Thursday, July 5, 2018

June Wrap-Up





June Snapshots




I have many snapshots because I actually accomplished my goal of posting on Instagram every day in June. I apologize in advance for all the scrolling you're about to do.













1. Nature is gross. I ran a lot in June. I only skipped one scheduled run because it was 105° (40.5°C) and the air was smoky and full of drifting ash from wildfires. Thanks, nature, for reminding me why I hate summer. This place is a hellscape sometimes. Anyway, since I spent so many hours outside, I had a few . . . interesting nature encounters:

  1. I currently have mosquito bites everywhere, including on my eyelid, which is something that needs to never happen again.
  2. I jumped over a massive bullsnake. It was stretched all the way across a 6 foot (1.8 meter) sidewalk. That means that the snake was longer than 6 feet. It barely moved when I jumped over it, so clearly it was not afraid of me. That’s comforting.
  3. There was a big toad that had been flattened by a car. A crow landed in the road, peeled the toad off in one piece, and flew away with it. Talented crow. That toad was flat.
  4. I saw a mom and her son walking home from the grocery store. The mom had loads of grocery bags hanging from both arms. The kid had one bag that he kept slinging around and tossing in the air. When I ran past them, I noticed that the kid’s bag was leaking raw, bloody meat. Either the kid had just murdered someone, or there was a package of hamburger in that bag that had burst open. Enjoy your dinner, family!





2. I hope you’re just a harmless bumper sticker enthusiast. I’ve mentioned before that most of my neighbors are irritating. They love fireworks, bonfires, loud music, loud trucks, all-night parties, getting drunk, and dragging their TVs onto the lawn so that everyone can hear what’s happening on FOX News. I did have some normal neighbors, but they moved in June! Nooo! They were a nice British couple who didn’t let their dogs bark incessantly. I liked them!

On the day they had their open house, I walked my dog past their driveway. There was only one car at the open house. It had bumper stickers all over the back. Do you know what was on those bumper stickers? Confederate flags and assault rifles. Noooo! Why can’t anybody around here have quiet, nonlethal hobbies?












Wayward Googlers



Cait @ Paper Fury sometimes posts the amusing Google searches that led people to her blog. Today, I’m stealing her idea. Here are some unfortunate souls who ended up on Read All The Things! instead of finding what they were Googling for.


“antique furniture Baltimore.” Nope. Still a book blog, no matter how many times people ask me to sell furniture. 
 “Out inside back . things again.” Why would you even Google this? 
 “Can drug addiction be passed down hereditary?” Possibly. Research is still being done on this topic. Some people may be psychologically predisposed to addiction. For those people, it’s very easy to develop an addiction. However, to become a drug addict, you need access to drugs. Then you have to put those drugs in your body. That’s environmental, not hereditary. #TheMoreYouKnow 












Books I Read



In June, I read 6 books and gave up on 1. For me, that’s a terrible reading month. One of the books was over 1000 pages and another was over 500 pages. Those should count for multiple books, right? Also, my retriever dog died from cancer in May. I’m furiously pretending that I’m okay, but honestly, I’m kind of lonely and not sleeping. Whenever I try to read, I zone out from tiredness and stare at the book like a moron. That does not help with my reading goals.




A Thousand Perfect Notes – C.G. Drews
When the Moon was Ours – Anna-Marie McLemore (DNF)
The Tale of Despereaux – Kate DiCamillo
The Complete Stories – Flannery O’Connor
Kira-Kira – Cynthia Kadohata

I also made progress on my reading challenges. Click here to see how I’m doing.












Best Books Of June





2. The Tale of Despereaux – Kate DiCamillo












Most-Viewed June Reviews

















Most-Viewed June Non-Reviews

















Posts I Wish Got More Views

















Things We Need To Talk About In July

                                                                                                        

  • I’ve acquired so many books that my shelves are in danger of imminent collapse.
  • But I’m still constantly adding more books to my TBR list.
  • What are the best books I’ve read so far this year?
  • Classic short story collections.
  • My favorite short stories of all time.
  • Swamps, caves, and parks.
  • There are so many Newbery winners!
  • Strange places where I’ve read books.
  • Occasionally, hyped books don’t suck.













All The Things!



Distance I’ve sloppily jogged so far this year = 133 miles (214k).

Number of unread books on my TBR shelf = 61 books.

I’m currently reading = Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones.











What did you do in June?










44 comments:

  1. So sorry to hear about your dog, be strong! In terms of reading, you`re still doing better than me. These past months I have been so tired from work, I barely read anything. Same for bookstagram, I`m do tired to even take pictures. Hopefully, the second half of 2018 will be better.

    Carmen`s Reading Corner

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    1. Sorry you’ve been tired. I hope you’re able to get lots of reading done in the second half of the year!

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  2. It's so sad when a pet dies. I'm sorry.
    I loved your descriptions of things that you saw while you ran last month. I went running a lot too! I'm still running actually! And it's . . . hot. Yes. But I actually don't mind being hot. I do mind being cold. Good thing it's not cold, I guess.
    Don't worry about your reading goals, I read 6 books/month in a good month.

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    1. I’m the opposite. I don’t mind running in the snow, but I can’t stand the heat.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  3. Congrats on posting every day in June! I used to be good about Instagram, but I've lost my motivation. :/ I don't know how you run in the heat! I definitely stay inside on the treadmill! I'm proud of you for doing all of your runs though, even if I'm sure you almost had a heat stroke! I'm cracking up at the searches for the month! I already forgot how to see those. XD Have a great July!

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    1. I’ve been using the treadmill lately because it’s around 100 degrees every single day. The search terms that bring people here are weird. I don’t understand why people Google some of these things.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  4. I just recently picked up a copy of Fair's book and I can't wait to try it!

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  5. LOVE all your IG pics. Great job posting so much!!! Oh man you read some LONG books. Good for you. Those big books scare me. Have a great July!

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    1. I’ve been reading so many long books that I don’t know if I’ll reach my Goodreads goal this year. I guess that’s okay. I’m enjoying my giant books.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  6. Posting every day is huge on Insta! Go you! And boo for smokey air. The last week we had the winds blow all of the Cali wild fire smoke into Tahoe and you could taste the smoke but yesterday afternoon and now today is a billion times better. Here's hoping you get a reprieve soon and that this summer isn't as brutal as it was last year with the fires *fingers crossed*.
    And sending a billion hugs your way for losing your best friend, I'm so sorry.
    Jen @ Star-Crossed Book Blog

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    1. I hate smoky air. We have wildfires pretty much constantly all summer, and I have a permanent headache from the heat and smoke.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  7. oh my gosh you did not have good luck with nature in June huh?
    Your instagram photos are amazing tho wish I could take pics like that

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    1. Haha, nature is never my friend. I always seem to come across the weird stuff.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  8. Looks like you read a lot! Great wrap-up as always!!

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  9. I definitely think a 1000 page book should count for at least 2 books, probably more like 3. OMG, I hate snakes - we've seen a couple on some of our recently walks and it just makes me want to vomit. They were just garden snakes or something, though, not some 6 foot monster.

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    1. We have garden snakes, too, but I haven’t seen any lately. The monster probably ate them.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  10. I seriously think I would have had a heart attack if I had come across a 6 foot snake of any variety while on a jog. Go you for jumping over it and continuing on! Your Instagram photos are so pretty. You really take great pics.

    And yes, George R.R. Martin books should easily count as 2 or 3 books. Sooo many pages...

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    1. Thanks! There are so many snakes around here that I’m used to them. I only freak out when they get into the house. I don’t like having to catch them and relocate them.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  11. I'm sorry about your dog :-(.

    Storm of Swords is a huge book. I think I spent months reading the five GoT books that were out last year.

    Eeek with that snake! I generally like nature, but I don't care for mosquitoes. I don't mind the heat though. I lived in Arizona for 11 years, so that's good.

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    1. I’ve thought about moving to Arizona, but the heat is one of the things that’s stopping me. I don’t think I could survive the summer.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  12. Lol about Nature is Gross #4. That kid swinging a bag of apparently bloody meat... I don't know, that image is just cracking me up for some reason. And the poor overburdened mom needs top teach him some manners... also the toad/ crow thing O.o

    Sigh Confederate flags and assault rifles. Oh and fireworks for days before and after the 4th, because... actually I have no idea why. America I guess lol. I don't get it either.

    The Tale of Despereaux looks really fun. Happy July!

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    1. Yeah . . . America . . . *Sigh.* Why can’t people enjoy quiet hobbies, like reading books?

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  13. That nature walk sounds like a good reason to stay indoors and read instead! I'm also worrying about potential new neighbours and what I might get. It's nervewracking just waiting to see if they will be a nightmare.

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  14. June was good for me. I was in St. Louis for a convention and, while in the midwest, drove up to Iowa City and attended one of the Iowa Summer Writing Conference programs... But there were downsides... it has been so hot and sticky here and then there was that new HAVC unit and replacing ducting that was a drain on savings... Although I miss living out west, the smoke from the summers fires is something I don't miss.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I’m glad you had a good June! I’ve looked at those writing conferences in Iowa, but I haven’t gone. Getting a plane ticket and hotel on top of conference fees would be expensive. I mostly stick to the conferences around here. I’m kind of bored with them, though. They get repetitive if you go to them every year.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  15. I really enjoyed a Man Called Ove.

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  16. Seems like you had an amazing month with the exception of your sweet doggie passing. So sorry for your loss :((

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  17. AJ! I have missed you so much! I'm so glad you stopped by my blog this month. With the wedding in March and al lthe chaos I completely lost track of most of the blogs I was following. Thank goodness you came back in my life. <3

    Ugh. I'm so sorry about everything. The heat, your neighbors-- and more than anything, your dog! :( RIP. It's okay to stare blankly while you mourn. We can't always be reading. Sometimes we just need space.

    You've made a TON of progress on your Newbery reading challenge since we spoke about this last. I'm only around 35 books read at this point. I've got a loooooong way to go. O_o

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    1. I don’t even know how many Newberys I’ve read. I lost count. I know I’ve read a lot of them, but I have about a zillion more to go. Another one just came in the mail yesterday.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  18. When we lived in Sussex we had fireworks for weeks before and after November 5th so I can understand your 4th July noise frustration. No assault rifles though and I can imagine anyone in posh Lewes (my home town) dragging a TV out onto the lawn!

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    1. Yeah, my neighbors are weird. When it’s too hot to watch TV inside, they drag it outside and watch it loudly.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  19. I'm so sorry to hear about your dog. That's very sad. Take care of yourself and I hope July is a good month for you.

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  20. I loved the Tale of Despereaux and, really, anything by Kate DiCamillo. So sorry to hear about your dog :( but I hope you find some solace in loving memories. Thanks for this post - I enjoy your blog!

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  21. I'm terrified of snakes so I would've run in the opposite direction... if I hadn't passed out.

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  22. I just finished Song of Swords two days ago. WOW. Now I'm ready to go read your review of it. I was behind a pickup today that had rifle, confederate flag, and Alaskan flag stickers. Um, I'm pretty sure Alaska is not a southern state.

    I do not like running or large snakes, so that whole story is a nope for me.

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  23. Sorry about the crazy neighbors. And that you're missing your dog. So sad. :-(

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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  24. My dog died almost 3 years ago and I still miss her like crazy. I was pretty much worthless for several months after her death. I do understand. I hope that you get some good neighbors next door. Neighbors can be such a good thing or such a bad thing. I hope you have a great July!

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  25. What a month! I NEED to get back into running... I've been slacking so badly.

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  26. I only managed three books in June and I don't think any one of them was all that long. I just really hated one of them and kept putting off picking it up. Ha ha. So compared to me, you did really well! 📚

    ((((((((HUGS)))))))) about missing your doggo. 💔

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  27. Sorry your dog passed away 😩 Best Friends like that are hard to replace. And I perfectly agree with you about nature, you deserve a brave heart for jumping over that snake! 🧡 I wish I only had 61 books on my TBR list! 1000+ Too many books to read!

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  28. I run everyday, but other than a two foot Gardner snake, I would probably freak out about a 6 foot one. I'm stunned you were able to jump over it! Yes, 105 is way too hot to subject your body to anything other than basking inside a refrigerated room. As far as your best books, I've read The Tale of Despereux twice and loved it.

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