July ’18 | Wrap Up

This month has definitely been an improvement compared the past few, having felt more motivated to read and connected to this blog. Things have definitely improved mentally also, minus a few slip ups, which I’m sure has something to do with it. Things are finally looking up! 

Before I start with the usual Wrap Up set up, I’d just like to mention an incredible milestone this blog has reached recently: 200 followers! I think I’m definitely still in shock, not knowing how to even begin talking about it. When first creating this blog, I never imagined reaching such a total, or having so many people interested in what I have to say. Thank you to anyone who has followed me, I really appreciate the support!

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Outside the world of blogging…

Things have been pretty busy this month, hardly having much time to think for myself and rest, but it’s so difficult to place exactly where the time went! However, this month I’ve:

• I spent my twenty-third birthday at Disneyland Paris, which was honestly a dream come true! I even received a ‘Happy Birthday’ badge with my name on and a phone-call from Mickey Mouse. It was so much fun, spending the day on rides, watching an incredible Marvel show and eating pizza! Definitely the best birthday ever.

• I finally managed to sign up to Bookbridgr! I’ve had my application pending for months now, probably since around April/May time, and it was only around a week ago that my account got confirmed. I’m still working around the site and trying to learn how to use it correctly, but it seems really interesting right now. Unfortunately, there’s no YA books available at the moment, but hopefully some new ones will be added in the future.
• I received a confirmation email/letter from my university for my postgraduate course, meaning it’s officially official that I’m moving away in September! It’s both terrifying and exciting, but I’m just so happy that I managed to complete my BA with a good enough grade to even be confirmed for an MA. I’ve already prepared a few things reading wise, but I’m hoping to create a little notebook for all my projects so I turn up ready with ideas!
• I spent last weekend at YALC/LFCC! This was my first time attending, and although, it was incredibly overwhelming at first, I still had a lot of fun. I met some of my biggest writing inspirations and bought a load of books. My TBR has gotten a whole lot bigger.

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My July Reading Goals

I took a different approach to my reading goals this month, deciding to theme them around my travels. So, I composed two different To-Reads, one for my trip to Disneyland Paris and one in preparation for YALC. Honestly, I think I’ve been extremely successful, only missing out of a couple books that I didn’t feel interested enough at the time to read.

• Alice | Christina Henry (5/5)
• Lost Boy | Christina Henry (5/5) 
• The Belles | Dhonielle Clayton (4/5)
• I Was Born For This | Alice Oseman (4/5)
• The Mermaid | Christina Henry (5/5)
• Noah Could Never | Simon James Green (5/5)

Total Pages Read: 2,194
Current Goodreads Progress: 38/50 (76%) 9 ahead of schedule
Male Authors: 1
Female Authors: 3
Genres Read: Fantasy, Horror, Retellings, Adult, Fiction, Young Adult, Contemporary, LGBT, Romance, Magic, Historical Fiction, Mythology, Mermaids
Triggers Found: Mental Illness, Mental Health, Death, Violence, Blood/Gore, Torture, Rape, Abuse, Sexual Content, Sexual Assault, Depression, Anxiety, Panic Attacks, Suicidal Thoughts, Alcohol, Addiction, Anger, Strong Language, Crude Humour, Body Image

Favourite Reads Of The Month:

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Top Five Tuesday

I haven’t been as successful with my Top Five’s this month, but considering I’ve been fairly busy I’m quite proud of managing the two I’ve written. They were both really fun to create, thinking them through carefully, but hopefully I’ll manage to make a few more in August.

• Books I could reread forever
• Authors I’m hoping to meet at YALC 2018

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Character of the Month

This month’s character is by far one of my favourites. These past few months I’ve been trying to alternate between genders, feeling as if I have too many male favourite characters compared to others. However, that ruined my enjoyment of creating these posts. So, from now on, even if there may be more male characters mentioned, at least I’ll have fun talking about them!

• Character of the Month (July ’18) | Gabriel Boutin

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Telling Tales

This month there has been a few Telling Tales posts, a big difference compared to previous months. Some have been categorised as ‘Events’, but I also tagged them in the ‘Telling Tales’ section of my blog as they feature hauls at the end of every day.

• Telling Tales | Birthday Book Haul ’18
• Telling Tales | The 20 Questions Tag
• Event: YALC 2018 Day One (Friday)
• Event: YALC 2018 Day Two (Saturday)
• Event: YALC 2018 Day Three (Sunday)