Welcome to July’s Monthly Minutes at Midnight!
Here’s the deal: I’ll share the books I’ve obtained, posts of interest from others, giveaways I have happening, and just general random shenanigans. You know I love a shenanigan. Also, covers all link to Goodreads, because I am awesome. As always, I link up with the Wrap Up Round Up, too!
The Books
For Review/From Publishers:
We Light Up the Sky by Lilliam Rivera
The Ballad of Dinah Caldwell by Kate Brauning
All of Us Villains by Amanda Foody & Christine Lynn Herman
Bubble by Jordan Morris, Sarah Morgan, Tony Cliff, & Natalie Riess
Hugest of thanks to the publishers for these lovelies!
eARCs:
Huge thanks to the publishers for these lovelies! (SO many most-anticipated books here! And also, maybe I have a problem? No no I definitely have a problem ?)
Purchased:
The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline ♦ Things to Do Before the End of the World by Emily Barr ♦ The Last Watch by J.S. Dewes ♦ That Weekend by Kara Thomas ♦ Iron Heart by Nina Varela ♦ Eat Your Heart Out by Kelly deVos ♦ Blackout by Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany Jackson, Nic Stone, Nicola Yoon, Ashley Woodfolk, and Angie Thomas ♦ The Stranding by Kate Sawyer ♦ It Ends In Fire by Andrew Shvarts ♦ Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé ♦ The Mother Fault by Kate Mildenhall ♦ Monty Green, Charmaine & Hope Diyoza, and Charles Pike Funko by Sonya Collections
Look, mayhaps I went a wee bit overboard this month, but several of them were orders from last month that were late!
Aaannnd maybe a few Kindle deals….
Won/Gifted/Traded:
It is a hardcover but I forgot to take a picture and it is already on my shelves, so… ?
Huge thanks to the Book Bratz!!
Shenanigans Since Last Time:
I read 15 books this month. Not too shabby!
A few very pleasant surprises here! And barely any bummers!
Giveaways: Click Here, or on Sidebar
Blogosphere Bulletin
Here are some of the loveliest/most entertaining/super helpful/just plain interesting posts I found this month!
- Nicole @ Thoughts Stained With Ink discusses social media and the disturbing lack of boundaries
- Sam @ We Live and Breathe Books talks about vague settings
- Hasini @ Bibliosini discusses content ratings
- Marie @ Drizzle & Hurricane Books talks about how to make your blog stand out
- Malka @ Paper Procrastinators asks if blogging burnout is inevitable (honestly, yeah)
- Louise @ Monstrumology shares some queer sci-fi and horror books
Fancy & New Since Last I Saw You!
I love looking at pretty covers! So here are some new ones that I have fallen in love with since our last update!
Pretty covers are pretty.
Things we need to talk about at this juncture:
- The Olympics are happening, and I made a tag for that! I know the Olympics are… messy this year, at best. But certainly I think it is okay to celebrate the athletes (and even though it is messy, and frankly, unsafe, there is a part of me that is glad for them? Like- imagine working your whole life and having it cancelled, you know? Most don’t get second chances, so.)
- Idk what happened this month either, really. I feel like a lot did, but nothing particularly entertaining to read about? I promise, if I ever do any fun crap, I will let you guys know posthaste. As it stands, I will spare you the mundane annoyances of life, and just give you some kids having fun pictures!
That was…a lot of stuff. Like, a lot. Lucky you!
I requested The Upper World on NG, but to no avail. I still want to read it though.
Have fun (and chill out!) in that pool!
I mean, or unlucky, depending on how you look at it ? (Nah I am just kidding, I do feel very lucky that I got them!) I will definitely be sharing my thoughts on it and I am sorry you didn’t get approved. Did you try EW? I do that sometimes when the NG gods smite me ?
Alas, the book isn’t on EG.
I mean EW. Ugh.
Your kids are so cute! Looks like you had a great month. I can’t wait to read The Exiled Fleet, and we have some more upcoming books in common too. And thanks for sharing those new covers, I added a few to my TBR! Have a fantastic August?
Aw thank you so much! I hope you love The Exiled Fleet as much as I did- I even pre-ordered it because I loved it so much! Hope you are having a wonderful August, too!
Looks like the kids are enjoying the pool. Adorable pictures! You got a lot of reading to do. My ARC hauls are getting smaller, so I am impressed by all those books. I loved Vampires, Hearts, & Other Dead Things. I was crying at the end. I am doing your tag in two weeks? Not this coming Friday, the next. I have no idea what to put for each prompt, but I have time to think about it.
Aw thank you!! Well, maybe you just have more self control than I do? ? I mean, I was BAD bad this month! YESSS same about Vampires, the end gutted me! I hadn’t been expecting that! Oh yayyy I am so excited to see your answers, this makes me happy!
You do have a lot of reading to do! I love the pretty covers. Kids in the pool is what summer is all about. Have a great August!
Aw thank you! Hope you are having a great August too!
Yeay for kids having fun! And hey, sometimes these hauls just happen haha.
Bwhahah YES yes exactly, let’s go with that! ?
Oryx and Crake! That trilogy is a trip and a half, but oddly compelling. 😀
Look how many great books you got (and have now put on my radar….)! So many beautiful covers, too.
Yes I have heard good things, but now I have to actually get to the damn thing ?
Looks like you had a fabulous month of books! The only one I have read is Oryx and Crake, which I LOVED. Margaret Atwood is one of my favorite authors! And those are such cute pictures of the kids! Looks fun! Hope your August is fantastic!
Aw thank you!! And oh yay, glad that you loved it, hopefully that will incentivize me to read it sooner tthan later! Hope you are having a wonderful August too!
Looks like some great books for you to read! I need to check out your review of Fresh, because I had to DNF for now due to having issues with the e-galley format. I’m going to try to get a physical copy of that when it’s published and then read it that way. Have a great August!
Lisa Loves Literature
Ooooh that sucks about the egalley! I liked Fresh quite a bit, so I do hope you have a chance to read it in a better format! And thank you, I hope you are having a great August too!
Ooh I also just got Dead Silence and I am super excited to read it! And yeah, this month flew by and I did feel like I did nothing. Lol. Anyway, hope you have a great August!
Oh YAY I hope we both enjoy it! And thank you, I hope you are having a great August too!
Thanks so much for linking my post, Shannon!!! Also, you’ve had some really great ARCs coming in! So excited to see Noor and Blood Scion among them!
Aww of course! And yesss I hope that they are awesome for us both!
So many eARCs, I’m overwhelmed haha I didn’t know Nnedi Okorafor had a new book coming out so thank you for the heads up!
I think it’s perfectly fine to celebrate the athletes too! They poured their passion and their life dedication and it’s just sad to see people hating on the event that’s like the pinnacle of their achievement 🙁
Ooooh, so many new books! I can’t even judge because I bought myself 11 books in July and only read 2 books. Your read vs acquired ration is a lot better than mine. (But also I wouldn’t judge regardless because having more books is never a bad thing. Except for your wallet. And/or bank account.)
Thanks so much for mentioning my post here! Honestly, from the comments I’ve received it seems that everyone agrees that burn out is inevitable, which is sad, but at least it means that fellow bloggers understand when we need to take a step back.
I hope you’re having the absolute loveliest August!
I enjoyed your book haul–Ace of Spades surprised me and tossed twists I never saw coming at me. I enjoyed watching bits of the Olympics in between the daily life stuff and the world needed them to happen this year. I read a few ARCs in July that weren’t even on my radar until the publisher surprised me with them. Concealed (a MG thriller) was excellent and a real page turner. The Ghost of Midnight Lake (MG historical) was a wonderful family and friendship tale with a bit of otherworldly action. I hope your August is going well!