Month in Review | August 2012

Wow! This has been a busy month—at work and home, and reading has been no exception! Here's a quick glance of everything I've accomplished this month book and blog-wise. :)

Books Read [16]

Favorites This Month?
This has probably been the best reading month I've had in a long while. It seemed like every book I read was just so wonderful! So . . . there's no way I can choose a favorite. Not gonna do it! I gave 8 5-star ratings and 6 4-star ratings if that tells you anything! :) This month's 5-star books are: Love Finds You in Mackinac Island; Lethal Legacy; Coming Home; Always the Designer, Never the Bride; With Every Letter; Thunder and Rain; Proof; and Love's Reckoning.

Reviews Posted [15]

• Love Finds You in Mackinac Island by Melanie Dobson (Litfuse Tour)
• Lethal Legacy by Irene Hannon (Revell Tour)
• Tidewater Inn by Colleen Coble (Litfuse Tour)
• The Scent of Rain by Kristin Billerbeck
• Starring Me by Krista Mcgee
• After All by Deborah Raney
• Coming Home by Karen Kingsbury
• Always the Designer, Never the Bride by Sandra D. Bricker
• Total Home Makeover by Renee Metzler (Blog Tour)
• Dying to Read by Lorena McCourtney (Revell Tour)
• A Texan's Honor by Shelley Gray
• Firestorm by Lisa Tawn Bergren
• The Maid of Fairbourne Hall by Julie Klassen
• False Pretenses by Kathy Herman
• Dangerous Mercy by Kathy Herman

Blogside Chats

• Nora St. Laurent of The Book Club Network
• Keli Gwyn
• Catherine Richmond

Giveaways
Thanks to the authors and publishers who sponsored these giveaways!

• A Bride Opens Shop in El Dorado, California - Lindy E
• After All - Melanie
• Total Home Makeover - Kelly B

Update on Reading Challenges

• 2012 Goodreads Challenge - 86 / 113 books
• 100+ Books in a Year - 86 books
• 2012 Ebook Challenge - 17 / 25 books
• New Authors Challenge - 37 / 50 authors *Completed and increased goal in May*
• 2nds Challenge 2012 - 24 / 20 books *Completed 2nd goal in August*
• Just For Fun Reading Challenge 2012 - 6 / 12 months (8 books)
• What Are You Reading? Challenge - 27 / 50 states
• 50 States Challenge - 27 / 50 states
• 2012 Christian Suspense Reading Challenge - 17 / 15 books *Completed in August
• 2012 Christian Historical Fiction Reading Challenge - 35 / 24 books *Completed in May*

Other Noteworthy Posts / Happenings

• I took on the Reading Copy Cleanup Challenge this month. I finished strong and will post my wrap-up tomorrow.
• I also took part in the Bout of Books 5.0 Read-a-thon. This was my first read-a-thon, and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I'll definitely do more in the future! (Here's my wrap-up post.)
• Earlier this week I featured a new book that I'm super excited about: Love Thy Rival by Chad Gibbs. Be sure to check it out if you missed it!
• I also hit 100 GFC followers. Thank you so much to all who follow. It means a lot to know that people are out there reading my little blog!

Next Month
I thought it might be a nice addition to this monthly update to give you a peek at what's coming up this month.

• September is Blog Month for Compassion. I love this ministry and will be posting several times throughout the month! I posted my first post earlier today.
• Book Blogger Appreciation Month is September 10-14. I've never taken part before but thought it would be fun!
• I'm thinking about joining up for another read-a-thon this month, but no promises!
• Jody Hedlund will be guest posting on September 12 as part of her blog tour to celebrate the release of Unending Devotion. :)
• AND . . . I'm posting reviews for 7 blog tours during the month so keep an eye out for those reviews!!

Well . . . that's quite a bit! Doing the read-a-thon and the Review Copy Cleanup really boosted my reading for the month. And I enjoyed chatting with some other bloggers as well! What did you do last month? Anything fun going on this month?