The Looooong and the Short of It + a Giveaway: August 2024 Wrap-Up Post and Looking Forward to September

Did I say the summer went by fast? August sped by as well! Probably because it feels like we spent so much time in back to school meetings instead of actually getting classrooms/my library ready for students. I finished my last graduate class and should see the raise on my second paycheck this month I hope. Taking off from any classes for a bit though. I helped out my self-published friend Michelle Sodaro with another book event as her assistant!

My reading was back down again this month thanks to no time with school starting and lunches where I didn’t eat alone so I could read. Not to mention the days my clerk was pulled to work elsewhere in the building and I didn’t even get to take a lunch. I have a feeling this is going to be another horrible year at work. I did get more audiobooks read in a way, with my 25 minute each way drive to and from work every day again.

I got 15 books finished, that’s the same as last month.

Still using Bookly, although as StoryGraph starts offering more graphics, and since SG is on the desktop and not just an app, I might be dropping Bookly after the subscription I purchased for it is over. Bookly also has some issues, if I DNF a book, it stays on my screen on the app. But if I delete it from there, I lose all my time spent reading for the stats. It also has the issue of when I add books that I was reading already, I have to add the number of pages I already read, and it is a hassle to not have it set so it shows that I read ALL those pages the first day I start tracking it on the app. So it says the fastest pace book below is 600-som pages in an hour, which is obviously incorrect.

Here is my fun monthly wrap-up image I like to make in Canva.

Here are my StoryGraph stats for August in the graphic they now provide. The only thing it’s missing from what I like to share when I get each graph separately is actually the different star ratings and how many of each, it just gives the average. Which is enough I guess!

My Reviews

Of the 17 specific titles listed last month, I got 12 read and most reviewed, 3 DNFs, 1 ARC I didn’t even get to, 1 e-galley I started, but didn’t finish till the first day of September, and no TBR books read for my Beat the Backlist Challenge that I’d listed.

• [3 Aug] Death at Morning House by Maureen Johnson ★★★★½
• [6 Aug] Bananapants by Penny Reid ★★★★★
• [9 Aug] Northern Twilight by Samantha Young ★★★★★
• [12 Aug] Witty in Pink by Erica George ★★★★★
• [17 Aug] Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca ★★★★½
• [20 Aug] Bridesmaid Undercover by Meghan Quinn ★★★★★
• [22 Aug] A Scottish Highland Hideaway by Julie Shackman ★★★½
• [27 Aug] The Lies of Alma Blackwell by Amanda Glaze ★★★★★
• [28 Aug] Love Lessons by Sidney Halston DNF
• [28 Aug] Puck One Night Stands by Emma Foxx DNF
• [28 Aug] Morbidly Yours by Ivy Fairbanks DNF
• [29 Aug] Breaking the Ice by Whitney Dineen ★★★★½
• [30 Aug] Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of '70s and '80s Horror Fiction by Grady Hendrix ★★★★½
• [30 Aug] Mixed Signals by B.K. Borison ★★★★½
• [30 Aug] The Love of My Afterlife by Kirsty Greenwood ★★★★★
• [30 Aug] Text Appeal by Kylie Scott ★★★★½
• [30 Aug] You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron ★★★★½

Challenge Check-In

My goal is 24 for the year using the prompts that are listed, I didn’t get any more done this month. I’m still behind! Need to be at 12 by now.

1. Prompt: On your TBR 5+ years – Five Minutes Late by Rich Amooi
2. Prompt: Anthology or omnibus edition – The Natural History Novellas by Erin Mallon
3. Prompt: We all scream – horror – The Dead List by Jennifer L. Armentrout
4. Prompt: Walk through history – Something Wilder by Christina Lauren
5. Prompt: Writing about writing – The Nerd and the Neighbor by Lainey Davis
6. Prompt: STEM stan – Co-Wrecker by Meghan Quinn
7. Prompt: 4 Word title – Getting Lucky Number Seven by Cindi Madsen
8. Prompt: Coffeehouse Reads – Cleave by Boyd Bauman
9. Prompt: Creature Feature – Paperbacks from Hell by Grady Hendrix

My goal was 6 for the year, didn’t get any more done this past month, but I’m still on track.

• [6 Mar] Discussion Post: Just Can’t Get Enough or Do You Also Want All the Special Editions and Book Boxes?
• [22 Mar] Discussion Post: Give It Away, Give It Away, Give It Away Now, or Do you still host giveaways on your blog or enter on other blogs?
• [14 May] Lisa Loves to Discuss #1: Do you listen to podcasts?
• [16 Jul] Lisa Loves to Discuss #2: Do You Dog Ear?

My Goodreads and StoryGraph Goals of 150 books are on track with 114 books read so far, putting me ahead of schedule. I’m also still trying to keep my Netgalley percentage above 80%, and I did get it back up to 81% this month.

I decided to do the Chapter Break Bingo Challenge for August, and here are my books that fit each spot, I’d say I only got 23 squares this time!

• Bridesmaid Undercover: Pre-ordered book, Rom-Com
• Breaking the Ice: Read an Ebook
• Witty in Pink: Music, Not in a Series
• A Scottish Highland Hideaway: Free book
• Salty Pickle: Animal Character, Animal on the Cover, Read a physical book
• Northern Twilight: Friends to lovers, Heat – temps or spicy scenes
• You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight: Library book
• Text Appeal: Puzzle/Board games, Audiobook
• Bananapants: Food on the cover
• Fireball: Book club read
• Mixed Signals: In a series
• Death at Morning House: Mystery
• Haunted Ever After: Ghosts
• The Lies of Alma Blackwell: Someone from the past
• The Love of My Afterlife: Shelf Love, Feel-Good

What to Expect in September

Somehow I seem to overbook myself at the wrong times! Plus, the newest SmartyPants Romance books start coming out this month! I did start seeing a therapist at the end of August, and while I’m not sure if I feel she’s the right fit, she did give me some good ideas, and I will test out going to her with two more scheduled appointments this month. This month is also my stepdad’s birthday, so that might be a rough day or two. My mom did decide to sell the Branson house, and it sold pretty quickly. She should be going down to Branson to close on it some time this month. I’m just trying to make it through this school year at this point, and that is sad since we are only two weeks in.

Here is my proposed TBR for September:

1. Repeat After Me by Jessica Warman – the publisher sent me a beautiful finished copy on the last day of August, might be reading it as this is posted if I gave up on the e-galley I was trying to get through.
2. You Belong With Me by Mhairi McFarlane – I’ve wanted to read this author for a while, and the publisher sent me an e-galley. Hope to read and post the review on the 3rd.
3. No More Mr. Chai Guy by J.P. Sterling – Another e-galley from the Coffee Loft series. The author got it to me. Hope to read and post my review on the 4th
4. This is Not a Holiday Romance by Camilla Isley – an e-galley review for a blog tour on the 7th
5. Fireball by Lainey Davis – I actually listened to the audiobook of this last month for a blog tour on the 9th
6. Never Date the Minister by Julia Kent – I think I’m still on this author’s review team, and if so, I plan to post a review of this on the 10th
7. Delayed Penalty by Teagan Hunter – I applied to be on her review team, but I’m guessing I didn’t get it since I haven’t heard anything. And I’m not really wanting to work with the PR company that she works with anymore on my own, so I might not be reading this one sadly. I love her books, but may not be getting to all of them other than what I can get on audiobook at the library. If I do get this one, I’ll be posting a review on the 12th.
8. Casket Case by Lauren Evans – should maybe be doing a blog tour review of this on the 16th
9. My Secret Snowflake by Kathy Strobos – I’ve enjoyed the other books in this series by this author, so I signed up for a review blog tour on the 18th
10. Pumpkin Spice Spice Baby by Kerry Evelyn – another one in the Coffee Loft series I think I’m getting from the author for a review on the 19th
11. A Jingle Bell Mingle by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone – Love this series and had to get the e-galley for a review on the 21st I think.
12. Nothing Like the Movies by Lynn Painter – I have an e-galley of this to read, and fit in before the 24th when it comes out!
13. Adam and Eve’s Matchmaking Tour by Nora Nguyen – have an e-galley of this from the publisher, hope to post a review on the 24th
14. Ex Marks the Spot by Hazel James – hoping to read this for the SmartyPants Romance releases and post a review on the 26th.
15. The Ballerina of Auschwitz by Edith Eger – I got an ARC of this from the publisher and plan to read and post a review on the 27th
16. The Nightmare before Kissmas by Sara Raasch – I also have an ARC of this that might be posting a review of on either the 27th or 28th
17. The Fate of Magic by Sara Raasch and Beth Revis – I didn’t get an ARC, but downloaded an e-galley since I loved the ARC I read of the first one, and hope to post my review on the 28th or possibly 30th
18. A Double Shot of Love by T.J. Amberson – another Coffee Loft series book, haven’t heard for sure if I’m reading this one, but if I do, should be posting a review on either the 30th, or the 1st of October.
19. Still not sure when/if I’ll get any BTB books in, so I won’t list any for sure.
20. I’m working on audiobooks of the possible Gateway nominees for next school year, so will probably have a few of those as they become available through my library’s digital audiobook source Libby.

Final Thoughts

Now that pretty much all the backyard is cleaned up from the tree that fell at the end of June, and the insurance has given me the money for that, next I’ll be getting a new shed. My mom has said she might help me just get a new wooden fence to replace the chainlink one, because the wooden fence is technically belongs to the business behind my house, and they don’t seem to care if it falls down. And I don’t like having that part just open when I’m out in my yard at night, just feels a little unsafe since I live alone. Plus I’d like to get my mower back out of the garage so I can move my big trash bin inside again and have more room.

In the blogging/book world, the next round of SmartyPants Romance releases start in September as well!

What are you planning or looking forward to in September?

Giveaway

Still have a big ARC pile, so continuing another giveaway this month. Will keep it basic again, only open to US since I’m going to have to ship. You can pick 3 books from my giveaway pile in the picture below. By the end of the month there might be more or different ones. Just fill out the Rafflecopter below the picture.

a Rafflecopter giveaway