Monthly Wrap-Up: July ’19 + I’m Back from My Hiatus!

So, it’s been quite a while, huh? I really enjoyed my break from the blog, so much so that I could actually see myself stepping away from it in the future. I’m in my fifth year of blogging and I never really considered when I would stop blogging, but I always thought I couldn’t picture it and now I can. This doesn’t mean I’m quite ready to do so, but I’m in a place where if I needed to, I think I could. I spent a large part of July still dealing with that pesky reading slump. I tried so many different things and they didn’t always fit. But I am happy to report the slump has ended and I really want to pick up all the books.

I read five physical novels, one graphic novel, a book of poetry, and listened to one audiobook. Two of these were rereads and were probably the best part of my July in terms of reading. The next couple of days I will be trying to catch on any comments I might have missed as well as visiting your blogs because I missed you all. I have a lot of plans for Latinx Heritage Month coming in September and am going to say right now that I might not post very much in August because I have so many things I need to work on for LHM. I am really happy to be back and am just panicking a little about all the stuff I need get done. *nervous laughter*

(Book covers below are linked to my reviews, unless otherwise specified.) 

Favorite Book This Month:

My favorite read in July was my reread of The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo. I listened to the audiobook for Latinx Book Club and this book somehow got better. It was already a five-star read for me, but the narration by Elizabeth Acevedo blew me away. If you haven’t gotten a chance to check out the audiobook, it is a MUST. Cover linked to Goodreads.

Least Favorite Book This Month:

No books received less than three stars from me this month.

Other Books I Read This Month:

The One Hundred Nights of Hero by Isabel Greenberg: 4/5

Fake It Till You Break It by Jenn P. Nguyen: 3/5

Conflict Resolutions for Holy Beings by Joy Harjo: 4/5

Empress of a Thousand Skies by Rhoda Belleza: 4/5 (reread)

Blood of a Thousand Stars by Rhoda Belleza: 4/5 *review to come*

House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig: 3/5 *review to come*

An Affair of Poisons by Addie Thorley: 4/5 *review to come*

Reading Challenges:

Aside from the Goodreads challenge, I’m only taking part in one reading challenge.

1. The Beat the Backlist Challenge 2019 is hosted by NovelKnight. I am failing at this challenge and I am failing bad. Haven’t picked up a book for this in a while.

• Challenge Goal: 10 books; Current Count: 4 books

August Releases I’m Excited For:

 

How was your July? Did you miss me like I missed you? Share a link of your favorite post in July! Let me hear from you in the comments and feel free to leave me a link to your own wrap-up post and I’ll be sure to visit.

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Monthly Wrap-Up: June ’19

June was not my month. Everything started out so great and I was on schedule to read more books than I usually average and then BAM! The dreaded reading slump hit me. And nothing and I mean nothing appealed to me. On top of that, I found it really hard to focus on other things as well. I’ve been trying to get everything done in time for my hiatus, but the motivation just kind of disappeared. But then I recovered and read another book (a non-fiction one!!!), making books read in June at that time a total of four. Not too bad considering that huge slump and I could totally get another book done, right? Wrong! I ended up having the worse migraine I’ve had in months. Finally recovered from that and then BAM again! I got sick and got another migraine that took me out for a few days. I finally feel better and I’m just really anxious for both my body and mind to be in a good place. I still haven’t been able to start another book since finishing my last a few days ago and probably won’t until I feel completely better.

Great time for a hiatus though, right? Tomorrow I will be officially announcing my hiatus, but for those who will only see this post, I will be gone from the blog for the entire month of July!

(Book covers below are linked to my reviews, unless otherwise specified.) 

Favorite Book This Month:

I was tempted to go with the nonfiction book, but had to go with Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s upcoming release Gods of Jade and Shadow. I am enchanted with this one and cannot wait to hold the physical copy in my hands. Click on the cover to read my review!

Least Favorite Book This Month:

No books received less than three stars from me this month.

Other Reviews Posted This Month:

Read, Review Coming in August:

(Cover linked to Goodreads)

Books I Didn’t Review:

I wasn’t very good with the reading or the reviewing this month. Cover is linked to Goodreads.

I picked up Sandhya Menon’s There’s Something About Sweetie early in June and was so delighted with it. I’m so glad we are starting to see more fat protagonists who are also PoC. I think people forget that being a part of a marginalized race or ethnic group makes your experience being fat, disabled, queer, etc inherently different than your white counterparts. Rating: 4/5

Strangely the only book I could read during my slump/migraine/cold days (weeks?) was a non-fiction book. Te-Nehisi Coates’s Between the World and Me and it was freaking fantastic. I could not stop reading (when I wasn’t dying) and will definitely be reaching for more from him. Rating: 5/5

Notable Blog Posts This Month:

Latinx Book Club: July’s Book Club Pick – These announcements will be appearing on the Latinx Book Club blog from now on. I’m really excited to be hosting next month, so despite my hiatus, I will not be disappearing completely from the online world.

Can’t-Wait Wednesday: Truly Madly Royally by Debbie Rigaud – I am going to be preordering this upcoming release because during my slump, I noticed I did not have very many lighthearted books with PoC leads. Publishing, I want more fluffy books written by and featuring PoC!!!!

Top Ten Tuesday: My Favorite Fantasy Novels – Yes, a chance to talk about all of my favorite fantasies. A dream come true.

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Releases for the Second Half of 2019 – Might as well say goodbye to all my money now.

Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag – I can’t believe that we are already at the half-way point in 2019. How did we get here? In this post I share some of my standout reads.

Reading Challenges:

Aside from the Goodreads challenge, I’m only taking part in one reading challenge.

1. The Beat the Backlist Challenge 2019 is hosted by NovelKnight. This month I failed again. Whoops.

• Challenge Goal: 10 books; Current Count: 4 books

July Releases I’m Excited For:

 

Did you have a better June than I did? What was your favorite read of the month? Any summer plans you’re excited for? Let me know in the comments and feel free to leave me a link to your own wrap-up post and I’ll be sure to visit.

Monthly Wrap-Up: May ’19

Can anyone tell me where May went? It feels like it flew by for me. My birthday was earlier in the month and I got so many books. I should feel guilty about it, but I don’t, I’m so happy. I finished five books this month, which I am slowly beginning to realize is my sweet spot. I did an impromptu buddy read of Storm of Locusts with Jocelyn @ yogi with a book, one of my Latinx Book Club cohosts. Speaking of the Latinx Book Club, today we launched our blog for the club. You can find us and follow us here. Basically, it’s a place for us to stay organized, help readers find book club info, and maybe recommend some stellar books. We hope you can stop by!

My biggest news from May is I’ve decided that I’m going to take an entire month off from blogging. It’s something I’ve been considering for a while, but I just haven’t been able to fit it in anywhere. Don’t worry, I won’t be disappearing quite yet, but I’m aiming for July, so come the end of June, I should be making the official announcement.

(Book covers below are linked to my reviews, unless otherwise specified.) 

Favorite Book This Month:

I had two five-star reads this May and I’m not going to choose between them because you cannot make me. Rebecca Roanhouse’s much-anticipated sequel, Storm of Locusts was a thrilling ride and I just need more Maggie and Kai in my life. Margaret Rogerson’s Sorcery of Thorns was incredible. It’s as beautiful as its cover and if you’re looking for a sign to push that preorder button, consider this your sign.

Least Favorite Book This Month:

*heaviest of sighs* I was really looking forward to Five Midnights, but there are several aspects of the novel that really rubbed me the wrong way.

Other Reviews Posted This Month:

Read, Review Coming Soon:

(Cover linked to Goodreads)

Books I Didn’t Review:

Yes, I’m going to try to get in the habit of not reviewing every book I read. Cover is linked to Goodreads.

Swati Teerdhala’s Tiger at Midnight was a really fun fantasy and I enjoyed my time with it, but I wasn’t as impressed with the writing as I would have liked to have been. Still, if the enemies to lovers trope is your thing, you might want to think about checking this one out. Rating: 3/5

Notable Blog Posts This Month:

Latinx Book Club: June’s Book Club Pick – We are so excited to dive into next month’s selection for the Latinx Book Club. And for future reference, book club announcements will be posted on our official blog instead.

Can’t-Wait Wednesday: Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin – I have been waiting forever for this one and it’s almost here! Only a few days left before I get to hold this one in my hands.

Can’t-Wait Wednesday: The Grief Keeper by Alexandra Villasante – If this book isn’t on your TBR, be sure to add it! It release this Tuesday.

Top Ten Tuesday: My Literary Soul Mates – This was my favorite TTT post this month as it gave me a chance to talk about characters I have a really strong connection to.

Kernels of Nonsense: Keeping Up with Comments – You might have noticed I’ve been less active in my comments section and that’s because after much deliberation, I have decided to adopt a different philosophy with regard to comments.

Reading Challenges:

Aside from the Goodreads challenge, I’m only taking part in one reading challenge.

1. The Beat the Backlist Challenge 2019 is hosted by NovelKnight. This month I read nothing toward this challenge. Boo me.

• Challenge Goal: 10 books; Current Count: 4 books

June Releases I’m Excited For:

 

Did May fly by for you? When was the last time you did a buddy read? What summer release are you most looking forward to? Let me know in the comments and feel free to leave me a link to your own wrap-up post and I’ll be sure to visit.

Monthly Wrap-Up: April ’19

If you haven’t visited my blog in the last few days, you may notice some changes and that’s because I gave my blog a little makeover. I’ve been thinking about a change for a while and I finally took the plunge. It took me several hours to find just the right colors, theme, and make the graphics, but I think I’m satisfied…at least for now.

I would have finished my fifth book of the month, but I was busy working on the blog, so I only got to four. This month the Latinx Book Club read it’s first pick, The Storm Runner by J.C. Cervantes, I did a buddy read with Carolyn @ A Hundred Thousand Stories of The Lies of Locke Lamora, ran a Twitter giveaway (ends at 4pm PST today, check it out here), and won a couple of exciting giveaways myself. I feel like April was a really busy month for me and I’m honestly kind of itching for another mini-break. We’ll see how that goes. Also, it’s my birthday next week and I splurged a bit on books. I’m so excited!

(Book covers below are linked to my reviews, unless otherwise specified.) 

Favorite Book This Month:

My favorite April read was Don’t Date Rosa Santos by Nina Moreno. I loved this one so much, I think it’s my favorite 2019 read so far. My review is coming up very soon. Warning: lots and lots of gushing!

Least Favorite Book This Month:

No book this month received less than three stars.

Reviews Posted This Month:

 

Read, Review Coming Soon:

(None)

Books I Didn’t Review:

Okay, I am so guilty this month of skipping out on reviews. I was very tired this month and I just couldn’t find the brain capacity to write even a snapshot review. So here is some very pithy reviews of the following:

J.C. Cervantes’s The Storm Runner was overall enjoyable, but there were a few choices with regard to the main character’s arc that I wished had been resolved sooner.  Rating: 3/5

Scott Lynch’s The Lies of Locke Lamora was so enjoyable and a great heist book. I loved how intricate the schemes were, but also the fact that Lynch kept me on my toes. As good as Locke Lamora is, there were still people who were capable of outsmarting him. Rating: 4/5

Notable Blog Posts This Month:

Latinx Book Club: May’s Book Club Pick – We’ve selected our next book club pick. Come join us on Twitter in May!

Can’t-Wait Wednesday: Nocturna by Maya Motayne – I am ready to be swept away by this Latinx-inspired fantasy. It comes out on my birthday, so it’s basically destiny.

Can’t-Wait Wednesday: With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo – I might cry when I finally hold a copy of this one on my hands. Also comes out on my birthday which makes it feel extra special.

Top Ten Tuesday: Things Book Bloggers Love That Non-Readers Don’t Understand – Loved putting this post together and loved that it was so relatable to other bloggers.

Kernels of Nonsense: 2019 Preorders So Far (Part II) – To no one’s surprise, I preodered more books!

Reading Challenges:

Aside from the Goodreads challenge, I’m only taking part in one reading challenge.

1. The Beat the Backlist Challenge 2019 is hosted by NovelKnight. This month I picked up The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch.

• Challenge Goal: 10 books; Current Count: 4 books

May Releases I’m Excited For:

 

Did you have a busy April? Are you participating in any book clubs this year? Which May release are you most looking forward to? Let me know in the comments and feel free to leave me a link to your own wrap-up post and I’ll be sure to visit.