- The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang (★★★★★)
- Foolish Hearts by Emma Mills (★★★★★)
- Disobedience by Naomi Alderman (★★★☆☆)
- One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus (★★★★★)
- The Cruel Prince by Holly Black (★★★★☆)
- When I Hit You by Meena Kandasamy (★★★☆☆)
- Sadie by Courtney Summers (★★★★☆)
- Girl Made of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake (★★★★☆)
- Mirage by Somaiya Daud (★★★☆☆)
- Not the Girls You’re Looking For by Aaminah Mae Safi (★★★★☆)
MONTHLY TOTAL: 10
YEARLY SO FAR: 54
Hi! So, first off, I clearly dropped the ball spectacularly this month when it came to blogging. Mainly, that was because I was busy with my new Booktube channel. Filming and editing sure does take a lot out of you! Plus I’m busy with work and Fulbright applications and editing my novel and reading, so in the end, something just had to give, and unfortunately it was this blog. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it going forward; for now, I know I definitely want to keep making wrap-up posts, at least.
Booktube is going as well as it can, I suppose, so we shall see where that ends up going! It’s a strange medium, and I find that I have to express myself much differently than when I write. I’m struggling to get across certain subtleties of meaning since I’m not the best speaker on a good day, so I feel like my personality isn’t coming across the way I want it to, unlike when I’m writing, which is when I feel like my most authentic self. So we shall see! As of right now, I’m waffling between the two mediums, but there’s no reason why I can’t have both. The only question is which one I will be more dedicated to.
Anyway! A solid reading month, with ten substantial books, and I enjoyed all of them for the most part, with not a single one below three stars (Disobedience by Naomi Alderman slides in at 2.5). However, because nearly all of them were some form of YA, by the end of the month I discovered I was loath to pick up any YA book. I just needed a break. I needed something totally different.
So, right now, I am reading The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne, and I just picked up Paula Volsky’s Illusion, which is an out-of-print high fantasy published in 1992. In other words, old school, classic fantasy, which I haven’t read in a while. I am greatly enjoying both so far, and they are both 500+ page books, so I’ll probably be reading them for some time. I suspect my book count for July won’t be as high as it has been in recent months, partly because of these two books, but also because I’ve reached this kind of…stagnancy, almost? I don’t think it’s possible to read too much, but I think I’ve been reading too fast? Maybe I’m not giving myself time to savor the books. Do you guys ever feel like that?
I am also STILL reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, if you can believe it. I refuse to DNF this book no matter how much I want to. I am determined to see it through, even if it takes me the rest of the year.
In the meantime, I’m playing fast and loose with my TBR and giving in to mood reading completely and utterly, because that’s just where my headspace is at right now.
Hadeer Elsbai 
Omg YES I am so familiar with that ‘am I reading too fast’ feeling – sometimes I think it’s a coincidence that the quality of my reading year has been so low when the quantity has been so high but then sometimes I’m like…. hmm. Maybe I should slow down. I like reading as much as I do tho so I’m not sure how to reconcile this.
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I’m in the same position with Pride and Prejudice … when I pick it up I enjoy it, yet as soon as I put it down I just WILL NOT pick it back up… but I can’t DNF it XD I think it’s actually taken me a year to get to 26℅ T_T
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LaRonda: Oh my goodness. I used to be the exact same with classics. Why is this a THING??
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I DON’T KNOW T_T I only started it because of the 2005 movie and… I mean, no regrets, but it’s a struggle 😂😂
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ooooh, I’m so glad you enjoyed The Cruel Prince, Foolish Hearts, and Girl Made of Stars! Those were three of my favorites ❤
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I totally relate to that worry about possibly reading too fast sometimes. There are so many books I want to get to that I like moving straight on to the next one, but wonder if taking time to let each one sink in would help more of them stay with me long term. I’ve read some fantastic books in 2018, but my reading year overall would probably be described as ‘meh’, and I can’t help but wonder if reading slower or taking breaks would lessen that feeling. But then again, I want to read ALL THE BOOKS, ALL THE TIME. 🤷🏼♂️
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I know exactly what you mean when you say that your overall reading year can be described as ‘meh’! I feel like I’m not going to have any trouble choosing my best books of the year, because while I have read great books, only a few stand out!
What I’m trying this month is to read only when I really want to, not just when I feel like I “should” be reading. Like, I used to spend a lot more time watching TV and doing other things rather than reading all the time, so I’m trying to do that more. I think, for me, if I read all the time, then it loses its appeal, almost? Like, too much of a good thing? I feel like with blogging there’s so much pressure to read a ton of books (and there’s sooooo many books I want to get to) that I end up just reading so much all the time, but then it starts to feel like a job. A job that I enjoy, but still a job nonetheless!
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I can definitely relate. I’m away on holiday at the moment and have been so busy being a tourist that I haven’t done any reading for a few days, and weirdly I’m kind of glad to have had an excuse to take a break. I’m hoping I’ll come back refreshed and ready to uncover some stand out reads. Here’s to a better second half of the bookish year for both of us!
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