Thanks to the 3 day weekend here in the U.S., I was able to catch up a bit with my post writing goals. / I won my first audiobook Giveaway. / And I "achieve" another blogger milestone.

The Sunday Post, hosted by Kimba @Caffeinated Book Reviewer, is 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.

Caution: Her site has sidebar ads that sometimes contain cover images which may be offensive to some.

The Good: 1) I read 1 more book than I planned. 2) I wrote 4 reviews for the blog, and 1 just for Amazon/Goodreads, as well as a couple of lists/Musings. 3) I won an audiobook (see below) from author Wendy Terrian. 4) One of my reviews was tweeted about by the publisher. 5) My haul of books I will probably never get around to reading was fairly small.

The Bad: 1) I am now receiving at least one annoying review request per day. They all follow the same pattern. They don't have the correct email subject line, as listed in my policies; they don't use my name; they mention a single book that I have reviewed (but don't comment on anything specific in the review); and they offer me a free copy of their ebook (when I only accept audiobooks). The one good aspect of this is that it is another thing that makes me feel like a real book blogger. [More about this next week.] 2) I didn't do very good at my Twitter goals for the week. 3) BookLikes had another extended outage.

Special Request: As shown below, on Tuesday I will be posting a Bloggiesta Challenge about Weekly/Monthly Wrap Up posts. Please comment below:

• if you know of any additional memes, other than the Sunday Post and others that I already link to.
• sharing which sections of people's wrap up posts are your favorite.
• with any tips or peeves.

And Still Seeking: Twitterers to follow + Advice & Tips on using Booklikes/Goodreads (see the "Tackling Twitter" link in the next section for more information)

On GMB: Last Week

• SUN: I Change my Posting Schedule | Sunday Summary #18
• MON: Tackling Twitter: Creating Community (Pt2) | My Musings
• TUE: Character & Culture: The Course of Empire | Review - ★★★★½ Science Fiction
• WED: The Unbreakable, Unbelievable, Underworld | New Audiobook Releases
• THU: Zombies in Edwardian England: Ella, the Slayer | Review - ★★★½ YA Historical Fantasy
• SAT: A Fast Paced Adventure: Into the Land of the Unicorns | Review - ★★★★ MG Fantasy

On GMB: Coming Up

This will be an atypical week in which I have not just one extra post, but two.

• MON: A Work in Progress: GMB 2.5 (Bloggiesta & More) | My Musings
• TUE: Baehrly Breathing | Review - ★★★★ Contemporary Fantasy / Cozy Mystery
• TUE: Increase Readership & Engagement with a Wrap-up Post | Bloggiesta Mini Challenge - has both beginner's & upgrader's options
• WED: New Audiobook Releases
• THU: The Treasure of Isian | Review - ★★★½ YA Fantasy
• FRI: 12 Tips for Requesting Reviews from Bloggers | Dear Authors
  
• SAT: Sandry's Book | Review - ★★★★ MG Fantasy
• SUN: Sunday Summary #20
  

For the next two weeks, I will be participating in this Read-a-thon. I don't have specific goals, other than to read as much as possible. I will be posting my daily updates via Twitter (#TackleTBR).

There's still time to join in, just click on the image to be taken to the sign-up post. "What can you read as part of the read-a-thon? Anything. It can be an audiobook, ebook, physical book, published, ARC, etc. There are no restrictions. The idea is to lower our TBR piles and any way you want to do that is just fine by me. :)"

And, as I said above, I will be doing my very first Bloggiesta this Thur-Sun. I will posting more about this starting tomorrow.

"Bloggiesta is a blogging marathon revolving around ticking off those items on your to-do list and improving your blog while in the good company of other awesome bloggers doing the same thing."

In October I will be joining: Blog Ahead (all month) / Virtual Fantasy Con (10/3-10/16 on Facebook)

Exploring Cyberspace

• "6 Ways To Use Your TBR Stack (When Reading It Down Is Not An Option)" by Michelle Anne Schingler on Book Riot

"2. TBR is full of fun. Play bookish Jenga. Take two of your tallest stacks; divide them in half. Shuffle these disparate bits together until you have a neat, squat stack. Search for the title that you’ve most been looking forward to. Pull it out. Let the rest topple. Weep."

• "Female Protagonists: Hearts of Fire" by Bobbi Miller @ Teaching Authors (thanks to Rosi @ The Write Stuff for the link)

"Further researching female protagonists in other media, she found that over 70 percent of lead characters in popular movies were male. And even in those movies that feature female protagonists (Divergent, Hunger Games, Twilight), male characters speak more than female protagonists, and thus still dominate the story. "

• "Why Libraries Rock + Library Myth Busters" @ Becca and Books
  

Reason 1: Bookworms are very possessive creatures and very much like to keep ALL THE BOOKS."

Reading: Update

I re-listened to the following in preparation for upcoming reviews:

I read/listened to the following for the first time:

Reading: Up Next

I planned to read this a couple of weeks ago, but didn't get to it. It is finally coming out on audio this week though and, despite it's 18 hour length, I am determined to try and finish it.

Acquired: For Review

Thanks to Red Mountain Shadows Press, Audible Studios, and Dancing Lemur Press

Acquired: Giveaway Win

Acquired: Freebies

All the Kindle books I acquired that have Audible versions available.

Some of the other Kindle books I acquired.

*Whispersync price (subject to change). Must purchase Audible version after obtaining a Kindle copy to get the discount.

Talk to Me (pretty please)

• See the "Special Request" above
• What alternative uses can you think of for your TBR pile?
• Are you participating in any upcoming blogger events?

--

• If you are a first time visitor, how did you discover my blog?

RELATED POSTS:

This post will also be linked up with the following (hover for descriptions):