July Wrap Up | The Reading Rush Saved My Goals

Hello again honeybees! I feel like all I do are TBRs and Wrap Ups on my blog, but that is steadily changing! Every month I set a blogging goal, and I’m so happy with all the blogging I did towards the end of the month!

My July TBR was loose, vague, and just what I needed in order to read as much as I could. Let’s quit talking and go on to the wrap up!

Books Read

The Angolan Girl by Telma Rocha

★★★★½

I was sent an ARC of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review, and I’m genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed it. This made for a great start to the month.

Contagion by Erin Bowman

★★★

This was so disappointing. The audiobook is more lengthy than what I typically go for, but the premise sounded so promising. Unfortunately, I couldn’t click with this at all and I don’t even remember half of what happened in the book.

Obsidian (Lux #1) by Jennifer L Armentrout

★★★★½

Now this, this is more I like it. Have I ever mentioned how much I love paranormal romance? Because I really do. Daemon is everything. My list of book boyfriends doesn’t grow often, but I am so glad to add this gorgeous jerk to the line up. *swoon*

Pan’s Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun by Guillermo del Toro and Cornelia Funke

★★★

I just wanted something creepy, something spooky, and I was let down big time. I’m too much of a baby to watch the movie, but I know for a fact that it is not as bland as the book was. The audiobook just happened to have been narrated by one of my favorite voices—Thom Rivera—so the experience wasn’t too bad.

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

★★★★½

Another example of a short but powerful book. This was my first book for the Reading Rush and it was so good! The premise sounded interesting from the jump, and boy did it deliver. Novels in verse are always so special and haven’t failed me yet.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

★★★★

I reread this via audiobook for the Reading Rush and it wasn’t as good as the first time, but I love the world and I wish we had more Coraline books.

Hello Girls by Emily Henry and Brittany Cavallaro

★★★★½

This one surprised me big time. I got an ARC of this book on a whim at Yallwest and used it for a Reading Rush prompt. As soon as I opened the book, it was hard to put it down. I really did enjoy this one and will have a review going up soon!

Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them: The Original Screenplay by J.K. Rowling

★★★★

Another Reading Rush book. I read half of this last year and then put it down, so this time around I started over and finished within a matter of hours. I just love Newt so much.

And The Ocean Was Our Sky by Patrick Ness

★★

Last read of the month, and probably the worst. Not that there was anything terrible about it, this was just very rushed and could have done with an added twenty or so pages somewhere in the middle. However, the ending and storyteller-feel was very entertaining.

Total: 9

So I missed my goal by one book, but I tried my best and I think I did really well! I’m proud of this reading month and I hope it carries into the months to come.

Posts Published

June Wrap Up — procrastination yikes

July TBR + Goals

ARC Review: The Angolan Girl by Telma Rocha

Review: Guardian by A.J. Messenger

How I Rate Books

Reading Rush Wrap Up

Miscellaneous

• Okay so I know my “posts published” section is pretty small but this is the most I’ve ever posted in a month (besides Blogmas) and I’m SO FREAKING HAPPY! I found that I really enjoy the structure and reminiscing involved with writing reviews, and I need to find more ideas for non-review posts!

• I participated in the Reading Rush, which really helped out my reading challenge. I also had no idea that I could read a book, sometimes two, a day for several days. Go me!

• I hit 3k on Instagram and got into the groove of a new theme! Three thousand was my goal for the year and I can’t believe I reached this milestone so quickly! Here’s one of my favorite pictures that I’ve taken this month as a small celebration:

Questions

How was your month? Did you accomplish some of your goals, or get a nice surprise? How many books did you buy/receive this month? (I only added one to my collection, so no haul post needed.)

For more bookish content, follow me on Goodreads, Instagram, and Twitter. Thanks for reading! Love, Destiny ♡