Happy July, friends ☀️ Summer’s here and with it, adventures and just, sunshine. As I’m writing this, the weather’s bleak and feels like October, but whatever, let me try and hang onto this feeling. Let’s recap the past month!
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June has been a.. good month, overall, I think? A lot of it was spent working, but things have been better at work lately, so it’s been nice.
I also got lucky enough to go back to Italy towards mid-June, this time around Lake Como! It’s such a stunning place and I feel lucky and grateful for this little getaway. Summer and traveling always puts me in better spirits, so I’m glad.
Other than that, not much to say, I’m afraid. I’m still looking forward to July, to seeing my family again. July will be a full-work month, but it’ll be summer so… hope that’ll be better ahah!
Monthly Reading Wrap-Up
It’s been a good reading month, with some excellent surprises! I had hoped I’d read more than 4 books, since I was a bit on holiday, but turns out I didn’t read much more than usual.
UNTIL NOW ☂️ I had a fun time reading this adult romance, loved the fierce characters and the setting, as well. I think I was maybe missing a bit something more for it to be a hit, for me, but still a promising debut! ⭐️⭐️⭐️
YELLOWFACE ☂️ This was such a hyped book and honestly, I was scared to read this. This also ended up meeting all of my expectations and it was completely messed-up, okay. Definitely recommending this. A new favorite. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
ALL THE BEST LIARS ☂️ This one was such a great surprise! I really enjoyed the story, the characters and the twists! Addictive, definitely recommending it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
RAINBOW STATE ☂️ Another fun surprise. This YA contemporary has so much heart, is filled with lovely characters, family relationships, romance and a bit of mystery. Full review coming soon on the blog! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Book Discoveries of The Month
I think I added a bit too many books this past month on my virtual TBR. Not sure why or where I found all of these books, but well. Here are a couple highlights for you! You can always follow me on Goodreads to see my TBR 🙂
I HOPE THIS DOESN’T FIND YOU ☂️ I love love love Ann Liang’s work. This one’s about Sadie, a teenager channelling all of her anger into email drafts… until all of them are accidentally sent. Sounds so fun! Add to Goodreads
THE GIRL IN QUESTION ☂️ I was kind of amazed by The Girls I’ve Been and was SO pumped to hear about this sequel. I know nothing about it…. but I know I’ll read it. Add to Goodreads.
Goodreads challenge: 24/50 books
I’m still on track with my reading challenge, so, yay!
Writing has been going quite okay these past few months. I had a few good streaks in June, sometimes writing 1k per day -which is a LOT for me and a bit of a break while I was on holidays.
I’m still trying to find my rhythm again after the holiday, but the good news is: this story now has over 50k words! I’m at the last third of it, the worst of it for me to write – because you know, the mess I made suddenly has to make sense aerm.
I am still hoping to finish this WIP this month. I really want to finish writing before August comes for reasons, but well. Trying not to put too much pressure on myself, either. Fingers crossed!
It’s funny: I’ve been feeling in a bit of a slump lately and like the blog’s losing my attention… yet I still managed to write a decent amount of posts this past month! I don’t know, guess I just had the ideas and sudden inspiration this month.
I’ll be honest: I asked myself lots of questions regarding blogging this past month.
About how long I’ll keep on doing this while my life and attention wanders elsewhere, about the way I want to share my passions for books – and more and more, for writing.
I have wondered about whether people like reading blog posts or newsletters more (or heck, just social media), whether they’d like to hear about a mix of writing and books, or are just there for one or the other. Whether monthly wrap-ups are dead or not. I want to create spaces where I feel comfortable talking about what I feel like, but also a space that YOU all would be interested in following along. I’m just, asking myself lots of questions, okay.
IF YOU’RE READING this, feel free to leave your input about this in comments, I’d really appreciate it!
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On the blog this month: book reviews
On the blog this month: blogging, books & more
June rhymes with Pride Month, so I had to do a little post with some book recommendations! I already did that before, so this time, I focused on some YA books on my TBR.
My sister’se back to write a post about her TBR, as well! This time, she shared some adult books she’s eager to read.
Finally, I wanted to highlight some of my most anticipated reads for 2023 again, this time focusing on the second part of 2023!
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I didn’t take much time this past month to stop by your blogs, so please, if you wrote a blog post you’d like to share, feel free to do so in the comments below! 💛
How was June for you? What were the highlights of the month, for you? What were your favorite reads?
I’d love to hear from you in the comments!
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Oh I love the cover for All the Best Liars. Plus you said it’s addictive.
I didn’t get to finish my comment lol. I need some good addictive thrillers. I haven’t been enjoying the ones I picked up. I do have a couple I’m planning to read in July. I’m hoping to like those.
Ohhh yay! I hope you’ll enjoy this one, I couldn’t stop reading, I was so curious to see what would happen. Hope you’ll enjoy it! 🙂
Completely agree on Yellowface – was scared of the hype, it is messed up and I loved it!
Ahhh yay I’m so happy to hear this!! 🙂
As it is prolly not a surprise, I’d love if you decided to incorporate more of your writing into your blog content! I personally love your blog (obviously) and would miss is terribly if you stopped (but would also support you, if that’s what you decide to do!). As you know from my blog, I write about whatever I want. Some months, that’s a lot of personal posts. Other months, it’s a lot of book blogger content. I think it’s okay to experiment and explore, if you find yourself wanting to write more about your adventures or your writing!
No matter what, though, I’m going to support you!
Nicole thank you so, so much for all of your support over the years, it means so much to me and I’m so grateful <3 <3 <3 Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on the topic! I definitely need to think some more about it and to find my pacing with blogging, again, as well. <3
Of course! You know I am going to support you no matter what you decide to do! Any call you are comfortable making is the right call!!! 🥰
Thank you!! 🥰
Traveling is always fun; I’m glad you got to do a bit of it this month! I don’t think I’ll be doing much traveling coming up since I have a lot of plans already set in motion for July! I can tell it’s already going to be a busy month! I love reading your wrap-ups and whatever you like to share on your blog, if that means anything! I hope you have a beautiful month, Marie! 💞
Oooh exciting! I can’t wait to hear all about it ahah 🙂 Thank you so much, this means a lot! I hope July has been kind to you so far <3
Thank you, Marie! 💞 July has been really good so far, I hope July has been good for you too!
I really need to read The Girls I’ve Been! And I’m so excited for more Ann Liang omg. That’s so great to hear about your writing <3 hope July is an amazing month for you. I don't have any exciting blog posts at the moment but I'm hoping that this month I can write a few ideas that I've had drafted.
AHH yes you do! Please let me know if you ever read it, I’d love to hear what you think of it. I just loved it! <3
I hope that you'll get to write a bit more this month, rooting for you always! <3
Thank you, Marie! 💞 July has been really good so far, I hope July has been good for you too!
Glad to hear that you had a good month and got to visit Italy 🥰 I’ve been very intrigued by Yellowface since so many people have been talking about it – but the waitlist at my library is so long 😅 The cover for I Hope This Doesn’t Find You looks so good!! Excited for more Ann Liang books 😊
I still love reading blog posts above everything, but I feel you! I haven’t been able to post as much as usual recently and I’m a bit nervous about missing out/being forgotten 😅 I always love your content, in whatever form it may come 💕
Ahh I hope you can read Yellowface sometime soon, I’d love to hear what you think of it. It was so good! 🙂
I so get the feeling, unfortunately life changes and we get busy, too! Thank you so much for all of your support, always, Caro, it means so, so much! <3
I’m glad you had a good writing month! Fingers crossed that you finish your WIP this month.
Oh gosh, I’ve been asking myself the same questions, about the kind of post people want to see on my blog. Surprisingly I think my monthly wrap-ups are the most happening posts on my blog. I attribute that to the friends I have checking in to see what’s happening in my life lol. I think book reviews are still a bit slow to pick up as usual but I’m mostly just putting out whatever I want at this point 🙂
Thank you so much, Charvi! <3 I get that ahah, I feel like wrap-ups are always a nice way to catch up, they're the first posts I come and read whenever I have the time. And yay, you're so right. I think what matters the most is to put out there what makes you happiest :)
I hope July has been kind to you, so far! <3
I loved seeing your photos from Italy!!
June was the best month in every aspect this year, I wasn’t happy as much in a long time.
And I love reading your blog! I also like seeing your posts on insta, though I don’t really read newsletters. But I love your blog!
Ahh thank you so much, this means SO much <3 I'm so happy you had a wonderful month and hope July has been great to you, as well! <3
Ok so I’ve just gone and added I Hope This Doesn’t Find You to my tbr. I feel you with the whole social media and blogging situation. I personally still really enjoy reading blog posts, wrap ups and I enjoy social media for more immediate contact/in the moment updates if that makes sense? Like with instagram stories I like to use them for more in the moment random updates about life/travels/whatever I’m up to. My wrap ups are more of a in depth catch up if you will, if we were chatting at length about all the things that had gone on. I switched to posting at least once a month at the start of this year and I don’t regret setting that low goal. It’s meant I don’t feel as pressured to be pushing out content and I still get to have fun and enjoy creating the posts. I enjoy reading most posts from my favourite bloggers (Marie, you are within the fav bloggers category so you could post pretty much anything and I would more than likely waddle on over to give it a read!) Equally I love your content in whatever form you decide to do it in, whatever works for you Marie.
I’m glad you were able to travel again and I hope you have a wonderful July 💜
Ah yay, always happy to make your TBR grow! <3
This makes total sense, yes! I appreciate your input on this so much, thank you 🥺🥺 I hope that July has been really kind to you so far!! <3
Okokok, All the Best Liars is on my TBR now so thanks for that!
I love that you had a good reading month even if you didn’t read more than normal, Marie! Also happy that you got back to Italy. I hope you’re having an amazing July, sweets.
Ahh YAY! I hope you’ll love it as much as I did, Kal <3 Thank you so much! Hoping July has been kind to you <3
Omg two concerts? Sounds amazing! I hope you have great fun 😀
Unnecessary Drama sounds right up my ally so I might just add that to my TBR, thanks!
Gosh it’s so saddening to see friends slowly moving away from book blogging. Like you said, I completely understand why their priorities shift and they leave but it makes this space lonelier every day. It just loses part of the charm. I guess I can’t say much, I’m not the most consistent blogger but lately I’ve been wondering if I would have made more time for blogging in my busy schedule if the community was just bustling and lively like before. Maybe.
Either way, so glad to see you two on here being regular <3 I treasure everyone still left in my blogging circle so much 🙂
Ahh yes, please read Unnecessary Drama as soon as you can. I just love this book and want EVERYONE to read it ahah <3
Completely agree, it feels like the spark is gone for many people, there... me included, at times. Thank you so much for always stopping by and supporting us, this means the world!! <3