What Even Happened this Year? | A Wrap-Up of 2018

I have never had the best grasp on time. I can read for three hours, yet it will only feel like a second has passed. I can nap for five hours, but when I wake up it feels like I only slept for minutes. I can attempt to do homework for half an hour but it will feel like eons have passed. I am always the person that asks what day it is. I will be dating everything in 2018 for at least three months. 

So, when 2019 rolled around I couldn't believe it. There is something about the new year that seems to defy both time and space; things feel so much different yet so much the same.

For that reason, I have shifted away from New Year's Resolutions and vowing to be a completely different person whenever the calendar changed to January 1st. Instead of focusing on huge yearly changes, I want to focus on daily ways to be a better person. 

That philosophical rant aside, here are my reflections from 2018 and my low-pressure goals for 2019.

Your Best Posts of 2018 | A Master List of the Posts Bloggers Loved Writing this Year

The end of the year is a time of self-reflection. This year, instead of just staring into a mirror and lamenting about all of the goals I never achieved and promises that I broke to myself, I thought I would celebrate the achievements of the blogging community.

So, I went to Twitter and asked for your favorite posts that you wrote this year, whether it was a review that you are proud of or a thoughtful discussion that didn't get as much love as you wanted. There is a whole spectrum of posts in this list with all kinds of book bloggers lending their favorite posts of 2018. 

I learned a lot from this list and found quite a few new bloggers. Sometimes, the posts that we are the most proud of aren't the ones with the most comments, the most views, or the most shares on social media. Pride doesn't have to equate to statistics. The heart writes what the heart writes, whether or not it goes viral. That being said, I hope this master list of posts can help spread some love to the posts we are most proud of this year.


*I also included some quotes from random posts to further entice you to check out these posts and their discussions.

Welcome to Winter | Fall 2018 Wrap-Up

As soon as December 1st hits, it is the Christmas season for me (sometimes even before that). And, at least in my hemisphere, that means sweaters, snow, and everything else wintry. So, I am calling my combined wrap-up of October and November my "fall wrap-up" in order to properly welcome the holiday spirit and winter wonderfulness.

Not to mention the fact that I have already had snow in my wonderful Northern location, so I am going to reap the benefits of the winter season if Mother Nature is going to throw snow at us this early.

As Summer Leaves | September 2018 Wrap-Up

The seasons have finally changed and I am embracing the colder weather by staying inside with a cup of tea and a good book. Time is moving faster than the falling leaves and I am completely unprepared to say goodbye to September. I had forgotten how quickly time moves in college, with countless deadlines and sleepless nights making time a little too scarce. I haven't even had time to put up my Halloween decorations yet.

But, as months come and go, I just remind myself that we are a little bit closer to Christmas.

I am not in the business of holiday erasure though, so I fully plan on celebrating Halloween, particularly with some "spooky" novels. Even though I can't do full on horror (for books or movies), I am planning on reading books with more mysteries, ghosts, and witches.

But first, let's recap what happens at Crazy for YA and in my life during September!

A Bittersweet Tale of Summer | August 2018 Wrap-Up

Most people think that I am crazy, but I love dark chocolate. I would rather eat one bar of dark chocolate than have one thousand white chocolate bars. I guess that there is a metaphor in there about my preference for preferring my sweetness to be mellowed with a little tartness.

Just like dark chocolate, August is always bittersweet. It is the end of summer's freedom, but also the beginning of a new school year with promises for new opportunities and amazing people (as well as homework, but that isn't the main point right now). The blogging news this month is also a mixed bag; I have been making a lot of progress but the impending school year is going to stunt some of it.

It's the Little Things in Life | July 2018 Wrap-Up

July has been a month of growth for me. It took me half of the summer to this blog into gear, but at least I have finally gained momentum before tackling the obstacle of going back to college. However, we are not going to think about the upcoming funeral for my free time because today is about my monthly accomplishments (and the fact that there actually are some) and the wonderful happenings around the blogosphere.

Milestones and Must-Haves | June 2018 Wrap-Up

As it turns out (even though no one is particularly surprised) I have succumbed to the laziness of summer. On one hand, this means that I spend a lot of time laying around my house with a book. On the other hand, writing posts for me is not exactly a leisurely activity, so it hasn't been getting done.

If anything, this summer so far has been an important lesson about how difficult blogging is and how much dedication is required. Blogging takes more than just free time; it requires hard work, motivation, and the will power to avoid procrastination. 

I didn't completely fail with blogging this month though, I just missed a few of my targets for the beginning of summer. Fortunately, I still have about two months to make up for it! In the meantime, I still have a few milestones to celebrate with you guys and a ton of blogger love to share!

Bouncing Back | April Wrap-Up

Yes, I know that it is ironic that the post is called "bouncing back into blogging" yet it is also over two weeks late.

Irony aside, the past couple of months have been a blur for me. A blur that, for the most part, did not include blogging. I did manage to post a few stray posts here and there, but my time was mostly taken up by writing essays and reading academic journals than blog posts and fiction novels. Not that blogging isn't important to me (you guys will always be my favorites), but my education has to be the priority so that I learn everything that I can (and get my money's worth). 

But, the semester is in the past and I am home for the summer. I promise there will be no more talk about college for at least a couple of months (minus a little discussion post that I have in the works). Not only do I have more time, but I have more energy to devote to reading, blogging, and catching up on all of the book happenings that I missed out on.

January 2018 | There's actually something to wrap up!

Since it has now been about a month since I started blogging again, it is safe to say that this is not another two-week fling with my blog. The long winter break was exactly what I needed to get my life in order (both bookish and otherwise). I even wrote a post about how I got my mojo back, which shows how serious I am about staying motivated and involved in the community. 

Like always, the book blogging community has been so amazing and understanding about my weird schedule. I just wanted to remind you guys (readers, bloggers, authors, fangirls, anyone who stumbled upon my little hub in the Internet) that I greatly appreciate your support and infinite supply of second chances. I promise that I'll make y'all proud.

The month of coming back (again) | July 2017

Even though summer is on its way out for the year, things are just heating up on the blog. I am finally feeling back into the groove of reading and blogging, even if I am still a tad behind.

I detailed all of the nitty gritty detail about my three-month absence in my earlier post, which you can feel free to read if you want. But, the point is that I am focused on the future of my blog, and I hope you are too. 

What's Up Next?

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In the upcoming months, I have quite a few things planned, one of them being actually posting on the blog. I want to revive my book memes of Classic Conversations and Book Battles in the near future. And of course, post more reviews and discussions. Secondly, I want to diversify (literally and metaphorically) the content on my blog. Essentially, I want to start writing about more things (like TV shows, the occasional movie, and some discussions that lean outside of the book universe). I would love to hear any suggestions for non-book related topics you want to see here!

I am also painstakingly attempting to fine-tune my blogging style. The first one you probably did not notice, but it makes a HUGE difference to me. I am trying to make my blog graphics more cohesive and recognizable. 

I am also adding a new feature to the bottom of most of my posts called "Takeaways" as sort of a highlights reel of the post. For me, reading is important not only for the occasional laugh and OTP romance, but also to widen my perspective and learn something new. The true value of literature is not how it makes you feel while reading it, but how the words leave an impression after the book is closed. So, at the bottom of every review, I will recap what impact the book actually ended up having on me, if any. 

Looking Forward and Looking Back 2015

Well, 2015 did not exactly go as planned.

My Goodreads goal was left out of reach. I took a couple unexplained of blogging breaks. There were weeks without comments, tweets, or any other sign that I was actually alive. Twitter intimidated me. Comments went unanswered. Some posts were written just for the sake of having a post. I did not have all of the time that I wanted. 

But Crazy for YA is still here, and that is more than I could ever ask for. 

There are good and bad aspects of every year. All in all, 2015 was a pretty good reading year. If you look at my favorite books of 2015, you will see quite a few amazing ones there. Mathematically, I posted at least once a week (or some equivalent of that). I made a dozen great blogging friends. We hosted our first readathon and successfully completed our first yearly blogging challenge. 

Let's discuss how the year went.

September 2015 Wrap-Up

My Life

During the past couple of weeks, I have not really had a life to talk about. I have just been submerged with work, work, and more work. Even my weekends, which I promised myself would be dedicated to blogging, are filling up with leftover work that I was too tired (lazy) to do during the week. It is safe to say that my time management skills have not gotten any better, but I have gotten pretty good at staying up way past my bedtime to finish everything. 

In the rare times when I do not have work, I have been trying to work equally on blog commenting/reading, post writing, and updating social media. I think that I have been doing a pretty decent job (at least in comparison to this time of last year). I promise that I am working my best to still be present in the blogging community despite my massive workload.

August 2015 Wrapup

My Life

I am starting to feel as if I am writing the same thing every month. I guess my life is just not my interesting. But, I am going to try to spice it up this month.

Have you ever had one of those days where it seems like life has a personal vendetta against you and your free time? Well, I had one of those months. Whenever I finished working on one thing, something else popped up in its place. So, instead of enjoying what I had left of summer, I ended up working through the last rays of freedom.

With the end of summer, my life has just gotten back into the swing of real life. Schoolwork, homework, extra activities, headaches, procrastination, and somewhere between that all, reading. The stress has been piling on and I have not been able to find time for the one thing that always calms me down, which we all know is reading. 

If you have not read it already, I wrote an announcement about an update of my priorities. It basically says that I have decided to organize my time a little bit more, so that means less time for blogging and perusing social media and more time for work. Not fun, but necessary.

July 2015 Wrap-Up

My Life

This month has been pretty eventful, but relaxing. I went to a family reunion and it was pretty great. It has been years since I have seen everyone and it was nice to reunite again (I guess that is where the name reunion comes from). While we were there, we managed to get to a local amusement park, and even though I refused to go on any of the rollercoasters (I have a fear of heights and I HATE the feeling of my stomach rebelling whenever I try to go on any big rides.) I had an awesome time. I hung out at the water park most of the time and was able to work on my tan (which is a miracle itself considering my perpetual state of paleness). 

I also went on a couple of day trips, so my blogging time was down this month. But, I managed to review three of the seven books I read this month, so I am going to count this month's blogging as a win.

The rest of the month I spent doing general summer things-- swimming, sad excuses of suntanning, reading, and ignoring my summer schoolwork. I can still do most of that fun summer-time stuff for another month, but I really have to get cracking on that schoolwork....

June 2015 Wrapup

My Life

Even though it is the start of summer, my life has been pretty busy. And for better or worse, it seems like it is only going to be crazier. I have been putting off my summer schoolwork for next year, so I will have to start tackling that in July. I also have been visiting the pool, playing tennis on the local courts, and putting in a lot of hours of work. Unfortunately, there has not been a lot of time to squeeze in some reading in between everything that has been going on (I feel like I am saying that a lot). 

On the bright side, we finished our first readathon last week! It was extremely fun and productive. I ended up reading 3.5 books in less than one week, which is probably some kind of personal record. Now let's just hope I can make a personal book reviewing record....

In case you have not noticed, our blog also got quite a face-lift this month. The color scheme changed and the layout was tweaked just a little bit. I wanted a more professional look that was still a little bit fun, and I think I nailed it (to put it humbly).

May 2015 Wrap-Up

My Life

I cannot believe that we are already halfway through 2015. It feels like just yesterday that I was laboring over a million midterms, and now I am studying for even more finals. The year goes by so quickly.

Unfortunately, reading was not a big priority this month because of all of the end-of-the-year projects, late night cram sessions, and countless panic attacks over homework, essays, and finals. 

On the bright side, there was also a lot of end-of-the-year festivities, including yearbook signings (I managed to fit a pun into every one that I signed), classroom parties (with a lot of cake), and the exchange of friendship bracelets (I make friendship bracelets every year for my circle of friends. It has become somewhat of a tradition). 

But, I did manage to read a couple and they were AMAZING. I am officially out of my reading slump and ready to tackle summer. 

April 2015 Wrap-Up

My Life

School is finally starting to wrap up. We are on the last units in almost every class and the last tests are coming up soon. But, that also means the return of finals and standardized testing. So, May is going to be a month full of color-coded flashcards, late-night studying sessions and a lot of chocolate ice cream to reward myself to all of the work.

Unfortunately, I have not been doing well on the blogging and reading front. I only read four books this month. For some reason, I just did not feel like reading for most of April. On the bright side, I think my current read, Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard, is going to bring me out of this slump.

March 2015 Wrap-Up

My Life

I cannot believe that April (and spring) have arrived! The snow has (hopefully) stopped, trees are starting to bloom, and the weather is slowly warming up. There is nothing I like more than finally being about to wear spring clothes after the long moths of winter. 

Unfortunately, as the weather is getting warmer, my blogging enthusiasm has decreased. I find it hard to sit inside with my computer and books when the sun is shining and the birds are singing outside. 

Also, school has really been picking up. This is the time of the year that the teachers realize that there are only three more months of school and a ton of material to cover. At least I have all of the homework I could ever want. 

Books I Read

Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay

My Review

Unhinged by A.G. Howard

Just One Night by Gayle Forman

Snark and Stage Fright by Stephanie Wardrop

My Review

Looking for Alaska by John Green

Flowers for Algernon by David Keyes 

Leviathan by Scott Westerfield

The Burned Bridges Protocol by Abigail Borders

My Review

Challenge Updates

I posted two discussion posts in March for the 2015 Book Blogger Discussion Post Challenge, which brings my total up to 7 this year. My goal is at least 11.

I read 8 books this month, which brings my Goodreads challenge total up to 21. I am officially one fifth of the way to my goal! But, we have already gone through one fourth of the months of this year, so I am going to have to pick up the pace.

Popular on the Blog

Last List Blog Hop for Strange Skies by Kristi Helvig

My Thoughts on Twitter

The Burned Bridges Protocol by Abigail Borders Review and Giveaway

Links to See

Lory shares what makes a good title and some of her favorites. 
Kat explains why characters like Bella Swan exist.
Sarah discusses being an authentic voice in the book blogosphere and beyond.
Ashley talks about the importance of starting to blog with a focus and how to find yours.
Bridget wants to know what makes a book diverse.
Asti wonders where all the ugly YA characters are hiding.
Rachel asks if we really need epilogues.
Kristen talks about her pedestal books.
Tara talks about the fair use of covers images.
Claire writes an open letter to book memes.
Julie talks about the secret magic of writing.
Genevieve shares the importance of books for in-betweeners.
Shaina reveals the solution to impostor syndrome.

Finished Events

Kayla @ The Thousand Lives and Veronica @ The Talking Bookworm hosted Contemporary Conversations. They celebrated a month full of contemporary books with funny and thought provoking discussions and amazing giveaways.

Olivia @ Olivia's Catastrophe and Inge and Karolina @ Bookshelf Reflections hosted the Fantasy Favorites Read-a-Thon. It included great posts, quizzes, Twitter chats, and all kinds of fantasy fun!

Upcoming Events

Alexa and Alyssa are hosting Bard on Blogs, their celebration of William Shakespeare and all of his wonderful work.

Faye and Caroline are hosting a Spring Clean Your TBR event. This event will take place throughout the month of April with book swaps, Twitter chats, and the challenge of shrinking your to-be-read list.

How was your month? What exciting (or not so exciting) things did you do? What books did your read? What are you planning for April? 

Monthly Wrap-Up | February 2015

My Life
Busy...
This is the time of the year when all of the professors secretly conspire and make all of the long-term projects due at once. Honestly, I may or may not have started all of them. Even though I have been playing catch-up on schoolwork, I have surprisingly been up to date with blog stuff. As promised there have been at least three post a week. I also got a couple of ARCs that I will be reviewing in the beginning of March, so look out for those.
Also, I finally decided to make a Twitter for the blog. You can find us @Crazyfor_YA. So far, I have been having a ton of fun connecting with other bloggers and readers. I hope you can join in on the conversation!
I also got a new puppy this month! Her name is Holly (because she was born on Christmas Eve) and she is the cutest Pekingese puppy ever!

Holly's first bath! pic.twitter.com/yMjhYowll3
— Tessa (@Crazyfor_YA) February 28, 2015

Books I Read

I read a total of seven books this month (one more than last month!), which brings my yearly total to thirteen.

Monthly Wrap-Up | January 2015

My Life

January was a stressful month. Work piled up and I was struggling underneath the brunt of it. By some miracle, I found some time to blog, but not as much as I wanted to. 

Cassia has taken an unannounced blogging hiatus, and it is to be determined whether she is going to return.

Max has been even busier than I have (which I did not think was possible) so her posts were also limited. 

We are doing our best to keep posting new content, be active on social media, and visit/comment on all of your lovely blogs. I hope February is a better month.

Books I Read

I only read a total of 6 books this month (and one was a DNF, but I am still counting it).