Monthly Recap: June


June saw me slip into an even worse reading slump then May. How am I going to get out of it? HOW? Seriously, how, because I am struggling so much and have no energy or motivation to read right now. I will read an amazing 5/5 read and think I'll finally be out of my slump, but then still struggle to pick up my next book. It's not fun.
I haven't had a busy month, I have tried to get better at scheduling but any progress I finally made will be a bit useless while I'm away. I will miss out on 5 days of blogging, which is how many days ahead I am at. So by the time I get back I will be right back to having no scheduled posts. How do people schedule posts? I am pretty sure they are all magic.


June

I read 9 books.

I am not exactly thrilled at this because I wanted to beat last month. Last month I also read 9. Well, at least I'm consistent.

Reviewed on blog:

Now and Forever by Susane Colasanti 0.5/5 
Scarlet by Marissa Meyer 4/5
The Winner's Curse by Maria Rutkoski 5/5
The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Mathieu 5/5
My Last Kiss by Bethany Neal 2/5
Dangerous Boys by Abigail Haas 4.5/5
#scandal by Sarah Ockler 2/5
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green 4/5
On the Fence by Kasie West 5/5

My average rating this month has also ended up being the same as last month, weird. My average rating is 3.5/5. This month also includes amazing reads from Abigail Haas and Kasie West, like last month. So it is very similar in a lot of ways. I really enjoyed The Winner's Curse, can't wait to continue that series. I highly recommend Dangerous Girls and Dangerous Boys by Abigail Haas, and adore Kasie West's books - she writes the most amazing characters.

Other Posts

Monthly Recap: May
The Things That Disney Taught Me
June Kindle Fire HDX Giveaway #1
6 Down, 6 To Go Giveaway
June Kindle Fire HDX #2


Top Ten Tuesday:

Books That Will Be In My Beach Bag
Top Reads Of 2014 So Far
Summer TBR List
Cover Trends I Like and Dislike


Films for Thoughts on Thursday:

X-Men: Days of Future Past
Bad Neighbours
Maleficent
The Fault in Our Stars


Five Friday Favourites:

Favourite Underrated Books
Favourite Parents In Fiction
Favourite Heroes
Favourite Covers - Colour Edition


Book Hauls:

07/06/2014
14/06/2014
21/06/2014
28/06/2014


Discussions:

Why Commenting Makes Me Feel Like A Performing Monkey
The 30 Books That Have Affected Me The Most




Challenges

TBR Pile Challenge

My goal: 50+ books

Have read so far: 16 books

The only books I added to this in May was Ruby Red and Pivot Point



Falling For YA
Netgalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge

My goal: 50 books

Read so far: 39 books

I added four more to this challenge this month.





Series Challenge Button take2
Series Challenge

My goal is to complete between 7-11 series this year.

Series finished: 4 series

1. The Program & The Treatment by Suzanne Young
3. Starters & Enders by Lissa Price
4. Nantucket Blue & Nantucket Red by Leila Howland

I haven't completed any more this month, unfortunately. 



First In A Series Challenge

My goal is to start 20 series this year. 

So far I have started 17 series.

This month I added The Winner's Curse and Ruby Red. I am getting very close so I am confident I can meet this goal. 





This is the part where I share the love for other posts I saw over the month and loved.

Emily @ The Loony Teen Writer did a completely serious post about conquering your TBR pile and looked at the different types of 5 star ratings.

Anne @ Lovely Literature talked about sex in books


Amanda @ Book Badger discussed the Slate article, talked about the negatives of Netgalley and shared the books that changed her world.

Mel @ The Daily Prophecy discussed how we should ban all books, in response to that Slate Article.

K @ Melbourne On My Mind had a hilarious response post to the Slate article

Miranda @ Tempest Books showed us some NA books that aren't all sex


Mands @ The Bookish Manicurist reviewed Deep Blue by Jennifer Donnelly, including the most amazing manicure.

Allie @ Little Birdie Books looked at guilty pleasure reads and blogger rules that must be obeyed.

Erin @ Raised Reading summed books up in one quote and looked at the Jane Eyre Complex.

Asti @ Oh, The Books! opened up about her past with depression.

Olivia @ Olivia's Catastrophe pondered what keyboards would say if they could talk.

Cait @ Notebook Sister's interrogated Mime about whether she is or isn't a bad blogger, did Honest YA TFIOS edtion & shared the 30 books that have changed her world.



Awesome on the Internet 


This will be where I share other awesome things I have found on the internet. This month I will show two of the greatest adverts... EVER!






Well! That's June out of the way.





One chance to win a Kindle Fire HDX, to enter go here.

You can also enter my June giveaway, where 3 winners have the chance to win any 2 of the books I have reviewed in 2014 so far. For full details go here.



24 comments:

  1. 9 books is pretty darn good, I think! Is it that reading isn't enjoyable or just that there's too much going on right now? It should be something that brings you happiness, not pain!

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    1. I honestly think it's both. I am enjoying it, when I find the right book. But there's so much else going on that I feel a bit too stressed to be able to concentrate on a book.

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  2. I'm in a reading slump too! I feel your pain :(
    And gosh, I really want to read Dangerous Boys!! I've put a hold on it at my library, buuut I think it's going to be a while before I get my mits on it :|

    Lovely recap!

    My June Recap!

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    1. I highly recommend it, it's amazing! I really hope you get your hands on it soon! :)

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  3. I don't even like cats...but omg, that first kitten one was SO DARN CUTE. And funny. "It's like some dark magic..." Basically, Mordor in a can.

    I think I read like 15 books this month, which I'm happy about. I would LOVE to be the kind of person who read, like, 30 books a month, but let's just agree that's neeeever going to haaaapen. It's crazy stuff. I also like to eat and sleep so I can't just read all the time. (Omg, I think I'm cat.)

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    1. Haha! Yes! My favourite part was "Vacuum!!!". I love that advert, made me so happy.

      I know, I don't know how people manage that. How do they do anything else? I am in a stressed out mind set atm, it's making it hard to concentrate on reading. Sleeping, eating and reading is the three things I need, haha.

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  4. 9 is good though hunny, it's really good! I know you've been struggling, but I'm proud of you, and you should be too! You're doing great on the challenges, you can top those up in the read-a-thon at least, and I'll get you out the slump with our buddy reads, I promise. I'll make sure you're reading plenty, different books, different genre's and we can encourage each other, okay? Fantastic! Good luck for July, I'm here to help :P (and come back, I miss you already!)

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    1. YAY! What would I do without you?!? Haha. I need to just power through this, I am not back at work until next Thursday so I will actually have time to stay home and RELAX! Can't wait :) The read-a-longs are going to be great fun.

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  5. I hear you on the book slumps, I have been doing the same thing which is probably why I have watched more tv this summer than I have read, which NEVER happens! I am not a huge tv person but..yeah, it has just been hard to pick up books for some reason.

    I hope we both get over it soon! I have way too many review books I still need to read for September that I hope I can get to.

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    1. It's funny seeing just how many of us are in reading slumps atm. I have been watching more TV too, just because I can't seem to find the energy to pick up a book.

      I really hope we get over it soon too! I have so many left to read and it's terrible - I am really far behind.

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  6. I just got out of a reading slump and I am so glad to be out!! I hate being in a reading slump, especially in the summer when I have the most time to read. I hope you get out of your reading slump soon :).

    At least you read some good books this month. The Winner's Curse looks so amazing!! I really need to read that one soon.

    Happy July Reading :D

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    1. Me too! I really need to hurry up and get out of this slump, it's driving me crazy atm.

      I really loved it, I hope you do too! :)

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  7. I guess we need slumps just so we'll have so much fun when they're over and we're on one of those highs again. Adorable videos.

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  8. Oh reading slumps BLOW! It's so frustrating to land in one of those. Maybe a total genre switch up? Or just going with it? That's what I usually end up doing. If I'm not up to reading I'll figure a project out to do and just focus on that for a while and eventually interest will pick up again.

    As for getting ahead. Whew it is NOT easy. I made it my goal in Nov to do a blogger version of NaNoWriMo and get 60 posts pre-scheduled in one month. It about killed me. Every part of me hurt lol But once I had them done I was able to keep them up which was pretty exciting. I don't think I'll ever do that again though. It was brutal.

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    1. I don't know how to get out of it, I have been trying a lot of different things. I am going to spend the day replying to comments and then I am going to relax in the bath with a book.

      WOW! Blogger version of NaNoWriMo sounds AMAZING! It would KILL ME, but I think I need that. I would probably set my goal a lot smaller though, haha.

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  9. Thanks for linking back to my blog post :D The same as last month is at least better than less books, right? It's good to see you enjoyed Scarlet & The winner's curse, I will be reading the last one soon.

    Happy reading in July, I hope you beat your score of 9 books this month :D
    Mel@thedailyprophecy

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    1. ME TOO! I am a tad determined this month. Just need to get the hell out of this reading slump and then hopefully I can do it.

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  10. 8 or 9 is my average month really, 10 at the most. I am really looking forward to Dangerous Boys which I have on my kindle and I also have The Distance Between Us by Kasie West to get around to.

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    1. I hope you love them both, I thought they were amazing!! 9 is pretty good, I just really want to read at least 10 next month.

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  11. Wow, what a busy month. The discussions are becoming my favourite part of this blog, the topics are always so interesting.

    'I haven't had a busy month, I have tried to get better at scheduling but any progress I finally made will be a bit useless while I'm away. I will miss out on 5 days of blogging, which is how many days ahead I am at. So by the time I get back I will be right back to having no scheduled posts. How do people schedule posts? I am pretty sure they are all magic.'

    I feel like you took the words right out of my mind! I would love to find out how people manage being dedicated bloggers. I seem to go through phases, always with the will to blog but not always the energy. It's amazing that some of those people also on other social media! *siiigh* How.

    I've seen the cat videos before - hilarious! And so true! :3

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    1. Thank you! Discussions are the things I struggle to come up with the most but probably enjoy writing the most.

      I know!!!! I don't know how they do it. I do feel I am dedicated, but I just don't have the time to schedule a million posts in a row AND do everything else, haha. I have been replying to blog comments and returning comments on people's blogs... ALL DAY!!!

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  12. I guess I could suggest re-reading some of your favourites. That usually helps me when I feel a little slumpish. But honestly, 9 books is still a good month. It kind of sounds like you might be feeling a little burnt out? Last month I didn't post any reviews and really not much else because I just need some rest from blogging. As you know it is a hell of a lot of work and I was feeling overwhelmed. I also took the time with the books I read. Most months I read around 20+ books and last month I read some bigger books(800+ pages) and did quite a few re-reads and only finished 12 books. And was totally okay with that. Anyhow, I hope you start to feel a little better. And maybe just take a little break and some time to yourself. :)
    On another note, my copy of On the Fence arrived yesterday and I'm having to use a lot of personal restraint not to start it. Because if I start it in the evening there's no way I will put it down again until I'm finished. Which will lead to a lack of sleep. So I'm going to save it for some sunny Saturday reading. :D
    Happy reading!
    Brittany @ This is the Story of My(Reading) Life

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    1. I am tempted to reread my favourites, that usually helps a lot. I think I am feeling really burnt out, and that can't be helping at all. I had a four day break from the blog but it was to go away and wasn't very relaxing. Maybe I just need some time to relax and not worry about anything.

      I hope you love On the Fence, it's a brilliant read!

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