// july recap 2016 //

(a big round of applause to me, for once again getting this up late)

Life + On The Blog
-July was the month of traveling. The fam took a short trip at the beginning of the month, just to a different place a few hours away, and it was such a wonderful time. Our longer trip to the coast was just a few days ago, and while the stay there was beautiful and relaxing, the trip home was equivalent to hell. We blew two tires and had to sit on the road in 100+ degree heat while we waited roughly an hour each time for somebody to come help us. I had a mini breakdown, and it was basically just fun times galore. Not.
But on the bright side, I took a ton of photos while we were there, and I should have a post up with a lot of pretty beach + ocean photography soon. :0)

-School begins in less than a month and frankly, I'm so not ready for it. It's been a looming thing in the back of my mind all month. The summer went so quickly and I reallllly don't want it to be over. The only part of school that I'm looking forward to is my history class, because I'm quite sure I'll do fantastic in it. 
{i.e. half the stuff in my textbook is facts from Hamilton}

-I reached 100 followers on instagram! (150-ish currently) I've only been posting for about a month, but I've had such a fun time. ^-^
Everybody's freaking out about the new update, but personally, I think it's great, and such a fun way for everyone to post behind the scenes stuff. 
(95% of what I've seen is just people's adorable animals and I approve tenfold)

-I successfully hooked my mother on Hamilton. She knows the chorus to My Shot. I am so proud. 


-Posting on the blog was ridiculously successful this month. I published a total of seven times?!??! Who even am I???


Favorites From Around the Web: Let's Discuss Mentall Illness Representation In YA (so honored to be a part of the collab post-- it was such a wonderful idea + I loved seeing the group of bloggers brought together to share their thoughts. <3) // How To Appropriately and Effectively Recommend Books // A Letter of Appreciation to the Stars of Hamilton // Let's Talk About Weight (i just want to give a very loud shriek for this post okay)


Books Read This Month: 10
I've determined that I read less during summer than I do during busy school months?? I don't even know. I think the pressure forces me to read more, and thus when I have so much free-time, I find myself losing track of time and forgetting that I actually have stuff to read. 10 books is still pretty good, but I want to read MORE, dang it.

Links to those with reviews! :) 

A Monster Calls- Patrick Ness: 4/5 stars
Days of Blood and Starlight- Laini Taylor: 2.5/5 stars
The Scorpio Races- Maggie Stiefvater: 5/5 stars
Shadow and Bone- Leigh Bardugo: 3/5 stars
Salt to the Sea- Ruta Sepetys: 3.75/5 stars


July Book Haul
A Game of Thrones// A Clash of Kings// A Storm of Swords// A Feast for Crows// A Dance With Dragons// Salt to the Sea// Passenger// Every Last Word// Golden Son// Morning Star// A Book of Spirits and Thieves// This Savage Song// Vampire Academy// Frostbite (VA #2)// Shadow and Bone// Siege and Storm// Ruin and Rising// The Knife of Never Letting Go// The Foxhole Court (ebook)// The Raven King (ebook)// The King's Men (ebook)// Will Grayson, Will Grayson// 

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and there we go! that's my july recap! i hope you enjoyed, and that you're having a lovely time right now, whatever time that may be. <3

Let's Chat! How was your July? Did you do anything fun? Go on any trips? Did you read a lot this month? Tell me everything!! ^-^


Comments

  1. Awesome books (apart from And I Darken)! I have been at school for about half of July so I didn't do that much. I love your photography, it's awesome!

    - Edie
    mintyperfections.blogspot.com

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  2. My reading was kind of in a slump this month. But I'm currently reading A Game of Thrones, which is good. I mean, some of the characters I just find unrelatable and I want to skip their chapters, but other than that the general plot is terrific!

    And, (I just want to put this out there), the Mental Illness Representation in YA post was amazing. It was gripping and it really provoked me into thinking more about this topic. A job VERY well done!

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    Replies
    1. OH MY GOD. I JUST. *screams* YOU ARE THE SWEETEST. Thank you!!

      Ellie | On the Other Side of Reality

      P.S. Sorry Adi, I'm kind of hijacking your comments section.

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    2. @ sunset: ah, i'm reading game of thrones as well right now! well, trying to, at least. the books are such ginormous monsters. >_<
      I couldn't agree more-- ellie did an utterly fantastic job. <3

      @ ellie: you hijack my comment section all you want. i love seeing lots of comments. <3

      xx a

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  3. VICTORIA SCHWAB AHHHH. I SHALL SCREAM WITH DELIGHT UNTIL THE ENDS OF THE EARTH. the shades of magic series is my favorite <3
    school for me starts in september, and honestly i'm equally unprepared. i hate being cooped up in a classroom all day, plus there's the fact that only the science rooms have windows in my school. ???? idk what weirdo designed the layout but i shall punch them.

    evelyn clickman @ if these stars shall fall

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    Replies
    1. AH OH MY GOD I ABSOLUTELY ADORE HER. ADSOM + Kell are my everything. <3
      seriously who designed that place??? that sounds really hellish, i'm sorry. but hey-- we'll get through it together. ^-^
      xx a

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  4. FREN. OH MY GOD. Thank you so much for the link, ahhhh!! I'm so happy you liked the post <3
    This is definitely the time of year when everyone sees how nerdy I am, because I am OVER THE MOON about school starting soon! I have my orientation in two weeks (one week, six days, and 18 hours, to be exact) and!!! I'm sharing a locker with my best friend this year, taking a ton of awesome electives + extracurriculars (I purposefully signed up for less advanced core classes so I would have more room for electives, which I'm glad I did), and I've already gotten all my school supplies bought + organized. I AM SO EXCITE HELP.
    (Honestly, I wish we had year-round school, but with three day weekends instead of two.)
    I see you're trying Game of Thrones! You must tell me how it is once you finished - I tried reading it a while ago, but I DNF'd it about halfway through the first book. The writing simply didn't engage me, and there were WAY too many Jon's to keep track of.
    (I do remember really liking Arya, Bran, and the short one (Tyrion?) though.)

    Ellie | On the Other Side of Reality

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    Replies
    1. OF COURSE FAM. IT WAS FABULOUS AND I ADORED ALL THAT YOU DID. <3
      okay so like, I LIKE SCHOOL. but just the IDEA of starting it makes me cringe??? like i like all my classes + learning + buying school supplies (notebooks are my weakness and i own far too many okay) but it's just that impending start date that i always dread. :P
      lots of electives sounds terrific! what are you taking?? :)
      there are an absurd amount of jon's and i've given up keeping track of all but snow. i think it's going to just be a book that i'll read to the side and drag out over a few months in order to be able to finish it. it's definitely not a terribly engaging read, but idk, i like the world and don't want to quit just yet. ;)
      Arya, Bran, + Tyrion are indeed fantastic + i like them, too. <3
      xx a

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    2. That's exactly me with Les Miserables! I thought I'd finish it by the end of June, then the end of July, then by the time school started, and now I'm like "Well, it'll finish when it finishes."
      I'm taking Metals & Jewelry (an art course, pls pray for me), Acting, Adv. Eastern Civilization (technically this is a core class, but I'm way too excited about it to just count it as that), and (hopefully!) Dramatic Literature. I was going to take Computer Programming, but I decided to switch to Dramatic Lit. over the summer. (Well, hopefully I can switch. My councillor is horrible at getting back to me, ugh.)

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