helps keep them fresher for me).

    • Lisa Mandina

      I’m the same, I like to go back and forth, read a contemporary or two in between a thriller or fantasy, etc. If possible I like doing an adult romance then a YA book, then adult again. Hope you get to these soon and enjoy the ones I did!

  5. Debra Branigan

    Despite the “at-home isolation” I am doing fine. I am looking forward to this cooler weather so we can enjoy some hikes and picnics.

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