Month in Review: July 2020

Posted August 19, 2020 by Cristina (Girl in the Pages) in Features, Month In Review / 2 Comments

Well I’ll admit, it’s been a minute since I posted a monthly recap. Since March 2020, to be exact. The reason being that literally my days are all pretty much the exact same. Wake up, work, exercise, watch tvs/read, go to bed, Rinse, lather, repeat. I’m not complaining- I know I am SO lucky to have a house I can quarantine in and that my job is remote so I don’t have to go out for work, but it also hasn’t been the most conducive to talking about my life lately because I just feel like everything has been more or less the same.

My family is taking COVID-19 very seriously. I have left my house probably less than 10 times in the past 150+ days. We have not eaten any takeout since March. We have not run any non-necessary errand since March. We get as much as we can delivered, and then go through a very in depth disinfecting process before anything is brought inside. It’s honestly exhausting and I’m feeling a bit gaslit seeing people on social media out enjoying their summers, sans-masks and sans-social distancing. To try to keep positive and stimulated, I’ve tried getting back into exercising, journaling, and meditation. Some of these tasks are going better than others (I really need to start using Headspace again!) but I bought an exercise bike after seeing a friend of mine on Instagram start her fitness journey with at home spinning classes and have really been enjoying it! I love how powerful I feel after a good workout and thinking about how I’d doing my body good after months and months of barely moving (aside from the walk from my bedroom to my desk every day, lol). Meanwhile, Max has been trying out some new and old recipes in the kitchen (his chocolate chip banana bread is AMAZING) and I’ve been trying to churn out bookstagram content.

Switch Update

There’s also been a LOT of Animal Crossing playing happening in our household, and we’ve loved the summer updates (especially diving for sea creatures/swimming). We’ve added a lot of our most desired villagers lately (Marshal and Apollo) and are working on slowly but surely terra forming our islands (though I sob internally looking at the stunning island designs on Pinterest and knowing I’ll probably never be able to create anything that epic!) I usually play after work during dusk/twilight as it’s absolutely gorgeous and I love the ambient music that plays that time of day.

Shows Update

I discovered The Bold Type after seeing it referenced in the comps for a YA novel and decided to finally dive in and watch it (I had heard it mentioned before but didn’t really know what it was about). Though the characters are constantly making bad decisions, I LOVE the Scarlet environment and just watching women in their 20s navigate the corporate job world! My fave is definitely Sutton and I love her and Richard together.

Books I Read This Month

Books I Reviewed This Month

Girl, Serpent, Thorn (4 Stars)

Girl, Unframed (4 Stars)

The Bane Chronicles (3 Stars)

The Mall (4 Stars)

Chain of Gold (4.5 Stars)

Stats

Total Books Read: 7

Total Novellas Read: 0

Rereads: 2

Favorite Book Read This Month: I finally read Chain of Gold and really enjoyed it!

Least Favorite Book Read This Month: A Taste of Sage didn’t quite live up to my expectations.

Book that Most Surprised Me This Month: The Mall was a really fun 90s historical fiction novel (YIKES that the 90s are now considered historical fiction lol).