July Recap 2020

And there goes July.

Not going on vacation and not physically going to work has made this summer move by even faster than usual. We’ve spent most of it hunkered down in the AC because it’s been miserably hot in Boston off and on. We have been able to squeeze in some roof deck time in the evenings when it cools off, but for the most part it’s AC all the way.

Books and Bookish Things
I got a lot of reading done this month, 16 books. That just behind the 18 I read in May, but well ahead of the 12 in April! This pandemic has really done a number on my reading (oh hey, MM Romances :-D).

I’ve kept my MM Romance obsession alive with just over half of this month’s reads, but more importantly I did a better job of budgeting them. I also managed to get four galleys, a nonfiction book on race, and a wonderful Jane Austen inspired book. (See I am at least trying for a bit of variety.)

For the most part, the galleys (*) were underwhelming, the exception being Boyfriend Material, which I adored—it was great to revisit an author whose potential I could see ages ago, but that dropped off my radar.

I also enjoyed a stroll down memory lane reading a Star Wars novel for the first time in decades. I’m still bitter about Disney wiping out the hundreds of novels that comprised the Extended Universe, but I did enjoy reading Ahsoka and might dip my toes into a few more in the future.

723. Once You Go This Far – Kristen Lepionka*
724. Boyfriend Material (London Calling #1) – Alexis Hall*
725. Squared Away (Out of Uniform #5) – Annabeth Albert
726. Must Like Spinach – Con Riley
727. We Contain Multitudes – Sarah Henstra
728. Where the Boys Are – Christopher Murphy*
729. Star Wars: Ahsoka – E.K. Johnston
730. Conventionally Yours (True Colors #1) – Annabeth Albert
731. Date Me, Bryson Keller – Kevin van Whye
732. Date Me, Bryson Keller – Kevin van Whye
733. So You Want to Talk About Race – Ijeoma Oluo
734. It’s a Steal – Arden O’Keefe*
735. The Jane Austen Society – Natalie Jenner
736. Romantic Renovations – Blake Allwood
737. Love by Chance (Chances #1) – Blake Allwood
738. Another Chance with Love (Chances #2) – Blake Allwood

I would be remiss not to acknowledge Oluo’s So You Want to Talk About Race, which is a wonderful primer on the subject. The breadth of the work was astounding and I will absolutely read any additional works she publishes and really should do better about reading the many articles she’s written since I first read her work.

I picked up a couple of Kindle books this month, mostly because they were on sale/free and I would’ve sought them out eventually.

• Better Not Pout – Annabeth Albert
• Tomboy Land – Melissa Faliveno

What’s Next?
I have a few more galleys to make my way through over the next month or so and I’ll probably keep going with the MM romances, I mean why not? I’m enjoying them and they don’t hurt anyone (maybe my brain cells, but meh), plus they’re easy reads as my workload starts to pick back up leading into the fall.

We’re gearing up for (fingers crossed) a vacation on the lake in NH last part of this month/first part of next month in which I fully plan to knit, read, play MTG and just enjoy NOT being cooped up in the house for a week!