Hello everyone,
Another month has passed by and here in the UK we have just about made it to the hottest days of the year so far. It has mostly been a peaceful time, even though the ongoing situation has prevented me from venturing too far from home, but also a time that I have used to assess my short-term and longer term goals.
There are several things in July that I can certainly feel happy about. I am now pretty close to moving home, which feels both exciting and daunting at the same time! I have also returned to working in my office for three days every week, which has been wonderful and restored a sense of routine to my life that was slightly lost while working from home.
But above all, I just love being on campus. It is strange at the moment to be one of the only people there, but it is a great place to be and I can also read in the gardens again. Reading outside in the university gardens is one of my favourite things about summer.
Speaking of reading, I managed to finish four books in July, although there are two others that I currently have on the go. I was hoping to finish more, but the month began slowly and I struggled to catch up! All the same, I did chance upon a new favourite; only my third five-star read of the year.
Here are the books I finished in July:
The Guest List ⭐⭐⭐.5
Ruin And Rising ⭐⭐⭐
How To Disappear ⭐⭐⭐.5
A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I had waited almost four months for a five-star read, so I was so happy that I decided to read A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder. It was an exceptional read and I cannot wait to share my review with everyone. I also have an exciting TBR lined up for August, so I hopeful that it will be a great reading month.
As far as writing goes, I have had mixed fortunes. I have made slow progress on my WIP due to a combination of lack of time, and being slightly stuck on the chapter I am on. On the bright side, I have begun work on another, more niche project, had another magazine article published, and made a mental commitment to dedicate more time to writing poetry, as I believe that is my strongest area within creative writing!
Looking ahead to August, I definitely hope to read more, and I have some time off work coming up which should give me the opportunity to do that. I am taking a short holiday this week, and soon after that it will be my birthday, so I am looking forward to receiving some books! There is also a new album by The Killers, which I am eagerly anticipating. If the three songs that have been released already are anything to go by, then it should be brilliant.
As always, I am going to end my wrap-up by highlighting some of the other great posts I have read in July:
- July saw the voting take place for the annual book blogging awards, impressively hosted by the popular duo of May and Marie. I have enjoyed reading a lot of people’s nomination posts, discovering some fabulous new bloggers in the process, and I am extremely grateful to have received nominations from a few of them. I never expected it!
- Holly wrote a truly fascinating discussion, asking if our bookshelves are a reflection of us.
- My favourite book of the year so far is Where The Crawdads Sing, and Celine captured it perfectly in her review!
- The amazing Sofii talked about her experience of reading slumps and how to escape them.
- My favourite book blogging duo Chana and Malka wrote about the various aspects of book tags, and I found their thoughts very relatable.
That’s everything for this month. Have a wonderful August!
Happy reading :)
Stephen Reads Books 