Thursday, July 7, 2016

June Wrap-Up



June Overview


Wow, that was a crazy month. I spent the first week of June in Louisville, Kentucky for my second-to-last grad school residency. Guys, if I don’t drop dead from exhaustion, I’ll finish grad school in November. That’s hard for me to believe. It’s been a long two years.

Louisville, KY from my hotel.

As soon as I got home from Kentucky, I got bronchitis. This was coughing-all-night-drowning-in-mucus-and-whining-constantly bronchitis. 




It was a bad time to get sick because I had a giant school assignment due at the end of the month. I spent the middle of June doing frantic research while drinking insane amounts of caffeine to counteract the brain-fogging powers of cough medicine. Actually, I felt a lot like this dude. (I probably looked like him, too.)




Anyway, the bronchitis went away, and I did get my giant assignment done on time. I’m not exaggerating when I say “giant.” The thing was 238 pages. Somewhere during all of this madness, my assistantship was renewed for the final time. I get to keep editing a literary journal until the end of the year. Then I have to find something else to do with my life.




Oh, I have one interesting non-school-related thing to tell you. A robin built a nest in the tree outside my bedroom window. I got to watch the baby birds grow up. I even got to see them leave the nest and flap around awkwardly. I tried to take pictures of them without incurring the wrath of the mother bird, but my camera doesn’t zoom in that far. This is the best I could do.




If you can’t tell what it is (my photography skills are awesome, right?), it’s a baby bird sitting on the rim of the nest. This picture was taken during the awkward-flapping stage of life. The babies are all grown up now.




Books I Read




So, bad news. I only read 5 books in June, and I didn’t completely love any of them. Actually, I kind of hated two of them. Here’s what I read:

Charm & Strange – Stephanie Kuehn

I made a tiny bit of progress on my challenges. Click here to see how I’m doing.




Best Book Of June


I usually pick three favorites each month, but June was a disaster in the reading department. This book was my favorite. I learned so many terrifying things about jellyfish.






Most-Viewed Reviews








Most-Viewed Non-Reviews






Tentative July TBR


If I don’t fail as hard in July as I did in June, here are a few books that I know I’ll be reading. Let me know if you’ve read any of these.

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock – Matthew Quick
All the Light We Cannot See – Anthony Doerr
I’ll Meet You There – Heather Demetrios
All Quiet on the Western Front – Erich Maria Remarque




An Exceptionally Brief Mid-Year Update




I don’t use star-ratings on my blog, but I know that some people are curious about how I rate books. Hopefully this screenshot will satisfy your curiosity. These are all the books I’ve read so far this year.




All The Things


All The Things (AKA my TBR Pile) = 27 books. The stack is under 30 books! I’ve now been on my book-acquiring ban for six months. The ban has not been entirely effective. (Because: cheap books happened.) However, I am reading faster than I’m getting new books, so the TBR pile has been going down all year.

I’m currently reading Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick.








I hope you had a great June!




22 comments:

  1. WOW that is a really big assignment!! I am glad you got it done while being sick. Aw that is so cool about the birds. That must have been cool to see them fly all awkwardly. Hope you have a great July!

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  2. You've been on a six-month book buying ban??? It doesn't matter if you've bought a few cheap books here and there, that's incredible! I certainly couldn't do it....

    Yeah, that really was a huge assignment. You basically wrote a book. Again, incredible and commendable.

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    1. The book-buying ban has been intense. I really, really want new books, but I’m not letting myself get them. I don’t like having a huge TBR mountain.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  3. I've seen the film of All Quiet on the Western Front. I suggest you schedule something happy or light-hearted for after it.

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    1. Yeah, I’ve heard that it’s a downer. That’s why it’s been sitting on my TBR shelf for months. I haven’t been able to force myself to pick it up.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  4. I agree with Elliptical Man re: All Quiet on the Western Front. It'll break you into teeny tiny little pieces. I remember starting the book when I was about 16, at about the same time that I had to watch the film for Modern History in high school. I didn't finish the book (it was a bit much for my young mind) and the film was probably not the best film for high school kids. But it's brilliant all the same.

    I hope you have a good July!

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    1. Now I’m even more nervous about reading it :). I’m going to put on my big girl pants and do it, though.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  5. Wow, 238 pages is a HUGE assignment, so I'm so glad you managed to get through it! That must have been so tough whilst you were ill.
    Have a great July! :)

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    1. Yeah, the assignment was crazy. It’s been a long time since I worked that hard on something.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  6. I'm curious about Leonard Peacock. I've read two good Matthew Quick books now and am starting to suspect he's a good author.

    I really enjoyed I'll Meet You There, but it made me cry. Still, it might be interesting to read in companion with All Quiet--WWI vs. current wars. (It is WWI, right? Or is it II? I haven't read it.)

    Do we know what you're in grad school for? I mean, what you're studying?

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    1. I’m studying children’s lit in school.

      I had mixed feelings about Leonard Peacock. It’s well-written, but I didn’t like the plot.

      I’m going to try to read 3 war novels this month. All Quiet is about WWI, All The Light is WWII, and I’ll Meet You is about right-now wars. I have a feeling it’s going to be a very depressing reading month.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  7. I'm glad you made it through your school project AND your sickness! Ugh! Oh, and I love that you got to see baby birds grow up before your very eyes - how awesome is that?

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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    1. The baby birds were awesome. Other than keeping me awake with their squawking, I loved watching them grow up.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  8. Sound sliek an exhausting month you had so for you I'm glad it's over and that you got through it hoorayyy!! Sorry to hear about the bronchitis though I'm (thankfully) yet to have it but know how terrible it is. :( Also that assignment? HUUGGGEEE 238 pages?!? WOW!!

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  9. Sounds like** Sorry for my atrocious spelling and my inability to re-read my words :P

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    1. That’s great that you’ve never had bronchitis. It’s annoying and takes forever to go away.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  10. I'm glad to hear you're feeling better! Well done on finishing your assignment - I can't imagine tackling a 238-pages assignment. I look forward to hear what you think about All The Lights We Cannot See. I have it as an ebook and am hoping to get to it soon. Anyway, have a great July, AJ! :)

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    1. Thanks! I loved All The Light We Cannot See. I actually loved it so much that it’s hard for me to write a coherent review.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  11. Oh wow... it sounds like June definitely had a lot happening in it. I'm so sorry to hear about how sick you were but I am glad you managed to pull through it and still finish your assignment as well! That's so impressive. It must be so good to have it all behind you now <3

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  12. Bronchitis stinks... especially when you have a 200+ page assignment. Ugh! Hopefully July will bring no illness, and no insane assignments!

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  13. I'm seriously so happy that this month is over for you, poor thing! Congrats on completing your second-to-last grad school residency and getting that humongous paper done! Hoping your July is going well :)

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