Can someone please explain to me how summer is already almost over??
I feel like I keep repeating this, but quarantine life is going by so slow and fast at the same time — while July lasted very long, it’s crazy to think that summer will be over and I’m going to be starting (online) school in a few weeks.
But other than the writing slump that I’ve been stuck in for a while, this was actually a good month for me?! So, for a lack of a better intro, today I’ll be wrapping up everything I did in July (from the amazing books I read to my not-so-amazing writing)…
Before I get started, please make sure to always show your support for everything going on in the world. Social justice is not a trend.
Click here and here for two masterlists of issues going on all over the continent right now and what you can do to help.
The first half of this month wasn’t very eventful, other than the fact that I binged The Babysitter’s Club on Netflix! It was so sweet to be hit with nostalgia from when I read the series when I was younger.
I also started finally getting into Avatar: The Last Airbender and I’m almost done with the first season!! I can’t wait to get further into the show as I’ve only heard good things about it.
More than halfway through the month, I tried looking for Comet NEOWISE with my family! Apparently, you could have seen it in the sky with just your eyes, but we weren’t able to find it. 😭 I did, however, get beautiful pictures of the moon like the one you can see on the right!
The highlight of my month was probably Taylor Swift saving 2020 by dropping her new album, folklore!!! I’m planning on doing a proper post related to it very soon, but I can tell you that I am still not okay and no, of course I haven’t been listening to it nonstop ever since it was released…
Billie Eilish also just released a new single, my future and I love it so much!! My monthly playlist was mostly abandoned after folklore and my future were released, but you can still check it out here.
I actually got some exercise this month, too, as my friend and I held each other accountable for completing the Chloe Ting abs in two weeks challenge!! I’m really happy we were able to finish it – it was difficult but worth it.
I continued learning skateboarding throughout the month and managed to land my very first ollie – a skateboarding trick where you jump up into the air on your skateboard!! Of course I had to mess it up by learning it the wrong way (I used the opposite foot placement as to what I should have used), so I’m hoping to try to learn it the right way soon.
While I don’t talk about my youtube channel often here (it’s not a booktube channel, more like art, journaling, lifestyle etc.) I hit 1000 subscribers about two weeks ago!! I’m so grateful to everyone who decided to support me. 🥺❤ You can check out the two videos I posted this month here and here!
And as I talked about in the intro of this post, my school is starting in about two weeks and I don’t really know what to expect! I desperately need to get organized before it begins, though…
Like I said at the beginning of this post, I had such an amazing reading month in July!! I enjoyed all of the books I read and think I’m starting to understand my taste in books much better.
However, I’d like to talk about something: July was Disability Pride Month, and I am ashamed to say that I had no idea about that until last week, when I read Cait’s post.
It’s awful to think that this month goes by without really being discussed in the bookish community – we need to make a better effort to always support and boost books showcasing disabled characters, especially #OwnVoices ones! (I’m definitely calling myself out here.)
I hope to read more of these books in August and continuing forever, but here are all of the books I read in July…
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson // 4.5 stars
I’ve been wanting to read this one for a few months, so I was very excited when I picked it up!! This was a great start for my reading in July; I finished it in a day and adored every word of the beautiful poetry.
Far From The Tree by Robin Benway // 4 stars
Another one of my anticipated backlist titles!! While I didn’t *love* it as much as I thought I would, I still really enjoyed it and the themes of family, especially sibling relationships!
Picture Us In The Light by Kelly Loy Gilbert // 5 stars
All I’m saying about this is that it’s probably my favorite book of the year so far, it was able to make me cry, and you need to go pick it up now!!! (Y’all slept on my review of this so go read it here!)
Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender // 4 stars
THIS COVER. I’m sorry but why does it have to be so gorgeous?! In fact, this book was gorgeous inside out! I loved Felix as a character and reading about his journey in realizing that he was worthy of love just made me 🥰🥰
When The Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore // 4.5 stars
I’d been wanting to read this for so, so long, after hearing so many beautiful things about it, and Anna-Marie McLemore did not disappoint!! The prose was beautifully ethereal (it felt like I was in a dream while reading it!) and I loved everything else about it too.
I Wanna Be Where You Are by Kristina Forest // 3.5 stars
(Don’t worry – 3.5 stars is actually a good rating from me!!) This was such an adorable book about a Black girl ballerina chasing her dreams that also showcased a friends-to-kind-of-lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers trope, which was so fun to read.
Summer Bird Blue by Akemi Dawn Bowman // 4.5 stars
Wow – this was so, so heartbreaking and hard to read because of the themes of grief and sadness it explored, but it was beautiful at the same time and I’m happy I picked it up! I loved how it showcased so many family and friend relationships and I loved seeing Rumi grow as well.
My So-Called Bollywood Life by Nisha Sharma // 3 stars
Even though I had a lot of problems with the plot and how certain things unfolded, I still enjoyed it because it made my entire day to see all of the Indian rep!! From the food to language to the Bollywood movies (I’ve seen around 90% of the movies Winnie talked about and I just 🥺🥺🥺), this book was so beautifully Desi!!
…does anyone even expect me to include this section in my posts?? Flashback to when I said in May that I would try to work on my WIP and outline it by the end of summer… what was I thinking?
I’m in a rut right now, writing-related, and the only progress I’ve made is thinking about my WIP. I’ve tried opening my planning document and just can’t seem to find the motivation, unfortunately — so if anyone has any tips, please let me know! <33
I’ve been experimenting with my post layouts, graphics, and blogging/writing voice, and I’m pretty happy with how it all turned out this month!
I also deleted my favorite blogs page, because while I want to spread all the love and support I can, I feel awful for not updating it frequently and adding new bloggers! I’d much rather spread my support by being active in the community and sharing your posts in my monthly wrap-ups, and I hope everyone can understand. ❤
My Posts in June (click on the graphic to read them)
Around The Community…
- May made an amazing list of 50 of her anticipated releases for the rest of the year and you should definitely add all of them to your tbr!
- Marie wrote a beautiful discussion about trigger warnings in books and why they matter, and I related to it and loved it so much!
- Germaine shared a truly insightful post about humanity’s search for meaning in art, I loved reading it and seeing her thoughts!
- Aditi discussed white supremacy in the bookish community where she eloquently talked about so many significant topics!
- Ilsa created the most amazing folklore book tag – I’ve loved seeing everyone’s posts going up and cannot wait to publish mine soon!
- Vicky wrote an in-depth post on how to make your blog and social media more accessible, and I learned so many new things from it!
- Margaret reviewed one of my most anticipated releases, Loveless, and her wonderful way with words has made me even more excited to get into it!
- Xandra shared how book blogging has changed her life and her post made me so happy – if you’re considering starting book blog, definitely read this!
- Cait recommended 10 YA books with disabled characters you need to read for Disability Pride Month; even though July is over, it’s critical to always boost these books!
- Sophie talked about 17 MG, YA and Adult books on her tbr with disability/neurodiversity rep, and I added so many of them to my priority tbr after reading her post!
I’ve decided to start including a ‘Goals’ section in wrap-up posts because I desparately need to be held accountable for my goals, especially with school starting soon!! 😳
july goals:
- Read 7 books ✅
- Post 5 times on the blog ✅ If you count my June wrap-up, I did post 5 times this month!
- Upload 2 youtube videos ✅ I uploaded the second one, like… yesterday, but shh it still counts!!
- Work on outlining my WIP ❌ (Hahahah)
- Stick to the abs in 2 weeks challenge! ✅ I’m proud of myself for being able to stick to this!
- Learn how to ollie ✅❌ Like I said before, I technically learned how to do it but I learned the wrong way :((
august goals:
- Post at least 4 times on the blog
- Upload at least 2 youtube videos
- Read at least 6 books
- Work out every day (…please help)
- Create a better planning system and get organized for school(!!) (My bullet journaling system hasn’t really been working for me at the moment, so I want to try to create an online planning system)
- Learn how to ollie higher and better!
- Create and stick to an early morning routine
- Actually, you know, write things other than blog posts (again, please help!!)
how was your month? do you have any book recs with disability/neurodivergent rep? are you as obsessed with folklore as i am? do you have any writing tips for me?!
wishing you a beautiful august!! ❤
s
starlightstrands.wordpress.com 