May was a busy month. I actually feel accomplished that I made it through without going crazy – I felt like I barely read at all. (The amount of books I read doesn’t *look* like it, but trust me, I always pull it off right at the end.) I’m beginning to learn that reading 100 books in a year is quite a goal… and why a lesser number of readers aim for it. (I’m STILL pushing through for this, though, don’t fret. I shall conquer this.)

(Click on the covers to see my Goodreads review.)

THE CROWN by Kiera Cass ★★★★✩
SALT TO THE SEA by Ruta Sepetys ★★★★★
PASSENGER by Alexandra Bracken ★★★✩✩
LAST IN A LONG LINE OF REBELS by Lisa Lewis Tyre ★★★★✩
THE UNEXPECTED EVERYTHING by Morgan Matson ★★★★✩
SINCE YOU’VE BEEN GONE by Morgan Matson ★★★★✩
AMY & ROGER’S EPIC DETOUR by Morgan Matson ★★★✩✩
THE LAST JEW OF TREBLINKA by Chil Rajchman ★★★★✩

BEST BOOK? Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys. HOLY COW. This knocked my socks off and tore my heart up. I’d tell anyone and everyone – adults and kids alike – to read any one of Ruta Sepetys’ books, but this is definitely my favorite. I especially loved the fact that Ruta chose such a little-known maritime tragedy in WWII that more people need to know about. I felt like I learned so much! AND MY SWEET CINNABUN CHARACTERS. I wanted to snuggle them and kiss them and pat their little heads and tuck them into bed. (Well… all except one.) BEAUTIFUL.

WORST BOOK? Passenger by Alexandra Bracken. I was expecting a lot from this book, and though I did love the first half (the writing style and time travel was amazing), the ending ruined that. I wouldn’t recommend this because the sexual content made me angry. A majority of the plot centered around an inter-racial romance and the struggles our characters would face in different periods of time. That alone was wonderful to read about. But I felt the author focused so much on the physical attraction of the relationship to emphasize that this is a “diverse” book.

shout-out to Emily Gilmore for the best facial expressions that make the best GIFs.

Note: I added Treblinka to the end in the hopes that I finished it last night (I’m writing this Friday afternoon) so fingers crossed Emily actually accomplished a goal and made it to an even eight books. I spent the majority of May stressing over my reading challenge because I got way behind in April. I’m still straggling at minus five books where I’m supposed to be. *flails and refuses to refresh Goodreads page* Reading-wise it was a frustrating month because there were a lot of four star books and they all seemed to be lacking something.

Highlights: I read the final book in The Selection Series (not the best, but it was the first series that got me into young adult and my first author signing, so it’s sentimental), Ruta Sepetys’ new release (*pterodactyl shrieks*), three Morgan Matson books in a row (let’s appreciate the queen of summer romances) and a Jewish memoir of someone who survived a Nazi death camp (in preparation for a Camp NaNoWriMo novel? Maybe? Possibly? Someday??)

IN OTHER NEWS? 

I spent the first week of May on a DISNEY CRUISE and AHHH it was crazy fun. I’m officially a high schooler (!!) (sort of. I did survive stinky middle school, so that’s something) and that feels like a really odd thing to say. I always start counting down to my birthday as soon as school finishes up so THREE MORE MONTHS. My family and I also spent a weekend helping my cousins pack and move out of state, as well as packing our own house since we’ll be moving houses this summer. Do you know how heavy book boxes are?? This wimpy bookworm is so not cut out for that.

book boxes, the bane of my existence.    and here I am with my cousins
                                                                                     before they moved!

So that was my May! You’ve no idea of the HTML issues I went through to get this formatted nice and pretty  for you so I’m glad to finish this post, ha. (#bloggerprobs.) Happy summer for those of you who have finally finished school. (*collective sigh of relief*) Let me know how your reading went this month and what you’re looking forward to reading in June! (Unless you’re a mood reader like me and have no clue what’s in store for you next month.)

P.S. Before I forget – the winner of the giveaway for a copy of Last in a Long Line of Rebels is… Izel! Congrats, Izel, your book will be on its way soon!

MARCH DIDN’T LIKE ME MUCH THIS YEAR.

I landed myself in a horrible reading slump, so I didn’t start reading regularly until halfway through the month. By that point, I was way behind on my reading goal, and freaking. out. (Just ask Brooke, who coaxed me through it with advice and pep talks.) But, by the end of the month, I had read eight books and lived to tell the tale.

(Click on the covers to see my Goodreads review.)

HOPE IS A FERRIS WHEEL by Robin Herrara ★★★✩✩
BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY by Ruta Sepetys ★★★★★
DEFEATING DARWINISM by Phillip E. Johnson ★★★★✩
WOLF BY WOLF by Ryan Graudin ★★★★★
OUT OF THE EASY by Ruta Sepetys ★★★★✩
THE SIREN by Kiera Cass ★★✩✩✩
ROSE UNDER FIRE by Elizabeth Wein ★★★★★
THIRTEEN REASONS WHY by Jay Asher ★✩✩✩✩

BEST BOOK? Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein. This is the companion novel to Code Name Verity, which I LOVEEEE to the moon and back 120000 times. I’ve been meaning to read Rose Under Fire and my. word. I am so glad I did! I beg you to read Elizabeth Wein’s books.

WORST BOOK? Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. No. Just… no. I spent the entire book wanting to throw it across the room, but that wouldn’t do because I listened to an audio book on my phone. Too bad.

So… all in all, March was a pretty good reading month. I also read eight books in January and February, but I’m still a book behind my reading schedule, sigh. Considering I didn’t finish a book until March 14, I’d say I did pretty good for playing catch-up the last half. April is a pretty booked month already (ha ha ha) – I’m in the home stretch for school, but there’s still a lot of work to do – but there is a cruise (!!!) to look forward to at the end of the month. So wish me luck!

IN OTHER NEWS? 

Well, March also included: coffee (or frappuccinno) dates with my freckled-face sister, Easter (which meant snazzy church dresses, chocolate, chocolate and guess what – more chocolate!), going to the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina, seeing the Allegiant movie with my friend (*cringe*), and starting Downton Abbey, yippee.

she didn’t know I was taking this, shh.    and this is me in a 2-story library with
                                                                                     10,000 books, WHHAAAT.

here we have a photo of Biltmore – isn’t it beautiful?!

The last end of March had my entire family down in the dumps – quite literally, as my parents and sister all caught a stomach bug, and I just got over an awful sinus infection. Here’s to an even better April – and plenty of April shower rainy afternoons perfect for reading!

How was your March, bookworms? Read any good books? 🙂

The first month of the year has come and gone! Can you believe that?! So it’s time for another monthly recap, wherein I recap the month: what I read, wrote, blogged, did, ate, scratched, and licked. (Um.. so maybe not all of that? Dunno where that came from. I scratched my nose just now, and licked an envelope once.)

the books.

I read eight books (so far) in January! I’m working on the ninth, Resist by Emily Ann Putzke, so hopefully I can finish that before Sunday and get to nine! I’m really, really proud of myself. This is the first year I’ve decided to reach my goal of reading 100 books in a year, and I’m right on track so far! Last year my goal was 50 (I made it to 70, which was amazing) but this year I really wanted to stretch myself even farther. I’m making it so far! One month down, eleven more to go. Eight books down, only 92 glorious more to read!

Best Book: The Winner’s Curse and The Winner’s Crime by Marie Rutkoski. They’re the first two in The Winner’s Trilogy; the third hits shelves March 29 and I can’t WAIT to get it!

Worst Book: The Heir & The Spare by Emily Albright. I had to be honest in my ARC review… even if the author does have one awesome  name.

In other blog-(ish?) news, I’ve recently been spending a lot more time on Goodreads! I’m constantly making updates on the books I’m reading and browsing through my updates to see what you’re all reading, so friend me here and we can be Goodreads buddies. 🙂

the blog.

To kick the month (year?!) off, I came up with 7 books I was excited for releasing in 2016… and… a LOT more have been added to the list. (Maybe I should a part two/follow-up post??! BECAUSE THERE ARE SO MANY.) On the top of the list: The Winner’s Kiss by Marie Rutkoski. (READ THE WINNER’S TRILOGY. GO. RIGHT NOW. I don’t even care if you finish this post just GET IT. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE POST. Read my blog carefully, mm-kay?!!) I’m… kind of… obsessed with these books now.

The most viewed post of the month was Stacking the Shelves #28. I always get the most comments/views on my stacking the shelves posts, and I’m so glad you guys like them so much because they’re my favorite too!

What can you look forward to next month? WELL, I’m glad you asked! Last month when I did my end-of-the-year survey, I got a suggestion for craft projects. WELP. I’m bringing it to you. soon. That is… *sometime* in February. I’ve got an idea floating around in my brain, it just requires a bit of money (DON’T worry I’ve got your back. All cheap stuff, cheap-cheap-cheap. That’s my motto, and don’t you forget it.) Oh, and some experimenting. And… picture-taking skills? I take pictures of books. Not… scissors and glue. (THERE’S a hint, see and guess what my mystery craft project will be, hmmm? It’s bookish-related!) So, I’ll be new to that so hang in with me. I’m hoping to do more DIY bookish-related projects this year!

On an un-related note, PEOPLES — Leap Year is on Netflix now! Only my favorite movie of ever. Oh, and The Prince & Me but I don’t have a GIF for that. Go watch ’em, alright? 

on your blogs.

– Izel has her own self-hosted URL now! She can be found on abookishflower.com! 
– Lady Literature did the Reader’s Confession Tag! (and tagged me, yay!)
– Hannah shared her feelings about the upcoming Anne of Green Gables movie! (Which I am thrilled about.)
– Madi shared a bit of her new novel!
– Olivia shared several apps for bookish people and writers! (They’re all very useful.)
– Grace recommends top 7 movies for a snow day.
– Katie share a spot-on editing survival guide. (Fuzzy socks and pizza are a must, but I mean come on. They’re a must for EVERYTHING, not just editing, geez.)

other happenings.

Us Georgians down yonder got our first snow! This is the real deal, peoples! (Though some people evidently have some hot toes because something about big fluffy jackets and flip-flops appeals to people? I mean I’m not in on the fashion trends… is that a thing now?) Of course I got some fab pictures of my babies.

That’s about all I got for this month! Here’s to the weekend. 🙂 May your Friday night be every good as my Thursday night. (Spent eating ice cream in pajamas and listening to Taylor Swift. And, of course, blogging.)

what bookish things did you do/read this week? what’s been happening on your blog? happy almost february!

Where is this month going?! LISTEN. There is a mere thirty-three days left in the year! What? When did that happen? Which means Christmas is coming (can’t believe Thanksgiving went that fast) and hopefully that means more BOOKS! (Because that’s obviously the one thing I need more of.)

(x)

the books.

I read five books this month, which isn’t my best, but it’s definitely a lot better than last month’s. I read The Witch Of Blackbird Pond for school (and it was amazing!) plus it’s my last school-required book for the year so yay for blog-required books! And then, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, those other four up there. That would be The Lunar Chronicles. The series you convinced me to read and I fell madly in love with. You can read my reviews for Cinder and Scarlet (the titles link to the review) if you want, ’cause then we can talk about them and gibber on and on and on! Be on the lookout for Cress and Winter’s reviews in the next two weeks, or follow me on Goodreads here to always get a sneak peek of what I’m reading. (Seriously. I’m on Goodreads allll the time.) Oh and I’ve just started Going Rogue by Robin Benway yesterday, so maybe I’ll finish it before December. Hopefully I can make it to six this month!

the posts you liked best.

• Stacking the Shelves #25 got a bunch of hits, and I can only assume this is because of the adorable picture of my books and bunny slippers.
• And in second place, Fictional Characters Who Rule The World – which I thought was a pretty awesome post, too, so thank you very much for that.
• And in third, my review for Cinder by Marissa Meyer, which is to be expected because you’ve been waiting for me to read this series for months and months now amirite??

on your blogs.

• Izel shares her concerns for Winter by Marissa Meyer (which I read after reading Winter but thought it was a spot-on post – just don’t read it unless you’ve finished Cress!)
• Trisha had her very first blog birthday and is also taking a hiatus… and I miss her!!
• Madi is almost to 50 followers and she needs your help to get there, so GO & FOLLOW HER OKAY?
• Katie is making me feel like a jealous little writer with her 10,000-words-in-a-day NaNoWriMo, but she’s such a fabulously fast writer and it really inspires me. Love your updates, girl, keep ’em coming!
• Grace shares why she hates Black Friday, and I have to say… she made some pretty good points.
• Amanda writes to Christian teens about sticking with your faith and it’s so thought-provoking and inspiring… just like ALL of her posts! (Go read them please.)

what to look for on the blog.

• CHRISTMAS GIVEAWAYS! Okay, well… maybe one Christmas giveaway. (Because I am broke trying to buy presents for people, grr!) The amazing Melanie Dickerson has agreed to sponsor a giveaway for any one of her books this December. Which one do you want to win?? (Tell me below and the book that gets the most requests will be the one I tell her to giveaway!) You can read my reviews for her books: The Captive Maiden, The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest, and The Princess Spy. Though those are definitely not all of the books she’s written – you can look at them here before telling me which one you want to win! Her newest book, The Golden Braid, just hit shelves November 17th!
• A birthday bash! Miss Jane Austen is turning 239 on December 16, and this calls for a PARTY! I’ll be doing… something special, so keep your eyes peeled.
• 2016 reads! 2016 is RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER, peoples. I’ve already got December’s reviews scheduled which means I’ll be making a page for the reviews I post in 2016 soon… and this is scaring the heck out of me ’cause 2015 is the fastest year I’ve ever lived through, geez. And – AND – this means For the Bookish’s second birthday is right around the corner… (omg my baby is growing up so fast!)
• OTHER FUN STUFF. I honestly have no idea what’s going to happen on the blog in December because I’ve recently hit a bout of blogger’s block (thus the influx of tags) soooooo. Who knows?!

NOW! Are you ready to see who won the $10 Barnes & Noble gift card giveaway?? ARE YOU? Hmmm?

And the winner is… *drum roll please* …. BROOKE! Congratulations, Brooke! I’ll be emailing you soon to get your gift card sent off. 🙂

what fun stuff did you do in november? what books did you read? and what are you looking forward to in december? (it’s beginning to look a lot like christmaaaaasssss….!!!)

WHAT. THIS IS NOT HAPPENING. Tomorrow is November. That’s twenty-six days till Thanksgiving. That means a mere sixty-one days until 2016. That means fifty-five days till Christmas. That means it’s time for October’s monthly recap on FTB!

To be honest, I don’t even remember what I do in monthly recaps. I have to look at the past ones to see what I covered. Because by the end of each month, everything is such a blur. I suppose I usually start with the books I read this month, so let’s go with that…… or maybe not since I read all of TWO BOOKS IN OCTOBER.

This is sad. This is so, so sad. Annnnd… one of them was a re-read. I re-read Rachel Coker’s Interrupted: A Life Beyond Words (which is amazing, as it has been the past dozen times I’ve read it since the fifth grade) and The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom (which was even more amazing, and the review will be up on Monday!)

I’m not sure if it’s the dreary weather that puts me in a lazy mood (because Georgia has been cloudy and overcast practically all of October) or school or what. And November is NaNoWriMo – which means writing 50k in 30 days, and I may start hyperventilating at that thought – so I’m not sure how many books I’ll be able to get to next month. Which means December will be nothing but books all month long. (And I’m already counting down till Christmas break, so let’s do it!) I revised my 2015 reading goal to 70 books instead of 50 (I’ve read 58 or 59 since January?) so hopefully I can read a mere 12 books more. I read that many in a month during the summer, and I miss those days!!

Oh – oh – oh – but I am almost done re-reading Pride & Prejudice, which is nice. I never get tired of Miss Jane Austen.

Meanwhile, some highlights on the blog were:

• My first co-post with my best bookish friend Brooke 😉
• I talked about supporting authors which I’ve been wanting to write forever
• OH AND THIS HAPPENED.

50 followers may not seem like a lot, but it’s a lot to me and I’M SO HAPPY! Currently thinking of a super cool giveaway to do so be on the lookout… oh and if you wanna reach for 100 sometime soon and tell your friends and everything that’d be cool. (‘Cause I’d have the coolest giveaway on the blogging block when we reach 100, just sayin’.)

And here are some AMAZING things that happened in October for me…

• I FaceTimed with Brooke (who most of you know – my pen pal and the sweetest commenter ever and pretty much my best friend and now I’m making her blush!) and I was SO NERVOUS. Also, I haven’t mentioned this to her (so now you know Brooke) but November will be a year ago when she first commented on my blog…. heeheeeheee. It will be our one year friendaversary, Brooke! 😉
• Meet BEASLEY. My dad finally caved, y’all. We were out for an eye exam and we brought home a dog! He was skin and bones when the shelter got him… almost about to be put to sleep. 🙁 The vet says he’s probably a border collie and dane, and he is positively adorable. (But definitely *not* potty-trained, ugh..) He’s already spoiled rotten and in love with our cat Mittens. (Maisy not so much, but she’s getting there.)

• We drove a U-Haul truck of donations to South Carolina for flood victims. I’m not sure if I’ve talked about it a lot on the blog or not, but my mom posted on Facebook asking for donations to fill our mini van and drive up there. (It’s my mom’s hometown that was flooded.) That turned into our homeschool group and a few churches in our area donating and it was crazy! (Crazy-awesome.) We stayed with some friends who were just outside the flooding and drove to several churches in S.C. who had 400 people coming everyday for food, blankets, clothes… basically everything.

Some of the moms aren’t pictured but as you can see we had some men for the heavy-lifting! 🙂

I would talk about what went on on your blogs but I’m kind of too lazy so I’ll just leave you instead with a flashback to my first-ever-selfie. In case you’re having a bad day.

I clearly rocked the selfies at 5.

how was your october??

What. My favorite month of the year is over already?! How can that be?! I look forward to September practically all year. *sigh* Well, I suppose October is a fabulous month… and I am excited for more fall-ish weather. Georgia has not gotten the hint lately and I am READY for some sweater weather! Soooo welcome, October!

books read this month

Wellll, this kind of stinks. It wasn’t such a great month book-wise. Last month, I read ten books! And this month, I read… well, I read four. Plus a novella – which was only eleven chapters and I read it in about half an hour, so I discount that. BUT it was a rather busy month, what with birthday festivities (FOURTEEN! WHOO!!) and vacation and recouping after vacation and worrying about my lost cat for three days… so there are my excuses. 😉

I also haven’t written reviews for any of these books and I REALLY NEED TO! A Snicker of Magic, Also Known As, and The Last Sin Eater were sooooo gooood. I did write a review for The Queen – the novella I read – which went up Monday, if you want to check that out.

Meanwhile, I’m re-reading Pride & Prejudice this week, and mom’s letting me write an essay on it for school, so CHEERS FOR CUTE MR. DARCY! I’m at the best part right now. And don’t even get me started on Mr. Bingley. Basically:

And no boy compares to sweet Fitzwilliam Darcy…

highlights on the blog

• Audrey guest posted and made a list of books she aims to read and re-read for fall!
• I recapped my trip to the beach! (I want to go baaaaack.)
• I shared my thoughts on re-reading, which the most fun post to write this month, personally. 🙂
• I’M GIVING AWAY A NOTEBOOK! Notebooks are da bomb diggity, so go enter!!

what happened on YOUR blogs

• Madi interview Daisy, which was awesome because I got two of my favorite bloggers in one post!
• Daisy made some really exciting news and she is a bundle of flailing happiness!
• Audrey did a wonderful post asking… are fictional heroines too perfect??
• Trisha talked about her feelings on audio books. 
• Amanda wrote a very thought-provoking post on feminism. LOVE, thank you Amanda for this post!
• Heather compared writing to driving.
• Bella reviewed Finding Audrey & it is now officially on my TBR!

cool things i did in september

• I TURNED FOURTEEN. Now I shall begin the countdown for the day I can officially drive… (my mom crazy.)
• I went to the beach, and I had such a blast. Can I just please please please please go back??!
• I got a baby yellow-belly slider turtle named Squirt. She’s in a tank with my sister’s two turtles, but she’s usually the one in the farthest corner away from the others, in a hole she dug herself in the pebbles. It has been decided amongst my family that she is me, minus the hole-digging.
• I lost my cat! … and then found her again. Three days’ panic attack over, folks. On the plus side, Crazy Maisy is a lot more cuddle-y lately! 😉

so what did you do in august?? what are you excited for in october? can’t wait to hear!

It’s almost September! Whaaaaat??! It’s my absolute favorite month of the year. For me, it doesn’t matter that the first actual day of fall isn’t until September 23rd, it totally starts on September 1st. Not to mention it’s my BIRTHDAY MONTH!! (Eleven days today!) Also: the pumpkin spice latte returns to Starbucks on September 8th! Yesssss. And I’m going to the beach in twelve days. (Well, and October, too!) There are just a ton of things to look forward to in September.

So today, as it is the last day of August, I bring you: August’s monthly recap.

books read this month

I read nine books this month. I’m pretty proud of myself. In July, I read eleven (if you look at the recap for July, it says ten, but I finished one the day that post went up), and I didn’t even have school that month. That said, a few blog-related things (comments, emails, ARC’s piling up, etc., etc.) have kind of gotten out of control… but I did not let that stop me from reading! ALSO: If you haven’t noticed… I finished my 2015 reading goal.

Soooo my goal was fifty books. Sounds fair, right? That’s about one book a week. Well, so far there have been thirty-five weeks in the year and I read fifty, so that’s about 1.42 books a week. (Average, of course.) Sometimes I read three books in a month (pathetic, right?) and sometimes I read eleven. It all just depends. Either way, I finished my goal four months early and I’M PROUD! I’m thinking for 2016, I’ll make my goal seventy or eighty books. Whaddya think?

SO! These are the books I read in August:

By the way, I messed up that order so up top, I read The False Prince first, and then on bottom I read The Runaway King first… so in order of which books I read first to last this month, go from top right-to-left, and bottom right-to-left. 😉 Basically: ALL OF THESE BOOKS WERE AWESOME. I’ve written reviews for all of them on Goodreads (click the link to click on the book you want to read its review) if you want to get a head start and read them, or you can wait for September (and part of October) for them on the blog.

what happened on the blog

Remember the highlights this past month when…

• Audrey tagged me for the infinity dreams award
• I hosted a giveaway for The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest
• I talked about switching POV’s in books
• I interviewed the lovely Rachel Coker
• I began a new feature with Trisha called Monthly Must-Reads

what happened on YOUR blogs

• Madison wrote a poem called “Boredom” (I loved the rhythm of it!)
• Audrey talks about finishing first drafts (I bookmarked the page because it’s so helpful!)
• Daisy helps guys out with four pick-up lines a fangirl would fall hard for! (Yes. Just yes.)
• Trisha compared book slumps and blogger’s block & gave tips for getting past it (Very helpful; I agree 100%)
• Amanda talked about romance, and why she values it, and marriage. (THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, Amanda, for this post! Everyone, please take a few minutes to read it. It sums up everything I feel about romance myself.)

cool things i did in august

• started back to school…. and had my first day back to home-school co-op! 😉
• Hung out with my aunt and baby cousin Abbie

• got Chivalrous by Dina Sleiman in the mail! … before it hits shelves on September 8th!
• Went to a Braves game on Friday (they played against the Yankees… I’d rather not talk about how it went down.) >_<

so that was my month! what fun things did you do in august?

OH. OH, WAAAAIIIT. I know what you’re all here for. You’re here for the giveaway winner announcement, right?? Okay, well, I guess I better announce who won before too long…

The winner…

Of a paperback copy of The Huntress Of Thornbeck Forest…. 

Is…

Madison T.!!!!

CONGRATS, Madison! I’ll be sending you an email soon to get your address so I can mail it out to you. Thanks to everyone who entered! Hopefully there will be many more giveaways on For the Bookish to come. 🙂 Enjoy the book, Madison!

I always forget to do a monthly recap, but they’re so much fun and I always mean to! Finally, this month I got to it! And lucky for you – since there are so many posts I’m trying to squeeze into the month (more on that later in July – I’ve got the entire month planned out already!), you get an extra post tomorrow – The Ultimate Book Tag.

books read this month

Well, this is sad. I’ve only read three books this month! 🙁 Not even half the books I usually read… BUT I definitely plan on catching up in July! Sadly, I was also in a major book slump this month, but I think I’ve finally snapped out of it. After not finishing a book for two weeks, I began Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer (a mother-daughter duo! How sweet!) and ate it up! Seriously, I loved it! Read it in two days. 😉 I can’t wait to read the new sequel.

what happened on the blog

I took one week off of blogging while I was at summer camp, but the rest of the month was so much fun! (If I do say so myself. 😉 ) The highlights for me were:

• Interviewing author Erin E. Moulton
• Giving you all a sneak peek inside my notebooks
• Recapping my summer camp (and talking about my book slump!)

You loved:

• My third Liebster award (with the most views this month!)
• My review for Dear Opl – which hits shelves August 4!
• Recapping my summer camp (and talking about my book slump!)

awesome things i did in june

• Went to summer camp for a week.
• Went to White Water and Six Flags (several times!)
• Went to the zoo.
• Went swimming several times.
• And a few others things I’m forgetting!

So it’s been an amazingly fun summer so far! (And hopefully you can forgive me for only reading three books??) 😀 I’m looking forward to everything I get to do in July, including reading more books. 😉

on the blog in july

I’m coming out of my ears with blog post ideas, I’ve got the entire month worked out! … And I’m still moving things around, trying to fit in things and figure out when to post what. 🙂 Here are just a few of the ideas I’m definitely doing:

• Talking about book slumps
• Bringing back a Friday Ramblings (a test trial! I shall try!)
• MG vs. YA
• A 4th-of-July collab with Trisha at Forever Trisha
• Tags and 3-day-challenges! (That means, for the 3-day-quote challenge, I’ll be posting three days in a row!)

So what are you looking forward to in July? Vacation? Any blog posts you’re excited about (on mine and yours)? 🙂

P.S. I forgot to mention that today marks the first day of July NaNoWriMo! I was wondering if anyone else is participating. I’m really excited about it… my word count goal is 30,000 words. (Whether or not that completes my novel, or I’ll still keep going after July, I want at least 30k written THIS month.) I have absolutely no clue if I can do this, but I’m *trying* to give it my best shot this time! My profile for Camp NaNo is here. If you’ve not joined yet, I’d love it if you were in my cabin or maybe we could still talk about our stories in the comments. Let me know! 😉