Hey guys! We’re almost in August which means it’s almost my birthday, which means I’m going to be OLD. Okay, well, 25, so not that old, BUT STILL. A QUARTER OF A CENTURY.
Anyway, I had a much better reading month this month than I did in June, and I got some writing done, which is always exciting. So let’s talk about all of the things I did this month!
What I Read
- Girl Against the Universe by Paula Stokes – Such an awesome book with a cute story and characters, where there was, of course, romance, but it dealt with mental health, supportive friendships, and learning about yourself. 5/5 stars Check out my review!
- Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo – I can definitely see what all the hype was about even though it felt like it was missing something. Like an extra bit of oomph! But I still enjoyed it. 4/5 stars Check out my review!
- Orange: The Complete Collection vol 1 & 2 by Ichigo Takano – I LOVED THIS. These two manga volumes were definitely my favorite reads this month and I am just so happy that I read them. Beautiful story about depression, suicide, and the importance of friendship. 5/5 stars Check out my review!
Books I Started But Didn’t Finish
- The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson – I found it really difficult to get into this book, and I only read the first chapter. Maybe it’s just her style of writing, but I’ll still give it a go.
- The Dragon Round by Stephen S. Power – I received this for review on Net Galley from Simon and Schuster and I didn’t finish it on time, but I was enjoying it, even if there was a lot of technical jargon and other problems with it.
- Red Rising by Pierce Brown – Okay, technically I started this a long time ago, but I started listening to it again and I was enjoying it! But I still haven’t finished it.
Books I Got This Month
- This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab
- Orange: The Complete Collection vol. 1 & 2 by Ichigo Takano
- Saga vol 6 by Brian K. Vaughan
- Rat Queens vol 1 & 2 by Kurtis J. Wiebe
- The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson
- Crystal Crowned by Elise Kova
- Lessons in Gravity by Jessica Peterson
- Hamilton: The Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda (aka the Hamiltome)
Discussions I Held
None. NONE!? What is this sorcery!? I usually have at least one discussion… Huh. I guess this month didn’t have much going on.
Top Ten Tuesdays & Top 5 Wednesdays
- Books Outside Our Comfort Zone – I really enjoyed this topic because it let me explore what I reached for that I don’t usually go for.
- 10 Facts About Me – Because you know you want to know more!
Writing Related
- Camp NaNoWriMo: July Edition – That’s right! I had joined Camp NaNoWriMo! My plan was to do weekly updates again, but that fell flat pretty quickly.
- I will say, though, that I started one novel then worked on the one I started last year because I’m finally – FINALLY – almost done writing the first draft. Maybe I’ll finish it today once this post is already up, but I’m very excited!
Fun Things
- Biannual Bibliothon TBR – Biannual Bibliothon is hosted by a bunch of lovely ladies over on Booktube and I just really wanted to join in the fun. Mostly the video challenges, but I tried my best at the reading challenges.
- Biannual Bibliothon Day 1: Message in a Bottle – I wrote a letter to Celaena Sardothian because, why not?
- Biannual Bibliothon Day 2: Character Channel Takeover – For this challenge I let Feyre from A Court of Mist and Fury take over and I painted three paintings each representing her and her sisters.
- Biannual Bibliothon Day 4: Creative Book Review – I did a review for ACOMAF outside! That’s really all I could come up with on the fly.
- Make Me Read It TBR – This was such a fun readathon and I’m glad people chose the books for me to read.
- Biannual Bibliothon & Make Me Read It Wrap Up – I didn’t complete all of the challenges or books, BUT I had a lot of fun doing both readathons and that’s really all that matters.
- July Uppercase Box Unboxing – I love Uppercase, I really do. ❤
- Two Years of Blogging Celebration + Giveaway – I am seriously blown away that I’ve been doing this for over two years now. Thank you to everyone that has stuck around from the beginning and those that have been around very recently. You guys rock and I plan on doing this for a long time to come!
- Pokemon GO! Book Tag – Because Pokemon overtook all of our lives, why not do a tag about it?
- Read Them All Thon Pokemon Indigo League Readathon + TBR – I AM SO EXCITED. Go and join this readathon. Go. Now. I can’t wait to “beat gyms” and win badges and become a Pokemon Master!
- Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag – HOW is it already the end of July!? I don’t understand!
I read one fantasy book this month, bringing my total up to 25 out of 30 fantasy books read for the year! I’m pretty impressed, really.
Life Updates
- I think I had a boring life this month… It consisted mostly of work.
- It was my mom’s birthday, though, so there’s that. The week after her birthday we had a barbecue at their house and a bunch of family came over, plus I got to see my nieces and nephew, whom I don’t see that often. It was nice!
- And I applied to two rep searches on Instagram: one for Evie Seo and the other for Bookworm Boutique! I think it’s so cool that they put out products, and I already have one from Evie so I know that they’re good quality!
Let’s Chat! ≧◡≦
What was your favorite book that you read this month? Did you participate in any readathons? Tell me all the things!
Reader Rayna 
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