Not gonna lie, but I hit a reading slump HARD. Like Wile E. Coyote hitting a dang wall hard.
And all you roadrunners know who you are, and I’m not even going to pretend not to be jealous of your amazing ability to, like, read copious amounts of books and stuff.
So here we are in August, with one month left for the #20BooksofSummer, and how is it looking?
Welp, not good. Those of you who are squeamish may want to look away. You may find this upsetting.
#20BooksofSummer Update
ARCs Read: 4 out of 20
Bonus Reads: 4
Sooo … this could have gone a little better? To be fair, I have repeatedly stated how bad I am at follow TBRs! They are the bane of my already sad and meager existence. I can guarantee I won’t get to the other 16 books in the next month, but hey, I gave it a go, and we’ll see how many I do manage to squeeze in.
ARC August
What’s this? A whole month dedicated to reading ARCs? Be still my heart. ARC August is hosted by Read. Sleep. Repeat. Since I have so many ARCs to read as it is, it seems silly not to join, right? Because I’m a glutton for punishment, obviously.
Instead of just focusing on the books in my #20BooksofSummer, though, I’m going to mix in a few upcoming releases I need to read for August and September. While still trying to read some of my backlog, obviously. And hoping that I can claw my way out of this reading slump. No pressure.
ARC August TBR:
Can I get through all of these in August?! I don’t know. I’m still really bad at following TBRs. Maybe my ARC August goal would be to stick to a TBR for a change. But I feel like that’s maybe asking too much of little old me.
It’s been a while since I’ve read poetry, even though I try to make an effort to read it more often. When Death Takes Something From You, Give It Back is fulfilling that particular niche. I realized I love reading the “classic” poets, and I’ve totally neglected contemporary poetry.
Gideon the Ninth and The Deaths and Afterlife of Aleister Crowley are borne from my need of snarky, sarcastic characters. Plus, I’ve been on an LGBTQ kick lately, so that was the cherry on the necromancer cake. And The Lady Rogue, well, I never could say no to adventure and kickass female leads.
I’ve really taken an interest in middle grade, since my daughter’s in that age range and it’s nice to be able to help her find books, especially since she’s so picky (and I can’t imagine where she gets that from). Pet seems like a nice, diverse read and seems like a really interesting allegory. I’ve also really been on a grief and loss kick, so The Ghost Collector caught my attention, especially since it’s been a year since we lost my grandmother and my daughter still struggles with it now and then, so I’d love to find a few good books for her with protagonists also working through their grief.
I’ve pretty much given up on reading challenges, after failing them for years! It’s enough to try and get all my ARCs read each month without throwing something else in my way. I have better luck personally when I can pick and choose what I’m in the mood for.
I think that’s more where my personality is, too, but I also suffer from severe FOMO. So when everyone gets to talking about their challenges, I always want to join in. I forget that I don’t read nearly as much as some of these people. xD
I can’t wait to hear what you think of Lady Rogue and compare notes on Gideon the Ninth. By the way… love Bugs Bunny. Slumps happen. You’ll get through.
Me too! Looney Tunes was a staple in my house growing up. :3 My daughter enjoys it, too, thankfully. I mean, because she was going to be forced to endure it either way. xD
Thank you! Someone should invent a cure for slumps. Imagine how rich they would be.
Audibles are good good for slumps sometimes just because you can listen to them while doing other things!
Lol and yes – that and animaniacs! Your kids will be set!
YES! We started her on Animaniacs years ago. We’re all obsessed with it haha.
I would be doing well on my #20BooksOfSummer (I’m almost at the end of book 11) but I’ve bought quite a few new books I couldn’t resist so they’ve squashed in between!!! If it was just read 20 any old books between June 3 and September 3 I’d be well on my way to tripling that 😬 but I keep getting distracted from my list!!
Oh thank goodness, I’m not the only one who can’t resist temptation. xD I had a bunch of library books I had out that I needed to read and get back. Also … I sort of may have had more ARCs accepted that I hadn’t expected, because NetGalley can surprise you that way. xD I’m not complaining, but I am behind lol.
I’m pretty sure you also did say you were bad with TBRs, right? I feel like that totally covers our bases. 😉
I’m awful in that I don’t like to be restricted!!! That said I’ve smashed through three on my list yesterday so feeling proud of myself and enjoyed them thoroughly!
Oh wow, look at you go! You’re killing it.
Trying!!
Hopefully you get to add many as possible! And enjoy them of course!
(Www.evelynreads.com)
Thank you! Definitely enjoying the ones I’m reading so far. 🙂
Love how you combined your update with your ARC August TBR! Don’t stress about only reading 4 ARCs so far—sticking to TBRs and reading all ARCs can be so tiring, can’t it? You could always switch your goal to read 20 books total? Tho 12 books in a month is still a lot unless you don’t do like anything else. 😉
I love the variety of genres on your list! I’m also hoping to read more middle grade in the future, and I actually have an MG ARC on my August TBR called Two Girls, a Clock, and a Crooked House. Idk much about it, but I love how cute the cover art is.
Here’s a link to my August TBR if ya wanna check it out: http://www.areyoumybook.wordpress.com/2019/08/02/august-tbr-lots-of-arcs-for-arc-august/
Think I can convince hubby that I need to not do anything except read this month? xD I’ve pretty much already read the 20 books in total, so there’s that. I just find it so hard to stick to TBRs, because I tend to be more of a mood reader.
I do try to read a little of everything, even though fantasy tends to be my go-to. I just don’t want to get shoehorned into that little niche and forget other books exist (even if they don’t have dragons in them, for shame).
I didn’t read the summary, either, but I looked up that cover and it’s super cute! That’s a really interesting title, too. I hope it ends up being a winner!
Bahaha. And yeah, TBRs are so constraining, aren’t they? Especially when they’re big TBRs.
I feel that—fantasy is also my go-to! Surprisingly, between my internship books and the books I’ve checked out from the library so far, I haven’t actually read a lot of fantasy this summer?
Thanks, I’m keeping my fingers crossed!
Yaas, I’m also participating in ARC August and I’m putting up like 80% of my ARC list to read 😂I’m clearly feeling like living wild this month! I think it was after reading your review that I picked up Pax. I’m excited to read it, hopefully soon. I’ve heard the Doll Factory was good, so I hope you enjoy that when you get to it 🙂
Oh, you brave soul. I hope you can get to them! So far, my August has been sort of slow reading, but I’m hoping to eventually ramp that up when I get some of the things I need to finish out of the way non-reading-wise.
I hope you enjoy Pax! It was a super quick read for me, but also really cute.
Best of wishes with your ARC August goals, Sammie! I’m not participating in any summer reading challenges, but I’ll be trying to finish some ARCs in August too!
Thank you! I feel like the fate of a book blogger is to always be trying to finish some ARCs. xD Hope you enjoy them!