Month in Review for August 2015: I'm So Ready for September!

From my travels to and from Montana

It's been a rather draining month for me between traveling, bouts of insomnia, and feeling crappy in general (I blame the smoke from the wildfires), so I'm ready for September to begin! My grandma has been in and out of the hospital in Montana, so we'll likely be headed that way this weekend. She has been diagnosed with some circulation and clotting disorders, but to top that off, she has masses in her breasts that need to be biopsied to test for cancer, as she's fought it in that area before. Obviously, I'm ready for September to be completely different then that month in every possible way.

Statistics:
 Total Posts: 12
  Total Critiques: 4 (Wow... I wasn't reviewing much this month!)
  Genres:
    Fantasy: 2
    Paranormal Romance/UF: 1
    Part of a Series: 3
    Urban Fantasy: 1

Most Popular Posts of June:
SFF: The 5 Video Game/Book Pairings to Experience Together
Montana Book Roundup: Summer 2015
"Magic Shifts (Kate Daniels #8)" by Ilona Andrews
"Twice Tempted (Night Prince #2)" by Jeaniene Frost
Month in Review for July 2015
"Deerskin" by Robin McKinley
SFF: The 5 Struggles of a Fantasy-Centric Reader

Pageviews for the Month: 974
Comments: 10!

Reading Challenges Updates:

Snowflake and Spider Silk Bingo Challenge

Applicable Books:
From January:
Song of Blood and Stone (Earthsinger Chronicles #1) by L. Penelope (POC main character)
Soulless (Parasol Protectorate #1) by Gail Carriger (New to me author)
Changeless (Parasol Protectorate #2) by Gail Carriger (2nd book in a series)
Blameless (Parasol Protectorate #3) by Gail Carriger (female author)
From February:
Unseen (Unborn #2) by Amber Lynn Natusch (published 2015)
Written in Red (The Others #1) by Anne Bishop (Urban Fantasy)
From March:
Stardust by Neil Gaiman (written before 2000- it was first published in 1998)
Anthem by Ayn Rand (Novella/Short Story)
Moxyland by Lauren Beukes (Dystopia)
From April:
The Princess Bride by William Goldman (Humorous SF/F)
"The School for Good and Evil (The School for Good and Evil #1)" by Soman Chainani (fairy tale retelling)
From May:
"Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley ("classic" SF/F)
From June:
"The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard #1)" by Scott Lynch (Heists and Cons)
From July:
None!
From August:
"Kesrith (The Faded Sun #1)" by C.J. Cherryh (Non-Human Main Character)
"The Sleeping King" by Cindy Dees and Bill Flippin (Epic Fantasy)


Travel the World in Books Challenge

Applicable Books:

Again, none to report. I plan on reading more historical fiction this September!

Reading Stats:

Books read this Month: 5

Book Stats:
Has a Diverse Main Character: 0
Doesn't Have a Diverse MC: 5
Female Main Character: 0
Male Main Character: 0
Pair and/or Group of Female/Male Main Characters: 5
Genre:
 Fantasy: 1
 Historical Romance: 2
 Sci-Fi: 1
 Urban Fantasy: 1
Published in 2015: 2
Published in 2000-2014: 2
Published in the 70's: 1
Self-Published, Small Press, or Other: 1
Traditionally Published: 4
Series Books: 4
Standalones: 1
Ebook Version: 4
Paper Version: 1
Favorite of the Month: Magic Shifts (Kate Daniels #8) by Ilona Andrews
Least Favorite of the Month: Seven Years to Sin by Sylvia Day (Just overlong)
From the-pile: 1
From the-invisible-pile: 0
Recently acquired: 4
Added to the-invisible-pile: 4
Books bought: 8
Pages Read in 2015 Thus Far (according to Goodreads): 18,406

Ratings:
5 Stars: 0
4-4.5 Stars: 2
3-3.5 Stars: 2
2-2.5 Stars: 1

Author Stats (1 = 1 book read by x author):
Male: 0
Female: 3
Male/Female Team: 2
Diverse: 0
Not-so-Diverse: 5
Living: 5 (Technically 7)
Deceased: 0

Planning to Read in September/Upcoming Posts:

I have only one review copy left to read before I am free to read whatever, but considering it is penned by Margaret Atwood, I truly doubt I'll have trouble with it. (Anything Atwood writes, I will read):

"The Heart Goes Last (Positron #0)" by Margaret Atwood

I also have a fairly good feeling I'll be reading the second of the Faded Sun Trilogy, Shon'jir, as Kesrith ended on a bit of a cliffhanger. Thank goodness I have the omnibus edition of the trilogy.

I'm also looking at my massive piles for a book to read for the Travel the World in Books Challenge. I'll have to find something that keeps my attention, as I've had my mind go wandering a lot while I'm reading lately.

I currently have no posts planned, but hope to review Kesrith and the third book of the Night Prince series soon. Hopefully I'll be able to write up a Not Quite a Confession before I leave this weekend, because otherwise it will likely be very quiet on the blog.

         Onto a better month!