Friday 30 July 2021

Month in Review: July



This summer has not been very... summery. It started off pretty hot, but July has been comprised of a lot of dreary days and just uncomfortable humidity. Hopefully August will bring more of the sunshine! Anyways, here's what happened in the busy month of July: 

What I Read: 

Parable of the Sower by: Octavia E. Butler: 4/5 stars 

One Story, One Song by: Richard Wagamese: 4/5 stars 

Girls of Paper and Fire books 1 and 2 by: Natasha Ngan: 4/5 stars 

The Marvelous Mirza Girls by: Sheba Karim: 4/5 stars 

Jonny Appleseed by: Joshua Whitehead: 4/5 stars 

Favourite book of the month: It was a consistently good reading month. As you can see, all of the books got the exact same rating! I'm going to have to give the favourite book title to Girls of Paper and Fire by: Natasha Ngan. I'm very picky with fantasy books, but this premise and the diverse cast of characters really affected me. Also, the author has detailed content warnings at the beginning. Make this a trend, authors! 

What I Blogged: 

I really liked my discussion post of How I Choose What Book To Read Next. Any time when I get to chat with fellow bookworms and learn about different methods of reading is a good thing! 

Favourite Blog Posts of the Month: 

Sabrina shares 16 DNF's She Wished She Loved

Marie discusses 7 Ways Her Blogging Has Changed In 7 Years 

I'm sure this wasn't necessarily a fun post to write, but Roberta @ Offbeat YA has a New Twitter Account. Read her post for more details and give her a follow after her stressful tech issue. 

Life Stuff: 

July was an extremely busy month. At the beginning of the month I had a procedure done to determine why my stomach is revolting against me, and long story short... they don't know. It's probably related to my mental illness, but I'm now on a very restricted diet to find out if it's food related. So, I've spent a lot of time over July baking gluten free treats and finding new ways to cook, which has actually been pretty fun and rewarding. I've got some great recipes under my belt now. 

I've also been busy working at my retail job. We've been swamped as we're right in the heart of a tourist destination, and a lot of people have been wanting to get out of the house. I don't mind being busy as long as people are respectful and follow protocols, which isn't always the case. But I guess that's life. 

I've gotten really into comic books this month. I found a comic book store in a nearby city, and since the comics are very affordable, I've had a lot of fun reading different ones. My favourites so far have been the Winter Solider: Second Chances series by: Kyle Higgins. It's great to see Bucky in this big brother type role for other victims of manipulation. 

In August I'm getting my third tattoo, which should be exciting! I'm also going to start preparing for school in September, and I'm curious to see how returning back to in-person learning will affect me. There's been a lot of changes, for sure, but I'm looking forward to seeing how things turn out. 

That was my July. How was yours? 

Emily @ Paperback Princess

12 comments:

  1. Sorry to hear about your stomach problems - but silver lining for nummy new food! Still *hugs* for problems <3

    Bucky Bear!!!!!!!!!!! Ha, glad you're enjoying the comics-y goodness! :) <3

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    1. Thanks Cee! I'm all for Bucky being a little softie :)

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  2. I'm so sorry you've had to deal with mysterious stomach issues, Emily. I had a similar thing happen last summer and it turned out to be gluten, eggs, and dairy (aka my stress made it like 1000% more difficult for my stomach to digest stuff and those things were the first to go). It was so awful to feel terrible every single day and have no idea why but now, after figuring it out, I feel so much better! I really hope you're able to figure it out with the elimination diet soon!!

    And yay third tattoo!! I'm still planning for my first :D Just have to get over that initial decision hurdle.

    Laura @BlueEyeBooks

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    1. Nice to hear from you, Laura! I'm sorry you've had to deal with stomach problems as well. It looks like we're in the same boat. I love cheese so hopefully I can introduce some dairy in moderation. Anyways, I'm glad you're feeling better and have some answers.

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  3. Retail can be tough. I hope the people you deal with are respectful- I know that's not always the case, sadly. :(

    Winter Soldier is so fun! And there are some great comics too. Glad you're enjoying comics! And yay for a good reading month!

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    1. A lot of people are nice, and a lot of people are not. I guess with COVID everyone's a little on edge. But the nice people do make it worth it in the end :)

      I'm definitely looking forward to getting into more comics. They're so fun!

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  4. I'm so glad you had such a good reading month. :D Sorry to hear about your stomach issues, I hope the diet will start working or that you'll find a way to treat it. It sounds really stressful, but it's great that you enjoyed experimenting with new recipes. :) Do you know what tattoo you're getting in August? (Don't feel pressured to share it if it's personal.) My July was really busy, but the good news is that I now have a job and I started working on Monday. :D I'm hoping August will be a good month for you and me both. :)

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    1. Thanks Veronika :) My tattoo will be a trident at the back of my arm. It's to honour my love for Percy Jackson and Greek mythology. I plan on getting a lot of bookish tattoos lol.

      Congrats on the job! I hope everything goes smoothly for you and have a great August!

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  5. "the author has detailed content warnings at the beginning. Make this a trend, authors!"
    That's great! One can open the first pages in a bookshop/library (or read them online) and decide if it's for them.

    Thank you for the shoutout! You're a lovely soul 💛.

    At least you were able to make the best out of your stomach issues! I hope you find out what affects you soon.

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    1. For sure! Content warnings make me so happy.

      Thanks Roberta, have a great August :)

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  6. I unfortunately have been dealing with some mysterious health issues too, so I understand the frustration. I hope you are able to get yours resolved.
    I didn't know you had tattoos! Awesome!

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    1. I had no idea that you were struggling too, Shayna! Hope you feel better as well :)

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