July 2019
Yesterday at work we were talking about the year is just flying by and WOW, is it ever!
This was a weird month for me. I tried to focus on my 5 Year 5 Book Reading Challenge and while I had some success, I also DNF’d three of my selections. That–of course–led to a bit of a reading slump but one great audiobook got me back in the swing of things…when I could find the time to read!
Usually July and August are great reading months for me but this past July was awful. I read half as many books as I normally do! And if I wasn’t reading audiobooks, I’d have only read a quarter of what I normally do!
And I think I set a record low for the number of times I actually logged onto my blog. I was doing pretty well as the start of the month but life just got in the way and my priorities shifted elsewhere.
Total for July 2019: 11 Books Read + 0 Novellas Read
DNF’d: 3 Books
Last July: 21 Books Read + 1 Novellas Read + 2 DNFs
WHOA–what a difference! Just goes to show what happens when life evolves.
Standout Read (★★★★★)
I had one other 5 star read in July (Say You’ll Remember Me by Katie McGarry) but this was the audiobook that got me out of my reading slump. Just a great contemporary romance!
Biggest Let Down (★★)
While I did DNF a few novels, this one was a huge disappointment (and one I probably should have added to the DNF pile). I really wanted to love this book–I’ve intentionally avoided it because I’ve been so eager to read it for the right moment. But it just fell terribly flat and pushed me into a slump.
Previously posted series reviews that got updates:
You can always get the full details on all my challenges on my dedicated page but here is a quick update:
5 Year 5 Book Challenge: 3+3 books added | 13 of 25 Titles – 1 Book Behind
Goodreads Challenge: 12 books added | 94/200 Books – 22 Books Behind
Tackling the TBR Challenge: 1 book added | 12/24 Books – 2 Books Behind
View my Challenge Progress Here!
I used to do a big Goodreads Purge twice a year but I like the idea of doing a little bit at a time and had great success last year doing this on a monthly basis. The idea is to go through 5-10 books on your Goodreads TBR list chronologically and decide if they should stay or go. My 10 titles consist of 7 “new to me” titles and 3 “previously started series” titles.
This month:
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Pass: 4 | Keep: 6
Grand Total YTD: Pass: 22 | Keep: 48
Did I give up on any too soon? Let me know in the comments below!
Each month I have a list of 11 books I’ve selected to read for that particular month. These books include review copies and reading challenge picks.
While July was all about my 5 Year 5 Book Reading Challenge (which is mostly owned titles), I want to dedicate the month of August to books I already own. There are a few exceptions (like audiobook titles since I get those from the library; and some sequels & ARCs I didn’t get to in July) but this month is all about books sitting on my Kindle and Kobo!
What were your biggest reading or personal accomplishments of the past month?
Leave a comment below!
I’m interested to see what you think of ‘Til Death’ since I’ve kept it on your TBR pile.
I actually just finished it earlier this week! I really liked the first volume but the second volume was just awful for me. It was a disappointment because I’ve kept it on my list for years and was really looking forward to it, but it was such a quick read that I didn’t mind so much.