August 2019 Month in Review

September 1, 2019

Newsworthy

Fall, I welcome you with open arms! 

August was a super weird month for me. It started with my husband spending the first 5 days of the month in Indianapolis for GenCon. This is the one vacation he takes with his friends each year, and I don’t begrudge him that! But, this year it happened to occur at the end of the blueberry season for our first farming season.

Let’s just say I realized that I am not interested in owning a farm if David is out of the picture. … … It was a rough 5 days.

But I also got a vacation of my own this August! I took 10 days off to take a road trip. I drove to Ohio to see my family on both ends of a road trip to North Carolina. In North Carolina, I got to see all of my extended family, visit Charlotte, Greensboro, and Raleigh — Oh, and see a Backstreet Boys concert with my cousin! 

If anything, the Backstreet Boys have only gotten better with age. Their newest album, DNA, sounds like 2016 Justin Timberlake created a boy band album. Pop and hip hop vibes with boy band lyrics and tight 5-point harmony. And they can put on one heck of a show! 10/10 – would go again.

The cherry on top for this trip? I got to end my road trip by visiting the effervescent Amanda @ Cover2CoverMom in her own home city! I am blessed to have found such wonderful friends in this bookish community.

The rest of August was filled with rolling off a major work project only to roll onto another major project. Cue eye roll. But I got to see quite a few friends who came in town for a local convention immediately after. Plus, David and I have made some significant progress on unpacking. All in all, August was weird, but it was a win. 

 

List of Reads

Not only do I have a 45-75 minute commute to work right now due to construction, but the road trip I took helped me positively devour books this month! Thankfully, I was able to pick up quite a few Newbery winners. Thus, I am catching back up to my goal for 2019- here’s hoping I can reach 20 by the end of the year!

August Books:

Read 10 total books

 

MUST READ this month:

Skyward by Brandon Sanderson – I don’t often read series books before the whole series is published, or soon to be completed. So when my Science Fiction Fantasy book club selected Skyward I was hesitant. Should I even read the book? I decided to at the last moment and I am so thankful I did! What exceptional character – each one a trope with a slight twist. You’ve done it again, Sanderson, gosh darn you.

Meh. I wasn’t into it this month:

The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare –  A historical fiction novel set during Jesus’s rise to fame, The Bronze Bow is a little too much and not enough at the same time. Speare did a great job writing for her intended audience, but I never connected the right way. Sometimes too overt, sometimes too rushed, sometimes too subtle, sometimes too slow– Speare’s writing just never hit home for me. I wonder if it would for male children?

 

September TBR:

  • Kids Lit Book Club – Beyond the Bright Sea by Lauren Wolk
  • West Side Stories – All Systems Red by Martha Wells
  • Brunch Books – How Long ‘Til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemisin and Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
  • VACB Book Club – Dracula by Bram Stoker
  • Science Fiction/Fantasy Book Club: The World Doesn’t Require You by Rion Amilcar Scott
  • The Great Newbery Challenge – The White Stag by Kate Seredy and The Dark Frigate by Charles Boardman Hawes
  • #ReadingValdemar – Storm Breaking by Mercedes Lackey
  • Food52 Cookbook Club — The Little Swedish Kitchen  by Rachel Khoo

 

2019 Reading Goal Updates:

  • Overall 2019 Reading Challenge: 81/80 (101%)
  • Outstanding Book Reviews: 24
  • Outstanding Incomplete Series to Read: 3/10 (20% complete)
    • Curious what series count? Check out this post.
  • 2018 Great Newbery Challenge: 10/20 (50% complete)
    • You can follow The Great Newbery Challenge over the years here.

I met my 2019 reading goal!! Woot! It feels good to achieve a goal, even if it was the only one I knew I’d achieve this year. And, while it seems like I’m really far behind, I only have 24 outstanding book reviews! Last month I had 23 outstanding reviews and I as I read 9 books this month, it means I actually wrote 8 whole reviews! This calls for a celebration, my friends. I haven’t written this many reviews in a single month since David and I started to ponder buying a farm. 

I’m pumped that I’ve finished three of the series I was aiming to complete in 2019. This was a late addition goal, so completing 10 series might be a bit of a stretch. Thus far of the 10 series I identified, I’ve completed The Chronicles of PrydainThe Reckoners, and The Conqueror’s Saga. That said, I’ve started and finished quite a few other series this year (four of them, to be exact), but those don’t count towards my goal.

Thanks to my road trip this month, I cranked through quite a few Newbery winners. If I can keep up with my reading, I will definitely reach my Newbery Award Winner goal. Plus, the three I read this month were adorable! I love it when the Newbery Winners actually feel worthy of their award status.

If you’re curious why I chose the goals I did for 2019, you can see my reading and blogging goal post here.

 

Tsundoku Life

It wouldn’t be tsundoku if I didn’t have a gigantic pile of books and bookish things going on in my life!

On the Blog:

This is the month I caught up with all my pre-scheduled posts, meaning August was a bit bare with posting. Oops! Thankfully I have some amazing buddy reads going on which are keeping me honest with blogging.

I read The Eye of the World with Kim @ Traveling in Books. Two posts in this series went up this month with more to come! Plus #ReadingValdemar with Melanie @ Grab the Lapels is still going strong. I couldn’t be more thankful for this community keeping me engaged and keeping my blog alive! 

Book Reviews

Death by Tsundoku Series Posts

#ReadingValdemar

Top Ten Tuesday

Other Posts

 

Blog Projects and News

I can get back on the saddle! August wasn’t the month I wanted it to be as far as dedicating time to the blog, but I am getting closer. I recognize I’ll never achieve the level of commitment I crave (which, honestly, would be a full-time blogger #PipeDream), but as our new letter board says —–> I wrote at least one post a week, wrote 8 mini-reviews for Goodreads, and I did a small amount of blog hopping. That’s a huge improvement for me! Here’s hoping these are the small steps I need to get those big gains!

Bring on the Read Alongs! As I mentioned above, read alongs have been keeping me connected with blogging and the blogging community recently. I am so thankful for them! This month and next month continues my buddy reads for The Eye of the World with Kim @ Traveling in Books and #ReadingValdemar with Melanie @ Grab the Lapels. September also brings a buddy read with Dani @ Perspective of a Writer. I couldn’t be happier to have these on my schedule. I love buddy reads; they challenge me to read outside my comfort zone, explore ideas in books I might have missed otherwise, and keep me engaged with the community.

 

The last few months have been absolute madness, but it looks like things are winding down. Fingers crossed I can make a new routine around blogging. The patience and love this community has shown me while I’ve been overly busy have kept me afloat when I thought I was going to drown many times. I have missed you all — let’s connect with each other again soon, yes? Yes!

Happy Reading,

Jackie B.

Jackie B Forman

 


What do you think?

  • Have you read any of the books I mentioned above? What are your thoughts?
  • Did you discover any amazing new reads in July? What are your recommendations?
  • What awesome stuff did you get up to in July? I’m curious about your life outside of books!
  • How do you maintain your blogging habits? What do you do when you fall off the horse? Any and all advice welcome!
  • Any recommendations for audiobooks? I cannot keep up listening to them!

15 Comments

  • Kim @ Traveling in Books September 2, 2019 at 12:49 am

    August sounds like it was nuts! Glad you made it through without pulling your hair out! Hopefully, September will let you catch your breath.

    • Jackie B November 19, 2019 at 4:36 pm

      Hahaha– it’s hilarious to read this comment come November. Hindsight is 20/20 — and now August feels like it was a breeze compared to the Chaos of October. I guess now that I know how to harvest blueberries I can plan for it. Planning is key. But with all the stuff that went wrong a the farm, well, planning ain’t a part of that. XD

  • whatthelog September 3, 2019 at 7:00 am

    This all sounds really positive!! Looking forward to seeing you around a bit more 🙂

    • Jackie B November 19, 2019 at 4:37 pm

      Okay, okay, so perhaps *now* things will calm down?! Or pherhaps I’m just eternally optimistic. XD Who knows.

  • Grab the Lapels September 3, 2019 at 2:57 pm

    How would you describe Joanne Fluke’s work? The covers look so yummy, but I’m worried her novels are stereotypical cozy mystery fare, which gets on my reader nerves. Apparently, I don’t want to be cozy.

    Now that you have the farm and a good idea of when things get busy with pulling in a crop, maybe in 2020 you can plan to get posts on auto-pilot for those months!

    • Jackie B November 19, 2019 at 4:40 pm

      I want to tell you that Joanne Fluke’s work isn’t stereotypically cozy mystery fare. But having never read another cozy mystery and knowing your personality and taste in writing… I have a feeling this is *the most* coziest of mysteries. It’s like I’ve stumbled into a weird subgenre of cozy mysteries– the baking mystery! There are freaking recipes every other chapter. It’s amazing. You know. If you want to bake. XD

      I would *love* to get some posts written and scheduled in advance. I am actually considering taking a half day off once a month to crank out my TTT and book reviews for the upcoming month in 2020. I think I might be able to get into a rhythm of that… and with my newest boss, that seem like something I could do without taking proper time off. She likes to ensure we’re all sane. What a novel idea!

      • Grab the Lapels November 21, 2019 at 1:06 pm

        It could be nice to have a half blogging day! That’s sort of what I do now (except I’m part-time, so I don’t have to take time off), and I get in reading, writing posts, and sometimes blog hopping. Although, as you know, blog hopping can be a time suck, so if you set aside time for yourself, you might want to stick to Death by Tsundoku-focused tasks.

  • Captain's Quarters September 3, 2019 at 3:26 pm

    Glad to hear yer August was survived. Super excited about yer thoughts on skyward and the bronze bow. Can’t wait to hear further thoughts on the scorpio races and a robot in the garden. Sooo glad ye liked robot in the garden!
    x The Captain

    • Jackie B November 19, 2019 at 12:19 pm

      Oh man! Your comment (from SEPTEMBER. Goodness, where has the time gone?!) reminds me I am sooo behind when it comes to book reviews. XD Oops. I had best get on that. I definitely need to set aside some time for catching up.

      You’re the whole reason Dani and I read The Robot in the Garden! We loved your review and then had to read it. Thanks for being the best influence EVER.

      • Captain's Quarters December 19, 2019 at 2:19 pm

        Well yer comment to me was from November. I have been trying to catch up! So glad that me review led to a book that ye both enjoyed!
        x The Captain

        • Jackie B January 3, 2020 at 11:07 am

          Pft, I’m trying to catch up, too. You’re not alone. 🙂

  • Amanda @Cover2CoverMom September 6, 2019 at 7:02 pm

    Awwww meeting up with you was definitely one of the highlights of my August too! I can’t wait to see you again in November 🙂 Should we start pondering a book to read together?

    I’ve never read a Sanderson book… Have you read many of his books?! People are going nuts for Skyward… Shall I make it my first Sanderson book?

    OOooo interested in seeing what you think of Dracula! I’ve heard it is hard to get through… Maybe audiobook would be the way to go?

    Congrats on finishing your 2019 Goodreads challenge! How many books do you think you’ll read by the end of 2019? I’m going to guess 130 🙂

    • Jackie B November 19, 2019 at 4:46 pm

      I really love Brandon Sanderon’s writing. I think you’d enjoy Skyward, but note that Sanderson isn’t… swift… about finishing his series. My favorite YA novel of his, The Rithmatist has had a sequel in production for almost a decade. Yeah. At least the second book in the Skyward series has a publication date of Nov 26th and the 3rd is slated for early 2021. But the 4th? Who knows. At least he’s a prolific author! We can chat more next week (!!!!) about Sanderson.

      I listened to a full-cast version of Dracula. There are many to choose from — and it was wonderful! I really loved it. Highly recommended as an audiobook, too — I think if I had read the physical book I would have mentally drifted. It’s certainly a mark of its time.

      Hahaha — I think I’ll be closer to 130 than 100 on my GR challenge. I just picked up ALL the GR Choice Award nominated picture books. So, that will inflate my total for sure. The trick will be getting these all marked on Goodreads. I’m sooo behind. I am terrible at staying on top of my reviews this year!

  • Dani @ Perspective of a Writer September 10, 2019 at 1:11 am

    GAHHH!! A loved one went into the hospital at the beginning of the month and I’m there everyday. So I’m totally behind on everything. I totally get that sometimes life takes president! I did enjoy A Robot in the Garden though!! It was super cute and I’ve been telling everyone about it. ❤️ It’s neat you got to go on such a massive trip! And that you caught up so much.

    • Jackie B November 19, 2019 at 4:47 pm

      I hope your loved one is out of the hospital and living their best life, Dani! I can relate to how hard it’s been to stay on top of blogging, but it’s so much worse when someone you love is hurt.

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