The past few months have had their ups and downs, which is leading me to combine two months for a review post, mostly because July was a great reading month, but a bad blogging month, and August was not a great month for either. That’s okay though. I’ve had a few life changes in the past couple of months that have made me feel a bit more optimistic, so I’m going into September feeling a bit better than I have in a while. That’s something at least! So without further ado, let’s take a look at what went down in July and August.

July Reads

• Ptolemy’s Gate by Jonathan Stroud
• A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
• The Glow by Aubrey Hadley
• Beyond the Story: 10-Year Record of BTS by Myeongseok Kang
• Hello, Cruel Heart by Maureen Johnson
• The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare, Maureen Johnson and Sarah Rees Brennan
• Arrows of the Queen by Mercedes Lackey
• Arrow’s Flight by Mercedes Lackey
• Arrow’s Fall by Mercedes Lackey

August Reads

• Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
• The Rule of One by Ashley Saunders and Leslie Saunders
• The Rule of Many by Ashley Saunders and Leslie Saunders
• The Rule of All by Ashley Saunders and Leslie Saunders

I’ve been focusing a lot on series this year and these two months were no exception. Here is a reading breakdown by day. Boy, you can sure see where that reading slump hit, right smack in the middle of August!

Challenge Updates

Goodreads Challenge: My goal for 2023 was a lofty one that I knew would be a long shot – to read 100 books this year. As of the end of August, I am sitting at 60. Pretty far behind at this point, but there is still a chance I can make it if I read a LOT. Not sure if it will happen, but I’m going to do my best.

Complete the Series: My goal was to finish six series on my list (you can see the list here). Very proud to say that as of July, this challenge is complete! This year, I have completed the following series:

• The Handmaid’s Tale duology by Margaret Atwood
• The Book of Ember series by Jeanne DuPrau
• The Mara Dyer series by Michelle Hodkin
• The Heralds of Valdemar trilogy by Mercedes Lackey
• The Bartimaeus trilogy by Jonathan Stroud
• The Shadow World series by Dianne Sylvan

Technically the Shadow World series isn’t entirely complete, but that’s because the next and final book will be released this November (can’t wait!). I’ve read everything else, so I’m still counting it for now, especially since I will read that last book as soon as I can get it. The other part of this challenge was to complete any new series that I start this year (so as not to add to the problem, as it were), but the only series that I haven’t finished is A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, and I plan to work on that in September.

Beat the Backlist Challenge: My goal was to read 25 books off of my owned TBR lists (i.e., the books that I own but haven’t read yet – there’s a lot). I added a lot to this challenge in July: The Glow by Aubrey Hadley, Hello, Cruel Heart by Maureen Johnson, and Arrows of the Queen, Arrow’s Flight and Arrow’s Fall by Mercedes Lackey. In August, I added one more to this challenge with The Rule of One by Ashley Saunders and Leslie Saunders. This brings my current total of backlist books read up to . . . 21! I should easily be able to complete this challenge this year, which feels so great!

A-to-Z Challenge: I didn’t add any books to this challenge for July or August. I only have six letters to complete by the end of the year – J, K, M, V, X and Y – but I don’t have many books that start with these. I’ll have to do some digging, but it’s also only six books. I should be able to work this one out this year as well.

Blog Updates

The blog was struggling as well these past few months. For July, I blame the fact that I was preparing and then going on vacation for a chunk of it. For August, I was just lazy. Here’s a breakdown:

July

• Month in Review: 1
• Teaser Tuesday: 2
• WWW Wednesday: 2
• Reviews: 1

August

• Teaser Tuesday: 2
• Top Ten Tuesday: 1
• WWW Wednesday: 3
• Reviews: 2
• Release Blitz: 1

Not a ton of posts, but I did get some reviews in there as well as participate in a blog tour (sort of). I’m still happy with that, even if I know I can do better.

I have high hopes for September, you guys. We are getting into my favorite part of the year and I’m hoping that will give me a boost. Life has been very strange and slightly difficult over the past few months, but I think things are starting to even out some. Onwards to Autumn!

Categories: Month in Review

Tags: books, Month in Review