Hi and welcome to another monthly overview!
Well, July kinda kicked my arse 😳😅 I started the month with covid. Fortunately, it was a mild variant, I was only really ill, running a fever, for about a day, with common cold symptoms for about a week. It did trigger my immune system, resulting in even more fatigue than usual. Which did not combine well with the heat of the summer that suddenly decided to make an appearance. And with my colleague off on holiday for two weeks, work was a race against the clock to get everything done, which did not help with the fatigue at all. I’m so glad she’s back next week! And after that, I’ll be off for three weeks 😎 I love my job but I need a break!
The kittens are doing well, they’re growing so fast! We had them chipped and spayed / neutered and Cappuccino was operated on an umbilical hernia. I was quite stressed about the whole thing! I would have had the operations done at a later stage, but the vet recommended we didn’t wait because of the hernia. They had to wear little shirts afterwards, which they hated with a passion 😅
Bookishwise, July was the month of books that didn’t quite hit the mark. I had a lot of three star reads, and hardly any five stars. Maybe it was the heat and fatigue that made me harder to please. On the blog, it was very quiet, I posted only the one review and a bookish quarter in pie charts. August will be even worse as I have nothing scheduled and am planning to take a break while we’re off work. Nothing but dust bunnies and tumbleweeds 😂
Honourable mentions to Middle of the Night, Imposter Syndrome, The Invocations, Immoral and The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby, but this was my favourite read of the month:
In figures July looks like this:
July
Novels: 5013 pages across 14 books and 1 short story
Audiobooks: 50 hours across 7 novels
And here’s what I did in July:
What I read:
Elevator Pitch, Linwood Barclay
Middle of the Night, Riley Sager
Who’s Going To Feed Johnny?, Ken Stark
The Innocents, Bridget Walsh
The House That Horror Built, Christina Henry
Don’t Look, Alexandra Ivy
Moonstone, Laura Purcell
Estella’s Revenge, Barbara Havelocke
The Invocations, Krystal Sutherland
Imposter Syndrome, Joseph Knox
A Quiet Death in Italy, Tom Benjamin
Beach Bodies: Part One, Ross Armstrong
One Perfect Couple, Ruth Ware
Babel, R.F. Kuang
Howls From Hell, A horror anthology
What I listened to:
The Life of Death, Lucy Booth
The Dinner Guests, Kiersten Modglin
Immoral, Brian Freeman
The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby, Ellery Lloyd
The Paris Widow, Kimberly Belle
Murder in Tuscany, L.B. Hathaway
The God of the Woods, Liz Moore
What I read earlier but reviewed in July:
The Dead Friend Project by Joanna Wallace
I also shared a new bookish quarter in pie charts.
Let’s have a look at the books that landed on my lap in July:
Three highly anticipated reads (so obviously I’ve read only one so far): a gorgeous hardback with glorious spredges, a hardback and a paperback:
Six 99p deals, two older eBooks I bought with (part of a voucher) I got from friends and one NetGalley DRC:
I hope you had a good month and that you are safe and well! Thanks for joining me today and happy reading xxx
I still don’t know how you read so much when you’ve had a bad month. I think I finished two books – repeat two books! – in July! LOL
Glad the kittens are okay. Not surprised you were stressed. I will be cat-sitting my nephew’s Maine Coon in couple of weeks. I am already getting stressed thinking about it….
Are you going to review Babel? What did you think about it?
Hope you have a great three week break!
I keep reading, if a bit slower 🤷🏼♀️ 😂
Do send me a photo of the Maine Coon when you’re cat-sitting, I’d love to see it!
My review of Babel is up on Goodreads. It was a bit of a struggle, to be honest. I found it dragged a little, it could have and should have been shorter, and I’m starting to think I should give up on (dark) academia cos it’s clearly not a genre that gels well with me. Impressive in terms of linguistics and research, though! Have you read it?
No, I haven’t read Babel. I thought about it and they decided I didn’t like the premise. I don’t really like preachy books, authors with something to say. I always find them a bit dull and often a little silly. When a publisher describes a book as ‘urgent’, I always start laughing.
Yes, I will send you a photo of Zorro the Cat! I’m looking after him the last weekend in August and then for a whole week toward the end of September. No one else in my family can be trusted with living creatures LOL!! My nephew tells me that Zorro is very well-trained. After a weekend with me that will no longer be the case….
Yes, there was definitely a preachy element to Babel. Many people loved it, though. But I don’t think it would be one for you.
😂
We had to put a little body suit on my daughter’s cat when she was spayed because she wouldn’t leave the incision alone. She wasn’t a big fan but it was the only thing that worked. So sorry you had such a tough month! Hopefully the rest in August will make a huge difference.
The alternative was one of those collar things but that’s sad too, so 🤷🏼♀️ Better they be uncomfortable for a few days than to risk an infection. We took the shirts off today, they were deliriously happy 😂 Thanks Tessa, I really think it will xx
Those little grumpy side eyes in the photo. xD If they had known the alternative (collar), they wouldn’t have complained that much haha. I hope you are all feeling better! Fingers crossed August will give you some rest as well as lots of 5 star reads. xx
She’s really good at that 😂 We took their shirts off yesterday, they were euphoric 😂 We’re all well, thanks! Let’s hope so!
I’m sorry I missed this yesterday, I don’t think it showed up in my WP Reader! I’m so sorry you had Covid again and a rubbish month. Love that photo of your kittens, they look very cute in those shirts even though they didn’t like wearing them. What did you think of Estella’s Revenge? I’ve been thinking of reading that one as I do love Great Expectations. Hope august is a much better much all round xx
Great, WP’s boycotting me again 🙄 Estella’s Revenge took me a while to warm to, but I’m pretty sure it was me, not the book. I ended up really enjoying it, though. Seeing as you loved Great Expectations, I think you’d enjoy it very much. Thanks Nicki, I hope so 😅 Have a fab August!
That’s great I’ll keep it on my 99p list! 😂