Category: Monthly Wrap Up

Oh November, you wild thing you. I started this month full of bad anxiety because of Election Day which turned into Election Week…of course my birthday fell on the day after Election Day. So yeah…it was the worst week ever. I never want to relive that, ever.😅

Because of all that anxiety – I barely read anything. I couldn’t, so this was the month I read the least I think. This was what my November was like:

Cast in Firelight by. Dana Swift – 5/5

These Violent Delights by. Chloe Gong – 4/5

Parachutes by. Kelly Yang 3.5/5

Grown by. Tiffany D. Jackson – 4/5

Deal with the Elf King by. Elise Kova – 4/5

Unravel the Dusk by. Elizabeth Lim – 3/5

Savage Lands by. Stacey Marie Brown – 4/5

Shadow Knights (Knights of the Realm, #2) – 2/5

Skin Curse (The Gate Cycle, #2) – 4/5

How was your November? What are you looking forward to reading in December? I don’t think I have anything I’m dying to read for December – I just want a nice break and catch up on NetGalley arcs I have to finish, but that’s it. I wish you all a Happy December!

🎄 ~ Yolanda

Here we are in the second half of the year and I’m exhausted but school starts up again for my son, so here we go…the challenge of August because, every month is something different, right? 2020…we need to like do a full on sage, cleansing, purge…I don’t know what…haha. Anyway, here is what I read and/or reviewed in July:

I’m usually so lazy about posting links to my reviews but I’m trying to be less lazy about that haha…so here are the ratings and links:

The Black Kids by. Christina Hammonds Reed – 4 STARS

Today Tonight Tomorrow by. Rachel Lynn Solomon – 4 1/2 STARS

Black Girl Unlimited by. Echo Brown – 5 STARS

Into the Crooked Place by. Alexandra Christo – 3 STARS

I’ll Be the One by. Lyla Lee – 4 1/2 STARS

Dark Skies by. Danielle L. Jensen – 4 1/2 STARS

More Than Maybe by. Erin Harn – 3 1/2 STARS

In the Neighborhood of True by. Susan Kaplan Carlton – 4 STARS

Daring and the Duke by. Sarah MacLEAN – 4 STARS

The Kinder Poison by. Natalie Mae – 4 1/2 STARS

The Dark Tide by. Alicia Jasinska – 3 STARS

Queen of the Conquered by. Kacen Callender – 3 STARS

Mayhem by. Estelle Laure – 3 1/2 STARS

The Lost City by. Amanda Hocking – 3 STARS

I think July was a good month until the hurricane came our way haha – then my anxiety levels went up and I was struggling to read but that was at the end of the month.

We shall see how August goes but I hope it’s a good month. I read a lot of arcs that are releasing in September and they are SO good. Anyway, some of those reviews will be posted this month.

How did your July reading go?

Hi Lovelies!

Hello July, goodbye June. I want to say goodbye 2020 with a vaccine on hand haha, I’m ready for 2021 folks. Anyway, I think I read more in June because Hawaii’s flattened our covid curve to 0 cases in June and then…it’s starting to creep back up again, but not high, just the usual range we had pre-lockdown. My anxiety lessened in June, but we shall see for July. My son starts 2nd grade in 4 weeks. 😱 And we aren’t sure what the rest of the year will be like…will schools shutdown again and I’ll be his 2nd grade teacher? 😩 Will dwell on that when it comes, but here’s what I read in June:

Eleven books, not bad! But I’m pretty sure I read a few others on Kindle Unlimited, but because it’s a series, I’m trying to wait for the last book to do a mini review of the whole series. Also I read some books that have later publications and those reviews won’t post until late in the year.

My goal for June was to add more black authors and yay, I reached my goal! I read 6 books written by black authors and 2 by POC-Asian authors.

How was your month of June? I hope you have an awesome July!

May was about grieving for me and my family. My husband had lost his aunt to COVID-19 in the last week of April and her funeral was in the first week of May. And yes there was Mother’s Day, my sister’s birthday, my husband’s birthday – some happy moments and then again…grief, watching George Floyd’s life snuffed out on video. I don’t even remember what I read for May…it’s been chaos.

We were social distancing and locked down and now in Hawaii we are almost fully open (only tourism is closed) so before Memorial Day, I was feeling less anxiety. Then we started June with protests, anger, rage, grief, tears, and now…change. I see the change and it gives me hope. I love seeing the activism in young people so I will cling to that hope.

With that May update…(it’s been crazy right?)…here is what I read in May:

The 3 book series were so short, it could have been combine to make a duology so I read those fast. Two of the books in the list also were read months ago but posted nearer to their publication dates. But yeah, not bad for a rough month. At least I got to escape for a little bit. How did you do in May?