I can’t believe we are halfway through the year, it’s absolutely insane how fast this year is going. I was told that doing new things, like new hobbies or further learning, are supposed to help ‘slow’ time. Something about your brain almost ‘auto-filling’ as you get older as there are less new experiences, and that’s what makes it feel like time is going by super fast. Well, I spent the first half of the year doing a diploma course for work and if anything, doing something ‘new’ made time go by much quicker! I think I just need to accept the fact that time just goes by super fast as you get older. I will continue to try the new experience route though, it was tough going but I got a Distinction for my course and I feel very proud of myself, so that’s nice. 😀

I’m happy with my blogging for quarter two, my monthly wrap-ups and The Romanceopoly 2025 Challenge are still helping me keep consistent. I do have four, or possibly five, travel posts to write up though, they technically would belong in this post but I just haven’t had a chance to write them up. I hope they’ll make it to my quarter three wrap-up! This kind of brings up the same issue I noted in my Quarter One Blog Check-in, I’ve not been great at blogging non-book related content, I’m hoping that now that I have more free time, with the course finished, that I’ll be able to be more creative and dedicate time to those travel posts.

I did manage to post a Some shows I’ve loved recently… blog, which I’d like to make a series, and include movies etc. Hopefully I’ll manage one every quarter but it would be great to do a few more.

So, lets look at my quarter two book blogging:

Book numbers:

I’m more than happy with my numbers so far this year, as it stands at the end of June, I’ve read 119 books. I’d have loved to have gotten a nice even 120 but I hadn’t been keeping an eye on my numbers coming up to the end of June, and didn’t realise I was one off. Going forward I’d be really happy if I hit 200 by the end of the year. I think that’s totally doable, it’s only around 13 books a month which I should have no problem achieving.

Romanceopoly update and what’s to come:

I’m still loving this challenge, it really helps with keeping things fresh, knocking some books off the tbr, and provides lots of content for the blog. Details of the challenge can be found on my pinned blog post: Romanceopoly — 2025 Reading Challenge.

The posts for quarter two, Blossom Falls are:

Spring (Blossom Falls): April 1 – June 30

Holi Dates (optional prompts)

The prompts for Blossom Falls are:

Summer (Sunset Bay): July 1 – September 30

(19) Beachside Cafe – read a book set by the water or on vacation
(20) The Lighthouse – read a book with a pirate as a main character
(21) Breezy Pier – read a book with strong summer vibes, such as a road trip, armchair travel, or beach read
(22) Starlight Cinema- participate in a group or buddy read.
(23) Sunset Bay Marina – read a book that’s been sitting on your TBR for a while

Holi Dates (optional prompts)

(24) Full Moon Adventure – read an adventure romance book
(25) Wedding Season – read a book that features a wedding, engagement, or marriage of convenience
(26) Latinx Summer Fiesta – read a book by an Latinx author that captures the vibrant energy of summer
(27) Fireworks Spectacular- read a military romance to honour those who serve

I think I have a book picked for each prompt. The two I’m missing are, Starlight Cinema — participate in a group or buddy read, and Sunset Bay Marina — read a book that’s been sitting on your TBR for a while. The buddy read prompt may well be sorted, I think it’s going to be Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood, and will be part of a Fabel buddy read. The TBR prompt will be a bit harder, there are too many to choose from. 🙂

Other Challenges:

My Kindle Spring Challenge was very successful, I hit all the numbers, I’d only managed to hit one perfect month in quarter one because of audiobooks, this quarter I made sure to have an ebook going simultaneously to any audiobooks.

I fell a little behind in the Goodreads reading challenge this quarter, I didn’t keep an eye out for the new prompts and ended up making a mad dash to finish it on time. I’ve mentioned it before but this challenge is really helpful for picking up books that I would naturally gravitate toward, the most successful one for this challenge was the Centennial Picks prompt.

Page Turner – finishing 2 books during the challenge.
Speed Reader – finishing 3 books during the challenge.
Book Boss – finishing 4 books during the challenge.
Centennial Picks – In the Woods by Tana French
Heritage Reads – We’ll Prescribe You a Cat by Syou Ishida and E. Madison Shimoda (Translator)
Armchair Explorer – The Women on Platform Two by Laura Anthony
Rainbow Reads – Homegrown Magic (Homegrown Magic #1) by Jamie Pacton and Rebecca Podos

Another challenge I’m participating is the ✨TwentyOffMyShelf 2025✨challenge. Kind of fell behind on this one and only read one book, Savage Her Reply by Deirdre Sullivan, this quarter. I’ve read 17 out of the 20 so far, I will likely finish this one up in quarter three.

Read another three books for my own Non-fiction reading 2025 challenge, all three posts listed below. This quarter had some harder reads but I’m still having a great time.