Happy end of June everybody!
I can’t believe we’re already more than halfway through this year, and that it’s been more than a month since I returned to blogging regularly. Time just seems to be flying by! I guess it’s true that when you’re enjoying where you’re at in life and you settle into routines, time slips by with greater ease than you might normally be accustomed to.
I’m totally settled into my new place, and been making an effort to enjoy the location and the weather – when it’s not raining! – and also when I’m not working.
Books Read & Reviews |
BEYOND REDEMPTION | Michael R Fletcher
FANTASY / GRIMDARK FANTASY
★★★★★
I loved this book! Seriously inventive storytelling and worldbuilding.
UNDEAD GIRL GANG | Lily Anderson
YOUNG ADULT / SUPERNATURAL
★★★★
This book grew on me the more I read of it. I loved the friendships between the living and dead characters.
DON’T YOU CRY | Mary Kubica
SUSPENSE / THRILLER
★★★★★
Engaging from the first page to the very last, this book spun a surprising mystery around the disappearance of Esther and I did not see the ending coming!
THE SHAPE OF WATER | Guillermo Del Toro & Daniel Kraus
FANTASY / MAGIC REALISM / PARANORMAL ROMANCE
★★★★
Really stunning in the way it’s written. Every page is dripping with gorgeous and lyrical prose, unfortunately the plot sometimes seemed to languish in the midst of all this.
KINGS OF THE WYLD | Nicholas Eames
FANTASY / ADVENTURE / HUMOR
★★★★★
This has been a really good month for me with fantasy! Kings of the Wyld has to be one of the most unique takes on fantasy I’ve seen in recent years. Filled with a lot of heart, I loved this so much I ran right out and bought the sequel while I was reading it.
NEVERWORLD WAKE | Marisha Pessl
YOUNG ADULT / SCIENCE FICTION
★★★★★
Marisha Pessl has yet to let me down! She took a familiar premise here and gave it new life by alternating between two major mysteries. Such a compelling read!
SLAYER | Kiersten White
YOUNG ADULT / SUPERNATURAL
★★
A spin off to Buffy The Vampire Slayer, I was so looking forward to this book, and so disappointed by its execution.
THE GOLDEN COMPASS | Philip Pullman
YOUNG ADULT / FANTASY
★★★★
I finally got around to reading this book that I missed in my childhood! What a fun adventure! Now I can’t wait to see this story play out on screen in the new adaptation.
BLOODY ROSE | Nicholas Eames
FANTASY / ADVENTURE / HUMOR
I just finished this book last night and will be reviewing it later this week! Lets just say that Nicholas Eames knocked it out of the park again!
Bookstagram |
Phew! What a month! I love how creative Bookstagram is, but am I the only blogger who finds the entire platform exhausting? I feel like I can never catch up with it. I’m not really setting out to be an influencer there, so perhaps I’m just taking it too seriously, but it can really feel as though I could scroll for hours and never like or comment on absolutely everything that I feel like I have to.
I still plan on taking at least 3 pics a week of my current or planned reads and getting them up on my feed though! It’s also challenging because I feel like I need to keep innovating and changing up layouts and looks, but I’m running out of decor options haha.
Book Tags|
This month I participated in one tag, and was nominated for one award. Check out my posts via the links below, if you’ve not seen them yet!
THE SUMMER BUCKET LIST BOOK TAG | THE VERSATILE BLOGGER AWARD
Facebook Update
I’ve been working this week on getting all of my social media accounts and blog onto a similar theme. I came up with the bright idea to use the same backdrop I use for my instagram and created some logos. Just getting the branding all under the same umbrella I suppose. These were the banner and avatar I whipped up! If you’re not following me on Facebook, you can find me here.
Badges Collected |
Reflections |
Again, what a month! The amount I read and reviewed this month is definitely a bit inflated over what it will be in coming months, only because I had actually read Undead Girl Gang and Slayer a couple of months ago and just now got around to reviewing them. I’m still going to try to keep up the pace going into July and see how close I can get to these numbers.
That being said, I’m also trying to balance my free time when I’m not working between reading and writing. I really am desperate to get into a writing routine, so I’m starting with one hour in the evenings for now and hope that by the end of July I can report that I’ve got a solid 30 days of writing practice under my belt. I might incorporate some of that into my blog over the course of the next month, but I’m still working out what that would look like.
How is your reading year going? Reading anything great? Writing anything? What have I missed this year that I need to know??
xoxo
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Congrats on a great June! 😁
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Thank you!! ❤
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Nice wrap up! You had a great reading month! Hope your July is even more better!
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Thank you Raven! I hope your July is amazing as well!
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Oh wonderful job! I think I should implement an hour too of writing everyday because I need to start somewhere. Hope you have a great July 😀
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Yup, we all have to start somewhere. I always set my goals too high though and end up depressing myself when I don’t hit them. Right now, I’m aiming for 500 words of writing a night just to get something down – even if it’s awful haha.
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The problem is that between my internship, new language classes, reading and blogging, I am dead at the end of the day!
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I’m so happy that you enjoyed NEVERWORLD WAKE 👏🏻 I literally died to read that book but I had heard some negative reviews and I was worried but I’m glad to know you haven’t been disappointed, I trust your opinion so I’ll be reading soon!!! 😄
I hope you have an incredible July ✨💛😊
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Yay, I’m glad I brought Neverworld Wake back to your attention. Sofii, it’s such a quick read anyway that I really do think it’s worth the time. I read the entire thing in span of a weekend, and probably could have had it done faster if not for real life commitments.
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I was so positively surprised by undead girl gang! It was way better, and funnier, then I had expected!
Looks like a good month!
(www.evelynreads.com)
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I’m glad you and I were on the same page with Undead Girl Gang! It really was a pleasant surprise!
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Hoohoo 🙂
I feel you with bookstagram! I’m really struggling with social media in general right now. It takes so much time and it wears me out. I decided to take a step back and post less and generally spend less time on social media and so far it’s so good 🙂
Love,
Kat
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Kat, I’m glad I’m not alone with feeling social media burn out. It really is so time consuming. Like a photoshoot of my books alone takes me 1 hour+ on the weekends to set up and shoot, and then there’s responding to everything and liking other people’s posts and commenting on those.
Gah, it’s all just a bit much! I think I’ll be joining you on taking time away from social media. Especially as I really want to focus on reading and writing right now anyway.
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I love the idea of updating with the writing! It will be one extra step to hold you accountable for your regular writing.
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Thank you, Scrill! I definitely think I’m going to do something with my writing on Fridays. Maybe like a Fiction Friday or something.
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Slayer didn’t quite work for me either. I don’t know if I want to read the sequel to be honest. I hope July will be a great month for you.
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Yeah I don’t know if I’ll read Slayer’s sequel either Annemieke. I think a lot of my issues with the book probably stem from me not meshing well with the author’s writing style to be honest. I hope your July is fabulous as well!
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