January 2014 ~ Lauren's Reading Obsession

Sunday, 26 January 2014

Sunday Post #13

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. The purpose of this meme is to showcase new book acquisitions and interesting posts from the previous week.

Its been a busy week. My dad finally had is gallbladder out on Tuesday That was a nerve wracking hour and a half in the waiting room, let me tell you! They released him on Friday and he's recovering nicely at home.

The semester has finally come to an end but now its all marking all the time. My students have a tendency to write such drivel but there is occasionally that rare glimpse of brilliance from one of them *sigh*.

I missed last week's Sunday Post, so here is what I read and reviewed in the last fortnight:

Bayou Moon by Ilona Andrews
Embrace the Darkness by Alexandra Ivy
If You Deceive by Kresley Cole
Storm Born by Richelle Mead
Stolen Fury by Elisabeth Naughton

*Click on titles to see reviews

Also got some of books:

Embrace The Darkness (Guardians of Eternity, #2)

The Angel of Darkness (Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, #2)

Full Moon Rising (Riley Jenson Guardian, #1)

Embrace the Darkness by Alexandra Ivy (Kobo)
Jane Yellowrock World Companion by Faith Hunter (Kobo)
Angel of Darkness by Caleb Carr (Audible)
Full Moon Rising by Keri Arthur (Audible)

Pitch Black by Leslie A. Kelley (Amazon)

Black at Heart by Leslie A. Kelley (Amazon)

So what have you been up to this week?

Feature & Follow #12: Blogging BFF

10:01 Feature & Follow 9 comments

Feature & Follow Friday is a blog hop aimed at providing exposure for new bloggers and at expanding blog followers. The hop is hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read and is a wonderful opportunity for making new friends and sharing your love for books and reading.
This week's featured blogs are: Mystifying Paranormal Reads and Worn Down Glories

Q: Who is your blogging BFF?

Nope, no blogging BFF for me. I'm a solo blogger.

I do, however, have a real life BFF. We meet in elementary school and have been friends for 28 years. Even though our paths have often taken us away from each other, whenever we do get together its as if we were never apart for long.
This reminds me that I need to give her a call :0)

Who is your BFF?

Sunday Post #12

10:37 Sunday Post 3 comments

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. The purpose of this meme is to showcase new book acquisitions and interesting posts from the previous week.

Its been a quiet week but I managed to read and review a few books, including:

When Darkness Comes by Alexandra Ivy
Last Dragon Standing by G.A. Aiken
Like No Other Lover by Julie Anne Long
To Desire a Devil by Elizabeth Hoyt
Turn Coat by Jim Butcher

*Click on titles to see reviews

Also got a couple of books:

Secrets for Seducing a Royal Bodyguard (The Renegade Royals, #1)

On Thin Ice by Cherry Adair (Kobo)
Kissed by Darkness by Shea MacLeod (Audible)

Secrets for Seducing a Royal Bodyguard by Vanessa Kelly (Borrowed)

After the Storm by Maya Banks (Borrowed)

So what have you been up to this week?

Feature & Follow #11: Blogger Resolutions

09:19 Feature & Follow 11 comments

Q: Resolutions: Put together your blogger resolution list for all of us to see!

A little while ago I created a blogging bucket list for the rest of 2013. Here is my updated list for 2014:

Abstract goals:
* Enjoy blogging and make ensure it doesn't become a chore
* Work on developing interesting content
* Find great books to read and recommend

Numbers to reach by the end of 2013:
* 150 Bloglovin followers
* 200 Twitter followers
* 650 GFC Followers

Book and review related:
* Receive and review a DRC from Edelweiss
* Review one NetGalley ARC per month

Post/Event related:
* Complete my Goodreads Challenge and post about it
* Write a street team post
* Write a Series Wrap up post
* Write a guest post for another blog
* Join a giveaway hop

Design:
* Create original blog button
* Create original blog signature

Miscellaneous:
* Go to a book reading/blogging convention (need to start saving up)
* Make sure to comment back on blogs that visit

And what are your resolutions?

Sunday Post #11: December Wrap Up (& 2013)

09:23 Sunday Post 5 comments

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. The purpose of this meme is to showcase new book acquisitions and interesting posts from the previous week.

I am back from the Abyss!!!

My father had an acute gallbladder attack and was in hospital for 5 weeks so what with working and running backwards and forwards from the hospital, and now oodles of pre-surgery doctors appointments, I haven't had much time left over for blogging. Hopefully things will improve once he has his surgery this month.

So here is my wrap up for December and a general note on 2013:

In December, I read 17 and completed my Goodreads challenge of 150 books with 186 read in 2013.

My favorite book for the month was Now You See Me by S.J. Bolton and the worst was Brighter Than The Sun by Julia Quinn. After finishing and loving the Bridgerton's series, I've been working my way through Quinn's backlist in 2013 and all I can say is she has definitely grown as a writer. Its like her earlier books were written by a completely different person - none of the wit and charm of the Bridgertons.

New entrants into the Hottie Harem were Patrick MacCallister in Two Weeks' Notice by Rachel Caine and Marc Joesbury in Now You See Me by S.J. Bolton.

No anti-hotties this month - happy to say :0)

The best Kick-Ass Heroine was Bryn Davis in Two Weeks' Notice

The special power that caught my eye was Mercy's ability to see ghosts in Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs.

I got a few books this week as well: