Hi and bye, February! I don’t know how I found the time, but I feel like I was as productive as ever in February. February was the month of the blog tour for me. I also managed to squeeze in a few pleasure reads for myself. (That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the blog tour books, which I did.) Here’s what I accomplished in February.
Book Reviews
For a short month, I surprised myself by posting six book reviews. I’ll happily take a pat on the back for that. From earliest to latest, here are my recent book reviews.
- Half Sick of Shadows by Laura Sebastian
- The Broken Heart of Arelium by Alex Robins (blog tour)
- Octavia Bloom and the Missing Key by Estelle Grace Tudor (BBNYA 2021 blog tour)
- Castles in their Bones by Laura Sebastian
- Blood of the Lost Kingdom by Kristin Ward (blog tour)
- Field Notes on Love by Jennifer E. Smith
Book Memes and Other Posts
I posted four book memes.
Though not a book meme in the traditional sense, I also participated in the Support Book Bloggers Challenge. I chose the 10 new-to-me book bloggers prompt. Check it out for some potentially new-to-you book bloggers to follow.
I also posted a list of recommended and TBR books for Black history month.
And I can’t forget about my January monthly wrap-up.
Statistics
I’m now a smidge over half way to my goal of 100 blog followers by the end of 2022. A big thank you to my new blog followers!
Since posting more frequently over the past several months, I’ve noticed an increase in monthly views and unique visitors. The numbers will be small to some, but it’s a steady trend upward nonetheless. Amazingly, more unique visitors checked out my blog in February than in January, which surprised me because February is a shorter month. February also had the highest number of views and unique visitors compared to previous months. This increasing trend makes me happy because it means (I hope) my reviews and my love of books are reaching more people. I think this is mainly a result of signing up from so many blog tours in February. That’s not sustainable for me, though, so I don’t anticipate hitting these numbers every month.
In February, my top five posts were:
- 2022 Support Book Bloggers Challenge: 10 Book Bloggers
- Half Sick of Shadows by Laura Sebastian
- Blood of the Lost Kingdom by Kristin Ward
- The Broken Heart of Arelium by Alex Robins
- Castles in Their Bones by Laura Sebastian
#BeatTheBacklog
Lisa at Owl Be Sat Reading started the hashtag #BeatTheBacklog to rally those who want to make a dent in their TBR list. I only read one book in my backlog in February, The North Wind by Alexandria Warwick, which was in my NetGalley queue. I definitely want to make more progress, but one book is certainly better than none! You can find my progress list here of all of my #BeatTheBacklog reads.
Other Book-ish Progress
I made a little progress on my NetGalley queue (The North Wind), though not as much as in January. As I mentioned earlier, most of my attention was on blog tours this month. I also read A Dance with the Fae Prince by Elise Kova, which was not a NG read.
In March, though, I plan on making more progress on my NG approvals. I was pleasantly surprised that publishers approved me for A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland; The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah; The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh; and Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel. I’m quite behind, but I’ll read everything eventually!
I also won a couple of book giveaways. Thanks to Jill at Myth and Magic Book Club for a copy of House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas. And thanks to Nick at Out of This World SFF for a copy of Rise of the Mages by Scott Drakeford.
Last, but certainly not least, I created a bookstagram. Please feel free to follow me on Instagram at alitescape!