February flew by. I was sick with COVID for half of it, including my birthday. It was definitely a bummer, but I’m grateful to be feeling much better now and getting back into the swing of things. On the bright side, all the time laid up gave me plenty of time to read. So, the month wasn’t a total loss.
January has been an absolute whirlwind. Between my parents’ six eye surgeries, several vet visits, and ending the month being sick with COVID, it is a wonder I got any reading done at all. I was super motivated this month, though, and read a lot of great stuff. I participated in my first buddy reads this month and had so much fun with it. All in all, it has been a pretty good month despite ending it being sick.
I enjoyed the month of October. It was relatively quiet, and I always enjoy giving away buckets of treats for Halloween. Our neighborhood is super popular, and it is always a big event with people setting up tables at the sidewalk to give away goodies to the kids going from house to house. I also went on a trip to visit my in-laws. We haven’t made that trip since before COVID started. So, it was nice to make it over there and see them and our nephew. I got approximately the same amount of reading done as in September, and I met one of my goals for the year, which is super exciting (Hint: It involves NetGalley). All in all, it has been a pretty great month. Now, let’s get down to the specifics.
As I’m sitting here thinking back about this month, nothing special really stands out. I honestly can’t believe it has already been a month since the last wrap-up post. It seems like it was just the other day. I’m excited the weather is finally getting at least a little cooler. Although, I’m sure we will still have several last gasps of summer before fall really arrives. I do live in Louisiana after all. I don’t really have anything else to say about September. So, let’s just move on to my updates about reading. lol.
Where did August go?! Seriously. The month flew by, but at least I can say I got a lot done. I had tons of doctor’s appointments this month. Those aren’t really ever fun, but at least I can now confirm I’m still free of any metastatic disease (AKA no signs of cancer recurrence)! I also got quite a bit done around the house, bought a new dryer that I love and makes laundry go so much faster, and helped my in-laws haul off my wife’s old clunker of a car that has been sitting in our garage for a year. So, I’d say that’s a pretty great month. With all the activity, I haven’t been in the mood to blog as much, but I’m going to try to do better in September. Without further ado, let’s jump to what I’m sure you all came here for – my reading progress!!
It has been a while since I’ve done a monthly wrap-up. Two months to be exact. I’m not sure why but I just couldn’t be bothered to do one last month. I just wasn’t feeling it even though June was a pretty great month. I’ve been in a bit of a funk, and some new meds made July a rough one. I’m finally feeling a bit better, though. So, I thought I’d wrap up my reading from the last couple of months and check in on how I’m doing with my goals.
How is the year already halfway over? Seriously. This month I plan to continue mood reading. That didn’t happen quite as much last month as I hoped it would because I ended up having a ton of library holds show up all at once that I wasn’t expecting so soon. I don’t have that many ARCs to read for July, but I am going to try to get a start on some of the ones for August this month because there are SO MANY OF THEM. August is really going to be a super busy month for book releases. I also still have a few library books left to read. So, the plan for this month is going to be similar to last month… mood reading while also trying to finish up some obligations.
Library Books
Must-Read ARCs
Other Potential Reads
These are some of the books that I’ve been dying to get to but haven’t had the chance to read yet. If the mood is right, I’m hoping to get to them this month. This is the no pressure section, though. So, don’t be too surprised if I don’t get to them. They’re just the most likely mood reading picks.
Are any of these books on your TBR? Have you already read them? If so, what did you think? Let me know down in the comments!
I really enjoy reading, reviewing, and spotlighting mostly queer books during Pride. However, I also read a ton of LGBT+ books throughout the year. In today’s post, I wanted to highlight my favorite books with LGBT+ characters that I’ve read this past year since the last Pride month. These were all five star books for me, and I loved each and every one of them. There’s a wide range of genres represented here with the intention that the list will hopefully have something for everyone. Initially, this was going to be a list of five, but I couldn’t narrow it down even close to that number. So, instead you get my 15 favorite LGBT+ books/series that I’ve read since last year’s Pride.
Hello, everyone! Happy Pride month! Last year for Pride I only read and reviewed books with queer main characters or authors. Most of the books I read this month will follow suit. However, I’m also going to have a few reads that don’t fit that trend due to ARC obligations. Luckily, most of what I read is very queer anyway, and I’m a huge supporter (and reader) of queer books year round. So, I don’t feel super obligated this year to stick to as rigid of a structure as I did last year when I was fairly new to blogging and also relatively new to reading books with queer characters. The last year and a half of exploring a lot of queer characters and their stories has been a wonderful way for me to engage with that aspect of my identity and learn about myself in a new way. I’m looking forward to continuing to read amazing queer stories, this month and all the months to come.
I started this month with the intention to mostly mood read. The last several months I’ve done a ton of readathons, and I’m a bit burned out on having such a strictly set reading list. I have a few ARCs I need to get to, but beyond that my intention was to just read stuff from my shelves that caught my eye at whatever pace felt right. The library had other plans. lol. I had three holds become available yesterday. So, I’ll be reading those books first followed by the ARCs. Then I plan to switch into full on mood reading mode with the time that is left.
Library Books
eARCs
Other Potential Reads
These are some of the books that I’ve been dying to get to but haven’t had the chance to read yet. If the mood is right, I’m hoping to get to them this month. This is the no pressure section, though. So, don’t be too surprised if I don’t get to them. They’re just the most likely mood reading picks.
Are any of these books on your TBR? Have you already read them? If so, what did you think? Do you have a favorite book with LGBT characters that I need to add to my TBR? Let me know down in the comments!
Well. Another month has come and gone. It has been a pretty great one with all the Star Wars stuff (Celebration, Star Wars Day, etc.) going on. New books, shows, and LEGO sets were definitely welcomed into my home with open arms. lol. Other than that, though, this has been a pretty dull month in my household.