New months should not start on Saturdays, because I swear I still think it’s June. I was so confused by all the new bugs hopping around my island until I realized that it is, in fact, July. This is part of the reason I’m late with my posts today, the other reasons being that (1) I am literally writing them on the day of posting because, again, July really sneaked up on me and (2) I had a really good lunch. I even have leftovers in the fridge, so I don’t have to worry about making myself hungry with these pictures.
Anyway. I have many thoughts, but all of them have taken a backseat to the thought that ambushed me yesterday evening, which is that HOLY CRAP NIMONA IS AMAZING.
I struggle with watching unfamiliar content on the literal day it’s released, but I added this one to my to-do list and I watched it right after work on Friday the 30th, which is all the proof we’ll ever need that if you want me to watch your movie all you have to do is stick Eugene in it. He’s always been my favorite Try Guy, and I am so glad I found out about “Nimona” from his Instagram page. There is nothing I don’t like about this movie, and I will be reviewing it at some point in the next few weeks. I don’t know exactly when because I need to rearrange my publication schedule, but until then I will be watching this on repeat, you know, to make sure I really know what I’m talking about.
June Reading Stats
Books Finished:
- The Bellmaker – Brian Jacques
- Outcast of Redwall – Brian Jacques
- The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue – V.E. Schwab
- The Bone Shard Emperor – Andrea Stewart
- Pearls of Lutra – Brian Jacques
- Girls and Their Monsters: The Genain Quadruplets and the Making of Madness in America – Audrey Clare Farley
Books Abandoned:
- Six of Crows – Leigh Bardugo
Total Pages Read: 2,515
I am slightly annoyed because I have reviews drafted for all of these – except Girls and Their Monsters, which I will not be reviewing because I do not review nonfiction – but I can’t start posting them until fucking August, except for The Bone Shard Emperor. I am trying so very hard to be patient and stick to my schedule. There’s a lot of things on my schedule that keep getting pushed back to accommodate last-minute changes. Fuck, maybe I should start posting three times a week. I would certainly run through my content a lot faster. (Just kidding, I’m way too lazy for that and I do not want this blog to become a full-time job. I’ve already got one of those.)
If there’s one thing I’ve learned this month, it is that the Drowning Empire series has been a serious trial, and to be honest I’m kind of wishing I’d DNF’d it before I got halfway through The Bone Shard Daughter. It took me most of June to power through The Bone Shard Emperor, which completely sapped my motivation with a combination of a slow plot and four of the most annoying villains I’ve ever met. Taken together, they’re kind of a lot. I am planning to read The Bone Shard War this month while I’ve still got some momentum left, and I am not looking forward to it. That’s not to say the books are completely unenjoyable – there are many things I like about both of them – but they are very difficult when my attention is prone to fracturing at the drop of a hat.
On the other hand, the books sure look great with my new bookmarks. Win some, lose some.
June Hauls
“Embarrassing” is realizing you forgot to take pictures of your final June haul and also put the books away too efficiently but you still remember what you bought, so you go and pull them off the bookcase literally so you can take a last-minute picture. What kind of half-assed blogger am I? This is why the third photo doesn’t look so hot. ;_;
I almost never read books as soon as I buy them, but I have now read Girls and Their Monsters, so I’m gonna call that a win. I even got to talk to the author and have her sign my copy, because the wonderful Rudolph Girls hosted a book talk to celebrate the launch of the book. I’m really glad I didn’t let my laziness defeat me this time: the book talk was a lot of fun and I want to start going to more book-related events, and I got a preorder discount on the book.
As for the book itself: the story is fascinating and infuriating in so many different ways, and – for me at least – difficult to follow in the actual science, because I have focus issues and I have never been good at science. I’m glad I read it, though I felt that some of the author’s language was a little too judgy – for instance, the mother of the quadruplets is described as not having had the guts to go through with suicidal ideation. Even if the author was going for a more conversational tone, this doesn’t seem like an appropriate turn of phrase for a book discussing mental health. I also feel it would have been better if the Morlok sisters had not been described as “going crazy,” which, again, struck me as somewhat jarring and out-of-date when the book is based around such a sensitive topic. Still, it is thought-provoking, and it certainly makes me grateful that I was not raised as a local attraction.
I have imposed a book-buying ban on myself for at least the month of July in an effort to make up for my new Switch. It remains to be seen whether I will actually stick to that. (For what it’s worth, my money’s on “no.”)
