I just can’t wrap my head around the fact that it’s August already. I mean, August?! Where did the first seven months of 2018 go?! July wasn’t the best month with my mother in law passing away, and I had to take some personal down time after that. Winter has also been pretty nasty to me, as I’m still struggling with acute bronquitis, sinusitis or whatever it is (yes, I’ve been dealing with this since June, NOT funny). Hopefully the new tests will bring to light exactly what it is that has been bothering me so I can finally get rid of it.

Somehow I ended up reading a LOT during July, more than previous months this year… Although I do have to admit I read a few really short books and MG reads as well. But still, the page count doesn’t lie and I added a whopping 23 new titles to my read list. o.O And another milestone: I managed to make it to the magical 200 submitted NG reviews mark and now have that mythical 200 NG review badge on my blog! I still can’t believe I made this number after only two years of using Netgalley. Does it show my Netgalley addiction is out of control?? xD

Now to the bookish numbers:

  • Number of books read in July : 23
  • Total number of books read this year: 120
  • Total number of pages read in July: 6.480
  • Total number of pages read this year: 37.358

I somehow managed to read a lot last month, and while I didn’t have a new 5 star read, four titles were nearly perfect.  I did have more lowish reads than normal, but overall I’m still happy with this month.

JULY READS

4.5 STARS: This one was almost perfect. Surely fantastic! 

Oh, The Places You’ll Go! – by Dr. Seuss // The Getaway Girls – by Dee MacDonald // Hell To Pay – by Rachel Amphlett // My Real Name Is Hanna – by Tara Lynn Masih

4 STARS: Wow, this was really good. Close to amazing!

Harry Potter Y La Camera Secreta NO REVIEW – by J.K. Rowling // Prodigy – by Marie Lu // The Secret – by K.L. Slater // Crochet Animal Rugs – by Ira Rott // Attachments – by Rainbow Rowell // Misery – by Stephen King // Never Say Goodbye – by Richard Parker // Weird Things Customers Say In Bookshops – by Jen Campbell

3.5 STARS: Great read. Really entertaining!

Het Jaar Dat The Wereld Op Zijn Kop Stond (The Year Of The Rat) – by Clare Furniss // The Death And Life Of Eleanor Parker – by Kerry Wilkinson

3 STARS: It was a nice read, but not fantastic. 

Charlie And The Great Glass Elevator – by Roald Dahl // Turtles All The Way Down – by John Green // Champion – by Marie Lu // Slaughterhouse-Five – by Kurt Vonnegut // Thin Wire – by Christine Lewry // Broken Dolls – by Sarah Flint // Click’d – by Tamara Ireland Stone

2.5 STARS: I give this one the benefit of the doubt. Nothing too exciting.

Run And Hide – by Alan McDermott

2 STARS: It was ok. But mostly ‘meh’.

Kids Of Appetite – by David Arnold

I haven’t joined a lot of challenges this year so far, mostly because I decided to focus more on ‘fun’ reading and less on goals I have to complete. Things are going way better than planned! I actually finished both my Goodreads challenge and the Beat The Backlist challenge in July already! I won’t be changing them to a higher goal, but I’ll keep adding my progress. I’m really close to completing When Are You Reading? as well. I still haven’t found a title for the last era though (1600-1699). Ive made great progress with the Reading Through The Centuries challenge as well and I’m hoping to finish that one in August since I already have a title lined up.

# CHALLENGES #

As for my other goals… I finished my fifth and final series so that’s another goal done! I also managed to finish read my second (modern) classic, so one more title left to go now. And even better: I both read a Spanish and Dutch read last month, crossing those goals off as well! I’m really happy about that. My NG ratio is also quite stable and well above the 80% mark; I’m definitely going to try and keep it that way. As for the rest of them: I’m still deciding which will be my 800+ pages book, and I’m pretty sure my TBR goal will be hopeless unless I unhaul some books. Rereading will have to wait until next month, but I’m hoping to complete the classic and international author goal by the end of August.

# OTHER READING/BLOGGING GOALS #

  • Read at least 3 (modern) classics (rereads don’t count) 2/3 (Murder On The Orient Express // Slaughterhouse-Five)
  • Complete at least 5 series (rereads don’t count) 5/5 DONE!! (The Conspiracy Of Us // Bad Girls Don’t Die // Embassy Row // The 5th Wave // Legend)
  • Reread at least 2 books 1/2 (Harry Potter Y La Camera Secreta)
  • Bring my physical TBR pile below 300 books and keep it that way. 415/300
  • Read at least one book over 800 pages 0/1 (maximum 528 pages)
  • Read at least 1 book in Spanish 1/1 DONE!! (Harry Potter Y La Camera Secreta)
  • Read at least 1 book in Dutch 1/1 DONE!! (Het Jaar Dat De Wereld Op Zijn Kop Stond by Clare Furniss)
  • Read more international authors/translations (at least 10) 9/10 (Stage Four (The Netherlands)/ Born A Crime (South Africa)/ Halfway (India)/ A Castle In Romagna (Croatia)/ My Sweet Friend (Belgium)/ The Elephant Keeper’s Daughter (Germany)/ The Letter For The King (Indonesia)/ The Air Raid Killer (Germany)/ My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She’s Sorry (Sweden))
  • Join at least 5 challenges during the year 5/5 DONE!!
  • Keep my Netgalley ratio above the 80% currently at 95%
  • Reach 5km running! 2000m/5000m

Happy August and Happy Reading! 

signature

You can also find me at Goodreads. Twitter. Instagram. Facebook. Bloglovin’.