Hello friends, happy Monday! I hope you’re all doing well. I’m glad to see July go, it’s been a very long, stressful month, but let’s talk about the more happier times of the month!

Currently Reading:

Cujo by: Stephen King. I’ve been enjoying this but what’s been taking me out of the story is all these side stories that I’m finding aren’t exactly adding anything to the main plot. It’s been fast-paced and I’m feel like I’m really flying through this.

Lucky in Love by: Kasie West. Her writing is very hit or miss for me and this novel is kinda missing, the plot has gotten kinda boring but I am still curious to see how it all ends.

What I’ve Read:

Scarborough by: Catherine Hernandez. This was shortlisted for Canada Reads 2022, and it was a really good, short read. It really brought out the diversity that lives in Scarborough and the reality of the city of things that happen to low-income families when they start to get the support they need; heavy, but well worth the read.

The Forgetting Spell by: Lauren Myracle: I rated this 3 but it was probably closer to a 2 star read. This book was all over the place; nothing truly made sense; plots/characters were hinted at but not developed or didn’t go anywhere; major things felt left out. This was a frustrating read.

The Shrunken Head by: Lauren Oliver. This is the first book in a trilogy where I don’t really know how I feel about it. The plot was slightly intriguing but the characters were just ok. The mystery was alright; I was kinda bored throughout.

You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me by: Sherman Alexie. This is the author’s memoir. It was really, really well written; the mix of storytelling and poetry was done really well. It was poignant and definitely a worthy read if you’ve read anything by this author.

Lioness Rampant by: Tamora Pierce. This was a good conclusion to the series in terms of closed off/no outstanding questions, but I was disappointed by Alanna’s choices; after everything she went through and that was the ending, it was meh to me. I still thought this was a good series overall.

The Shadow Glass by: Rim Chupeco. I’m sad this trilogy is over, but this was a rollercoaster of an ending and I loved this so much; I really liked the ending to this one.

Dominoes at the Crossroads by: Kaie Kellough. This was longlisted for the 2022 Canada Reads list. This was a collection of short stories; I enjoyed the writing for the most part, but the way the stories were all put together didn’t really work for me. I wanted to like this more.

Tash Hearts Tolstoy by: Kathryn Ormshee. I really enjoyed this one. I loved the layers that went into this; there was so much happening that all came together to pour into the main plot and it worked really well.

The Screaming Statue by: Lauren Oliver. This was the second book in this trilogy and if you saw above I didn’t care for the first one, but this one I liked more. The characters were more fleshed out and memorable and the plots felt more connected.

The Backward Season by: Lauren Myracle. Another book series where I didn’t enjoy the previous book (see above again 😅) but this one was better, it didn’t hit the mark for me, but it did give this trilogy a nice, clean ending.

Links to my my blog posts this past month:

Links to posts I enjoyed around the blogosphere:

Marie @Drizzle & Hurricane Books talked about how she finds her book recommendations – this was such a fun read

Kate @Your Tita Kate talked about how to find your blogging voice – a lot of great advice in here

Kat @Reader Voracious talked about how to manage ARC stress – I don’t read ARCs but this all sounded like great advice

I thought June was a rough month… I didn’t know what was in store for me in July. Gosh, this month has been a s-t-r-u-g-g-l-e… yet somehow I made it through the month. Instead of dwelling on the negative of this month, I’m going to look at the positives!

Highlights of the month:

✨ Started planning a trip to Florida with my friends ☀️

✨ Spent a few nights this month drinking and listening to music with my brother 🎶

✨ Celebrated one of my best friends birthday with good times in her backyard. Good drinks, good company, good times!

✨ Went for brunch with a friend; I had banana bread French toast and an espresso martini – SO GOOD!

✨ Went on a brunch picnic by the lakefront, it was beautiful weather, with lovely company

✨ Went to karaoke with my group of friends and got to sing my heart out

✨ I went to the World of Barbie (see my insta post below) it was such a great experience, so interactive! 😊

✨ Ended the month hanging out with my group of friends

What I’ve watched:

The Umbrella Academy; season 3. This is still one of my favourite shows, but like I mentioned in last month’s wrap up, this wasn’t my favourite season (that goes out to season 2). I still enjoyed this one, it was well done but it was just missing the thing that made it super special; I can’t pin-point it, but something was missing. I wasn’t really into the whole Sparrows, I will admit that and I don’t like how angry they made Allison (like woof, girl), but I did like how they treated Viktor’s transition and the sibling dynamic was just as chaotic. The music was still on point, that’s one thing I love about the show is the music; they really get it right. I’m curious where things could possibly go after everything that happened, but I’ll definitely be watching!

Stranger Things; season 4, volume 2. I still don’t understand why this needed to be broken up, but I digress. Holy, wowerz! I knew that last episode was going to be emotional, but wow I didn’t think it would hit me quiet so hard (also it didn’t help the emotional state I was already in). Just when I thought I was done crying, hahahaha nope, we’re going to leave you weeping until the end of course. The pacing was really good; there were a few parts where they went on an exposition trip and I was like, not again, but for the most part everything had its place and moved perfectly. I hate that we have to wait god knows how long, I heard it was almost 2 years before season 5 is released. I feel like I’m going to forget everything that happened. I love the way they’re incorporating Will back into the focal point. Gosh, any time he started to cry it gutted me and I would cry; I love him! I can’t wait to see what they come up with next.

Star Trek: The Animated Series; season 1 & 2. I watched this series in the span of the month (I mean, it was only 22 episodes) and I completely LOVED this series. I enjoyed the Original series and this took everything I loved from that and placed it in a show. First off, this was only 24 minutes so it removed all the filler in the 50 minute OG series, which I appreciated. This made the storytelling tighter and it made things move so quickly. There were some days I’d go back and re-watch episodes because they were so short and full of action. I loved that they were able to introduce a whole bunch of other life forms and species that animation made possible where the live action would have been limited to. I have a feeling this series wasn’t a fan favourite, which is why it didn’t last long, but I hold this close to my heart.

The Great Canadian Baking Show; season 4 & 5. This show is a total comfort show for me. I started to binge watch it in 2020 during the height of the pandemic but then the next … 2 seasons were released and I completely forgot about it. Now, I’m back and I binge watched these last 2 seasons this month and I loved watching all the yummy things being baked and the team work, especially in season 5 where they would come together to help each other out was just an added bonus to watch. I really want this show to continue.

I watched Man From Toronto and it wasn’t bad, it was entertaining and I thought it was well done. It was a little on the long side for me, but I still thought it had some good comedic moments; I also liked the fact that some scenes were filmed around the corner from where I live. 😂 Re-watched 17 Again it wasn’t as funny as I remember it; but still enjoyable. Also watched This Is 40 which wasn’t all that funny and was extremely long for a romcom kinda movie.

I started my next step in my Star Trek journey and that’s watching the first 6 films. So with that, I watched Star Trek: The Motion Picture; this was very, very slow, save for the last 20 minutes (no idea why it had to be 2 hours) but it was good to see all our favourites come back after time apart for another mission. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan this was much more action packed, but was definitely a rollercoaster of emotions. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock another moving movie, I honestly didn’t know what would happen to Spock. Star Trek VI: The Voyage Home this movie went back in time to the 80s, which was hilarious to watch. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier another action packed film, where we learn more about Spock and the singing around the campfire in this one had me laughing. Star Trek IV: The Undiscovered Country this was so bittersweet. Watching the team go on one final adventure was fun, but I will miss them dearly.

What I’m watching:

Riverdale; season 6. I’m almost all the way through this… not sure why it’s being released a week at a time, but alas. This season has been all over the place, not sure what the point of this new guy trying to take over and they all have special powers but I guess I’ll see.

Superstore; season 4. So a lot has been happening for Amy this season, new baby, new boy, new position at work; it’s been interesting to watch. Curious where the rest of the season is going to go.

Star Trek: The Next Generation; season 1. I’m 2 episodes into my next adventure with this franchise and I have to say I’m not 100% on board just yet. It’s a little more slower paced than I hoped for, but I still have time to give it a chance.

Instagram & YouTube videos from the month:

How was your July? Read, watch, do anything interesting? Let me know!