wrap up
Bookish other,  Wrap-ups and TBRs

August 2020 wrap up

Hello bookworms!! Welcome to the August 2020 wrap up!!

So apparently August is over, and I barely even noticed. And it’s now almost halfway through September and I haven’t done my wrap-up (until now), and what even is organisation?!! I was behind on blog-hopping, and updating goodreads. And I still AM behind on my spreadsheets, review copies, writing blog posts and book reviews, instagram… life?

In saying all of this, I am taking a proper amount of leave from work at the end of this month. Yes, I am taking THREE WEEKS off. Which means that I might actually finish painting my study, and start getting organised… because when I had 1 week off I only painted 1/3 of the room. Although, to be fair, I had to move 3 Billy bookcases full of books to do just that, so I’m cutting myself some slack.

Anyway, let’s talk about what I did in August?! (Also, I’m so sorry this goes for so long… ?)

what i read

August was a pretty good reading month, despite the part where I had my very first DNF of the year. Honestly, I try and give review books a really good chance, but I was 11% into this book and I wanted to stab the characters. I just did not care for them, the plot, the way female characters were talked about (it’s a male POV, but a female author), and the language. I just couldn’t do it.

But the rest of the books I read were either 4 or 5 stars, so, winning!!

As I mentioned earlier, I am still doing my N.E.W.T.s (?), in support of Gintare and all her amazing work on it, but I’m spreading it out over two months because we can.

SYMBOLS
Symbol
Key
Symbol
Key
Symbol
Key
⚔️ fantasy contemporary ? sci-fi
? historical fiction ❤️ romance ? crime / mystery
? thriller ? classic ? dark academia
? BIPOC author ? own voices ?️‍? queer rep
? mental health rep ♿️ disability rep ? graphic novel
?‍♀️ YA ? MG ?‍? NA / Adult
? physical book ? ebook ? audiobook
? DNF ?‍♀️ buddy read ? reread
? Beat the Backlist ARC / review copy ? Aussie author / #loveozya
? N.E.W.T.s ? YARC ? friend pick

Emoji table for reference

Book
Author
Series
Symbols + ? prompt
Rating
Cover
A Question of Holmes Brittany Cavallaro Charlotte Holmes #4 ⛱ ? ? ?‍♀️ ? ? ? ?

Herbology: A

4 Charlotte Holmes #4: A Question of Holmes by Brittany Cavallaro
The Bear and the Nightingale Katherine Arden The Winternight trilogy #1 ⚔️ ? ?‍♀️ ? ? ?

Charms: E

5 Winternight #1: The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
City of Glass Cassandra Clare The Mortal Instruments #3 ⚔️ ?‍♀️ ? ? ?

DADA: E

4 Mortal Instruments #3 City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
Riot House Callie Hart Crooked Sinners #1 ❤️ ? ?‍? ? ?

DADA: A

4 Crooked Sinners #1: Riot House by Callie Hart
Escape from Lucien Kazu Kibuishi Amulet #6 ⚔️ ? ? ? ? ? ?

CoMC: O

4 Amulet #6: Escape from Lucien by Kazu Kibuishi
Nick and Charlie Alice Oseman Solitaire #1.5 ⛱ ❤️ ? ?️‍? ? ? ? ?

CoMC: E

5 Nick and Charlie by Alice Oseman
Boyfriend Material Alexis Hall ⛱ ❤️ ? ?️‍? ? ?‍? ? ?

Arithmancy: E

4 Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall
The Bro Code Elizabeth A. Seibert ⛱ ❤️ ?‍♀️ ? ⏰ ? DNF The Bro Code by Elizabeth Seibert
City of Fallen Angels Cassandra Clare The Mortal Instruments #4 ⚔️ ?‍♀️ ? ? 4 Mortal Instruments #4 City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare
Well Met Jen De Luca Well Met #1 ⛱ ❤️ ?‍? ? ? ?

Runes: O

4 Well Met by Jen DeLuca
The Flatshare Beth O’Leary ⛱ ❤️ ? ?‍? ? ? ?

Runes: A

5 The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary
Firelight Kazu Kibuishi Amulet #7 ⚔️ ? ? ? ? ? ?

CoMC: A

4 Amulet #7: Firelight by Kazu Kibuishi

I’m having difficulty picking my favourite book of the month, so I’m taking the easy way out and giving you BOTH of the candidates:

  • The Bear and the Nightingale was always going to be a super hit or miss for me. There doesn’t seem to be a middle ground for me in terms of fantasy books based on Slavic mythology. And I felt like Arden really nailed it. The scenery was dark and atmospheric, the characters were rough and wild, and the story itself was moody and alive. This is definitely the type of fantasy that I love. (I also love whimsical fantasy… I’m an enigma…)
  • The Flatshare was just as good as The Switch, if not, better. Beth O’Leary has just ticked the box for me as an ‘auto-buy author’, and TBH I couldn’t be happier.

I’ll do my N.E.W.T.s wrap up with the September wrap-up, as I’m only just over halfway through (10/18) so far.

what i did

General

I think I just worked in August… OH! I participated in the MS Readathon, so that was something!!

For those of you unaware what this is, the MS Readathon is a an annual fundraising event that has been held by the MS Society in Australia (and other countries) since 1979. It encourages Australian children to read books, learn about multiple sclerosis (MS) and raise funds to help people living with MS. The money raised by the MS Readathon helps the MS Society to provide services to assist people living with MS such as physiotherapy, access to specialist MS nurses and respite care, while also working towards funding research.

When I was a kid, I participated every year without fail, and I have a lot of fond memories from it. You used to get sponsorship for each book you read, so if someone sponsored you $1 per book and you read 10 books, they would pay $10. One of my favourite memories is from my parents telling everyone not to sponsor me more than 10¢ per book because I would bankrupt them. One year one of the men who worked for dad must have missed the briefing, and sponsored me $1 per book. Suffice to say he nearly cried when I happily informed him I had read over 50 books during August. (This was a lot of money in the 90s, and I read a LOT of Baby Sitters Club books that year!!)

2020 is the first year that the readathon has been open to adults to enter as well. So a bunch of bookstagram friends and I, who have been doing virtual bookclub since March, decided to join as a team. We had a lot of fun, and between the 11 of us (plus 2 strangers who joined our group), we read 114 books and raised over $2,200AUD. It was really fun, and I hope we do it next year too.

Gaming

Surprising everyone, including myself, I actually finished the ‘main game’ part of Animal Crossing. Yes, K.K. Slider came to my island, the credits rolled, and I got the extra stuff for my in-game phone, meaning I can now make crazy changes to the island. I have not played since (which is honestly just crazy).

I have been playing more of The Sims 4 though. AND, I’ve started streaming on Twitch which is honestly such a weird thing. I’ve discovered that I’m actually quite bad at conversing with a chat while playing… but I have also been mainly playing the family with 8 sims in it, so it’s probably a bit much. I’m going to try with a smaller family and see if that’s any better.

If you want to follow me on twitch, my account is twitch.tv/meeghangames. I don’t have a regular streaming time yet, but I’m hoping to figure out a schedule when I have those 3 weeks off!!

Dungeons & Dragons

Sadly, this will be my last update for D&D for a while. Our super amazing DM (dungeon master) needs a break. Which honestly, totally fair. I think we started playing last year, and while we had about a month off in between ‘season 1’ and ‘season 2’, DMing can be super draining between coming up with story and maps and random NPCs.

In saying that, we might do some one-shot missions and I’ve been thinking about building my own world that the boys can play in… so, it’s not a forever goodbye. We’re just on a break!!

TV and movies

Things I watched in August were (all on Netflix):

  • The Umbrella Academy season 2
  • Chesapeake Shores season 4
  • Lucifer season 5 (part 1)
  • Work It
  • Feel the Beat

PLUS, we went to the actual cinema (our city hasn’t had any COVID cases for a month so we’re starting to open things up again), and we saw TENET, which was super confusing to begin with, but also amazing. Plus it’s the first movie I’ve seen R Patz in that I haven’t hated him.

If you don’t know about TENET, it’s the latest movie by Christopher Nolan (the brains behind Inception) and it’s this amazing twist on time travel. It has brilliant performances by John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, and Kenneth Branagh (who plays a Russian mobster type character). Honestly I hope Nolan does about 16 more movies in this world. (OK, maybe not 16… but definitely 2 more.)

Now, as with the whole not reading a blurb before I read the book, I knew nothing about this movie going into it. That was probably a really bad idea, because it genuinely starts in the middle of a gunfight. Plus I had no idea that it was about time travel until (what felt like) halfway through the movie. Which goes for THREE HOURS. So many things I was unprepared for… Anyway, I’ve been through all the trailers on youtube (FOR YOU), and I think this is the best one that kind of explains it in the least confusing way possible and gives you a good flavour for the movie.

Anyway, if you haven’t seen it, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND it. Especially if you liked Inception.

Music

The only new music I’ve listened to is by Aussie band Yours Truly. I found them through Triple J (an alternative radio station here) when I was catching up on Like A Version. (Like a Version is a weekly segment where a musician / band come in and play an original song live + their take on someone else’s song.) Triple J have a whole playlist on YouTube, and I also highly recommend having a look through this. Some of them are so amazing. These are some of my favourite covers that have been done:

Although, some of my absolute faves from the past 15 years aren’t up, so I might do a search and share them next month!!

Anyway, this is Yours Truly covering Don’t Look Back in Anger by Oasis.

on my blog

OK, we had the FIRST FOUR WEEKS of Top 5 Tuesday hosted here, and the support from you all has made my little heart so happy!! ? These were the posts for August:

As well as these, my favourite post I did last month, is going to be the start of a new series: Books to replace HP in your life (you’re welcome). I started this because I have (had?) a friend who, despite everything that is happening, continues to post HP stuff on Instagram. So, I asked them why and they said they had never read anything like it. My goal now is to find everyone a replacement so we can all stop support JK Trolling. August’s list was all about books that have magic school in them. Personally, I can’t separate the art from the artist, so I want to offer everyone other options.

on your blogs

I caught up on blog hopping the last week (yes, I let it get bad again, and had over 500 posts to read… ? apparently I will never learn my lesson). BUT, these are some of my fave posts of yours from August:

Honestly, you all inspire me so much with your creativity and resilience. Book bloggers are honestly some of the hardest working people and just know that I love you all.

ALSO, congratulations to all the winners of the 2020 book blogger awards!! You’re all amazing!! And huge thanks to May @ Forever and Everly, and Marie @ Drizzle and Hurricane Books for organising the award this year!! I know winners weren’t announced until this month, but I really wanted to get in and say thank you to them both, and congratulations to everyone!!

a cartoon character clapping

How was your August?

until next time, happy reading! Meeghan xo

22 Comments

  • Clo @ Cuppa Clo

    Ah thank you for sharing my post <3 3 weeks off work sounds like bliss to just relax and catch your breath, sending you all the love and good vibes for the rest of this month. I honestly do not understand how we're almost done with September like 2020 is going to turn into 2021 pretty soon *sobs*

    • meeghan

      I know!! It was like, “2020 is a disaster” *blink* oh, it’s July. *blink* oh, it’s August? *blink* WHAT? It’s now September?!!

  • northernplunder

    yknow what visiting your blog makes my eyes v happy 🙂 ty for a lovely layout + theme.
    hooray for completing the main part of Animal Crossing – havent played it all summer and now im worried about how upset everyone will be when i do return

    <3

    • meeghan

      Thank you, Lauren!! Although, Kat deserves all the credit for the graphics.
      It took me 6 months of playing on and off just to make it that far. It’s totally fine. We’re all doing things at our own pace. My neighbours were all just really excited to see me after a month. ??

  • evelynreads1

    Sad that you had your first DNF, but it looks like you enjoyed all the other reads! I hope you have some good reads in September as well!

    (www.evelynreads.com)

  • dbsguidetothegalaxy

    Ooh, hope you enjoy that three weeks of leave! I’ve seen the Billy bookshelves around Youtube/bookstagram and they do look really good!
    I see everyone’s been reading The Flatshare! ?? I think I’d be able to bankrupt a couple of people if they sponsored me for that MS thing.
    I need to redownload Twitch! So many of the simtubers I watch are on there as well (and I’m trying to get more into gamplay too), so when I do that, I’ll definitely follow you!

    • meeghan

      DB!! Thank you!! I’m planning on just catching up on life stuff on my break, but I also have a bunch of medical appointments and what not.
      The Flatshare (and The Switch) are some good. I highly recommend if you want some wholesome drama with a dash of romance. ?
      Ooh!! Let me know when you’re back on Twitch and I’ll come see your account too ?

      • dbsguidetothegalaxy

        I don’t stream on twitch ? I have no idea how to do that. I just use it to watch other people ? (my username is db_1322). Hopefully you’ll get some me time during your break and that life stuff/medical appts don’t get the better of you.
        A dash of romance does sound preferable ☺️

  • Malka @ Paper Procrastinators

    Thank you so much for mentioning both of my posts! I totally can relate to being super behind on blog hopping. I started catching up today, and I there were some posts that I read that were from the beginning of August! I almost felt bad commenting on because of how late I was getting to them!

    The MS Readathon sounds fantastic! I feel as though everyone I know would know better than to sponsor me though! I’d have to find some acquaintances who aren’t aware of my passion for reading to fund my reading!

    I hope you’re having a wonderful month, and that you get the break you need over your vacation!

    • meeghan

      Thanks Malka!! And you’re welcome!! They are great posts!!
      They changed the donations this year, so instead of sponsoring per book you just donate a lump sum, which is much easier ?

  • Veronika @ Wordy and Whimsical

    I’m really glad you enjoyed Well Met and Boyfriend Material – I think both of those are so entertaining! Well Played is coming out on Tuesday, and I couldn’t be more excited for it! 🙂 I need to play the Sims 4 again. I haven’t played it in weeks, and I really miss it, especially because I’ve just created a new family by creating and downloading Sims based on my favorite podcast, haha. Hope your September has been going well! 🙂

    • meeghan

      Yes!! My copy of Well Played is preordered and hopefully on the way!!
      I have been playing so much Sims. I streamed journey to batuu for 7 hours on Saturday. Then I just played with my normal families on Sunday. I haven’t picked up a book since Thursday… which is so bad!! ?

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