Month in Review: July

 

July went by way too fast for my liking. I do not want to even think about all the packing I have to do for my move or the fact that everything in my life is changing this month. Anyways... here's what happened in the whirlwind of July!  

What I Read: 

The Family Upstairs by: Lisa Jewell: 4.5/5 stars 

The Family Remains by: Lisa Jewell: 3/5 stars 

Bath Haus by: P.J. Vernon: 3/5 stars 

Pageboy by: Elliot Page: 4/5 stars 

Me Tomorrow edited by: Drew Hayden Taylor: 4/5 stars 

Split Tooth by: Tanya Tagaq: 4/5 stars 

The Boyfriend Candidate by: Ashley Winstead: 4/5 stars 

Favourite book: The Family Upstairs surprised me! My sister recommended it, and I am usually very picky with thrillers. But I found this book to be super shocking, and definitely a page turner. I didn't love the sequel, but this book was a hit. 

What I Blogged: 

I kinda fell off the blogging bandwagon this month due to busyness, such is life. But I did put up a new discussion post on Leaving Things to the Experts, and y'all provided some really interesting feedback on the subject. 

Favourite Blog Posts: 

Cee provides a thought provoking post: And Yet 

Shayna shares her Favourite Summer Thing

Simone explains how Trying to "Fix" Her Disability Made Her Hands Worse

Life Stuff: 

This month was spent working on grant proposals for school, working at my summer job, and working on buying stuff for my move. Just a lot of work in general, lol! While I feel physically in a good place, I know the stress of moving will set in soon. So I just have to keep up with the self-care to keep myself in a good place. 

I do have some concerts lined up for August before moving though, so I am looking forward to those! It's nice to have some fun events to cap off the summer. 

So, that was my July. How was yours? 

Emily @ Paperback Princess

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

Month in Review: July

Hey guys! I hope you're all having a good summer so far. I personally felt like July flew by. While I don't think I've had much of a fun summer at all I am loving the warm weather. Here's what went on in July:

What I Read: 

Ok y'all so I read a SHIT ton of books this month, so much so that listing them all would get boring really fast. So, I'm just going to list some of my favourite books that I read this month:

The Heroes of Olympus series by: Rick Riordan: Avg. Rating: 4/5 stars
With the Fire on High by: Elizabeth Acevedo: 5/5 stars
Foolish Hearts by: Emma Mills: 5/5 stars
Felix Ever After by: Kacen Callender: 5/5 stars
You Should See Me in a Crown by: Leah Johnson: 5/5 stars
Turtles All the Way Down by: John Green: 5/5 stars

Favourite book: All of these books really stuck out to me this month. However I think Turtles All the Way Down resonated with me the most. It was technically a reread for me, but the first time I read this book I barely knew what OCD was. I knew I had to reread it once being diagnosed with OCD to see if I could relate to Aza more. And I totally could. This book was everything I could have wanted in OCD representation. I felt so heard.

What I Blogged: 

My favourite blog post of the month would have to be revealing my Favourite Pieces of Media. This post was so fun! I got to fangirl really hard, and talk about some of my passions that I have never discussed on my blog before. It was nice to share different parts of my interests.

Favourite Blog Posts: 

Tessi talks about American Dirt 

Marie explains Why Trigger Warnings in Books Matter 

Sabrina shares A Bunch of Bookish Coincidences 

Cee discusses Hypocrisy and Performative Activism 

Life Stuff: 

I had a bit more of an active month than I have had in a while, thanks to COVID cases going down. I am still not comfortable going out in large crowds or going to restaurants, but I was able to go out to the mall and to a few farmer's markets. It was nice to have some more human interaction, and to get back into a somewhat normal routine.

The main life change that happened to me this month is that I have gone back to work. I was really toying with the idea for a while, but I ultimately decided to go back because I thought it would be good exposure therapy for me. Now my work is being super careful in terms of precautions, but that doesn't mean I have been without worry. My store sees a lot of tourists, and I just get nervous seeing so many people from different areas. Despite travel cautions, people just can't seem to stay home. Anyways, I'd be lying if I said that my contamination OCD hasn't suffered because of this. But I am working on this with my therapist, and hopefully I will be more comfortable in my working environment come this month.

In August, I am looking forward to having a few days off of work to just chill. I also have an exciting blog post planned for this month in which I discuss Book Tok, which I am looking forward to.

So that was my July! How was yours?

Emily @ Paperback Princess

Month in Review: July

There is only one month of summer left and I already know that it's gonna fly by :( Trying to savour the last bits of vacation as much as I can! Here's what happened in July:

What I Read: 

Puddin' by: Julie Murphy: 3/5 stars
Maus by: Art Spiegelman: 5/5 stars
The Silver Star by: Jeannette Walls: 4/5 stars
The Dream Thieves by: Maggie Stiefvater: 4/5 stars
A Map for Wrecked Girls by: Jessica Taylor: 5/5 stars

Favourite book: Definitely the graphic novel, Maus. I hate to sound repetitive but hopefully I'll shut up about this book once my full review goes up this month. This novel was emotional, clever and beautifully drawn.

What I Blogged: 

I finally did an update on My Goodreads Challenge! I've been doing really well and as far as reading challenges go this one has been the most enjoyable for me.

Favourite Blog Posts: 

Veronika does the Nope Book Tag (Definitely gonna be doing this one!)

Cait shares tips on How to Keep Writing if you have a Mental Illness 

Cee shares her Meta Nerd Church 

Life Stuff: 

I went on a little impromptu vacation to Quebec City with my family this month! It was fun to get a break from work and to experience such a beautiful city. Seriously, this place is like a European town without actually going to Europe! I am the worst at pictures so I didn't take much, but if you ever get to experience this beautiful city, enjoy it!!

And that was pretty much my month! How was your July?

Emily @ Paperback Princess

Month in Review: July

I am slowly but surely making my way back to my normal schedule! Hey everyone, I feel like we haven't talked properly in a while since I've been on vacation. But I am back and looking to be more active! Here's all about my crazy July vacation!

What I Read:

The Outsiders by: S.E. Hinton
Rumble Fish by: S.E. Hinton

Wow, a whopping two books! You'd think I'd have more time to read while away but I actually barely had time to do anything so: meh. Hopefully I'll be able to pick up a book again soon!

What I Blogged:

I had scheduled a few posts while I was away, and my favourite was on When Books Turn into TV Shows. It was good to get some things off my chest.

Favourite Blog Posts:

I feel like I didn't nearly read enough blog posts from others while I was away, which really sucks because I hate being inactive :( I'm really sorry, but I promise to be more active comments-wise soon!

Life Stuff:

I'm gonna try and keep things short and sweet, with a few pictures sprinkled in here and there! If you didn't know, my family and I went to Europe for 3 weeks. We started off in London, where we were caught up in London Pride and it was all really exciting! But my favourite highlight of London was seeing Les Miz on the West End. That musical means so much to me and it was an incredible show!

Then we went to Ghent, Belgium. There was this breathtaking Medieval castle there with a ton of weapons and actual torture instruments inside! I nerded out big time.

Next came Amsterdam. I think it's a fascinating city considering the fact that literally everything is legal there. Their red-light district was also interesting to see because they are so positive about sex and prostitution. They shed a different light on such a controversial issue.

We found the infamous Fault in our Stars bench!!!

We also saw the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam which was one of the most harrowing things ever. My mother actually started crying when we got into the room with her original diary in it. On the wall, was a quote from her wanting to be a writer. That really hit close to home.

The only picture I took of her house. I was too emotionally invested to get out my phone other than outside. 

Next we went to Germany! The history of Berlin was soooo cool, especially the things involving the Cold War. They actually have a cobblestone strip all across the city that marks where the Berlin wall stood.

We visited another castle outside of Berlin. It was gorgeous! 

Prague was one of my favourite cities to visit. The history involving that city was breathtaking, especially with all that happened during The Reformation. The coolest fact I learnt was that the lights all across the infamous castle in the city were bought by Mick Jagger, who was so taken by the castle that he wanted it to be seen at night!

Our last country was Italy. We went to the beach, but most of the time was spent in my dad's hometown visiting family and friends. We have a lot of memories in that place.

And... now I'm home! I had an amazing time away but I am happy to be back on home soil and getting everything in order for uni in the fall. Now, the stress begins!

How was your July?

Emily @ Paperback Princess

Month in Review: July

Hello all! I can't believe I'm already halfway through summer :( This week has been absolutely crazy as my grandparents are having their vows renewed to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary, so my family has been crazy busy planning the party. But overall July was a great month.

What I Read: 

Les Miserables by: Victor Hugo
Gone Girl by: Gillian Flynn
A Court of Thorns and Roses by: Sarah J. Maas
Room by: Emma Donoghue
Snow Like Ashes by: Sara Raasch
Since You've Been Gone by: Morgan Matson
The Start of Me and You by: Emery Lord
Anatomy of a Misfit by: Andrea Portes

Favourite book: Definitely ACOTAR! I'm so happy I took everyones advice and read it, and I just started ACOMF! Can't wait to see what happens!

 Blogging Things of the Month:  

I was very on top of blogging this month and managed to be very productive! My favourite post however would have to be my 2 Year Blogiversary post. It was such a milestone that I'm so grateful for.

I also joined a book club as co-host this month! Cover to Cover Book Club was started by Temecka @ Library of Tomes and Sierra @ The Nerdgirl Review! It features a book every month and a twitter chat at the end of the month to discuss! Go join it for some awesome reads :)

Favourite Blog Posts of the Month: 

Erin spreads her Appreciation for Harry Potter. 

Temecka discusses Meeting Her Favourite Author. 

Erin discusses bringing Eleanor and Park from Pages to Pictures. 

Geraldine explains how to deal with New Canons in the Harry Potter World 

Blogger of the Month: 

This month's blogging shout out goes to Lais @ Harumansae Books! Lais has always been so lovely in her comments, and she frequently shows an appreciation for my posts. which means a whole lot. Even though I can't comment back because I don't have a Tumblr, her posts are original and so awesome! Go check her out!

Personally of the Month: 

Like I said before, this month has been crazy but also so enjoyable. I went to two concerts. 5 Seconds of Summer and Nick Jonas and Demi Lovato, which both were so awesome!! I'm so grateful for music.

My grandparents 50th Wedding Anniversary was yesterday, and we had a huge party. I'm also going on vacation today to celebrate with them. Because of how crazy this week has been with celebrations, I have not had time to schedule posts for next week while I'm on vacation, so no new posts will be going up next week. But I'll try to stay active on Twitter!

Also, this is a PSA that the new Harry Potter book came out today. If you have not gotten it, go do so. I have to wait a week to receive mine :(

That's pretty much it! Hope everyone had an awesome July and I look forward to talking to you all in 2 weeks!

Emily @ Paperback Princess