Month in Review for July 2017

My Star Wars themed b-day cake, complete with purple lightsaber chopsticks

July was rather kind to me compared with the beginning of August- there is a wildfire four miles from my house that was burning absurdly fast for about a week, which left me trapped inside due to the smoke and downstairs due to the heat. Luckily, it is cooler now and I am able to get back upstairs and blog again- I have a nifty but bulky desktop that I write at for fear of my tablet's autocorrect.

Statistics:
 Total Posts: 5
  Total Critiques: 2
  Genres:
    Fantasy: 1
    Contemporary Fiction: 1
    Part of a Series: 1

Most Popular Posts of the Past Month:
Month in Review for June 2017
New Release Review: "Hello, Sunshine" by Laura Dave

Flashback Post (From a Previous Year):
"Burn for Me (Hidden Legacy #1)" by Ilona Andrews

Pageviews for the Month: 958
Comments: 13

Reading Challenges Updates:

The Sci-Fi Summer Reading Challenge Hosted by Rachelle @ Fortified by Books

My Goal: 6 Books
What I've Read So Far:
Firstborn & Defending Elysium by Brandon Sanderson (Sci-fi Short Stories, 160 pages [June])
Parable of the Sower (Earthseed #1) by Octavia E. Butler (Dystopian, 345 pages [July])
The Mirror by Marlys Millhiser (Time Travel, 303 pages [July])

Naked in Death (In Death #1) by J.D. Robb (Sci-fi Thriller/Romance [July])

Reading Stats:

Books read this Month: 7

Book Stats:
Has a Diverse Main Character: 1
Doesn't Have a Diverse MC: 6
Female Main Character: 5
Male Main Character: 0
Pair and/or Group of Female/Male Main Characters: 2
Genre:
 Sci-fi: 3
 Historical Romance: 2
 Fantasy: 1
 UF/Paranormal Romance: 1
Published in 2017: 3
Published in 2000-2016: 1
Published in 1990s: 2
Published in 1970s: 1
Self-Published, Small Press, or Other: 0
Traditionally Published: 7
Series Books: 6
Standalones: 1
Ebook Version: 6
Paper Version: 1
Favorite of the Month: Wildfire (Hidden Legacy #3) by Ilona Andrews because they are my favorite authors who create my favorite characters (even a grizzly bear with the smarts of a human who is a pacifist). I liked it so much I'm rereading it right now.
Least Favorite of the Month: Rules for a Rogue (Romancing the Rules #1) by Christy Carlyle- with historical romance, I'm hard to please. I really liked the second book in this series (which I read first).
Most Interesting of the Month (or Book I Learned the Most From): Parable of the Sower (Earthseed #1) by Octavia E. Butler- it's the most interesting and frightening book I've probably read all year- not for the squeamish among us or those who avoid dark topics.
From the-pile: 0
From the-invisible-pile: 3
Recently acquired: 4
Added to the-invisible-pile: 10
Books bought: 1
Pages Read in 2017 Thus Far (according to Goodreads): 14,452 pages

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

Author Stats (1 = 1 book read by x author):
Male: 1
Female: 5
Male/Female Team: 1
Diverse: 1
Not-so-Diverse: 6 :(
Living: 6
Deceased: 1

Planning to Read This Month:

I am rereading Wildfire (because Ilona Andrews' books make me happy). I plan on sneaking in some sci-fi at some point, but other than that I don't have any plans.

Upcoming Posts:

Naked in Death (In Death #1) by J.D. Robb
For a while, my Blogger image archive wasn't working, so this review from July will appear in August. I really was pleasantly surprised by this one- and I didn't anticipate that.

I hope your August is amazing!