Monster Review-a-Thon Wrap-Up

Over the past few months I have drastically cut back on the number of books I accept for review, because I have such a backlog of review books sitting on my TBR shelf and on my Nook. I was already super picky about the books I chose to read, and now I'm even pickier! My goal was to get seven books reviewed during this review-a-thon, only two of which I had already read, so this past week was a reading marathon for me, too! I completed and posted five reviews and I have three more in progress that I hope to get wrapped up by the end of the day. I'd really hoped to have them finished yesterday in time for the end of the challenge, but my sister's baby came a couple of days early, so I spent my review wrap-up day at the hospital instead. It's OK, though, I've got a cute new nephew (the first boy born into my family in 50 years!), and I still feel like I got a lot done.

In addition to knocking out those reviews, I posted some reviews to Amazon that I couldn't post when I originally wrote them because the books hadn't been released yet, and I'd forgotten about them. I also went through some reviews I still can't post and made note of the release dates so I can get them posted in a timely fashion. I organized all of the print and ebooks I have for review and made a schedule to carry me through the next sixty days. I won't get to all of my review books in that time, but if I can knock out twenty of them I will consider myself awesome :)

This past week has really helped me get into the mindset of writing my review immediately after finishing the book. I've been such a review procrastinator, and it really is better for me to write the review with the book fresh in my mind. I'm also working on keeping my reviews shorter and to the point, and I've always tried to keep my reviews spoiler-free. Sometimes I agonize over every word, trying to make my reviews perfect, but I'm trying to let go of that pressure, too.

So, I'm glad I participated in the Monster Review-a-Thon. I surprised myself and discovered that it is actually much easier to get reviews written when I set goals and force myself to stick to them, and I feel good, too, like I'm actually getting a lot accomplished!

My Completed Reviews:

In Bed With A Highlander
The American Heiress
Afterlight
All These Things I've Done
Accidents of Providence

Reviews in Progress:

The Gray Wolf Throne
The Other Countess
Dog Tails

Thanks to Kristen and Kate @ The Book Monsters

for hosting this challenge!