Sunday Update (June 6, 2014)

Every other Sunday I post a general news post. These might preview things I'm planning for the two weeks following, they might reflect on books I'm looking forward to, or that I've recently heard of and want to discuss.  

I'm hooking into: 

This is a meme hosted by the Caffeinated Book Reviewer wherein everyone gets to share their news for the week. It's a great opportunity to see what's happening out there in the blogosphere, so go check out some other Sunday Posters!

Today's post is going to have a few sections:

1. And We're Back

2. Currently...

3. Last Week

4. The Week Ahead

5. Vlogging while Blogging?

1. And We're Back

Though when I review my backlog of reviews, it looks like material went up fairly solidly through the month of May, I know that my heart has only really been back in it for the last two weeks. 

Winter lingered so long this year, and I think it really started to drag me down. I'm really glad to be back in spirit as well as in posts, and I'm looking forward to an amazing summer of reviews and book discussions. Thank you to everyone who kept coming back through the last couple of months - I really appreciate your continued support!  And to everyone who has dropped by for the first time or two in the last few weeks, please make yourself comfortable, drop an introduction in the comments here! I'd love to get to know you, and hear about your book preferences!

2. Currently...

This is a meme I've borrowed from Coffee Bean Bookshop. "Currently" is a questionnaire style update about what's going on at the moment in my life;

Reading: I actually have just finished the book I was reading (which was for review - On Her Watch - it'll go live the week after this. I think I'll be reading a Pathfinder book next (review for Wednesday) and then either working ahead on my review list or possibly picking up Divergent, finally? 
Watching: So You Think You Can Dance is back on the air, and I'm loving it. One of the things I appreciate about it is that my whole family can sit and watch it - my nearly four-year-old daughter is right into it, critiquing the dances, and my husband is also a fan. Last year he started calculating odds on being voted out depending on which choreographer you had - I didn't mention that I'm sure this has already been posted online. It was fun to have him engaged.



Playing: Catch-up, all the time. Still Payday 2 most nights - looking forward to DLC on June 17th (see trailer above). I only get about an hour or two of video game time in the evenings right now, so Payday 2 is enough.  BUT I also Kickstarted Storium and am having a blast there. It's a group storytelling game that I happily recommend.
Feeling: Like I'm moving in so many directions at once. So many things to do, and because I flit from one to the next to the next to the next... nothing is really being finished! 
Loving: The weather, finally. Warm days, sunshine, it's all quite glorious. We've been taking advantage, going out to the zoo, using our water table outside, poking the garden....
Hating: Always: That there aren't thirty hours in the day.
Planning: My son's first birthday, which is in *9* days. Like so many things this year, it feels like the big day has snuck up on my household and I really want to make sure we make an appropriately *huge* deal about my little man's first year.
Wanting: Board game weekend to be here sooner. Or rather, more weekends to be board game weekends.  :)
Thinking: About buying some lawn chairs to take to my daughter's soccer games. Also thinking about what system I can employ for keeping track of books to read/to acquire/that have been read and require me to pick up more in the series....

3. Last Week

Last week, I reviewed five books, averaging 4.4 rating. I had two five star books and two 4.5 star books, so really... it was a good week for me!

Twice Shy by Jill C Flanagan - 3 stars
Burn Out by Kristi Helvig - 4.5 stars  This one was my big surprise of the week!
The Collector of Dying Breaths by M J Rose - 5 stars
To Charm a Naughty Countess by Theresa Romain - 5 stars
Meet the Earl at Midnight by Gina Conkle - 4.5 stars

4. The Week Ahead

I've got another five reviews scheduled, four of which are already completed so I'm feeling good about sticking to this schedule:

Monday - Against the Cage by Sidney Halston
Tuesday - Torn Away by Jennifer Brown
Wednesday - The Redemption Engine by James L Sutter
Thursday - Boys Like You by Juliana Stone
Friday - Shattered by Tracy Wolff

5. Vlogging while Blogging?

So I understand that there was a bit of a miscue on a BEA panel. I wasn't in attendance, but I've read a few blog posts from both the author involved and bloggers who were there. I don't really want to comment on what happened, because I'm so far removed from it that my opinion doesn't matter here at all.

What I do want to talk about is how this entire thing has peaked my interest in vlogging - I haven't really read any of the arguments for or against, but rather am considering this as an addition to the blog. A feature, if you will, that would add value, I hope, to the blog?

So basically, yeah, I'm wondering if there's some value in doing a monthly or bi-weekly vlog discussion piece - an opportunity to discuss what I've really enjoyed reading in the last couple weeks, to vocalize some thoughts about books and so on. What do you guys think? Has anyone done the vlog thing - any words of wisdom? I'm worried that it might require so much more time to do (particularly since I'm be a completely untried novice at it) that it'd be impossible to keep up with: I welcome all opinions on this.