June 2019 Wrap-Up // In Which I Have Stars For Eyes and Galaxies For Brains

Hello, my waffle-loving army! It’s been a hot minute since I’ve done one of these wrap-up posts, which is kind of a shame considering how much I like them. There is something so satisfying about numbers and stats and who am I kidding? I hate math, but I do love the triumphant feeling I get from looking over the past month’s bookish conquests. Some months, I have a large pile of vanquished books groveling at my feet (which I guess is just a super weird/macabre way of saying I read a lot). Other months, such as this one, that pile is sadly much smaller. As a hardcore mood reader, this is inevitable and I’m okay with that!

What I Read in June

Aurora Rising // Amie Kaufman + Jay Kristoff // 📱// SQUAD 312. SQUAD 312. SQUAD 312. THIS WILL BE MY RALLYING CRY UNTIL THE DAY I DIE. And even then, I will make sure that those very words are engraved on my tombstone. That way, anybody who happens to stumble upon it later will know that I adore the snarky misfits of Squad 312.

Empress of a Thousand Skies // Rhoda Belleza // 📱// I’ve been on a heavy Sci-Fi kick lately (I blame you, Aurora Rising). I’m so space-sick right now, I think I’ve got stars for eyes and galaxies for brains. (The perfect emoji for me right now: 🤩)

In my quest to read all things space-y (is that even a word??) I decided to pick up Empress of a Thousand Skies. Despite my initial excitement (IT’S SET IN…you guessed it…SPACEEEEEEEEE 💫⭐☄️), I found myself struggling to get through it. *Insert crying face emoji here* Although the plot addresses timely issues such as white privilege, racial profiling, and privacy issues, I couldn’t get past the stale characters and the half-baked worldbuilding.

A Very Large Expanse of Sea // Tahereh Mafi // 🎧// This is probably the fourth or fifth audiobook that I’ve listened to narrated by Priya Ayyar, and gosh, she is quickly becoming one of my absolute favorite narrators.

Beautiful narration aside, A Very Large Expanse of Sea is one of those books that can rip everything you think you know right out of your pudgy little fingers (okay, your fingers might not be pudgy, but mine definitely are) and make your world go flippity-flop like a turtle on its back. In other words, it’s life-altering. It opened my eyes to the reality of many hard issues, and hopefully will help me to become a more empathetic, educated human being™ in the future.

Finale // Stephanie Garber // 📱// This book was like a gallon of Chunky-Monkey ice cream, or a freshly-baked plate of gooey Snickerdoodle cookies, or a big bag of sour cream and onion potato chips (whatever your comfort food happens to be); once I started reading, I couldn’t stop until I ate it alllllll up. The result? I now have some darker bags under my eyes than I would like (there just aren’t enough hours in the day, so my sleep must be sacrificed to the bookish gods). But now my heart is filled with a bit more magic and stardust, so I’ll it an even trade.

#YARC Reading Challenge Update

What I Watched in June

Captain Marvel // Higher, further, faster, baby. Gosh, this movie screamed, “GIRL POWRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!” with its every waking breath. (Movies don’t wake or even breathe, do they? Oh well. You get what I mean. I can English properly, I promise hehe.)

How to Train Your Dragon 3: The Hidden World // Confession, I actually haven’t see How to Train Your Dragon 2 all the way through yet (which is a grievous oversight on my part that I will correct heretofore). But I will forever stan my precious cinnamon roll bby Hiccup and don’t even get me started on the cuteness that is Toothless. That’s a whole Master’s Thesis unto itself.

聲の形 // Koe No Katachi // A Silent Voice // This movie is too beautiful for words. Anything I say will be so completely and utterly inadequate, I don’t even want to try.

Gilmore Girls {Season 2} // You might wonder how someone who grew up in the 90s never partook of the glory that is Gilmore Girls. To answer that question: I do not know. All I know is I just somehow managed to avoid it. So, at long last, I decided that enough was enough and that I should finally see what all the hype was about. The first season? PURE AND UNADULTERATED JOY. The second season? I dunno…I guess I just can’t get over how immature Lorelai is. I’m sure that this would not have been an issue if I had watched this show when I was younger though. *shrugs*

This Month On the Blog

• I came back from a looooooong hiatus and WENT SELF-HOSTED. EEP.
• The blog underwent a major redesign and although it’s already been a month, I STILL CRY HEART EMOJIs EVERY TIME I LOOK AT IT. (A big thanks to Giulia Priori Art for the perfectly perfect art! She’s a gem and I 10/10 would recommend).
• I participated in not one, but TWO blog tours hosted by the lovely, the wonderful, Royal Polar Bear Reads.
• I was so busy blogging and setting up my new website that I didn’t hardly read at all? Oof. This is awkward.

My Posts from June

Around the Blogosphere

• Tis the season to go self-hosted! Check out Kal @ Reader Voracious’ beautiful new blog. Shameless Self-Promotion Alert: I was totally the one who designed her new blog header, button, and favicon (Sidenote: I’m so lucky to have had the chance to work with Kal! She’s a SUPERSTAR). If you’re interested in seeing more of my design work, then click here.
• May @ Forever and Everly announced The Third Annual 2019 Book Blogger Awards and I’m so excited to shout from the rooftops about some of my favorite bloggers. Stay tuned for lots of gushing and emotions 💛
• Lily @ Sprinkles of Dreams came back from a hiatus and now I’m running through the streets singing the hills are alive because she is the radiant sunshine we all love and need.
• CW @ The Quiet Pond should win an award for this list of writing prompts. Perfect for those of us (*coughcoughMEcoughcough*) who never know how to start that book review, these 63 prompts are going to save lives.
• Tracy @ Truffles Literary Wonders updated her design portfolio and let me just scream a little bit into the void: SHE IS SO TALENTED!!!!!!!!! (There. That appears to be an appropriate number of exclamation points…Oh wait. No, I changed my mind…have a few more, just for good measure: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
• The Moodboard-Making Queen 👑 (AKA: Tiffany @ Read by Tiffany) explained how she makes her rainbow moodboards and her tutorial makes me see heart eye emojis.

Have you read any really good YA Sci-Fi books that you would recommend? I NEED MORE SPACE IN MY LIFE 🤩

What did you read in this month? Share your favorite reads in the comments!