Monday, March 1, 2010

February Recap

So. My Feb goals were as follows:

1. Write 30K on any projects

What Happened: Fail
I wrote about 20K, which is good, but totally slacker-y. February was like The Month of Slacking. Which is strange, because last year it was super productive. Hopefully I'll get more done in March! I wrote about 15K on Temper, and the other 5K was on misc. other projects.


2. Fix Blood Ties

What Happened: Win
I deleted what needed to be deleted and figured out what to do.

3. Write 10 blog posts this month

What Happened: Win!
I wrote 12! Yay for semi-steady blogging!

4. Comment on friends' blogs more

What Happened: Win! (I think!)
I tried to make sure I commented back on everyone who left me a comment! If I missed you, I'm sorry, it wasn't on purpose!

I really liked doing this, though. I think I'll keep it up. It was a lot of fun, and it made me feel more connected to our awesome little blogging community :)

5. Read 8 books

What Happened: Win!
I read 9 books! Mini-reviews on each are below the goal recap.

6. Turn twenty-two!

What Happened: Win(?)
What the heck? Why was this a goal again? I must have been chugging Red Bull when I wrote up last months' goal post.

7. There is no seventh goal, but I have a strange affinity for prime numbers

What Happened: Yeah... clearly I'm insane...

Moving on...

* * * * * * * * * *

Books I read in February

1. Leviathan - Scott Westerfeld
Barking spiders, this book was good! My first Westerfeld book, and I couldn't put it down! I learned a lot about pacing and tension from this book, and the world building was top notch. The characters were fun, and the alternating POVs totally worked. I know some other reviewers didn't like how late in the book the two MCs met, but I thought it was perfect. We need to see exactly how the characters came to be where they were when they met. Plus, when they do meet, it's superfast paced from that point til the end. Can't wait for the sequel in Oct.

2. Cracked Up To Be - Courtney Summers
This was just as good as everyone made it out to be. The main character, Parker, was hilarious and it was interesting being in her head. This is a great realistic and gritty YA novel. Some Girls Are is at the top of my TBR pile.

3. Before I Fall - Lauren Oliver
An amazing debut. You can read my full review here.

4. An Abundance of Katherines - John Green
I enjoyed this book, but I like Green's first person novels better. 3rd person was kind of hard to get into, and I felt really disconnected in the beginning. About halfway through I started to get into it, and by the end I really liked it. My favorites were the parts where it was only dialogue. John Green is great with dialogue.

5. The Naughty List - Suzanne Young
This book so surprised me! I was expecting a cute, fun read (which it totally was!) but the ending almost had me in tears! Serioulsy. Aside from the craziness of the cheerleaders-as-spies thing, the characters deal with very real things, and, though sad and a bit shocking, I loved the climax. The resolution was sweet, and I can't wait for the sequel. I bet it'll be totally strawberry smoothie.

6. A Match Made in High School - Kristin Walker
The first chapter was hard for me to get into, but after that it all fell into place. This novel was hilarious, and I had to put it down at times because I was laughing so hard. My only beef is that I don't understand why they hated the marriage ed thing so much. I get that it was kinda crappy to make it required to graduate, but to stage protests and stand up to it like that? Come on, it wasn't that bad. Gym is worse. Protest that.

7. Uglies - Scott Westerfeld
Yes, yes, yes. Fantastic sci fi/dystopia book. I loved the worldbuilding. Westerfeld is amazing at worldbuilding.

8. Pretties - Scott Westerfeld
My favorite of the series. Great use 3rd person, but the dialogue really stood out for me. Tally was hilarious in this book. I loved the romance, and the ending was surprising and sad at the same time.

9. Specials - Scott Westerfeld
This whole book was just sad for me, from beginning to end. I hated seeing what Tally had been turned into, and how it changed who she was. The ending was sad, but after reading this series and Before I Fall, I don't think I like the everything-is-wrapped-up-with-a-shiny-bow/bubbly happy ending as much as I like the bittersweet ending. The bittersweet ending just gives the book a certain something that makes it better.

3 comments:

  1. I'm starting to think that maybe I need monthly goals, too. Maybe I'd get more things done that way. Or just feel horrible as I look at all the stuff I have to do. Congrats on meeting most of your goals and 20k is still very good. Hopefully I can get that much writing done on my WIP this month but who know since I've got upcoming midterms.

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  2. I think #6 should have been at the top of the list. I mean, if you didn't achieve that one the rest would have been kind of moot. :)

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  3. Boy I feel sloowww. I don't know how you could accomplish so much reading in one month.

    In Feb, I did finished my WIP and I am editing it chapter by chapter.

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