The Sunday Post [6]: Little Progress and a Necessary Break

 

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. From Kimba's website, "this meme was inspired in part by ~ In My Mailbox~ It's a chance to share News. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog. This is your news post, so personalize it! Include as much as you want or as little. Be creative, it can be a vlog or just a showcase of your goodies."

I always try to have a plan, especially when I have weeks (or in this case, a month) where I'm swamped with work, reading, writing, family duties, and well, trying to have a personal life. This month that plan hasn't seemed to work so well for me. Oh, I'm getting things done. But I've had to sacrifice sleep and sanity to do it. Thankfully, Saturday will be the end of this month from hell and I can get back to some normalcy. I hope.

On the upside, things at work are going well. Or, going better than they were in the beginning of the year anyways. I've also been managing to pay off some bills (yay!) and stick to my budget (double yay!).  I'm slowly making headway on my website and hope to have that up and running soon. Getting familiar with WordPress has been interesting, to say the least, but once I find a background I like, I think it will be launch time. Maybe by September 1, or at the latest, the middle of September. The organizer in me wants to be sure I understand what I'm doing before I launch so yeah, maybe mid September is a better goal post for this!

But on to the here and now, this week's review of all things reading, reviewing and writing related with some miscellany thrown in between for good measure. 

BOOKS READ/REVIEWED:

Facade by Nyrae Dawn

The Edge of Never by J.A. Redmerski

Both of these made me ball my eyes out, for different reasons, but yeah, I was a sobbing mess by the end of them. I keep my reviews spoiler free for the most part so check them out if you're looking for a new adult book to read.

I also finished Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie and I fell in love with the hero in that book. And the heroine too. It was heart-warming, sweet and just what I needed after the angst of the other two I read this week. This was a just for fun book, and one I needed to finish so I could return it to the library.  I don't plan on reviewing this for the blog though I think I could write pages and pages on how deeply this book impacted me. The banter was great, the plot was interesting and not in any way over the top and the author had me connecting to the heroine in such a meaningful way that even days later I can't stop thinking about it. I might have to break down and buy this one so I can have it for re-read purposes.

WHAT I'M CURRENTLY READING:

I have way too much to focus on this week so reading will be far down the list for me, sadly.  So other than finishing comments on my CP's book, I don't have much to read this week on my reading list. It's a short list in fact (only two books I think) and on top is Curse of Passion by Melissa Bourbon Ramirez.

STACKING THE SHELVES:

I didn't get to post my week's intake yesterday because I was up at the crack of dawn so I could get to Syracuse for the day. I had to go yesterday to do a final check of the venue and make sure we had everything.

I did get some ARCs this week though, four to be exact, though some of these don't have to be reviewed until later in the month or September so I have time. Thankfully.

Safe in His Arms by Renee Jones
Dead Sexy Dragon by Lolita Lopez
In His Command by Rie Warren
Last Chance Summer by Hope Ramsay

I also bought two of Lauren Dane's books, Giving Chase and Taking Chase, and Rock Hard by Olivia Cunning. I bought these only because I had great coupon offers from Kobo and could not pass them up. I'm a sucker for a sale.

ARC August:

You can check out the details HERE but basically I'm participating in this challenge to decrease the amount of ARCs I have and get my butt in gear with reviews. (Ironic since, I'm trying to decrease the pile of ARCs and yet I got more this week. I don't even think I can explain that. LOL)  Anyways, you can check out my goals for the month, HERE. In terms of progress, here is how I'm doing so far:

• This week I read three of the ARCs and finished (and posted) two of the reviews (see above for the links!). I will finish the third review and post it sometime this week. 

ROW80:

Well, let's just call the week a big ole fail on the writing front, shall we? I don't like making excuses, I really don't. But honestly, with maid of honor duties for this shower I have had to devote my time to getting that done. So the only writing I've gotten in is for the party games templates, emails to the rest of the birdesmaids, and to-do lists. As I said earlier, after the 17th of August life will calm down and at that point I plan to reassess my ROW80 goals and move forward. But until then I'm taking a break from my goals. I'll call it a vacation though I doubt it will be very relaxing!

AROUND THE WEB:

A great post about "blah-ging": dealing with the case of the blahs while blogging and some tips on how to get out of it.

The best blog ever when it comes to books, bookshelves, libraries and everything that is books and reading! Gah! It's heaven! I found heaven, people! And you can find it too by clicking HERE.

Who doesn't like Cookie Monster?! Having grown up with the Muppets and Sesame Street I have a lot of love for them. Heck, I still have my Kermit the Frog stuffed animal I got when I was 4. Yeah, I know, it's crazy, but I can't throw out Kermit!! Anyways, check out Cookie Monster and his song about self control HERE.  (And thanks to @Katiebabs for tweeting this! She comes up with some of the best links ever.)

This is an older link (July 2012) but seriously, these are adorable and make me smile, laugh and some I even get a bit teary eyed over. In fact, I may or may not have been crying when I read #10. So check out The 50 Cutest Things That Ever Happened and don't blame me if you need tissues.

And finally, @smexys_sidekick tweeted this quote from Tina Fey which I re-tweeted because seriously, it's Truth:  “It is impressively arrogant to conclude that just because you don’t like something, it is empirically not good." ― Tina Fey  I love this quote. I need it billboard size.

So that's it for me this week. Between work, where I have a ton of deadlines to meet including one which will keep me tied to my desk Monday and Tuesday all damn day, and until next week's festivities are over I won't be around all that much. I'm even skipping my monthly book club. Can you believe that?! Instead I'll be home, drinking copious amounts of wine and making enough chicken riggies for 50 people.  (If you're from central New York or have been here, you likely know what those are. :D ) I hope everyone has a great week and see you next Sunday!