July/August 2025 Wrap-Up 🧁

Happy Monday, bibliophiles!

Once again, I dropped off without warning, so apologies for that. But I just started school and moved into a new apartment, so I haven’t had much time to squeeze in some blogging. (Never mind the fact that I also have a short story due tomorrow and it’s only about 3 weeks into the semester. Whee!) This post has been written in advance, so that’s why you’re seeing it here. Chances are, I’ll probably be radio silent for a little while longer as I get my stuff fully together. But for now, here’s a recap of the latter half of my summer!

Let’s begin, shall we?

GENERAL THOUGHTS:

I’m one of those people who, even in the face of an expanse of free time (summer), easily gets restless and anxious. The solution was there all along…employment. I helped out with some online summer classes, which was a wonderful way to give some structure to my summer and provide something to break up the routine. And when the class ended, I’m proud of myself for committing to not slipping back into my anxiety before school started. When I look back at the person I was a year ago…well, I want to give her a hug, first off, but I’m so proud of the progress I’ve made since then. Anxiety really had taken ahold of me, and little by little, with the support of my wonderful family and friends (thank yous are due) and the work I’ve put in, I’ve been learning to take the reins back. There’s no feeling quite like seeing measurable progress in yourself. It’s worth it to try, is all I’m saying.

My obligatory temperature check on American politics might be pointless at this point, as the thermometer reached its hottest point long ago and the glass has all but shattered. I’d prefer not to dwell on it much. As a birthday treat, I stayed off the news for the whole week, and I’m continuing the streak. Some days the spirals get me, but I’m fighting like hell to make sure that they don’t take my sanity away and make me vulnerable to complete, utter helplessness. All I can say is for everyone to take care of yourselves. I love you. My heart goes out to everyone, but especially those in Washington D.C., Minneapolis, and Chicago.

And oh my god…I guess when I’m doing these 2-month wrap-ups, I forget that so much can happen in 2 months! Crazy, right? Superman? A massive ray of light in a dreary landscape of gritty superhero movies. Hope is punk rock. Saving squirrels is punk rock. (If anything, see it just to see Nicholas Hoult seething after Superman saves some kids.) Fantastic Four: First Steps? The first MCU movie I’ve enjoyed—genuinely enjoyed—in years. The world needed all that Silver Age goofiness (and Cousin Thing). I had the immense privilege of seeing Wilco twice, and both nights were spectacular! And Car Seat Headrest…I’ve already rambled enough about it. I crode. (See my accounts below scattered amongst the various July Sunday Songs posts.) I dyed my hair another crazy color. I finished knitting a whole scarf yesterday. I played guitar, I drew, I read, I wrote…I’m trying everything to keep the art in my life, even if only a smidge every day.

And I took another trip around the sun. I feel so grateful to be closing another chapter and starting a new one. I don’t want to jinx it, but I have a feeling that my senior year of college (how the HELL did that happen?? 😭) will be a good one. I’ll try to approach it in the same way that I’ve approached decorating my new place: putting in the work to making a space that I love. If anything, I ended August celebrating my birthday, laughing and eating cake, surrounded by people who I cherish. I have to remind myself, always, that even if I don’t see it, that I’m surrounded by love.

JULY READING WRAP-UP:

I read 16 books in July! Though there were a handful of misses, I read a ton of fantastic books for Disability Pride Month. The last book I read this month (On Earth As It Is on Television) unexpectedly blew me out of the water.

2 – 2.75 stars:

• You, Me, and Our Heartstrings – Melissa See (⭐️⭐️.5)
• The Words in My Hands – Asphyxia (⭐️⭐️.75)

3 – 3.75 stars:

• How to Tell When We Will Die: On Pain, Disability, and Doom – Johanna Hedva (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• Ab(solutely) Normal: Short Stories That Smash Mental Health Stereotypes – edited by Nora Shalaway Carpenter and Rocky Callen (anthology) (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• Something More – Jackie Khalilieh (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
• Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea (Tomes & Tea, #1) – Rebecca Thorne (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
• Under This Forgetful Sky – Lauren Yero (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
• Out on a Limb – Hannah Bonam-Young (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
• The Two Lies of Faven Sythe – Megan O’Keefe (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)

4 – 4.75 stars:

• The Dispossessed – Ursula K. LeGuin (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• The Loudest Silence – Sydney Langford (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• All the Noise At Once – DeAndra Davis (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• The Ephemera Collector – Stacy Nathaniel Jackson (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• Redsight – Meredith Mooring (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• Open Throat – Henry Hoke (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25)
• On Earth As It Is on Television – Emily Jane (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)

FAVORITE BOOK OF THE MONTH: On Earth As It Is on Television – 4.75 stars

REVIEWS:

• The Library of Broken Worlds (7/1)
• Something More (7/8)
• Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea (7/15)
• The Ephemera Collector (7/22)
• Redsight (7/29)

SUNDAY SONGS:

• 7/6
• 7/13
• 7/20
• 7/27

BONUS:

• The Bookish Mutant’s Books for Disability Pride Month (2025 Edition)

AUGUST READING WRAP-UP:

I read 14 books in August! Thankfully, I only read two books that I really didn’t care for, and there were tons of wins throughout the month: monsters in space, a surprisingly emotional story about sea monsters and Pokémon-obsessed children, and the great Brian Eno.

2 – 2.75 stars:

• The Full Moon Coffee Shop – Mai Mochizuki (translated by Jesse Kirkwood) (⭐️⭐️)
• Salvación – Sandra Proudman (⭐️⭐️)

3 – 3.75 stars:

• Separate Roads to Feminism: Black, Chicana, and White Feminist Movements in America’s Second Wave – Benita Roth (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
• Last Chance to Save the World (Chaotic Orbits, #3) – Beth Revis (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
• Direct Descendant – Tanya Huff (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
• The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye – Briony Cameron (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
• Of Monsters and Mainframes – Barbara Truelove (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

4 – 4.75 stars:

• Do You Dream of Terra-Two? – Temi Oh (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• The Last Party: Britpop, Blair, and the Demise of English Rock – John Harris (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• Teo’s Durumi (The Alliance, #2) – Elaine U. Cho (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• Howl’s Moving Castle – Dianna Wynne Jones (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• Strange Bedfellows – Ariel Slamet Ries (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
• Here Beside the Rising Tide – Emily Jane (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

5 stars:

• What Art Does: An Unfinished Theory – Brian Eno and Bette A. (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

FAVORITE BOOK OF THE MONTH: What Art Does: An Unfinished Theory – 5 stars

REVIEWS:

• On Earth As It Is on Television (8/5/25)
• The Full Moon Coffee Shop (8/12/25)

SUNDAY SONGS:

• 8/3
• 8/10

Today’s song:

That’s it for this wrap-up! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!