August Blotted Recap // Unofficial Hiatus + Smol Life Updates

HELLO. I’M BACK.

Well, I’ve really already been back the last two posts, but… TECHNICALITY.

(Also I published this 12 days after I was planning to publish it, so… I’m back. AGAIN!!)

Anyways, this month- for reading- was KIND OF more successful than most other months? I read SEVEN books which wasn’t as high as I hoped, but oh well.

One of them was a DNF, but I’m still COUNTING IT, OKAY.

And………. this month for blogging was not the best. Whooooops I had SO MANY HIGH PLANS FOR THIS BLOG and then it went #lolnope.

I read seven books this month, and… two of them were 2018 ARCs my ARC schedule isn’t the best..

BOOKS I READ

ALSO I HAVEN’T DONE FULL REVIEWS FOR ANY OF THESE EXCEPT THE EPIC CRUSH OF GENIE LO BUT LET’S IGNORE THAT FACT.

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Night of Cake and Puppets by Laini Taylor ★★★★★

• Omg I love Laini Taylor so much and THIS WAS SO CUTE I CAN’T EVEN. Zuzana was one of my favorite characters in the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series *intense screeching* [review]

The Epic Crush of Genie Lo by F.C. Yee ★★★★★

• I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH. This was a re-read, by the way. BUT I COULDN’T HELP IT. [review]

These Dazzling Heights by Katharine McGee ★★★★★

• Ahhhhh I totally forgot why I gave the first book three stars. This was so dark and twisty and the characters were so gray and I loved and hated all of them. (Which might seem like a bad thing. It isn’t.) [review]

Freefall by Joshua David Bellin ☆☆☆☆☆

• This was a DNF, since I kept on losing interest in the story the more I tried to read it. It just didn’t really captivate my interest??? [review]

The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert ★★★★★

• THIS WAS SO DARK AND I LOVED IT. IT’S SO CREEPY AND I WAS FREAKED OUT BY SOME OF THE TALES. Can we just discuss Finch though? I loveeeed Finch.  [review]

Nice Try, Jane Sinner by Lianne Oelke ★★★★★

• Okay, but Jane Sinner was such a relatable character. She seemed “cold” and “uncaring” to everyone else but really, she had feelings. And she was hilarious to read. The format was also so unique! I loved it.  [review]

They Both Die At The End by Adam Silvera ★★★★★

• This was really good. Can I just tear up over the ending. I mean, I expected more, I guess?? It wasn’t as captivating as I thought, but it was still super deep and the main characters were fun to read. [review]

Looking back on it ALL OF MY READS ARE FIVE STAR READS. Except for Freefall. But let’s ignore Freefall. EVERYTHING ELSE WAS FIVE STAR. I am happy with my non-pickiness for this month???

Anyways, my favorite book this month was probably THE HAZEL WOOD. It was so breathtaking and I read it in one sitting (even though I do that with like, every book haha.)

BOOK HAUL

[these pictures are stolen from my instagram]

[which i almost never post on #oops]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I did a LOT of book trading this month. (I think I now have a bookmail obsession??)

SEPTEMBER ANTICIPATED RELEASES

I HAVE SO MANY ANTICIPATED READS AHHH. I’m just going to list all of them and not do that bullet point thing where I list a comment about each of them since there’s so many. 

[sorted by release date]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I actually had a lot more, but WordPress image formatting IS SO HARD?? There’s no way to list a bunch of images in a row?? (If anyone has tips please help me.)

BLOG POST HISTORY

• Five posts total.
• One (big) un-official hiatus, in which I didn’t post for two/three weeks.
• And then one random post in the middle of nowhere!
• And then I did an interview. Which was new. I never had done an interview with an author before on this blog!

(I don’t think I’m planning to do any more interviews because.. well.. it’s MUCH MUCH harder to make them snarky and sassy and witty.)

THINGS I PARTICIPATED IN

• The Scribbler’s Challenge (which was hosted by the lovely MAY/M8)
  • I had so much fun doing this! I met Sarah, a likeminded person who I am friends with!
• Some reading challenges. Which I slightly failed at.
  • #TheReadingQuest & #ARCAugust // these were NOT successful, due to the fact that I didn’t really feel like actually looking at my score, since I didn’t really do that well anyways.

THINGS I CHANGED

• Well, I finally did that blog button thing! (By the way, it’s not a swap. It’s just a feature of all the blogs that I LURVE.)
  • I accidentally posted it as a post instead of a page??? Welp. Here’s the page now!
• I’m going to be more laidback on my schedule.
  • Let’s face it, guys. THE SCHEDULE?? NOT WORKING FOR ME OK.

POSTS I LOVED

Ilsa talks about how we always feel like our blog is a potato and how we’re never 100% satisfied with it. (If you are, then.. how???)

Elise reviews History is All You Left Me and she gives a more personal take on it, since she connects to one of the main characters.

Marie returns from her break from blogging… and the aesthetic pictures from her trips are GORGEOUS.

Madeline talks about rating and reviewing books & how you can overthink it sometimes.

Analee talks about how unrealistic life in YA books is compared to reality and honestly girl, sAME.

Jackie mini-reviews a bunch of books! And she FINALLY read Cinder.

Lia talks about the perfect reading spot. Which is obviously VITAL info for all bookworms.

May tells us all of her secrets on how she’s an amazing and perfect blogger. SERIOUSly. HOW DOES SHE DO IT.

Mikaela wonders if blogging discussion topics can get old and overused (and the answer is YES, my friends. At least in my opinion.)

POPULAR POSTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THEN AGAIN I ONLY HAD FIVE POSTS TOTAL. *bangs the side of my own head*

You might be wondering, “Julianna, what did you even do on your smol unofficial hiatus that no one really cared about?”

And to that I answer, “LEAVE ME ALONE YOU STALKER.”

Just kidding.

I just did some studying and prepared for school! This September, I… well, I got bitten to death by mosquitoes since THEY KEEP ON APPEARING IN MY HOUSE HOW DO THEY GET IN???

(Seriously, it’s a problem. I’m slightly starting to wonder if there are mosquito eggs somewhere in my water bottle.)

(That’s gross.)

SISTER TRIP

Well, I also went on a trip to my older sister’s (who is ~10 years older than I am!) in the city. Not New York City. Jersey City!

I also bring you… pictures.

This is a picture of the harbor/bay/whatever it’s called. It was so fun walking there, and also these pictures aren’t the best quality I’M SORRY.

Also: we ate out on my birthday! We went to this super small authentic Mexican shop, and we got these beef quesadillas that were SO GOOD AH. Also their chips and salsa are SO GOOD that we ordered more. I took no pictures of that because… I WAS EATING IT, OK?

We also went to this expensive ice cream shop, and it was so cute! I mean, I’m probably never going to go there again since it was like, $5 for one of those small cups but STILL THE AESTHETICS.

(Also they had really unique flavors like Jackfruit and Sourdough which was super cool.)

My younger sister got Mint Choco Chip, my older sister got this Chocolate Mountain thing, my brother got blackberry, and I got lychee! I AM THE UNIQUE ONE HA. Lychee ice cream is seriously SO. GOOD.

My sister’s apartment was also honestly SO CUTE AND AESTHETIC. She had this GREAT view of the city (her floor is in the 20s). And it was so nice to stay there for those three days ahhhh. She had a bunch of succulents around her house WHICH WERE ALL DYING (howww?) but it was still super cute!

Anyways, enough of my rambling for over 1k words. <big>HOW WAS YOUR AUGUST?? </big>(even though this is a super late post, please forgive me.)

(Also I’m super sorry that I haven’t caught up on SO MANY of your blogs that I absolutely love, my friends. I’LL PROBABLY BINGE THEM AT SOME POINT DO NOT WORRY.)