2018 Wrap Up: On Books, Blogging & Exceeding all my Goals!

Hello everyone!

It’s that time of year where your inbox is being overwhelmed with blogging wrap up posts left right and centre. Why? Because December is a great time to reflect on goals both personal and bookish.*

*Also, analyzing your books and blogging stats is so damn satisfying.

So I’m sorry (but not sorry) that I will be joining the queue of bloggers discussing their books and blogging achievements of 2018! If you want to skip this post because you’re feeling oversaturated, I completely understand, but if not, I do hope you enjoy viewing what I’ve been up to, including the best books that I’ve read in 2018!

2018 has been a bit of a rollercoaster of a personal year. I lost two family members in Jan and Feb, and to be honest, 2018 never really recovered from that despite a lot of other amazing things such as mini breaks, theatre visits, gigs, etc.

But when it comes to books and blogging, 2018 was pretty incredible, and I’ve smashed a lot of my personal stats! I AM SO PROUD.

2015 in Review: A Year of Big Changes and Awesome Fantasy Books!

Happy New Years everybody! Pop those corks, pump up the music and hug it out. You’ve made it through another year!

It sounds corny, but I’m so appreciative of everything in my life as 2015 comes to a close.
I feel like my relationships with friends and family have only grown stronger this year, and I feel lucky to have a number of amazing, passionate and loyal people in my life. 2015 has been a big personal year for me and I’ve learnt so much. I’m more sure, centred and confident about who I am, to the point where I really don’t care what anyone else thinks! And I’ve stopped obsessing over the what ifs that used to stop me from taking chances.

2014 In Review: A Personal and Bookish Round Up!

Happy New Year everyone! I hope wherever you are, whether it’s at a party, the pub with friends or at home in your dressing gown watching TV or film marathons (all equally great options) that you are enjoying a relaxing, entertaining night and you’re starting the New Year as you intend to go on! Let’s hope we all make 2015 a great one!

2014 seems to have whizzed by but it’s been a pretty good year for the most part. I passed my second year of university and started my final year, which has included some really great grades and plenty of fun impromptu cocktail and movie nights with my housemates. I went to the Isle of Wight festival to enjoy some great music and learnt how to bartend, and I also had some fun days out like Go Karting, Archery and visiting the Warner Bros Harry Potter Studio Tour (which I keep meaning and failing to blog about). Overall, I’m in a much happier and positive place than I was a year ago, which is awesome! 🙂

It’s also been a pretty good bookish year for me too, I read 31 books (11432 pages), just beating last years target of 30 books (and 10531 pages) ohh yeah! Yes, I am a very slow reader *don’t judge me*. I also gave out five, five star ratings and particularly read a lot of great contemporary books this year which is very unusual for me!

So without further ado, here are the lucky books that are receiving notable bookish awards from me this year!

2013 in Review: Happy New Year Bloggers!

New Years is one of my favourite holidays. Cynics will knock it and pragmatic people will state that everything doesn’t just start again with the beginning of a New Year, but for me it often does. Sure, things don’t magically transform, only you can choose to make things different and even that doesn’t happen in the flash of an eye. But for me, New Year is a great celebration. It’s a time where we can be thankful that we actually made it to the end of the year through all of the stress and tribulations and hopefully have become a lot stronger because of it! I think 2013 was a pretty good. I passed my first year of University, went on holiday to Edinburgh without any major catastrophes and attended my first author signing. Sure there were some sucky times too, there always are, but I am happy to say that the good outweighed the bad this year!
2013 was also a great year for books and blogging by my standards. I sped my way through 31 books and 10617 pages, a massive total for a slow reader like me (last year 2012 I read only 22 books). And of those books I gave six five star ratings! That’s almost unheard of for me, I don’t give out those five stars lightly. In terms of blogging achievements, I managed to bash out 113 posts on my keyboard, completed the 30 Day Blog Challenge and took part in my first ever 24 Hour Readathon as a reader, which was a truly amazing experience. 😀 My blog visitors came from 128 different countries and the majority were from The United States, the UK and Canada.

To make this New Year post just a little bit different I thought I would 

New Years: 2012 in Review from a Bookish Perspective

2012 has been a year of firsts for me; my first big holiday to New York City, getting into university and moving away from home. (As well as the first movie parts for The Hunger Games and The Hobbit, can’t forget about them now can we? ;).)

It’s also been a year of lasts for me; my last day at the school I frequented for 7 years, the last time I will be considered a child, and hopefully the last year that my anxiety will spiral out of control. (It was also the end of the Twilight films, and the Inheritance series! :()

So 2012 was a pretty turbulent year in general. Crazy, stressful and a pretty exciting adventure!

I am not one to hide my love of New Years even though I know a lot of people don’t like it. For me it represents hope and new unchartered waters, and I love reflecting on the year that’s passed. I think that’s something to be excited about anyway! 😀

Bookish stuff:

New Years: A Time for Change, Reflection, and Celebration

Happy New Year everyone! 🙂

I know a lot of people dislike New Years, but it’s one of my favorite times of the year. It’s a good excuse to dress up and get out of my traditional jeans and a T-Shirt, it’s a chance to crank up the music in your household, and it’s the perfect time to dig out those old games that are collecting dust in your cupboard.
But most of all, I like it because it’s a time of hope, and looking forward to all the adventures ahead of you.