Monthly Wrap Up- July

Hello readers!

Today we're talking about the books I read in the month of July, any movies I loved, or any special events I feel like sharing.

I have been pretty quiet on social media as a whole last month. I tried doing the #Allthebooksjuly2018 photo challenge and failed, though I do really like the 8-ish photos I posted. I don't have any excuse, other than I wasn't very motivated to take pictures and we started the lovely part of the summer where every weekend we get nothing but rain.

   The first exciting event of July was that I finished my 2018 Goodreads Goal! Woooo! I started these goals last year, my goal for 2017 was 20 books just to get an idea for what I could read in  a year. I ended up finishing last year reading 27 books. 

   This year I chose to start with 30 and I was able to smash that out halfway through the year. Do not worry, I have ALOT of books planned for the rest of the year.

Deadpool The Complete Collection by Marvel Comics

   I don't read Graphic novels or comic books very often, though I LOVE comic book art. I decided for the TT Read-a-thon that I would try smashing through one and my brother gave me the option of Deadpool or Batman. Despite having been a HUGE Batman fan through High school and having a tattoo, I was very over the over-grown bat. I also wanted to read about the merc that inspired the movies. This novel was quick, I may check out a few other Marvel comics, specifically X-Men related. I've also heard really great things about Monstress, Locke & Key, and Lady Mechanika.

Elena Vanishing by Elena & Clair Dunkle

   This was an E-Book I picked up at the end of last year because it was one of those really good Kindle Deals ($.99-$2.99) and I wanted to add some variety into my reading in case I got in a slump. I didn't expect to pick it up anytime soon, but I found myself starting to slip into a reading slump

   For some reason, I just started reading and it impacted me more than I expected. I did a review on this, but after re-reading it I don't feel like I articulated my thoughts and feelings properly. I may go back and edit the post, or add more in the comments, I may just find myself talking about it on Instagram or Twitter.

  I have never had an eating disorder, but the manic anger and depression Elena suffers from within her disorder was very familiar to my own depression. Even the breakthrough that Elena has regarding older women being people she can't trust is somewhat familiar. 

   It's weird to me to suggest someone read this memoir about a girl with an eating disorder and how her life fell apart, but if you suffer from depression, anxiety, or unexplained anger I think you can relate to Elena and maybe thats all you get out of this. Either way, it's worth a quick read.

Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon

    I was browsing through Overdrive looking for an audiobook for my first time at the gym. I ended up finishing this before I even made it to the gym that night since it's only a 6 hour long audiobook. I posted a review last week about the book and the movie, what I liked and what I didn't.

    This was another simple read and for the most part I liked the characters in the movie. The visuals in the movie made the characters seem a little younger than they actually were, but at the same time the clarity and concept were beautiful. 

I wouldn't consider this a heart-wrenching book by any means, nor was it super dramatic story either. 

The Name of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

   For any of you who are a regular review reader, this book will be super familiar. I originally added this to my TBR based on Bookroast calling it her favorite book of all time. For the most part, we have similar tastes in books, I'm even growing more fascinated by Sci-Fi which I believe is her favorite genre. I happened to pick up a mass-market copy at a recycled book store and the size of it intimidated me for a while. 

   Then I found out about Tome Topple Read a Thon and I was immediately like, "I'm reading Name of The Wind". I feel so accomplished that I read this, I loved it despite the intimidating factors of it, and I will more than likely read the sequel. 

   For more about the actual story, just go check out my review, it's one of my favorites I've done despite there being so much more to talk about. 

I didn't think I purchased any books this month, that's how much of a blind addiction books can be. Below are the books I bought.

Sky In The Deep by Adrienne Young

 I technically didn't buy this, my husband did. :D
    I was looking through the dismall YA book selection on Prime Day and I only really wanted to pick up one book unless you know, I absolutely HAD to have it. My husband was getting a cart together for an order and added this in.
   I have no idea when I'll get to read it, maybe by the end of the year? I've heard really great things about this book though, I think I'm just feeling overwhelmed with my TBR.

There is a weird bookstore in a nearby shopping mall that was going out of business. Quite honestly, I'm not surprised because the book selection they had was really weird. 

I ended up walking by this store the day before it closed its doors for good and everything was $1.00 so you know I had to pick some stuff up. The next three books I picked up along with two baby books for my niece.

My First Summer in the Sierra by John Muir

    Not much to say of why I picked this up. I know around these parts John Muir quotes are ridiculously popular so I'm well aware of who the man is. I figured I'd pick up a book about the neck of the woods I'm from and maybe one day read it.

The Blackbirds by Eric Jerome Dickery

   I found this one right as I was checking out and skimmed the synopsis. The cover itself is beautiful, just look at those colors and how beautiful that woman is. What made me want to purchase it was the fact that I don't tend to read many books about POC and I feel like I need to diversify my reading. 
   The story itself sounds pretty interesting, it's about a few ladies that refer to themselves as The Blackbirds. Aside from that, we find out their friendship is tested by trying to overcome some problem that is super vague in the synopsis. 

Winter of the World by Ken Follett

   Now for any of you that have actually talked to me about books, you know my love for Ken Follett's The Pillars of The Earth. /s
    I didn't get this book to read it, I got this book to destroy it for art projects. Please, do not try to talk me into reading this thing because I will ignore you. I'm sure Ken's writing is magical, however I don't have the time to try to make it through another one of his books anytime soon. 
   I'm planning on making book dahlia's out of this bad boy and although I respect books greatly, I have no qualms with cutting out it's pages.

That's all for the month of July! Tell me what you read or movies you loved or excited stuff that happened to you in the comments below!