February 2016 Wrap-Up

It's March!! You know what that means? It's almost my birthday. And we all know what that means... more new books! Hopefully. *crosses fingers* I am also going to hopefully have some exciting news to share with you guys this month which I've been teasing you about for a few weeks now. I'm almost ready to share so just sit tight and soon you'll be privy to the awesomeness that is coming!

How was my February? Lonely. Phil (the hubby) was gone on business for 3 weeks. Yes, I know. 3 weeks!! So I was flying solo for most of the month. Um, adulting is hard when he's around, but when he's not?? Impossible. But I kept myself busy. I went up to Boston for a weekend to visit my friend and her new baby who is just absolutely precious. Still don't want kids of my own, but I was more than happy to cuddle with him all weekend. We stayed inside because it was balls cold up there.. Like on Sunday when we woke up and turned on the news it said it was zero degrees. And that was before taking the wind chill into account. So yeah, we stayed curled up under some blankets and watched movies all weekend. 

And then the following weekend, I was super busy playing catch up on all the blogging things that it just blinked on by and before I knew it, Phil was coming home. 

I also got to go to not one, but two author events last month! The first was for Veronica Rossi's Riders tour. She was joined by Susan Dennard and Kami Garcia on her DC stop. Kami is absolutely hilarious. She had me cracking up the whole time. And I loved hearing about all the research Rossi did before writing Riders, including going to a seven day long horseback riding camp so she could learn how to ride! Thank god. Nothing drives me crazier than books featuring horses where the author clearly has no clue how to ride. I can't wait to read the book! 

The other event was for Victoria Schwab's A Gathering of Shadows. I absolutely LOVED A Darker Shade of Magic. In fact, I'm rereading it right now before I get to AGOS. Victoria was so adorable, sweet and gracious. She was blown away by how many people showed up for her signing and you could tell that she really meant it when she thanked all of her readers. She also discussed the possibility of a ADSOM TV show. Guess what? She wrote the pilot! And she said we are either a). not going to get a show or b). get a show that is a seriously faithful and amazing adaptation. I want it!!! 

I also didn't really get a chance to participate fully in the Love-a-Thon this year which I was sad about. I just didn't have the time to pull it together. But I did jump into a couple of the Twitter chats and they were so fun! Thanks to Alexa Loves Books, The Daily Prophecy, The Novel Hermit and Stay Bookish for hosting! You ladies are awesome! 

So what did you miss on the blog? 

Reviews:

Hunter by Mercedes Lackey: 4 Stars

About a world where every mythological creature has somehow slipped through the cracks and entered the human world. People are now sequestered to cities and are protected by an elite group of people called Hunters. Slow start, but strong finish.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak: 5 Stars

About a young German girl who is given to a foster family during WWII. She doesn't know how to read so she steals books to try to learn. If you love historical fiction, you MUST read this book. 

Reckless Hearts by Sean Olin: 2 Stars

The companion to Wicked Games about a boy in love with his best friend, but is unable to tell her. Also some thrillery stuff involved, but this one was too predictable for me. A bummer since I liked the first one. 

The Power by Jennifer L. Armentrout: 5 Stars

Sethie!!! My cuddle bunny!! If you thought The Return was hot, just wait until you get to this book. I needed a cold shower after reading. 

Writing:

This month's writing post was about slowing down. I feel like the internet is constantly screaming at writers to go faster, but I wanted to tell you guys that it's okay to slow down and take your time. You may find that your writing comes out better and requires less revisions. 

Blogging/Organization:

On the organization side of things... I told you how to clean off your bookshelves and even made a helpful infographic for you. I went on this cleaning/organizing binge at the tail end of January/early February and I have to say I feel much better now that my house is more organized. Well it was... now it's a mess again. *sigh*

Other Bookish Fun:

And probably my favorite post of the month where I talked about why Red Rising is the best science fiction series I've ever read. I did a reread of Red Rising and Golden Son before reading the epicness that is Morning Star and I was once again blown away by this series. I could get into it all here, but really you should just go read my post, then go read the books. I also tried my hand at creating a desktop/phone background for you guys and I was pretty pleased with how it turned out! You can download it at the end of the Red Rising post. The best part about reading this series? Buddy reading with Wendy! She is totally my book soul sister and reading books with her is always the best!!

Stats:

Most popular post on the blog last month: How to Clean Off Your Bookshelves

I'm glad you guys enjoyed this post and I hope it was helpful! I'll need to clean mine off again soon... I'm drowning in books. 

Referrals: Alexa Loves Books and Paper Fury 

For the 2nd month in a row! Thanks guys! You're the best! 

Top Social Network: Twitter

Twitter bumped back up to #1 this month, but Pinterest is a close second which is very exciting to me. 

On Instagram:

I think I'm slowly but surely getting better with my camera. What do you guys think? Is there anything you'd like to see more of? What's your favorite pic here? 

Posts You Should Read:

Google Analytics Features Made Easy for Beginners from Nellie & Co.

2 Social Media Apps That Have Changed How I Instagram from Nellie & Co.

Lies Book Bloggers Tell Themselves from Paper Fury

Why Do We Love Painful Books from Paper Fury

Steps of Falling Into a Book Obsession from Book Scents

Open Letter to Pierce Brown from Book Scents

Strong Not Skinny from Brave New Betty

Sexy Times for the Win, Kelly's List of Love Stories from Belle of the Literati - She's the Queen of Sexy books. Listen to her! 

SEO the Hell Out of Your Heading Tags from Nosegraze

The 6 Things You Can Do to Speed Up Your Blog from Nosegraze

Bookish and Nonbookish Sites/Apps I Love from Forest of Words and Pages

How was your February? What was your favorite book you read? Mine was definitely Morning Star. Did you go to any author events in February? Tell me about them!