July Wrap-Up and August Goals

Every time I write one of these, I’m shocked that the month is ending. Will that ever stop guys? I’m sick of feeling like the month passed on, like, 10 days. Anyway, July was actually an okay month for me. It was very (VERY) busy, but in the best way. I feel like I’m a little behind on pretty much everything (reading, posting, reading everyone else’s posts), and I’m really hoping to change that in August, especially early in the month since I won’t have quite as much to do until I have to start packing and leaving for school (how is it already that time again?!) But let’s get into the good stuff, shall we?

I’ve only managed to get through 6 books this month, but, given the length of some of them, I think that’s acceptable. Since I am trying to stop myself from force-reading, I think this was plenty:

1. Circe by Madeline Miller (review)
2. The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli (review)
3. A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir 
4. Smoke in the Sun by Renee Ahdieh
5. The One by Kiera Cass
6. Simon vs. the Homo-Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Apparently, I was a month late on hitting a bunch of books with LGBTQ+ rep. I did not set out to read that many, but it is definitely a happy surprise. It was also a complete coincidence: with the exception of Circe and Reaper, all these books came off hold at the library pretty much at once. I was on the waitlist for months with some of these (*cough Simon cough*), so I was really excited to be able to read them when I actually had time to. However, this does mean that I’m behind on my physical TBR stack. I’m not terribly concerned about it, though. I was just happy to be reading good books.

Of my July reads, Circe was definitely my favorite (and you can read all about why in my review). My least favorite was by far The One, which wasn’t even a book I thought I wanted to read, but became available from the library, so I said, “screw it, I want to see how this series plays out.” It was a quick read, which is probably the only reason I bothered to start it at all (if you can’t tell, I’m not the biggest fan of The Selection series.) I did have some pleasant surprises, though: I didn’t think I was going to like Upside as much as I did, and Simon definitely lived up to the hype.

I’m also about halfway done with Uprooted by Naomi Novik. I really wanted to finish it yesterday because I’m really enjoying it, but I managed to get sick in the past couple days (my mom thinks it’s a sinus infection)(leave it to me to get sick in the thick of summer) and just did not have the energy to read, which really sucks. I was also reading More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera, but ended up DNFing about a third of the way in. I was liking it, but I needed fantasy not contemporary. I hope I’ll pick it back up soon.

Miraculously, I met my 10 book limit on my book hauls, even including the ones I bought but have already read. Here’s what I picked up:

1. Vicious by VE Schwab: Not much of a story, but I had a Barnes and Noble coupon, didn’t own a copy of it, and wanted the new cover.
2. Vengeful by VE Schwab (preorder): Again, pretty straightforward, but I wanted the tote bag that is part of the pre-order campaign.
3. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by JK Rowling: As can only be expected, I bought the Slytherin edition of this book and am so happy. It’s so pretty!
4. Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor: This is one of my all-time favorite books, and I didn’t own a physical copy of it, and that felt like blasphemy to me. I got the UK cover because I ordered from Book Depository, and, I have to say, I’m not sure I dig that cover. I may use this one to annotate while I reread before Muse of Nightmares comes out and then buy the US cover to match Muse.
5. Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo: 2 words: Sprayed Edges.
6. My Plain Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows: I didn’t go out of my way to buy this one, but it was the book featured in the July OwlCrate (full unboxing to come).

I hope to again limit the number of books I buy in August, but I do want to run out to my library’s used bookstore again and see what they have. I probably (hopefully) won’t buy as many books as I did the last time I went (9 may be a bit excessive, don’t you think?) I am, however, going to New York next week and really want to go to the Strand, so I’ll inevitably buy some books there. I do also have to remember that I’ll be buying books for school at the end of the month, which will a) include some fiction, since I’m in 2 English classes, and b) cost a s**t ton of money (ugh). I think limiting myself this month really helped me choose the books I bought more carefully, which is something I need to do better with.

I seem to be in a constant struggle to get myself to read more of other people’s posts. I swear I’m trying, guys. I just still need to get into the swing of juggling blogging with everything else in my life. Still, I did read some fantastic posts I want to share!

• Destiny at Howling Libraries did a discussion post on TBR jars, and as someone who just started using one, it was awesome to have some more insight on how to successfully use them!
• Anushka from Going Through Books had an amazing post on how to wade into adult fiction, complete with book recommendations for those just getting started. One of the reasons I avoided adult books for so long was because they scared me a bit and I didn’t know where to begin, so I loved reading her advice and adding things to my TBR!
• As a broke girl with a bookstagram, I loved and appreciated Katie from Never Not Reading’s Broke Girl’s Guide to Bookstagram. Seriously, if you’re at all interested in starting a bookstagram on a budget, Katie had some great tips and tricks.
• Bridie at Bridie’s Book Abyss wrote a stunning review of The Song of Achilles that really just made me want to go reread it. Also, if you haven’t read it, GO DO IT.

I don’t have that much of a plan for August; I’m really just going to figure it out as I go. I still have a ton of books in my TBR jar, but the more I look at the stack, the more I’m realizing that there aren’t that many I’m dying to read. I’ll still use my jar, but I think I’m going to add more to it. At this point, a significant portion of the list is nonfiction, which I tend to have an easier time reading when it’s the very middle of summer. With school starting back up at the end of the month, I’m not sure I want to pick up something that’s nonfiction when I know I’ll be back in the classroom in 4 weeks.

I am going to commit to picking up a couple of sequels. I made a declaration way back in May that I would get War Storm by Victoria Aveyard, but I haven’t done that yet, so I’m determined to do it in August. Also, I want to nab Legendary by Stephanie Garber and take that off my TBR list. Also, they’re not sequels, but I’ve been meaning to get Renegades by Marissa Meyer and The City of Brass by S. A. Chakraborty for a while now, so I think I’ll try and get my hands on those this month.

Like I said last month, I’m hoping that sharing these will make me more inclined to be creative with my pages. I actually think it’s already helped, since I’ve ton a ton of spreads since sharing last month’s, and they are definitely a step up from my early pages.

So that’s what I’ve been up to in July! I don’t have many plans in August, so I’m pretty excited to see what’s in store!

What was your favorite read in July and why? Any recommendations for next month or new releases you’re really excited for? What’s on your TBR for August?

Keep reading,