Sunday, March 1, 2009

February Reading in Review (+search terms and stats)

This month my goal was to continue to chip away at the review pile and to read at least one more book in the 1% Well Read Challenge (from the 1001 Books to Read before you die list).

Nearly all the books I read (with the exception of Wake and Speak) were sent for review, so that went well.

But I failed the 1% Well Read Challenge miserably, only reading 2 of the 10 books I set out to read. I did start a third, Carol Sheilds' The Stone Diaries, but after reading the first two chapters, I realized that it would take me at least a week to read if I wanted to really appreciate it. So, I'm setting aside for now. I am going to try the challenge again this year though, so wish me luck!

Books

I read 5 YA novels:
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley
The Poison Apples by Lily Archer
Wake by Lisa McMann
Fade by Lisa McMann

2 middle grade novels:
Tell Me Who by Jessica Wollman
Models Don't Eat Chocolate Cookies by Erin Dionne

1 general fiction novel:
This One is Mine by Maria Semple

2 non-fiction books:
The Customer is Always Wrong ed. by Jeff Martin
Where am I Wearing? by Kelsey Timmerman

And I abandoned 2 books after 50 pages that I just wasn't into...

Search terms

Bikini model Lenore. Sorry wrong blog!

Stalin statue. I can give you that yes. Right here.

Hair bands. I assume you are probably looking for glam rockers like Whitesnake or Poison. I am just talking about Emmy's favorite toys.

Who is Lenore? How do we know? I did do a couple of mini-interview posts here and here. As for how you know, you'll just have to trust me.

Models Don't Eat Chocolate Cookies. I had to mention this because it was by far the most searched for book this month and I thought that was pretty interesting!

Speak up about Speak. We'd be happy to! Steph and I put together this feature to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak. You could also win one of 20 copies of the 10th anniversary edition here.

Stats

I posted 36 times in February. Not a record, but still very prolific for me.

Most commented post was my bookshelves post. Probably because Alea, Serena and I got into a hilarious discussion about IKEA bookshelves. I read the thread to Daniel and we were ROTFL.

I had 5,500 visits in February, my most ever!

I also just reached the 200 follower milestone. Thanks everyone!

Thanks for voting on where my next book should take me. I have 18 votes for 13 Little Blue Envelopes and a tie for second place between Feathered and Elsewhere (15 each).

21 comments:

Alea said...

LOL! I love that you mentioned our bookshelf chat!

Shooting Stars Mag said...

Yay, what a great month! You got a lot accomplished. :)

-lauren

bermudaonion said...

I've kind of given up on challenges - at least you're still trying.

Steph Su said...

Nice summary of February. I like the idea! (I also second my vote for 13 Little Blue Envelopes. I think you'll love it.)

Liviania said...

You posted more than me and mine was a record.

Ana S. said...

Good luck with the challenge! I hope it goes better this time. And wow, 36 posts in a month with 28 days is awesome! You're incredibly prolific.

Amy said...

I finished zero posts for the first round of the 1% well read challenge!!!! But I"m going to try again!

Tasha said...

I like your monthly-wrap up - it's a great way to stay organized!

Staci said...

200 followers...way cool!!! Love your YA books that you read this month. I have Wake and Fade in my stack right now. North of Beautiful hasn't even been ordered by my library yet....not a good thing! Excellent reading and posting for Feb!!

H said...

36 posts is incredible. And 5500 visits is huge, so welldone!

Readingjunky said...

WOW! You are my idol. I dream about having that many visits and followers but can't really believe it's possible.

Can't wait to see the header. Thanks for the update.

Reader Rabbit said...

Woot! Seems like alot was accomplished during February!

Beth Kephart said...

I'm not going to count a thing of mine. For if I do, I'll look paltry as compared to you (save for number of posts; somehow I can't stop myself).

Congrats on a good month.

Darlene said...

Wow, you got lots of reading done this month Lenore. I'm impressed. Hope March is just as good.

Ladytink_534 said...

You read some really great ones! Sounds like February was a good month for you :)

Thao said...

You did well, Lenore. I heard that 13 blue envelopes is an enjoyable read. I hope you like it ^^

Christina Farley said...

you are doing awesome! I love visiting your blog and hearing your tidbits and insights on books. Keep it up!

Anonymous said...

Thats a good reading month. I want to decrease my Review pile too :)

Anonymous said...

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Alea said...

Wow don't do what Anon says! But you know how I feel already..... cutest layout of EVER!

Anna said...

At least you made an effort on the challenges! I'm only committing to the WWII challenge, as I'm co-hosting it. Though you didn't meet your reading goals, you still had a great month!

--Anna
Diary of an Eccentric