August Wrap-Up

August Overview

Welcome to my August 2015 Wrap-Up. Last month, I read some books; totally redesigned the blog; stressed out about everything; and saw many, many snakes, including this one. He had to be relocated to a bucket and moved out of the yard so that the dogs wouldn’t mess with him.

Books I Read

Here are the 8 books I read in August. I’ll have a review up for the last one soon.

The Silver Linings Playbook – Matthew Quick

5 To 1 – Holly Bodger

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender – Leslye Walton

Places I Never Meant To Be: Original Stories by Censored Writers – Judy Blume (editor)

Simon vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda – Becky Albertalli

Magonia – Maria Dahvana Headley

The Silent Boy – Lois Lowry

Me Being Me is Exactly as Insane as You Being You – Todd Hasak-Lowy

I also finished my Goodreads reading challenge! My goal was to read 60 books this year. I accomplished that last month, so I upped the goal to 80. I know that some people are curious about my star ratings (because I don’t put them on the blog), so here they are.

Best Books of August

These are my top three favorite books I read in August. I read so many good books that it was hard to pick favorites.

3. The Silent Boy – Lois Lowry

2. Simon vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda – Becky Albertalli

1. The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender – Leslye Walton

Most Popular Reviews

Here are the most-loved reviews I posted in August:

1. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail – Cheryl Strayed

2. The Dark Tower Series Wrap-Up Review – Stephen King

3. The Silver Linings Playbook – Matthew Quick

Most Popular Posts

The most-viewed non-reviews:

1. Discussion: Following Back—Why I Do It (And Occasionally Wish I Didn’t)

2. July Wrap-Up

3. The Sunday Post #15 (In Which I Explain Why Everything Suddenly Looks Different)

Tentative September TBR

Here’s what I plan to read in September. Let me know if you’ve read any of these.

The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly – Stephanie Oakes

The Sound and the Fury – William Faulkner

The Graveyard Book – Neil Gaiman

The Enchanted – Rene Denefeld

Tilt – Ellen Hopkins

Reality Boy – A.S. King

White Dog Fell From The Sky – Eleanor Morse

Strange Things People Google

Cait @ Paper Fury does this thing where she lists the Google search results that bring up her blog. Some of them are hilarious. My blog also tracks Google keywords, but most of them are extraordinarily boring. For some reason, that wasn’t the case last month. I got a few odd ones, so I’m totally stealing Cait’s idea and posting them here.

“Spaldf University MFA.” I think you mean Spalding University MFA, but close enough.

“good things about homo sapiens.” Opposable thumbs? Consciousness? The ability to walk upright? Color vision? Not using feces-throwing as a communication method?

“Blog Content.” Yeah, I struggle in that department, too.

The strangest Google keywords I’ve ever gotten happened a few years ago. It was “Gay boys in captivity.” . . . Um . . . *awkward silence.*

All The Things

All The Things = 27 books.

I’m currently reading The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner.