Hello again, end of the month! This here post is my usual monthly wrap-up, though I intend to post a yearly one as well very soon. By now my regular followers know the drill. Here’s my December book blog wrap-up where I list reviews, stats, and what I read during the month. Allons-y!
Book Reviews
I posted five book reviews in December. From earliest to latest they are:
- The Kingdom of Sweets by Erika Johansen
- The Firetongue Heir by Elyse Thomson
- Making It So by Patrick Stewart
- Dark Heart of Ilmoure by Cara Delaney
- Two Twisted Crowns by Rachel Gillig
Blog Statistics
Every month I share some statistics from Google Analytics because I think it helps put expectations into perspective for other micro-bloggers like me who are out there. These statistics are from Google Analytics 4.
As of the evening of December 28, my top five posts for total page views are:
- Arthurian Retellings Reading List: 595 views
- Book Review: Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Maehrer: 543 views
- Book Review: Fall of Ruin and Wrath by Jennifer Armentrout: 440 views
- Book Review: Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros: 245 views
- ARC Book Review Etiquette: 242 views
I know I say this every month now, but I was again surprised that I got a new record number of views on my blog. Honestly, I didn’t think I’d repeat my 5,000+ views because the first half of the month seemed slower than usual. Then it picked up and while I have a new high number of views, my visitors count is currently ~100 less than last month. All in all, though, I’m super happy with the might of SEO.
I also got a couple of emails indicating new followers. However, the official count on the follower widget on my blog stayed at 160. So, I’m not sure what happened, but it was probably WordPress doing glitchy WordPress things.
#BeatTheBacklog
I didn’t read any books that I put on my TBR prior to 2023. Yet another fail, but no matter.
Other Bookish Items
I read eight books in December. Once again, one was a novella for the SFINCS competition.
- MAKING IT SO by Patrick Stewart
- MOUNTAINS MADE OF GLASS by Scarlett St. Clair
- DARK HEART OF ILMOURE by Cara Delaney (SFINCS)
- THE WOMAN IN ME by Britney Spears
- TWO TWISTED CROWNS by Rachel Gillig (ARC)
- BAN THIS BOOK by Alan Gratz
- THE WORDS OF KINGS AND PROPHETS by Shauna Lawless (ARC)
- THE TUSKS OF EXTINCTION by Ray Nayler (ARC)
At the time of writing this post I’m reading CHECK & MATE by Ali Hazelwood. I expect to finish it by the end of December.
Behind the Musings, the SFINCS team I’m on, announced their semi-finalists. We’re now in round two and will have our next round of finalists by the end of January.
I took advantage of the Barnes & Noble hardcover sale. This was my first time partaking in this sale event. Between my two book subscriptions and ARCs, I already had the fantasy genre covered. Therefore, most of my purchases were nonfiction books. I also purchased some holiday cards for next year. My book haul included:
- SONS OF DARKNESS by Gourav Mohanty
- THE NIGHT HUNT by Alexandra Christo
- FAIR PLAY: HOW SPORTS SHAPE THE GENDER DEBATE by Katie Barnes
- MOTHER TONGUE: THE SURPRISING HISTORY OF WOMEN’S WORDS by Jenni Nuttall
- THE ONCE AND FUTURE SEX: GOING MEDIEVAL ON WOMEN’S ROLES IN SOCIETY by Eleanor Janega
- BIRTH CONTROL: THE INSIDIOUS POWER OF MEN OVER MOTHERHOOD by Allison Yarrow
- PERIOD: THE REAL STORY OF MENSTRUATION by Kate Clancy.
Non-Bookish Items
I “fell off the wagon,” so to speak, with working out 3-4 times per week. I still have my Peloton streak going, but have not been very active. At first this was for health reasons, then when I felt better I just had no motivation. Perhaps January will be a better month for me.
The few work days leading up to Christmas were annoyingly stressful. Hopefully by the time this post goes live things will have had a resolution. All of this felt even worse because I just was not feeling great mentally at the end of last week, so that was fun.
My husband and I finally finished watching PICARD. We enjoyed the first and third seasons, but season two was not our favorite. We also caught up with all four of the latest DOCTOR WHO specials. Now that Disney+ is the new home for new episodes, I look forward to keeping up with the series again! We also watched BARBIE (finally) and the latest Trevor Noah special on Netflix.
I hope everyone had a great reading month in December!
I’m glad you had a good month, especially with site views! Also, if you haven’t heard of the book It’s Not Hysteria by Karen Tang, you should add it to your list. (Simply because of the books you bought about female concerns.) I’m definitely buying a copy, and I’ll probably buy one for my daughter too.
I haven’t heard of that one, thanks for recommending it! I see it comes out in May, so I’ll keep my eye out for it. I wonder if it’ll go up on NG… That type of book is right up my alley. I have quite a few women’s social science and female-related biology type books, but just need to make myself sit down and read them. I never regret doing so, it’s just tough when there’s so many shiny fantasy books!
I love half price hard back sales!! I’ve just picked up two books that are on my TBR so I’m very excited. You picked up some really interesting non fiction titles so I’ll be waiting for your reviews. Have a great year of reading in 2024
Thanks, Janette! Now I just have to sit down and read them!! 😛
It looks like you had an awesome month! I look forward to seeing your thoughts on all the new nonfiction books once you get round to reading them. Also, I am loving that there are finally new episodes of Doctor Who again. It was really wonderful getting to watch a new episode on Christmas for the first time in what feels like forever. I’ve also seriously been slacking on keeping up my physical activity this month. I’m going to try to be better once the new year rolls around, as well. I hope the last few days of the year are awesome (and stress free) for you. 🙂
Thanks! It wasn’t too shabby. 🙂 I really just need to sit down and make time to read these nonfiction books. I have a nice, interesting backlog of a bunch in a similar vein. (Fantasy books are so shiny, though.)
I know, it’s so great to have new episodes!! I don’t know if/when I’ll catch up with the Jodie seasons I missed…hopefully they won’t hinder my ability to understand future episodes, ha. I hope you and I both find our motivation to up our work outs again…enjoy the rest of 2023!
Looks like you had a great month, Celeste! Congrats on your site views, I absolutely love this for you! I hope that the work stresses have resolved themselves since you wrote this post and that you have a wonderful start to 2024.
Thank you! The work stresses have sort of worked themselves out…still working on them! But I think I’m also in a better frame of mind right now, so they feel less stressful, if that makes sense! I hope you have a great start to 2024 as well! <3
Love the non-fiction haul! Are you a regular Doctor Who watcher? I hadn’t watched since sometime in the Matt Smith seasons but happily watched the four specials and am looking forward to seeing what else RTD brings us with the new Doctor. Happy New Year 🙂
Thanks! I used to be a regular Doctor Who watcher. I watched up through at least two seasons of Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor, I think. Then cable dropped BBCA from our tier and we never recovered after that. So I’m sort of caught up, but not as much as I could be. It’s nice to know another book blogger is a DW fan! I’m curious to see how this new actor portrays the Doctor and makes it his own.