August 2018: Monthly Wrap-Up

September is almost upon us! 🍂🍃 I’m so excited to bring out my cardigans, comfy sweaters, and beanies – this girl does not thrive in the heat.

Waiting for both fall weather and my Peter Kavinsky like…

This past month was particularly difficult for me: the loss of a long-term relationship, having to move out of my wonderfully air-conditioned apartment and leaving my startup job without having found another career to replace it meant that I was plagued by a lot of self-doubt and stress. Thankfully I had books, baked goods, repeated viewings of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and good friends to help me through it. Here’s hoping September is a bit more gentle to me!

Reviews

As a result of all of the stress that I was under this month, I only managed to read 2 books. In doing so I hit my Goodreads goal of reading 52 books this year – which is already 10+ more than I read in 2017! Some of my favourites include:

  • When the Moon Was Ours | 5 stars | If I were to describe this book in one word, it would be “beautiful”. The prose was gorgeous, the characters stole my heart, and it held such diversity.
  • Women in Science | 5 stars | Beautifully illustrated, informative, and important. Increasing the presence of women in STEM is incredibly close to my heart, and I hope that every aspiring scientist gives this a read.

  • The Hating Game | 4.5 stars | Snarky banter and hate-to-love romances are my catnip and The Hating Game executed both perfectly
  • Uprooted | 4.5 stars | This went in a completely different direction than I had anticipated; I loved the magic system and the uniquely creepy villain

Other Reviews

  • The Traitor’s Game | 2 stars | There wasn’t much to distinguish this from other YA fantasy novels, making it a fairly bland read
  • The Smoke Thieves | 2 stars | Incredibly ambitious but with far too many POVs and a really slow pace; this felt more like an extended introduction rather than a finished first book
  • Of Fire and Stars | 2 stars | I wanted to love this for the f/f romance, but the underwhelming characters and poorly fleshed out world-building left me disappointed
  • Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit | 2 stars | I was intrigued by the intersection of faith and queerness but just couldn’t get on board with the premise

 

Book Purchases/From Publishers

I managed to win a signed copy of The Iron Trial from a Twitter giveaway (thanks, Scholastic Canada!). I also somehow managed to avoid purchasing any books this month, though I was quite tempted by the V.E. Schwab collection that my local independent bookstore held (including a signed copy of ADSOM, which was nearly impossible to leave in the store).

While most of my reads were library loans, I was approved for the following ARCs via NetGalley:

  • Toil & Trouble
  • Nightingale

Other Posts

Favourites from Around the Blogosphere

Winding Down…

What were some of your favourite books/moments/posts from August? And what do you have planned for September? Let me know in the comments below.

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1 Comment

  • I am so sorry about the moving and the job and the relationship. Hang in there! I ended things with my fiance last week when I found out he was cheating on me and its been rough but the book blogging community has been a great escape. Let me know if you need to talk!

    Also I LOVED Uprooted! Glad you liked it! <3
    Brittany recently posted…Mystery Blogger Award #5My Profile

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