August Wrap Up: The Month I Ignored School (Again)

Hi all!

So yet another month has passed us by and I feel as though I had 3 months off of uni instead of my usual 7 week break … and that probably had something to do with the fact that I practically ignored the first month of my second semester so I can read/blog.

Anyway, I didn’t get the chance to blog as much as I wanted to, but I did read like crazy! So I would probably say I had a pretty productive month read-wise.

Books Read:

19 books (1 reread), 1 novella, 1 short story

---

Books Reviewed:

Lessons in Cartography, an incredible fanfic of Nora Sakavic’s All for the Game series, is set after the original books. It’s the unofficial fourth book of the series and feels exactly like Sakavic’s books. Highly, highly recommend if you are a fan of AFTG.
Read my review.

A peculiar novel that combines magic, monsters and mayhem, but I still felt as though it has been supremely overhyped. I read this book as the YA Book Bloggers group on Goodreads’ Fantasy Book of the Month!
Read my review.

A stunning sequel that was unputdownable. Every scene was imbued with tension and the character development was off the charts. Get excited for this book!
Read my review. 

A fantastic standalone sequel: amazing world building, top-notch character development, and beautiful writing.
Read my review.

A powerful, tender romance between an anxious immigrant on exchange and an out-and-proud black man. Just incredible.
Read my review.

---

Book of the Month:

Like usual, I never have one favourite book of the month and August was no different. Strong Signal and Mature Content are the 1st and 4th books in Megan Erickson and Santino Hassell’s Cyberlove romance series. These books are incredible: from the romance, to the character development, to the way technology is included … everything is sheer perfection. Both of these books have been added to my ultimate-best Goodreads bookshelf, which hasn’t had a book added to it in probably a year. So if that doesn’t say something about how good these novels are, I don’t know how else to convince you.

Keep an eye out, I will eventually be posting a series review of Cyberlove sometime in September!

Monthly Disappointment: 

I only read this book because one of my favourite authors – Joanna Chambers – co-wrote it and I kind of wish I didn’t it. It wasn’t a bad book per se, but it also wasn’t a good book. Very tropey and full of cliches and – shudder – instalove. Average novel.

---

Achievements:

This month I finally finished Jordan L. Hawk’s Whyborne & Griffin series! It took like 3 months, but I’m finally done. I won’t review the series, but all up, I’d give the series a 4 star average.

I also read the entire Cyberlove series by Megan Erickson and Santino Hassell. Ah-ma-zing. RTC!

This was also the month I reached 100 books all up for 2017! I can’t believe how much I’ve read already, and can’t wait to keep reading more. Last year I read 116 books – here’s hoping I can surpass that!

---

Extra Content:

My 300 follower giveaway ended on 26/8 and a winner was chosen! Thank you to everyone who participated and who has ever liked/commented on one of my posts. I can’t even put into words how thankful I am for each and every follower and friend I have made on here. I’ve had this blog for over a year now and during those few times I got tired and bored of writing, my friends are what kept me coming back! ❤️😘

I found out that my favourite author of all time is releasing a queer comic series in November this year and wrote up a post about it and my feelings! Check it out by clicking on the image below:

This month I participated in the release blitz for Regine Abel’s Blind Fate, the sequel to her incredible sci-fi romance Escaping Fate. Check out the blitz and my review by clicking on the image below.

---

Tags:

This month I participated in:

Fight Like a YA Girl! Tag
The Ultimate Book Tag

Check out the tags to see my answers and who I tagged in turn!

---

#TheReadingQuest: 

This month I joined Aentee @ Read at Midnight‘s reading challenge and have had the most fun time! I haven’t completed my Mage’s quest yet – still 2 more books to go – but I’m getting there. The funny thing is I totally would have been done by now if I hadn’t ignored the Quest and read 6 books that weren’t on my designated TBR. 😂

My current tally is:

Overall EXP: 60
Overall HP: 139
Number of books completed: 3
# of books by marginalised authors: 2
# of times #TheReadingQuest was used: 4
Total book pages read: 1247
Level: 2

---

ARCs:

Purchased Books:

---

Non-Bookish Stuff:

This month I watched season 3 of Voltron: Legendary Defender and omg, it’s like the creators saw all of my irritations with the show and fixed everything. It was seriously amazing, and I am in love with Prince Lotor and his group of badass female aliens. My only criticism is that the season was cut down to 7 episodes! I need season 4 ASAP and in the mean time, everyone please watch the show!

I also saw a performance of Jesus Christ Superstar starring Rob Mills! I’ve never seen the musical before – in real life or on T.V. – so it was completely new to me and I loved it. I have to say that Act 1 was a little slow and confusing, but Act 2 more than made up for it. Rob Mills is an incredible singer and I still have chills from his voice hitting the high notes! I’ve made it my mission to start watching classic musicals, like West Side Story and Wicked – which I haven’t seen yet, but I’m getting there!! If you have any recs, please let me know. 😊

I also watched Book of Mormon for the second time because the first wasn’t enough! It was seriously even funnier than the first time I watched it; I had literal tears streaming down my face. If you guys get the chance to watch it, PLEASE do, especially for those who live in Melbourne because it’s still on for a little while longer!

Omg guys, Game of Thrones finished this month and I’m dead, I’m deceased, and then I was brought back to life. I won’t spoil it for anyone but everything I wanted to happen happened: my OTP is a thing (and they better stay that way!), my favourite siblings are all back together, and my favourite hero has finally left his toxic lover. Everything is perfect … watch it come apart during season 8. 😭

Oh and Rick and Morty season 3 premiered and it is as hilarious as I knew it was going to be! Favourite episode so far: Vindicators 3: The Return of Worldender. I can’t recommend this show enough, it’s beyond incredible!

---

Looking Forward: September

So next month I will be participating in not one, not two, but THREE blog tours!! How??? Why??? Because I hate myself??? That sounds about right.

Anyway, keep an eye out for them – all three are LGBT related so sorry to my YA followers, but I get excited when I get to read ARCs. 😂

---

Tentative September TBR: (because I can never stick to a TBR)

So how was everyone else’s August? As productive as mine? What books did you read, what shows did you watch?! Let me know!

❤️ Laura