Happy Saturday, guys! ☺️
I can’t believe another month has come and gone—and my blog had its one month blogiversary! On June 8th, to be exact. Is it weird that I kind of think of my blog as my baby? 👶🏻🎂💗 (In the figurative sense, of course.)
Two things in relation to my bookish life have happened this month that I’m very, very excited about:
1. I completed my Goodreads Reading Challenge of 120 books! 🎊
I literally started procrastinating on reading books the very moment I finished book number 120, to be honest. However, someone (May) may or may not have challenged me to up the number to 200, so I may just do that … just to keep myself motivated. (Should I?)
and
2. I became a Book Depository Affiliate!
I usually buy books at my local bookstore, but seeing as I live in Europe, and they very often don’t have the books I want, I’m so happy to have found this gem. Book Depository delivers books worldwide without extra shipping costs (and actually delivers them in a timely manner!!), and I have yet to not find a book I want to buy on their website.
If you order books online, and want to support blog(ger)s you love, definitely consider using the Book Depository links on their blogs, because we get a small commission if you do, and it doesn’t affect your shopping experience in any way!
You can find my Book Depository link in the sidebar, and I always put direct links to the books I recommend in my book review posts.
We appreciate it so much, if you use them! ❤
Total score 📚: 28
Re-reads 📖: 1
Short Stories 📘: 4
Graphic Novels 🖌: 8
Poetry 🎨: 1
Audiobooks 🎧: 2
Buddy Reads 👭: 6
Avg. Rating ⭐: 2.65
Young Adult: 20
Adult: 6
Non-Fiction: 1
Kings Rising (Captive Prince #3) by C.S. Pacat | ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Summer Palace (Captive Prince Short Stories #2) by C.S. Pacat 📘 | ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Green but for a Season (Captive Prince Short Stories #1) by C.S. Pacat 📘 | ⭐⭐⭐
The Adventures of Charls, the Veretian Cloth Merchant (Captive Prince Short Stories #3) by C.S. Pacat 📘 | ⭐⭐⭐½
Forest of a Thousand Lanters (Rise of the Empress #1) by Julie C. Dao | ⭐⭐⭐
The Upward Spiral by Alex Korb 🎧 | ⭐⭐⭐
We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson 👭 | ⭐½
Legendary (Caraval #1) by Stephanie Garber 👫 | ⭐⭐
Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid 👭 | ⭐⭐⭐½
Heartstopper by Alice Oseman 🖌 | ⭐⭐⭐⭐
We Are Okay by Nina LaCour ⭐⭐⭐½
Crush by Richard Siken 🎨 | ⭐⭐
Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh (🎧) | ⭐½
Radio Silence by Alice Oseman 👭 | ⭐⭐½
Nice Try, Jane Sinner by Lianne Oelke ⭐⭐
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter, #6) by J.K. Rowling 📖👭 | ⭐⭐⭐⭐
They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera (🎧)👭 | ⭐½
Solitaire by Alice Oseman 👭 | ⭐⭐⭐½
Nick and Charlie – A Solitaire Novella by Alice Oseman 📘 | ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Fence (Fence #1-#5) by C.S. Pacat and Johanna the Mad 🖌 | ⭐⭐⭐⅓
Fence #6 (Fence, #6) by C.S. Pacat & Johanna the Mad 🖌 | ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Fence #7 (Fence, #7) by C.S. Pacat & Johanna the Mad 🖌 | ⭐⭐⭐½
Vicious (Villains, #1) by V.E. Schwab | ⭐⭐⭐½
I published my first discussion post this month, in which I talk about something that’s been on my mind for a long time—and I’m honestly floored that so many of you related to my struggles, and very honored that you left me messages telling me about your own—THANK YOU. :’)
As always, it’s very important to me to show love and appreciation to fellow bloggers, and here are some of the posts and blogs I want to shine a light on this month:
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- I only recently stumbled upon Michelle‘s blog, and fell in love with it right away. Her moodboards are so beautiful, and I can feel myself turn into a heart eyes emoji whenever I see them. Moreover, she’s celebrating her four year blogiversary this month, so be sure to head over to her blog to congratulate her. ☺️
- May, one of my favorite people in the book community, lets us in on her secret of how she keeps track of all the books she reads, and my slightly OCD self marvels at all those spreadsheets and subcategories and diverse books she’s been reading.
- Swetlana wrote a brilliant blog post on how you can switch up your reading experience, and it was so entertaining, and inspiring—please go read it!
- Catherine gives tips on reading on a budget, and I’m so happy to have been introduced to Open Library, thanks to her.
- One of my new favorite bloggers Ju gets excited about upcoming Asian-inspired Fantasy book releases here, and I’m basically screaming right next to her.
- Marie tells us how she avoids book slumps, and as always, her post is wonderfully written, and I absolutely adore it.
I also want to spotlight a few blogs that I recently started following—some of them are newbie bloggers, like I am, so please go show them some love 💞: Shan @ Little Irish Book Cat 🌸 Dezzy @ The Thoughtful Voice 🌸 Catherine @ Book Wonderland Web 🌸 Kaycee @ The Autumn Daydreamer 🌸 Nimika @ Wordhaven Blog 🌸 Satou @ Inkish Kingdoms 🌸
As always, a million thank yous to everyone who nominated me for an award!! It means so much to me, and I’m so humbled that you guys thought of me.
I’ve been struggling with getting around to creating all the nomination posts, because I want to give you proper answers to your questions, so please bear with me, and know that I’m very grateful & am doing my best to answer them all as soon as I can.
Mid-Year Freak Out | I Spy Challenge | 20 Questions Book Tag
Have you set a reading goal for 2018?
What was your favorite book in June?
Any July releases you’re looking forward to?
Feel free to leave me a link to your own June wrap-up post here, I’d love to drop by and see what you’ve been up to! 💗
xx, Lily
i literally log in only to see what youre posting, omg QUEEN
okay so, yes you should most DEFINITELY bump it up to 200 😉
ALSO WHAT THE HELL HOW DO YOU READ SO MUCH 28 BOOKS LILY TEACH ME IM SO IMPRESSED
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Ahhh you flatter me. :”) And all right, I accept your challenge. 😼
I … don’t know? Eight of them are graphic novels, though, and four of them short stories. 🤓
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Omg congrats on one month, Lily! 💕🤗 It feels like a lot longer! I finished my reading challenge too but it was less than half of yours, I’m impressed with how much you read last month!!! I’m about to start The Seven Husband’s of Evelyn Hugo soon and I’m really excited. And THANK YOU so much for including my post! I’m happy you liked it ✨
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Thank you so much, Catherine! 🤗💞 It feels both shorter and longer to me, if that makes sense, haha.
Ahhh congratulations on finishing your challenge, that’s amazing!! And I hope you absolutely love The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, I’m looking forward to hearing what you think, when you’re done with it! 🙂
My pleasure!! 💖
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Ahh Lily, congrats on already reaching your reading goal! That’s amazing, I hope you feel super accomplished.💓I’m currently so many books behind that I don’t know if I’ll ever catch up…*sigh* Oh well, there’s always 2019. 😉
Aww, I’m so sad to see you didn’t enjoy They Both Die at the End! It’s one of my top favorites, but I can definitely see how it wouldn’t be for everyone. But yay, I love seeing Harry Potter on your list, hehe.
I hope you have the best July!
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Ahhh thank you, Olivia! ☺️
My feeling of accomplishment lasted about one day, to be honest, haha. But ahh don’t worry about the reading challenge too much, it’s honestly much more important that you actually enjoy yourself when you do find the time to read. 😌💗
Me too! I’m so sad and feel so bad about it, because so many of my friends absolutely love it. And now I find out that you do, too. 😦 But YES, Harry Potter! I finally made it to book seven in my re-read. 🙌🏻
Thank you so much for your sweet comment & I hope July is kind to you! 💛✨
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You’re so welcome!
Awe, thank you, Lily.💓Well, it’s still amazing you reached your goal, hehe!
Don’t feel bad- everyone enjoys different books for different reasons. 😉 But yay for book 7 HP reread!
You too, thank you!
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Oh my gosh, the little buddy read emoji is now my favorite way I’ve been tagged of all-time! And I can’t wait to be tagged in more with you, because I hope the rest of 2018 is filled with more buddy reads together! Happy reading and happy July! 💗xx
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I adore that emoji, it’s the cutest thing ever?? I’m glad you like it too, haha. 💞
And I’m looking forward to our future buddy reads as well!! I hope your July is absolutely amazing, Mel! 💫
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Wow, you put so much into those posts but the end result is amazing.
Congratulations on finishing your challenge, I think you can easily do 200. Mine is 75 now but will probably become 100.
I don’t have many anticipated books in July which means a chance to read old books and finishing series I have already started.
I got a notification that says I was tagged but I can’t find a tag.
Happy reading in July!
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Thank you so much, Hamad! I’m so happy you think so!! I actually do put a lot of effort into making these posts look like they do haha, so it’s nice to hear that someone appreciates it. 💜
I managed to read so much, because I didn’t have to study a lot—the next semester is definitely going to be tough, and my anxiety is already skyrocketing at the mere thought of upcoming exams. 😩
I hope July treats you kindly, and the books you read are all amazing! It’s always good to lighten the backlist a bit. 🙂
Happy reading to you as well! ✨
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it is obvious when you look at it that it takes a lot of time!
I am also starting next studying year at the end of this month so I have less time too for reading.Good luck to both of us :D.
True ❤ and I found the tag!
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I thought you were done with studying, rip. Why are our studies always keeping us from the things we truly love. 🙄 (Just kidding … a little bit.)
Ahhh I totally forgot to reply to that part of your comment. 🤦🏻♀️ But yesss you found it. 👏🏻
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I have one more year and the summer holiday is already coming to an end :((((
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I wish I only had one more year left. 😭 & wow, mine only just started??
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I really like the idea of increasing it, but not by clearly attainable amount. I think I’ll do that. Great suggestion!
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I hope it helps you!! 🙂 I actually got the idea from another blogger recently. 😄
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