August 2021 Wrap-Up 🍰

Happy Tuesday, bibliophiles!

And here we are. August, the end of summer and the start of the school year. My birthday month too, so that’s always a lot of fun. Still can’t believe we’re four months away from 2022 though…

[ahem] that aside…

GENERAL THOUGHTS:

For the most part, August was a pretty nice month. I didn’t plan on getting bitten by mosquitoes in Florida (okay: not that many mosquitoes, getting bug bites in Florida is kind of a given), but I got to read some good books while I was there. Plus, Kaz cane. Other than that, I just enjoyed summer’s last hurrah, reading, watching movies with friends, and soaking up the last of the warm weather. I had my birthday later in the month as well, and I had a lot of fun celebrating with family!

I started school about two weeks ago, and I’m slowly easing back in, and knock on wood, I’ll be able to keep all the A’s I have so far. 🤞I’m still in mostly honors/AP classes, but I’m glad that I have those classes in the subjects I’m good at. After AP Bio, I don’t think I could take another honors/AP science class…

After getting through Camp NaNoWriMo, I’ve had mostly steady progress in my sci-fi WIP for most of the month! I’m close to the end of the draft, and I’ve gotten to write some of my favorite scenes in the whole story this month. My progress petered out a little bit once I had to adjust to my new school schedule, but I’m getting back on track now. As I’m writing this, I’ve just finished up the climax, so I’m getting close!

Other than that, I’ve just been volunteering at the library, working my way through It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Gravity Falls, and What If?, going to my first live concert since the pandemic started (Wilco!),doodling still more aliens, watching The Suicide Squad, and eating all the cake and candy leftover from my birthday.

READING AND BLOGGING:

I read 20 books this month! I think this month is tied with January and June for the least amount of books read, and I can probably attribute that to a) a few really chunky books and b) getting back into the school routine. Nevertheless, I found some unexpected favorites in the bunch!

2 – 2.75 stars:

• She Drives Me Crazy – Kelly Quindlen (⭐️⭐️)
• By the Book – Amanda Sellet (⭐️⭐️.5)
• When My Heart Joins the Thousand – A.J. Steiger (⭐️⭐️.75)

3 – 3.75 stars:

• Filthy Animals – Brandon Taylor (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• The Ever Cruel Kingdom (The Never Tilting World, #2) – Rin Chupeco (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• Girls at the Edge of the World – Laura Brooke Robson (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• Six Crimson Cranes – Elizabeth Lim (⭐️⭐️⭐️.25)
• The Tiger at Midnight – Swati Teerdhala (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
• A Quiet Kind of Thunder – Sara Barnard (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
• Plain Bad Heroines – Emily M. Danforth (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
• Ahsoka (Star Wars) – E.K. Johnston (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
• The Fell of Dark – Caleb Roehrig (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)
• Forgotten Star – Colin Weldon (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)
• The Lifeline Signal (Chameleon Moon, #2) – RoAnna Sylver (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)

4 – 4.75 stars:

• Queen of Coin and Whispers – Helen Corcoran (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• Suns Will Rise (System Divine, #3) – Jessica Brody and Joanne Rendell (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• The Good Luck Girls – Charlotte Nicole Davis (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk and Robot, #1) – Becky Chambers (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
• The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea – Maggie Tokuda-Hall (re-read) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

5 stars:

• The Darkness Outside Us – Eliot Schrefer (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

FAVORITE BOOK OF THE MONTH (NOT COUNTING RE-READS): The Darkness Outside Us – 5 stars

SOME POSTS I’M PROUD OF:

• I had a lot of fun reviewing The Darkness Outside Us, A Psalm for the Wild-Built, and Ahsoka!
• I made a list of undercover LGBTQ+ books for closeted readers!
• My mini reviews for everything that I read in Florida were also fun to write!

POSTS I ENJOYED FROM OTHER WONDERFUL PEOPLE:

• Amanda’s post about cyberpunk/list of diverse cyberpunk recommendations!
• Maddie’s Book Recs based on The Umbrella Academy!
• Ahaana celebrated her 1st blogiversary!
• Brooke’s stop on the Twin Stars blog tour (which I’m really excited to read now)!
• Nashita’s hilarious review of Kingdom of Ash/basically the whole ToG series (I’m gladder than ever that I stopped at book 1 skdjhfskjfh)

SONGS/ALBUMS I’VE ENJOYED:

DID I FOLLOW THROUGH ON MY AUGUST GOALS?

• Read at least 20 books: 20!
• Enjoy the last weeks of summer: certainly did!
• Start the school year off on a good note: all A’s and I got an A on my first math quiz, I’d call that a good note!
• ENJOY MY BIRTHDAY: very much so!

GOALS FOR SEPTEMBER:

• Read at least 20 books
• Don’t stress too much about college stuff oof
• Take care of yourself

Since I already posted once today, check out today’s Book Review Tuesday for today’s song.

That’s it for this month in blogging! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!