Tags and Fun

July Wrap Up!

July has felt like hard work – between the heatwave, a bunch of other commitments, and my brain, I’ve had to really work for every page I’ve read!

Goodreads Challenge

During July I read 46 books, which I’m genuinely surprised by. I thought it would be closer to twenty, as I’ve really not been in the mood to read, but I’m impressed! That brings me up to 282 books for the year, so that 300 goal is getting closer and closer – I’m definitely going to consider upping my goal to 365 when I hit September, assuming nothing goes off track.

My Owned TBR

My plan for July was to get the TBR down from 418 to 400, which I did and then some! I’m currently sitting at 390, which is the result of a combination of reading mostly backlist books, and DNFing several books I no longer wanted to read. It was even lower than that, but I’ve had a flurry of review copies come in just in the last few days of the month!

I had a few days in July where I’ve really not been excited to read, but I’ve been using that kind of slumpy feeling to pick through my shelves and work out where my tastes have changed – when I started blogging I got dragged into the YA fantasy world because of all the hype, but although there are some gems I love in the genre, over time I’m realising that a lot of serious YA fantasy doesn’t do it for me any more. It’s no problem with the books, they just have a very specific vibe that isn’t what I’m looking for, so they never get picked up – and with so many amazing books in other genres to read, there were a lot I could just strike from the list. I unhauled over 50 books this month, some read, some not, which sounds like a huge amount but honestly, I’m not sure it’s made a visible difference!

This month I’d like to get the TBR down to 365, which is 25 books lower than now. It might be a stretch, but that really would be a single year’s stash!

Physical Review Copies

I’ve really lost track of keeping my review copy list updated, so my numbers are all over the place, but I’m making great progress on cutting the pile down visually. I have three stacks on my desk, and I want to reduce them to two by the end of the summer. I really need to crack on with the books in my 20 Books of Summer challenge, as I’ve only ticked one new one off the list this month, bringing me up to a total of eight.

Wrap Up

Least favourite: Wise Woman’s Telling by Faye Sampson; the Sisters in Fantasy anthologies

Favourites: The Nice and Accurate Good Omens TV Companion (seriously, this is how you do a behind-the-scenes book!); The Black Coast by Mike Brooks

Shortest: Sunbolt by Intisar Khanani

Longest: The Black Coast by Mike Brooks

I’d love to read more wrap up posts, so leave me a comment below if you have one!

4 thoughts on “July Wrap Up!

    1. Thank you, I’m so proud! Yes, when they pop into my line of vision I’m giving them 100 pages or so, and if I find I’m rolling my eyes too much then out they go 😂 It’s the ones that take themselves too seriously that aren’t working for me, there’s a certain genre-savviness I need to enjoy them.

      Liked by 1 person

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