nut free nerd

July was a blur of hot days, air-conditioned office spaces, lakeside reading, and time spent with friends and family… not a bad way to spend the bulk of summer! Here’s what I was up to this past month:

In July I read a total of 9 books:

1. Hard Times by Charles Dickens
2. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
3. Middlemarch by George Eliot
4. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
5. George’s Marvelous Medicine by Roald Dahl
6. Echo by Nadette Rae Rodgers
7. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit
8. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
9. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

I honestly can’t believe I read so many books this past month, especially since many of them are LONG (I’m looking at you, Middlemarch). Picking a favorite is difficult, but I think the best book I read in July has to be Tuck Everlasting. This short little read was absolutely adorable, charming, and insightful. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it! I never read it when I was younger but I wish I had– I feel like it’s something I would have loved.

It happened, people: I finally visited Willa Cather’s grave!! This is something I’ve been wanting to do ever since I learned a few months ago that it’s located a little over an hour away from where I live. Willa Cather is one of my favorite authors, so standing at the foot of her grave was absolutely surreal. I went on a rather dreary day, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying every second of it. You can read more about my adventures in this graveyard here. 

My family and I were also able to spend a few days by the lake in July, which means I had plenty of reading time by the water. And who can pass up the opportunity to take some bookish photos in such a beautiful place? (Not me!)

The majority of July was spent trying to plow through my required reading for Oxford, finishing up paperwork for studying abroad, spending time with friends I haven’t seen in a while, and working. It’s strange to think that we’re already more than half way through summer… September will be here before we know it! Also, I started watching the TV series Fargo… is anyone else obsessed with this series?!?!?!

This past week I also had the amazing opportunity to participate in the Booktube-A-Thon. As you can tell from my initial TBR post, I really wasn’t expecting to get through much reading in a single week. However, in twist that I never saw coming I was actually able to complete almost all of the challenges and read even more than what I had put on my TBR!! I’m so happy with the progress I made and I actually miss the Booktube-A-Thon already. There’s just such fantastic positive bookish energy during those intense seven days of reading! ❤

Here are some notable posts from my blog this past month:

• War and Peace Newbies Tag
• 5 Books to Read If You Like Twin Peaks 
• Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag
• MATILDA as a Feminist Text | Discussion
• Rapid Fire Book Tag
• I Visited Willa Cather’s Grave
• Would You Rather? | Book Tag
• Debunking the Mythical “Beach Read” | Discussion

Here are some posts that I loved reading this month (there are so many!!):

• Lefty talks about the challenges of doing it all in the book community
• Juliana lists ten times you can read and multitask
• Joce asserts the wrongness of genre shaming among book lovers
• Kyra explains the most agonizing moments in a bookworm’s life 
• Utopia State of Mind talks about the important role of literature in her life
• Fleur discusses saving books for special occasions
• Savannah shares ten authors she claims are her favorites even though she hasn’t read many of their books
• Lois explains why she loves the contemporary young adult genre
• Sarah contemplates why book reviews aren’t read more
• A.J. shares important points about book signing etiquette
• Shanti talks about the greatness of companion novels
• Marie shares her thoughts on what makes a REAL book blogger

How was your month of July? What was the best book you read? Did you do anything really fun or exciting? Let me know in the comments section below!

Yours,

HOLLY