Turning the Page on June & July 2017

June and July were not the greatest months for me. Jarrod worked a ridiculous number of hours (I'm talking many, many 12- or 15-hour days, plus most of 4th of July weekend and several other weekend days). I had a couple kerfuffles and chaotic days at my work. Alohi got spayed at the end of June, which was a bit stressful because -- despite the sedatives the vet gave us -- our little Energizer Puppy flat-out refused to take it easy (and she also managed to get stung by a bee in her mouth while recovering). I had 24 hours' notice to host a dinner for 13 people from my husband's work I'd never met before. I had a pretty gnarly reading slump. And, by far the most difficult thing, my wonderful grandma was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in June and passed away at the beginning of July. I was more than ready to flip that calendar to August yesterday!

The past two months did have some bright spots, though. We took Alohi to the beach for the first time. I went on a hike with my co-workers. I got to spend some quality time with a good friend before she moved away (oh, military, why do you do this to me?!). July was my first time co-facilitating the 4th and 5th grade book club at work and that was fun. One of my favorite shows, Masterpiece's "Grantchester" came back on TV, and I also got totally sucked into "World of Dance" on NBC. And I bought three new bookish t-shirts!

Books read: 12

June:
"A Twist in Time" by Julie McElwain (Kendra Donovan #2) // 3.5 stars
"The Queen of Blood" by Sarah Beth Durst (Queens of Renthia #1) // 4 stars
"My Last Continent" by Midge Raymond // 4 stars
"The Likeness" by Tana French (Dublin Murder Squad #2) // 4 stars
"News of the World" by Paulette Jiles // 4 stars

July:
"Bring Back the King: The New Science of De-Extinction" by Helen Pilcher // 4 stars
"Vision in Silver" by Anne Bishop (The Others #3) // 3 stars
"Walk Two Moons" by Sharon Creech (for kids' book club) // 4 stars
"Silent in the Grave" by Deanna Raybourn (Lady Julia Grey #1) // 4.5 stars
"Three Times Lucky" by Sheila Turnage (for kids' book club) // 3.5 stars
"My Not So Perfect Life" by Sophie Kinsella // 4 stars
"This Is What a Librarian Looks Like" // 4 stars

Read for 12 days in July but finished August 1: "Dragonfly in Amber" by Diana Gabaldon (Outlander #2)

DNF:
"Just One Damned Thing After Another" by Jodi Taylor

Favorite book: "Silent in the Grave"! Despite it being over 500 pages, I devoured this book in two days and loved it! I have the sequel out from the library right now and I'm excited to get to it soon.

Biggest let-down: "Just One Damned Thing After Another," a fantasy book about time-traveling historians that I fully expected to love, but it just didn't work for me; I actually put it down halfway through.

August release I'm most looking forward to: "Young Jane Young" by Gabrielle Zevin. Her previous book, "The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry," was fabulous, and though this one sounds quite a bit different I'm hoping it's just as good.

Book I'm most excited to read in August: The second book in Naomi Novik's Temeraire series (alternate Napoleonic War history + dragons), "Throne of Jade."

Books added to to-read list: 36 (not great, but not horrible for two months, plus a few were sequels)

Most intriguing TBR addition: "The Revolution of Marina M." by Janet Fitch. From Goodreads: "St. Petersburg, New Year's Eve, 1916. Marina Makarova is a young woman of privilege who aches to break free of the constraints of her genteel life, a life about to be violently upended by the vast forces of history. Swept up on these tides, Marina will join the marches for workers' rights, fall in love with a radical young poet, and betray everything she holds dear, before being betrayed in turn. As her country goes through almost unimaginable upheaval, Marina's own coming-of-age unfolds, marked by deep passion and devastating loss, and the private heroism of an ordinary woman living through extraordinary times."

Favorite bookstagram: Find me on Instagram @knittinglindsay!

June:

July:

No crafts to speak of the last two months! I tried to pick up the Newt Scamander Hufflepuff scarf I've been very slowly knitting for a friend, and I got about two rows done before the puppy ran off with a skein of yarn in her mouth and unraveled it all over the downstairs. The scarf has been shoved in a coffee table drawer ever since!

Book reviews:
"American War" by Omar El Akkad
"Into the Water" by Paula Hawkins
"The Stranger in the Woods" by Michael Finkel
5 mini reviews: "My Last Continent" by Midge Raymond, "The Queen of Blood" by Sarah Beth Durst, "The Likeness" by Tana French, "News of the World" by Paulette Jiles, "Bring Back the King: The New Science of De-Extinction" by Helen Pilcher
"Silent in the Grave" by Deanna Raybourn
"My Not So Perfect Life" by Sophie Kinsella

Favorite post: 10 2017 Releases I Enjoyed and 10 I Hope To Read Soon. It's been a fairly mediocre reading year for me, so I'm hoping the 10 I'm looking forward to make up for a lackluster first half of the year -- especially with new releases!