Rewind and Fast Forward: August 2015

Hi everyone!! I feel like I haven't blogged in forever. This summer has been crazy busy. Last week I was in Europe on vacation (recap post to come) so I didn't blog at all and I had my mom and sisters out earlier this summer which made me post less and I just feel so out of my normal routine. But hopefully now that I'm back from vacay I will fall back into normal life. Until the holiday craziness hits anyway. 

August was a pretty sad month for me. I only posted 11 things. I usually post five times a week so that's like nothing for me. But alas, I shall still recap it for you! 

Reviews: 

Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor: 4 Stars

Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor: 3 Stars

That's it, folks. Just two reviews last month. Unfortunately I didn't like Laini Taylor's series as much as everyone else seems to. I struggled with the flowery language and descriptions and felt that the books were too long. I also struggled to connect to the main characters and felt like the romance was a bit too instalove for me. I was going to read the last one right away, but I decided to instead reread the entire Throne of Glass series to prepare for the release of Queen of Shadows. 

This reread was probably the most fun reread I've ever done. I reread with Wendy from Book Scents and it was just so fun to revisit these characters and this world. We were sending obnoxiously long texts/voice message texts to each other the whole time we were reading. I think that Crown of Midnight is definitely my favorite in the series so far and The Assassin's Blade still destroyed me. Sam!!! So that was probably the highlight of my month, rereading these awesome books. 

Other Posts:

I did another nonbookish things I'm currently obsessed with post. The raincoat you'll find in that post got a lot of use in Paris when it poured on us. I talked about the Top Book Boyfriends I Hate to Love which was a perfect topic for me because I always fall for the bad boy. Sometimes they turn it around, but other times they are bad through and through and I know I shouldn't love them, but I can't help it! 

I obsessed over some Pinterest Poetry and listed five historical fiction novels that would be on my syllabus for YA Historical Fiction 101. I thought about doing fantasy for this Top Ten Tuesday topic, but then I felt like I just keep repeating the same books over and over on the blog so I decided to switch it up and go historical. 

And I wrote two "how to" posts: one on how to use blogging when interviewing for a job and another on how to make graphics using PicMonkey. 

And last, but most certainly not least, I started a new feature called Blogger Love where I will sporadically just talk about a blogger that I love and all the reasons why you should immediately go follow them. For this first post, I featured Wendy @ Book Scents.

In My Real Life:

Geez, what did I even do in August? That seems so far away. My sisters came to visit which was amazing! We went shopping, walked around the city, went to the beach and had an awesome time. We went to dinner one night, then went back to our apartment and got drunk and played rock band. And another night we sat around coloring giant Disney princess coloring book pages. Yep, we're cool like that. 

We took this awesome picture which my older sister, Megan (on the right), insisted on. It actually turned out super cute, but oh my gosh we looked like such idiots while we were taking it. 

It was so hard to say goodbye at the end of their visit. My sisters are truly my best friends and it's so difficult to live so far away from them. It never gets any easier saying goodbye. But I'll see them again at Christmas! 

Fast-Forward:

I realize that September is already half over, but I'm still going to list all the September releases I'm excited about. 

Hunter by Mercedes Lackey: September 1, 2015: About a reality show where people hunt fantastical monsters. 

Firewalker by Josephine Angelini: September 1, 2015: The sequel to Trial by Fire about parallel worlds and witches! 

Ash & Bramble by Sarah Prineas: September 15, 2015: A Cinderella retelling that sounds super unique. About a girl forced to live a fairytale she wants no part of. 

Never Never by Brianna R. Shrum: September 22, 2015: A Peter Pan retelling featuring the story of Captain Hook. Um... ever since I started watching Once Upon a Time I am a major Hook fan so yes, please! 

Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson: September 22, 2015: So obviously it's Rae freaking Carson. About a girl who has the ability to sense gold during the Gold Rush era. 

The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow: September 22, 2015: This book sounds so political. I love twisty political stories so much. Almost has a Game of Thrones feel to it. 

Menagerie by Rachel Vincent: September 29, 2015: About a woman who has a monster beneath her skin and is captured and forced to perform at a carnival for it. There's hints of a romance between her and her handler in the synopsis which has me pretty excited. 

Return Once More by Trisha Leigh: September 29, 2015: An interesting sounding time travel book. What if you could travel through time to save your soulmate? 

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo: September 29, 2015: I've already read this book and my review will be coming later this month, but this is basically a PSA to tell you all to go preorder this book. It is AMAZING. 

How was your August? What was your favorite book you read last month? What September release are you most looking forward to?