June 2021 Wrap-up: So Many Books, So Little Time… Except Not Really

I completely forgot today was the last day of June! Summer is passing way too quickly, and I can’t decide whether I’m excited for school to start again or if I’d rather have summer last forever.

Life Update

• School FINALLY let out for the summer and I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
• I’m fully vaccinated now!
• I went to Barnes & Noble a grand total of three times in one month
• I finally recorded a semi-decent video to send it for my piano exam
• I found a whole lot more time to be active on my blog and I opened some social media accounts for it too (see more in the blogging section of this wrap-up!)
• I decided completely out-of-the-blue to take up crochet as my new crafty hobby

Other

Youtube Channels I Watched:

OverSimplified | Dr. Becky | Vlogging Through History

Shows I Watched:

I started watching The Mysterious Benedict Society because that book series was my favorite thing in middle school!

Books

I had a pretty good reading month: I read 12 books in total, 8 fiction and 4 nonfiction.

Fiction

Remember how in January I said I was trying to read all the Hercule Poirot books? Well, a little thing called library holds got in the way, but I am now back on track.

2.5-3 stars

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (contemporary) – read my Goodreads review

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo (YA, contemporary, poetry)– the writing in this book was beautiful! I didn’t really click with the plot, unfortunately, but so far I have adored the writing in every one of Elizabeth Acevedo’s books and can’t wait to read more.

Recursion by Blake Crouch (sci-fi)- this book started off strong, but it became confusing and didn’t make a lot of sense. It was pretty fun to read to pass the time though.

3.5-4 stars

We Dream Of Space by Erin Entrada Kelly (MG, historical fiction)– I don’t read that much middle-grade anymore, but I saw this new release from one of my favorite authors from middle school and just had to read it. Set in 1986 before the ill-fated Challenger launch, it follows three siblings as they deal with their separate life problems.

Lord Edgware Dies by Agatha Christie (classics, detective, mystery/thriller)– this installment was pretty good; Hastings is actually growing on me, there was some clever dialogue and fourth wall-breaking.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson (classics, horror)- this was a short but quite creepy and surreal read. (Also, what is it with Shirley Jackson and creepy small towns?)

4.5-5 stars

Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie (classics, detective, mystery/thriller)- I got faked out AGAIN. I was certain that I had guessed the murderer THIS time but nooooooo

The Crucible by Arthur Miller (classics, plays, historical fiction)- I did not actually read this– I watched a performance online, but it counts because I decided it does. This was one of the books I was supposed to read in junior year but didn’t get to because of online school, and it was really good.

Read my Goodreads review here

Nonfiction

The Library Book by Susan Orlean (true crime, history, literature) – Mixed feelings on this one. I was enjoying it a lot in the beginning and I have a newfound appreciation for libraries. I wasn’t sure what this book wanted to be, however, and it covered so many random topics. I would recommend this to all book-lovers though!

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson (space, physics, astronomy)– this was so interesting and I was proud of myself for actually understanding almost everything. The YouTube rabbit holes paid off.

Read my Goodreads review here!

Apollo 13 by Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger (space, engineering, history, memoir)– different editions of this book have different covers and titles. So you mean to tell me the quote is “Houston, we’ve had a problem” and not “Houston we have a problem” ? This was a really interesting book, but it did get bogged down by lots of in-depth extra information that was only tangentially related to the mission.

Alfred’s Great Music & Musicians, Book 1: An Overview of Music History by Nancy Bachus and Tom Gerou- Not sure if this one counts, but I read it for piano! It was a very interesting overview of music and some art history; I learned a lot.

Blogging

June was a great month for my blog! (I have summer vacation to thank for that of course)

I posted three times a week for the entire month, my monthly traffic tripled and I reached 600 followers!

I also started a bookstagram… don’t know how that’s going to turn out but it’s a tentative summer project. I’m not an aesthetic person by any means and my feed is extremely ugly, but I mostly post infographic versions of my blog posts and spam my story with useless life updates. Follow me!

(I’ve also been trying to make Instagram reels.)

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I’ve been working on my Pinterest too, but the algorithm has not been very friendly to me. (I need Pinterest tips)

This month’s posts:

I Deleted Snapchat During the Peak of the Pandemic: Now It’s Been Six Months

Book Review: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

5 Shocking Short Stories That Will Send Shivers Up Your Spine

The Sunshine Blogger Award #2 | My 100th Post

Recommending Books From My Most-Read Genres | Favorite YA and Adult Fiction

15 Things I Need To Do This Summer | Summer 2021 Goals

6 New Releases I Can’t Wait to Read | 2021 TBR

My Midyear Reading Progress Check | How I Track My Reading

The Outstanding Blogger Award #2 | I Procrastinated

10 Iconic Opening Lines in Literature

The Midyear Book Freakout Tag | 2021

Recommending Classics Based On Popular YA Books

…and today’s post.

Goals

Last Month’s Goals:

1) DO A DETOX DAY/CHILL WEEK-

I actually didn’t ever do this, although I still think I was mildly successful with this goal because I’ve been letting myself relax a lot more. I’ve only been “working” on stuff when I feel like it, which as soon as school ended was all the time…. hence why I didn’t actually do this. But I’ve only been working on things like my blog, Instagram account, and other personal projects that don’t really feel like “work”

2) SPEND MORE TIME WITH MY FAMILY–

I think I’ve been doing okay with this. I’ve been spending more time with my siblings when we’re at the pool, which is good.

3) BE MORE CHILL–

Success! I have been so much calmer this month and I’ve been making a conscious effort to just… chill out. And it’s working. I think.

This Month’s Goals:

1) Spend more time offline-

I want to prioritize spending time doing things offline. I already kind of focused on this in June, but I want to double the effort in July. I’ve been cooking more often, and I also want to spend more time practicing piano and working on my brand-new spontaneous hobby: crochet. Also, obviously, reading.

2) Work on my app project every day-

I’m working on creating another (third) mobile app! I actually have been procrastinating this new project for several months, but the other day I finally started and I am currently on such a roll (*knock on wood*) and I might even be able to finish it in July! Every single project I do gets easier, but since I have to learn everything on my own it’s easy to get stuck and then procrastinate. So I want to make sure I work on it every single day no matter what (unless it’s the weekend or a holiday)

3) Spend more time with my friends-

All of my friends and I are fully vaccinated by now, which feels like an absolute miracle, so I want to try to get out of the house more. As I am writing this, I haven’t left the house yet today. (To be fair, it was 105 degrees today)

Also, all of the goals on my Summer 2021 goals list…

Well, there’s my wrap-up for this month. Have you read any of the books I read this month? How was your June?

May 2021 wrap-up

April 2021 wrap-up

March 2021 wrap-up

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