Hey y’all! It’s been forever and a day since my last wrap-up. I know, I know. Monthly wrap-ups were one of my 2020 goals. Well, having a normal 2020 was also a goal and that hasn’t come true. But enough of my pity party, let’s celebrate the good that’s happened this month!
Life Update
If you asked me what happened in my life during the month of July… I honestly wouldn’t know how to answer. What even happened this month? How did it simultaneously go so slowly, while ending in three seconds? What even was July?
All this to say, my Creative Writing class has been fun and it’s ending soon, but the Fall semester basically starts the week after it ends. I’ll be taking an advanced Creative Writing course that I’m super excited about. I have so many ideas.
Oh, before I move on I do have one update! I got a cartoon of myself made on Fiverr and… y’all just need to see it:
I’ve been doing voice-overs on Fiverr since early on this year because it’s something I like doing and it’s a fun way to make extra money every so often. There are a bunch of digital artists on it and I ordered a cartoon of me back in January, but I definitely prefer this style over the previous one I got.
Blogging Updates
July has been a pretty good blogging month but I really don’t want to jinx myself. I feel like every time I start talking about how great I’m doing, something happens (*cough* a pandemic *cough*) and I lose all motivation to write. Hopefully, that doesn’t happen this time around because I have so many ideas for these next few weeks.
I posted 25 pieces in July. There were multiple weeks where I was posting every day. I’ve honestly had so much free time now that I’m down to one class. It’s been nice.
Top 4 Posts for July:
I had so much fun creating my nominations for the Book Blogger Awards. It was also great to see so many other nominations and discover more blogs to follow.
The Reading Rush was a lot of fun… for the most part. I touched on some of the issues in my wrap-up but I haven’t decided on whether I will be continuing on with The Reading Rush next year.
The Mid-Year Freak-Out Tag is always so much fun to do and this year proved to be no different. It was nice to think about what I’d read this year (even if this year is all a blur).
My Personal Faves
Yesterday’s post was so much fun to make. I love reading people’s association posts and the idea of assigning my favorite gospel songs to my favorite books just popped into my head.
I had trouble deciding between my posts for the Hear Our Voices book tour of The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed. This was my first time being part of a book tour and I absolutely loved it! My favorite of the three posts was my theme analysis because I spent a lot of time thinking it through and I was really putting that Psychology degree to good use.
My bored in the house watchlist was really fun to make. I love talking about what I’m watching and it’s so much fun to hear what you think of them.
Lastly, writing about the books that shaped my childhood was so calming. I wrote it after my Babysitters Club post and it really took me back to that time. These books were so important to me and many of them still are.
Reading Update
July was a great reading month for me. I got through 13 books! I had started two of them in June but the other 11 were all started and completed in July! As someone who’s reading goal for the year was 25, reading that much in one month has been a major accomplishment for me. I even hit my yearly goal already, so I boosted it up to 40 books for the year. I haven’t read like that since I was in middle school. The books also provided a much needed escape from everything happening in the world right now.
My favorites reads of July:
Opposite of Always was the perfect read for how I was feeling. After reading so many heavy books, it was nice to have something that touched on difficult topics but had that whimsical element.
I loved Such a Fun Age, Words on Bathroom Walls, and The Black Kids. I’m working on my reviews for Such a Fun Age and Words on Bathroom Walls, so make sure to be on the lookout for those posts soon.
Now let’s do the Blog Hop
This may just end up being me repeating the bloggers I already love. I’ve probably mentioned these bloggers before, so if you haven’t checked them out yet, here’s your chance.
Maisy @ Hawthorn Book Reviews has been doing a Wednesday’s Word of the Week series and that’s been a lot of fun to read. This week’s word was “bosh.”
Ross @ The Royal Bookshelf recently posted his August Anticipated Releases and there are some really cool books on that list.
Ally @ Ally Writes Things made a really cool flow chart of book suggestions based on your mood. Smells like innovation to me.
Saoudia @ With Love, Saoudia recently posted her answers to The Folklore Book Tag. I actually haven’t listened to the album (I’m not really into Indie music) but I did enjoy her answers.
Lila @ Hardcover Haven talked about book blogging while disabled and how we as a community should be more inclusive. It really brought some interesting things to light and I’m happy she felt comfortable sharing her story.
That’s all folks!
How was your month?
Did you read any new favorites in July?
What are you looking forward to in August?
Let me know in the comments below, let’s chat!
Rae's Reads and Reviews 
That cartoon!!! 😍 You’d make an amazing Disney princess, it’s definitely destined! Loving the themed posts too, it’s definitely one of my future blogging goals! ☺️
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Thank you so much 😀 themed posts have been so much fun to make lately, you should definitely try it out!
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That’s amazing that you managed to read so much this month! I had such a bad month reading wise, hopefully August will be better for me xx
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Thank you 🙂 I was going through a major slump back in March but reading has been helping with my mental health. I hope August treats you well!
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