whew, what a month! i love july, because it marks the end of school and the beginning of the summer, and it flew by so fast! i can’t imagine i’ll be going back to school soon 😦

READS

in july, i read twenty books, and at the same time, completed my goodreads reading challenge! a large portion of the books i read were for #thereadingrush2019, and i surprised myself by reading seven books in seven days. my parents weren’t happy to know that i stayed up until 2 am to finish my goals lol. i’m pretty pleased with my progress, and the quality of the books i read, especially dear ijeawele, or a feminist manifesto in fifteen suggestions by chimamanda ngozi adichie, which is now one of my all-time favorites.

these are the books i read:

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and as per usual, here’s a short summary of my thoughts:

• the cat man of aleppo by karim shamsi-basha & irene latham, illustrated by yuko shimizu – ★★★★★ || a beautiful, heartwarming story, based on true events, told in pictures and simply-structured paragraphs.
• hello girls by brittany cavallaro & emily henry – ★★★★ || not what i expected, but turned out amazing ; i loved the humorous writing. [my review]
• kingdom soul by brittni chenelle – ★★★.5 || this was better than the first book, but i didn’t like the romance that much.
• natalie tan’s book of luck and fortune – ★★★★ || so many mouthwatering dishes!! and i loved the magical realism.
• pax by sara pennypacker, illustrated by john klassen – ★★★★ || a sweet book about friendship, courage, and letting go, with some similarity to the movie a dog’s way home, but with an unexpected twist at the end.
• that summer by sarah dessen – ★★★★ || a quick read about change and growing up, wasn’t as bad as i imagined it would be.
• naomi and ely’s no kiss list by rachel cohn & david levithan – ★★★ || i really liked the platonic rep in this book, but the writing style really wasn’t my cup of tea.
• not the girls you’re looking for by aminah mae safi – ★★★ || this one started out a bit slow for me, but i loved the last few chapters, and messy but amazing friendships.
• dear ijeawele, or a feminist manifesto in fifteen suggestions by chimamanda ngozi adichie – ★★★★★ || a short book of essays about feminism, written in letter form ; absolutely brilliant.
• since you asked by maurene goo – ★★ || umm i didn’t really like this one ; this was unlike the other maurene goo books i’ve read and the writing was kind of weird somehow??
• moxie by jennifer mathieu – ★★★★★ || an amazing feminist novel about girls fighting back against sexism – this made me so happy!
• in paris with you by clémentine beauvais – ★★★ || the translations were a bit strange and that kind of ruined my reading experience :((
• the true confessions of charlotte doyle by avi – ★★★★ || this book has been on my tbr for over four years, and i finally read it. loved the character development in this.
• short stories from hogwarts of power, politics and pesky poltergeists by j.k. rowling – ★★★★★ || i haven’t realized how much i missed rowling’s subtle humor until picking up this book.
• café escape by 樂兒 – ★★★★★ || an adorable magical realism story about the small things different people are escaping from in everyday life
• kiss me in paris by catherine rider – ★★★★ || a super cute romance set in the city of love ; i liked it, but not as much as kiss me in new york.
• the wind in the willows by kenneth grahame – ★★★★★ || loved this, especially mr toad’s stories of stubbornness and conceitedness!
• serious moonlight by jenn bennett – ★★★★ || i love jenn bennett’s books, and this one was just as fluffy as the others i’ve read. and i really liked the setting as well – i’d love to visit seattle someday.
• when marnie was there by joan g. robinson – ★★★★★ || this story was strange, in a beautiful way. (and i was not expecting that plot twist.)
• kingdom cold by brittni chenelle – ★★★.5 || a diverse fantasy retelling of the arthurian legend 😀 i really enjoyed it. [my review]

ON THE BLOG & AROUND THE INTERNET

i wrote seven posts in july, which is a pretty good amount if i do say so myself. however, i originally planned to vlog for the reading rush, but for some reason my camera wasn’t working, so everything came out super blurry :(( i guess i’ll do it again next time when i get a better camera.

here are the posts i wrote in july:

• book review – comeback by lyn ashwood and rachel rose
• book review – the thirteenth guardian by k.m. lewis
• book review – kingdom cold by brittni chenelle
• my #readingrush2019 reading list!
• guest post by christina june, author of no place like here – ashlyn’s camp essentials
• my #arcaugust 2019 reading list

and here are some posts by other bloggers which i really liked:

• Mid Year Book Freakout Tag: 2019 Edition by nish and ngoc @ nish and ngoc’s book nook, in which they talked about the books they liked and disliked, with a party-size serving of gifs.
• #Allthereads of June by ioana @ dragon waffles, in which she talked about the books she read in june.
• Blogging Struggles: Envy by swetlana @ the caffeinated bookworm life, in which she talks about envy and insecurity on her blogging journey, and it’s such a well-written and relatable post!
• A Harry Potter-Inspired Look Book by tiffany @ read by tiffany, which features the outfits she and alexandra from twirling pages put together for potterheads from different houses!
• Comeback by Lyn Ashwood and Rachel Rose: Heckin’ Adorable, with Asian Culture Thrown In! by aimee @ aimee, always, in which she reviewed comeback, and made me see the book from another reader’s perspective.
• 7 LGBT Movies I Watched for Pride Month 2019 by ngọc @ read with ngọc, in which they rated and reviewed some lgbtq+ movies and tv shows they watched for pride month!

i’d also like to take this opportunity to thank feedspot for including marshmallow pudding on their top 100 hong kong blogs list. ❤

OFFLINE ADVENTURES

to be honest, i’ve completely forgotten everything that has happened in july, so i had to scroll through my camera roll and see what pictures i took to recall my memory. from what i see, not much happened, so here’s a really brief list of what went on last month:

• i got my hair cut (i haven’t gotten my hair cut since last year!)
• i went to a senior-junior student bonding camp with some of my friends
• i drank lots of boba 😀
• i went to a seven-day camp for aspiring healthcare professionals, and learnt a lot
• i met up with my friends and we played board games
• i attempted (and failed) to do my summer homework

so you see, it was a really uneventful month.

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how was your july? did anything interesting happen? what did you read? let me know in the comments!