Was it just me, or was June a fast month? It doesn't seem like it should be time for a monthly wrap-up yet, but obviously it is...
Blog
I'm still a little bit surprised that I have a blog? That people read? Thank you, people-who-read-my-blog! You are 100% more appreciated than you know. :)
I also started posting twice a week this month--Mondays are for reviews, and Fridays are for miscellaneous bookish fun.
My posts this month:
*I don't know why some of these are blue and some aren't...but they're all links.*
Fun Things in the Blogosphere this month:
- Jenelle Schmidt released a book! I only recently 'met' her through the blog, but she is the sweetest, and I'm so excited for her! And to read the book!
- The Characters in QT Tag has been going around--Catherine, Megan, Julian, MK and Sarah all have done it, and their answers are fantastic!
- Julian Daventry and Sarah Rodecker are PUBLISHING THEIR BOOK! AND I GET TO DO A COVER REVEAL!
- MovieCritic hosted a Pixar Blogathon, which was very fun to follow.
- Faith finished her Love Languages series--if you haven't read her posts on writing different Love Languages, what are you doing here, go read them now!
Reading
I actually kept track of my reading this month! Here's what I read this month (an asterisk means it was a reread):
The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien edited by Humphrey Carpenter
*Hold Fast by Blue Balliett
Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally
You Have Laid Your Hand On Me... by Alphonse Gilbert, C.S.Sp.
Of Literature & Lattes by Katherine Reay
Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor
The Backyard Cow by Sue Weaver
The Incorruptibles by Joan Carroll Cruz
Frodo's Journey by Joseph Pearce
The Flying Inn by G. K. Chesterton
Sweep by Jonathan Auxier
100 Days of Sunlight by Abbie Emmons
Never Say Goodbye by Sarah Grace Grzy
How We Rise by Brooke Riley
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
The Scarlet and the Black by J. P. Gallagher
Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule by Harriette Gillem Robinet
*The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner
*Parts of The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner
*The Railway Children by E. Nesbit
*Thick as Thieves by Megan Whalen Turner
*A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner
*Parts of The Rooftop Beekeeper by Megan Paska
The Epic Adventures of Lydia Bennet by Kate Rorick
*Ten Blind Dates by Ashley Elston
Prairie Evers by Ellen Airgood
*Top-Bar Beekeeping by Les Crowder
Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody
The Baby Plan by Kate Rorick
*Speak Easy Speak Love by McKelle George
Little Wonders by Kate Rorick
The Truth About Style by Stacy London
*100 Days Of Sunlight by Abbie Emmons
I Love You So Mochi by Sarah Kuhn
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
The Big Tiny by Dee Williams
Creating a Forest Garden by Martin Crawford
Most of Tiny House Basics by Joshua and Shelley Engberg
An Echo of the Fae by Jenelle Leanne Schmidt
*The Austen Escape by Katherine Reay
*The Bronte Plot by Katherine Reay
Cloaked by Rachel Kovaciny
A Ceiling Made of Eggshells by Gail Carson Levine
The Girl and the Witch's Garden by Erin Bowman
Contagion by Erin Bowman
*Lizzy & Jane by Katherine Reay
Taken by Erin Bowman
*Dear Mr. Knightley by Katherine Reay
Most of The Bullet Journal Method by Ryder Carroll
Note: Just because I read it doesn't mean I liked it. If you want to hear what I thought of a particular book, let me know in the comments!
Yes, guys, this is a lot of books. But believe it or not, this was a pretty typical reading month for me. Please don't be mad. Or jealous. I really hope you're not mad or jealous. What can I say--I'm just really good at prioritizing reading over conversations, physical activity, hobbies, and basic hygiene. *shrugs*
Life
I passed my last brown belt test, and am officially preparing to test for my black belt in Shudo-kan Karate-do!
(This is my Jun Shodan Certificate! I 'whited out' my name in English and Japanese, but if you read Japanese, you might be able to figure out my teacher's name!)
I got bored one Sunday afternoon and made a baby quilt! I think it turned out pretty well for my first real quilt! I've subsequently sewed two other baby quilt tops (we don't have enough batting for me to finish them yet) and started on a full size 'pattern sample' quilt for myself. Send help. Legolas might have been right about the whole "sign of insanity thing" I'm having fun with it!
(The white squares are actually cream with light purple sprigs)
I got to go to Mass for the first time in three and a half months!
(This is obviously what I wore, and not me at Mass!)
My family went strawberry picking! (Socially distant, obviously, but it wasn't that hard in the strawberry fields...) We brought home a total of 59.5 lbs., of which I contributed 19.5. My siblings and I subsequently spend an hour and a half in the kitchen and processed maaaaybe 1/4 of the berries. There's lots of jam in the works. Also ice cream. And baked goods. And strawberries coming out of our ears for the next month or more.
(Yes, these are all mine!)
We (and by "we" I mean me and the beekeeper I'm apprenticing with) got to inspect our hives for the first time! Rohan is doing really well, but Gondor is struggling (the queen may have died/not be there/be falling down on her job...we need to bring in Arwen XD) so I got to inspect it all by myself a week later. Not nerve wracking at all. Legolas took a video, but Blogger is not playing nice with my computer, so you get a picture instead. :)
(This may have been when I found the queen? I'm not sure.)
Gandalf had a birthday! He's six now! We had a nice day with presents, socially distant time with family and friends, and strawberry shortcake.
(Here he is opening a Lego set from our grandparents--he really enjoyed all the Legos this birthday!)
July Plans
Honestly I have no idea- Get ready for my black belt test
- Read. A lot.
- Do Catholic Liturgy Week!
- Hang out with friends!
- Help my mom recover from an appendectomy
- Volunteer at Masses
- Get the goats ready for breeding in the fall, especially correcting any copper deficiencies
- Pick raspberries!
- Possibly start construction on a tiny house in our back yard?
- Go backpacking
How was your June? Have any fun July plans? Have you ever inspected a beehive?
Oh my golly Sam you're a beekeeper??? That is SO COOL. My family has had several hives of bees, and our most recent one actually survived a winter, but alas it perished the next fall so now we're hiveless once more. *sobs* My sisters usually do the actual inspection; I've helped once or twice, but for the most part I simply finance the operation. ;)
ReplyDeleteYOU READ SO MANY BOOKS. My goodness. I'm in awe. What were your favorites? What did you think of Schindler's List? And The Scarlet and the Black? (I love the Gregory Peck movie by the same title so very much, but I've never read the book.)
So glad you started a blog, m'dear!
I am! And it is SUPER COOL. Oooh, I'm sorry about your bees--they do seem to be delicate creatures! In the past we had two that we got in the fall that died from Varroa mites before spring...a sad day. Hopefully we'll be able to keep these two alive...Inspections are really amazing, you should tag along on one at some point, if your family gets bees again. :D
DeleteI KNOW. I didn't actually realize how many I read until I started keeping track...*gulps*
My favorites were Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (of course), Sweep, 100 Days of Sunlight, Northanger Abbey, Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, An Echo of the Fae, and Creating a Forest Garden, but it was actually a really enjoyable reading month all around--no DNFing or objectionable reads.
Schindler's List was really interesting, especially since
a) I've been to Krakow and can picture most of the settings quite well and
b) I have Polish Jewish heritage
It was sad, of course, and I didn't appreciate Schindler's immorality, but overall I enjoyed it.
I loved The Scarlet and the Black--I had no idea about all of the subversive Vatican activity during WWII (go Pope Pius XII!) and Msgr. O'Flaherty is very funny amid all of the suspense! I've never seen the movie, though, maybe that's something I should look into...
Thank you! I am too! (And thank you for reading!)
OMW YOU READ OF LITERATURE AND LATTES?! I read that this month too and I really enjoyed it. The romance was...not great, but I overall enjoyed the story. It was cute and fluffy and everything I needed at the moment. I also really enjoyed getting to spend more time in Winsome, as I really enjoyed the previous book based there. I would be interested to hear your thoughts on her Austen-inspired books, as I've heard mixed things about them and I'm not sure if they're worth picking up.
ReplyDeleteYour baby quilts look great! They look so much better than my first attempts at quilting. And I take exception at "quilting is a sure sign of insanity" as it is one of my loves and I really enjoy doing it (though it's a bit bittersweet now because my mom can't quilt with me anymore and she's the one who taught me pretty much everything I know). If you ever want to share quilting experiences/projects, hit me up! I love to chat quilting!!
I'm so happy that you're excited about the cover reveal!! We can't wait to send it to y'all!
Yes, I did! I really enjoyed it, too! I agree about the romance, and I feel like it ended rather abruptly? But it was definitely a nice fluffy read. And spending more time in Winsome was a plus for sure! I've actually written a Good, Better, Best post about all of her books for Friday, so you can read my thoughts then! ;)
DeleteThank you! The binding is a bit of a hot mess, but hopefully my next attempts at that part will be better! I know, I take exception at that, too, but I thought that Legolas thought that was funny (especially since she's a rabid knitter...). I might have to send you some questions or pictures at some point, that would be fun!
Yaaassss, it's going to be amazing!
Sweet! I'll look forward to that. I really like your concept for Good, Better Best! Such a great way to break down stuff.
DeleteYes, please do send questions/pictures!! I'd love to see whatever you're working on!
*blinks* DUDE. That is a ton of books! That is more than a book a day! Wowza! I think I finished two books this month. XD Even my highest record for books read was in June a few years ago and that was fifteen. Anyway, I'd like to know your thoughts on Schindler's List (I saw half of the movie once, but it was so hard that I couldn't finish), and Northanger Abbey (It's been ages since I read that!).
ReplyDeleteAw, thanks for the mention! :D
Nevermind about Schindler's List, I just saw your reply to Megan. XD
DeleteI know! It's a bit insane, actually. I guess I'm just very good at finding time to read? (When I'm walking, when I'm cooking, when I'm doing farm chores, etc...) Fifteen books is totally a respectable/impressive amount to read in a month!
DeleteI imagine that a Schindler's List movie would be harder than the book--actually seeing the images is a lot different than just reading about them. I always find I can handle scary/sad/painful books better than scary/sad/painful movies.
Northanger Abbey was a lot of fun to read--it's way quirkier than Austen's other books, and the love story is less developed than in some of her others, but her asides to the reader were hilarious, and it gripped me all the way through more than I expected. She also has a number of good insights into human nature, which I was not expecting in such a satirical book.
You're very welcome! :D
Jumping catfish! That is a lot of books. I am envious. Wow.
ReplyDeleteYou read Speak Easy, Speak Love!!! I love that book! What did you think of it?
It was a lot! I didn't realize how MANY books I read a month until I started keeping track for the blog...
DeleteYes, I did! I had read it for history a couple of years ago, and went back and read it for fun this month! For me, it was a bit hard to track all of the gang dynamics, but I really enjoyed it, especially the banter between Beatrice and Benedick, and the way the plot of the play was woven in really cleverly! I also liked how the author was not afraid to change the ending a little, in relation to Hero and Claudius.
Sounds like a productive month! I'm super jealous of the number of books you read... or... rather... I'm jealous of my younger self who had way more time to read, as that's what my monthly reading list used to look like... another lifetime ago. :) Looks like you got in some great reads. I'd love to hear your take on the Megan Whalen Turner series! (it's one of my favorites, but I like seeing what other people think of books, even if it's different from what I think).
ReplyDeleteOoh, I have family who keeps bees. I find that fascinating, but I'm also kiiinda terrified of bees so it's probably not something I'll ever do. But I think it's cool!
WOWZERS that's a lot of strawberries! We went strawberry picking, as well (I forgot to put that in my update post) but the lady kept saying, "It's not a good year for strawberries" and yeah... the berries were the tiniest things EVER. We picked for a couple of hours and filled TWO buckets... and there were 11 of us working. (Okay, the 3 year olds miiiight not count... though Grayden did actually help me quite a lot). I made a strawberry-rhubarb pie from them though, and it was delicious.
Hope you have a great July!
It was, more or less! Yeah, I'm sure as soon as I become a "functioning adult" or something, I'll have less time to read. XD
DeleteAaaah I LOVE The Queen's Thief SO MUCH. It probably ranks as our family's collective Favorite Series Ever (except LOTR, of course). I've read the ones we own (Queen and King) probably five or six times. Megan Whalen Turner is a genius. I keep wanting to review them on the blog, but I feel like I would dissolve into a puddle of freak-out, sooo...maybe when the sixth one comes out.
It is extremely fascinating! Inside the hive it's like another world.
It was! It's been a great year for strawberries here, but interestingly, a bad year for blueberries. Maybe it'll be a good year for blueberries where you live! :) But wow, that does sound like not a great harvest. Strawberry-rhubarb pie sounds really good, though! We made a strawberry-rhubarb crisp (actually, several.)
You too! Enjoy your hiatus!