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:
Starling House by Alix E. Harrow ♦ Damned If You Do by Alex Brown
Thanks so much to the publishers!!
eARCs:
Huge thanks to the publishers for these lovelies! Also look at me not being ridiculous!
Purchased:
Just this pre-order, woo!
Won/Gifted/Traded:
Thanks to the publishers for Forgive Me Not and Godly Heathens!
Shenanigans Since Last Time:
I read 15 books this month. Pretty solid!
These were definitely, as a rule, good. Some exceeded expectations. A few… did not. But that makes it more fun, right? 😈
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!
- Sam @ We Live and Breathe Books discusses the obstacles to reading
- Marie @ Drizzle & Hurricane Books shares some great beach reads to throw in your bag
- Lynn & Julie @ Chapter Break discuss cutting back on the ol’ TBR
- Lili @ Lost in a Book wonders if her reading preferences have changed
- Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction shares some amazing vacation photos
- Jessica @ A GREAT Read discusses how we treat our books
- Anne @ Head Full of Books talks about where to post book reviews
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:
- I redid my site, as you may have noticed! And I talked about how much fun it is to redo stuff! (Kidding, clearly 😂)
- Summer is going by way too fast! I finished a round of classes, start another round on Tuesday. This batch kicked my ass, so I am sure that starting work again while taking three classes is going to be extra special. Send good juju!
- What happened in July? I had some surgery. Lena turned 12. Sam got his purple belt with brown stripe. We went to the water park for Lena’s birthday. And then I had a lot of classes to deal with, Sam had karate camp, and Lena started up softball again, sort of. So, just lots of stuff as always! And swimming, which is my favorite! Have some pictures!
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I hope the surgery went well. Can’t have you sidelined. You need to be ready to kick academic butt and keep up with the kids. Twelve! Wow! How the wee ones just won’t stop growing. Glad it was a good reading month. Curious about the Hartl book.
Aw thank you! It went fine, though I don’t know that it fixed what it was supposed to fix? Heh, we’ll see what happens! I knowww how is she 12?! Sam will be 10 soon, gah. I LOVED Rent To Be! I think you will, too!
Oh, I do hope the surgery went well! What classes are you taking? I must have missed that, oops. And you joke, but I’ve basically spent the past few days redoing my blog and making new designs and since I’ve started using Canva, I’m actually having a lot of fun with it, who knew!
Thank you! It was fine, luckily! I am taking classes to get my special ed teaching certification, it is just a lot of classes in an intense time frame but.. I am not getting any younger heh. Oh YAY I am so glad that you are enjoying it! Canva is pretty cool, I agree. I like it but the pro is so expensive!
I can’t wait to read your review for A Second Chance for Yesterday (mine will be up in three weeks. I did like it!).
Just ONE preorder??? Who are you??? LOL.
I hope the surgery went well!
Work and classes, how do you do that? I’m barely able to survive these days. Happy belated birthday to Lena and congrats to Sam!
Thanks so much! i am glad you liked it too! And I will pass along the good wishes! Dude, I have no idea, I am drowning hahha. Hence why it takes literal weeks to respond to stuff I guess 😂
Good luck with the classes! I hope you have a great August. 🙂
Thank you, hope yours is going well too!
I’m pretty much looking forward to ALL your upcoming reviews! Which of course I haven’t read yet because I’m behind, lol. I’m super jealous that you got Starling House! I tried to get a copy but no luck, oh well😁 Your kids look so happy, I hope the rest of your summer is fantastic!
I have myself on a VERY strict schedule where I hhave to read the books in the month before they come out. Otherwise I read them way too early, and forget everything, or am rushing to finish. I honestly don’t know where Starling House came from! I was denied on NG, so who knows, but I am thankful to whatever book gods sent it my way 😂 And thank you so much, I hope yours is too!
Fifteen books in July… color me impressed. Hope the surgery went well and that’s fully behind you. Tell thos little ones to quit growing up so fast! 🙂
DUDE from your mouth. Time goes too fast and they are so BIG. I sob. Thank you, I am hoping it is behind me too! Fingers crossed! Hope you are doing well too ♥♥
Love the new blog design and logo! I’m looking forward to read Damned If You Do!
Thank you so much! And me too, hopefully we both enjoy it!
Hope you had an easy recovery from your surgery, and I hope your classes aren’t too overwhelming with work! I need to read THE EXILED – I liked the first book a lot.
Thank you! It was pretty easy, thankfully! And dude. Overwhelmed may be my middle name right about now heh. YES I liked it too, hopefully the sequel is good too- I didn’t see any word on when it comes out in the US so I just bought the UK version heh.
I’m a fan of Alix Harrow so will check out the Starling book – have a great month…..sounds like you’re keeping very busy!
Terrie @ Bookshelf Journeys
https://www.bookshelfjourneys.com/post/monthly-wrap-up-july-23
Hope you love it! And thank you- I sure am hahah
You got this! Classes plus work plus kids plus blogging (well, blogging **when you have time/energy!**)…just keep the caffeine handy.
That’s a lot of pretty books there! I’m so glad to see you liked Whalefall- it’s on my list (of course it is, cuz whales) but the premise sounded bizarre enough that I didn’t know if it would end up being too weird to read. Sounds like it’s introspective, but entertaining. Yay!
My July was, as you know, 100% the chaos of arranging a contractor, moving, selling almost everything I own online, and trying to wrap up all my loose medical ends before then. Which, after 8 weeks of nonstop daily stress, has finally caught up with me and kicked my ass. But I’m not fully unpacked yet, and this place is small enough that I can’t function in it fully yet (I keep knocking things over just turning or reaching for something). So of course I can’t fully relax until I get that sorted. Wheeee!
Right? It sounds exhausting just seeing it typed out 😂
It was definitely interesting- and the author tries to make it believable, too, which I appreciated. There is science behind it, it isn’t goofy, if that helps!
YEP all the chaos for you, I am sorry it is kicking your ass. Moving is hard under the best of circumstances, which these were not. I really hope you can get it organized soon, but that is a hard ask too- I feel like when you get one thing organized, two more things become UNorganized. It will come together though ♥♥
You got a lot of great books last month! I had to go get The Fallout from Netgalley so I can finish that series. And now I’m behind on The Stranded series if the second one did actually come out last month. Who knows when I’ll get to it. Oh well. Hope August is going well for you.
https://lisalovesliterature.bookblog.io/2023/08/01/the-looooong-and-the-short-of-it-with-a-giveaway-july-2023-wrap-up-post-and-what-to-expect-in-august/
OH I hope the surgery went well and you’re recovering, well! What a lovely surprise to stumble upon this new design on your blog, I love it so much!!
SO excited you got The Atlas of Us. I loved the author’s debut, can’t wait to see what you think of this one! 🙂