Friday, March 2, 2018

February Wrap-Up

I'm linking up with the Wrap-Up Round-Up @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction


February Snapshots



Houses at night.






My little bed hog.






1. Please give a warm welcome to our robot overlords. If you’re very observant, you may have noticed that ads appeared on this blog in February. I was always hesitant to let robots with mysterious algorithms put ads on my blog, but I’m going to give it a try. I guess there are bloggers in this world who actually make money from ads? WHAT ARE THEIR SECRETS? This site doesn’t get tons of traffic, so it’ll probably take the rest of my life to meet the AdSense payment threshold. I’m pretty sure I’ll die from old age on the day I get my first paycheck from blogging. My future children better be grateful for this.




Anyway, if you notice an ad that is offensive, obnoxious, or idiotic, let me know so I can murder it with fire.






2. It’s nothing personal. My blog just hates you. Speaking of the blog, I checked my comment spam filter for the first time in months. Most of the comments in there were not spam. They were just regular comments. Oops. I guess this is your periodic reminder to check your spam filters.








3. I’m too squirrely for coloring books, but I’m excellent at taking credit for other people’s work. Recently, my mom has gotten into the adult coloring book thing. (Is it just me, or does the phrase “adult coloring book” sound naughty?) Here’s one of my mom’s designs. I bought her the books for Christmas, so I feel like I should get some credit when things turn out well.








4. You may have noticed that I have a book-hoarding situation. I’ve acquired a lot of books in the past few months. That’s why I’m participating in the Take Control of Your TBR Pile Challenge in March. I’m going to try really hard to get ahead on my Goodreads goal and get caught up on writing reviews. So, if you see me posting stupid dog videos on Twitter, tell me to stop screwing around and write a review.








5. Do you wish that you had a book-hoarding situation of your very own? Well, you’re in luck! I’m currently hosting a giveaway. Enter to win a book of your choice from Book Depository. (Open internationally.)











Wayward Googlers


Cait @ Paper Fury sometimes posts the amusing Google searches that led people to her blog. Today, I’m stealing her idea. Here are a few unfortunate souls who ended up on Read All The Things! instead of finding what they were Googling for.


“Blogspot exercise bike with tv.” Um, no, this is a book blog. Thanks for trying, though. 
 “Who are Kell’s parents in A Conjuring of Light.” Do you know the best way to find the answer to this question? Read A Conjuring of Light. 
 “How do Troy and Curt see themselves so far in the novel? How does the way the characters see themselves, differ from how others see them? How do you see the various characters? fat kid rules the world.” This is the longest Google search that has ever brought somebody here, so congrats. Also, these are clearly homework questions. I’m not going to do your homework for you. Not having homework is one of the perks of being a grownup. I earned my homework-free status. 








Books I Read In February


In February, I read 9 books and gave up on 1.




Still Points North – Leigh Newman
Dinosaurs on Other Planets: Stories – Danielle McLaughlin
Criss Cross – Lynn Rae Perkins
The Butcher’s Hook – Janet Ellis
The Shell Collector: Stories – Anthony Doerr
Crispin: The Cross of Lead – Avi
Missing May – Cynthia Rylant
What is Not Yours is Not Yours: Stories – Helen Oyeyemi (DNF)
Scythe – Neal Shusterman

I also made progress on my reading challenges. Click here to see how I'm doing.









Best Books Of February





1. Scythe – Neal Shusterman
2. The Butcher’s Hook – Janet Ellis
3. Dinosaurs on Other Planets: Stories – Danielle McLaughlin








Most-Viewed February Reviews














Most-Viewed February Non-Reviews











All The Things!


Distance I’ve sloppily jogged so far in 2018 = 47 miles (75.6k)

Number of unread books on my TBR shelf = 58 books

I’m currently reading = The Complete Stories of Truman Capote by Truman Capote







What did you do in February?













36 comments:

  1. Yeah...I've been hoarding books too. I just think it's that February itch for change, you know? There's a reason why the most busy time of publishing is in the spring and the fall. You're right that "adult coloring book" sounds naughty. :-) I loved the colors your mom chose for her coloring pic. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. The weather is so bad at the beginning of the year. There’s nothing to do except build a throne out of my book hoard and read.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  2. Looks like you had a good reading month! And damn, that is a lot of miles to run. And I'm one of those adults who has gotten into coloring books, I was just coloring in my Disney book over the weekend!

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    1. A lot of people seem to love coloring. I think it would just make me twitchy. Or, twitchier. I’m already twitchy.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  3. Maybe my ad-blocker is finally doing it's job as I haven't seen any on your blog! Pity the stupid thing doesn't work on pretty much every other site I visit!

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    1. If you have an ad-blocker, they shouldn’t show up. I also tried to put them in non-annoying places, so a lot of people probably overlook them.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  4. ads? looks okay to me. I also don't know how bloggers make money out of ads. I don't often click on them which is sad when that's what readers are supposed to do.

    I vaguely remember what I did in february, it was if february never existed. it went so fast. I do remember not reading even though I have a pile of books right near me.

    have a lovely day.

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    1. Yeah, I’ve noticed that very few people click on ads. I guess my site is just so awesome that nobody wants to leave.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  5. I recently found comments in my spam too. I had days old comments and felt terrible. That picture of the night sky is awesome!

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    1. Thanks! I felt so bad about the comments getting stuck in spam. I wasn’t trying to censor anybody’s opinion. My blog just hates certain comments, I guess.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  6. I always forget to check my spam folder. Maybe I should do that. I have actually been ok with book hoarding as of late but I still have to many. Your books have all looked good though so hope you enjoy them. Looks like a good reading month. Hope March is great for you!

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    1. Thanks! I’m trying to be good about not hoarding books this month, but they just keep showing up at my house.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  7. Those google searches are so funny! I want to check out mine now, I wonder what kind of searches have brought visitors to my blog. Just with the format of this post, I like that you included actual snapshots from the month! I thought it was creative and added a personal touch to your post. And wow, congrats on 47 miles!! That's awesome!
    claire @ clairefy

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  8. I had to moderate comments as well, because I was getting numerous spam messages a day.

    I haven't read any of those, but Bird Box is on my Wishlist and I have Scythe in my Audible library waiting to be listened to! You did great! Have a great March!

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  9. Adult Coloring is so much fun and so relaxing. But yes the title sounds naughty when in reality its the exact opposite...you couldn't do something more innocent hehe

    I actually don't think I will ever puts ads on my site since the few dollars I would make wouldn't be worth it...if I had thousands of followers visiting every week then maybe but until I get more readers I probably won't since ads kinda would drive me crazy on my site but hope you make some money from it darling.

    Hope you have a wonderful month in March.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. I always laugh when someone says “adult coloring book” because I’m immature :). I don’t know how long the ads will stay on my blog. If I can make money from them, I can host more giveaways for cool stuff.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  10. While I love the plethora of coloring books coming out especially book or tv/film themed, I'm squirrely too ;-) That Truman Capote book looks like a good one to sink teeth into.

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    1. I really liked the Capote book. It reminded me of how much I like his work.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  11. You certainly had a great reading month and I love the colour in page your mother has done, gorgeous choice of colour.

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  12. Oh the comments going into spam sucks so much. Of people that have been commenting weekly too. ._. Or I had a comment just dissapear into the void.

    Stupid dog vids are very motivating to the rest of us though. ;)

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    1. Yes! All the comments in spam were from people who comment often. I have no idea what was going on.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  13. Wow, your Feb pictures are amazing! And yeah, so many comments go to spam, gah! And yes, I have actually been wondering where you PUT all those books in your hauls, cause those are not small hauls :D and if they're not ebooks xD "a hoarding situation of your own" xDDDDD this is why I love your blog :D but, to bo honest, my TBR pile is bigger - although my TBR pile is also imaginary, mostly - it's in the Kindle xD it's around 500, so don't feel bad about yours :D and by around... I mean over. :D

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Haha. Most of the books in my hauls are physical books. I have 5 bookshelves, and I trade or donate most of the books I read. The book situation is still out of control, though. I feel like I’m always dragging piles of books around to get them out of my way.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  14. You had a great February! I have noticed real comments in my spam folder lately as well. Maybe it is a blogger thing? I am doing the TBR challenge this month as well but I know that I won't even make a dent in my backlog. Have a great March!

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    1. Good luck with the TBR challenge! My TBR always seems to grow faster than I can read.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  15. I'm so excited that you loved Scythe. You know me and my love of Shusterman---it's sort of fanatic at this point. Oh, and great job giving your mom that coloring book. :-)

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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    1. Haha, thanks. I love Shusterman, too. I can’t wait to read Thunderhead.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  16. I love your little bed hog. :-) My cat has taken to not wanting to be put down when I pick her up to give her a cuddle. If I try, she sticks her claws in me and holds on for dear life until I give up trying (which doesn't take much). She doesn't want to leave my chest until she's good and ready. Thank goodness adult coloring books aren't really naughty because my soon to be seven year old prefers them to her own. She's pretty much taken over all of mine. Not that I colored that often anyway . . . Good luck with the Take Control of Your TBR Challenge. I should have participated in that one. I love the google searches you shared. I have a copy of Dinosaurs on Other Planets. I should read it.

    I hope you have a great March!

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    1. I’m glad my dogs don’t have claws that can hold onto anything. They’d never let go of me!

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  17. I actually just checked my spam folder recently and what do you know... a couple comments. Oops. Nice coloring by your mom. And naturally you should take credit. Duh. OMG, 47 miles? Was something chasing you? Do I need to send help? This does not compute.

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    1. LOL, nothing was chasing me, but I was chasing an ice cream truck a few times. I’ll chase food anywhere.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  18. We had issues with our spam in January. Friends that had been commenting forever, ended up in spam. *shrugs* No clue why it does that from time to time but I'm glad you were able to catch it. :) And your bed hog is the cutest bed hog ever. ♥ They're so good for doing that lol!
    Funny story - one of the caregivers we had helping out with my Grandma is huge into coloring books. She went on Amazon, wanting to get her mom into it, and ordered some Adult Coloring Books. On her phone, not really looking at it too much besides they had good reviews. Well she got them and one of them was ADULT. Naked pictures to color in and the people were in compromising positions. She was mortified and I was laughing so hard that I was crying when she told me lol! So be careful if you end up trying it too and order from Amazon lol!!
    Jen @ Star-Crossed Book Blog

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    1. OMG, that is the most hilarious thing ever. I ordered my mom’s coloring books from Book Outlet, so I’m glad they weren’t “adult” adult coloring books.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  19. I love your bed hog! Smack in the middle of such a fluffy comforter. I've seen those spam messages as blog comments and they are so annoying. I did enjoy your creative post about oddities found inside of books.

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