June Intro: The Start of Freedom Means More (Hopefully) Reading

As I sit down and write (the first draft of) this post in mid-March, it’s hard to believe that exactly 1 month from now I’ll be graduating high school and entering the free world.  Well, not really.  I still have college, but that’s completely different and way more independent and I’m very excited.  (actually, on that vein of thought– I’m going to school in Boston next year so I’d love to do a blogger meetup!)

Because I have school in half of the month and then summer for the other half, I think that I’ll be able to read somewhat more books than I normally do, while still managing to keep up on blog posts and the like.  Also, because of the fact that I have less time to write during the summer, I’m breaking up what normally comes in this post into two separate days.  Today will consist of a TBR and blogging goals, and on Monday I’ll send you all a list of hot books being released this month.  I see a lot of book bloggers do similar things, and so I figured that it would be better this way for my own personal schedule.

Before you roll your eyes, yes I realize that I have a shit ton of books on this list, but I really truly think that I’ll be able to do it this time. (yes, even I’m rolling my eyes now)

Ebook / eARCs 

1. The Darkest Lies— I’ve been reading this book for almost 2 months, and it’s wayyyyyy overdue for a review, but I just can’t seem to get into it enough to stay interested.  My mind is drifting all over the place, and I would rather be on Twitter than reading it, which is a problem since the book is on my phone.
2. The Handmaid’s Tale— I had been SO FREAKIN EXCITED for this book, and now that I have it, the writing style is weird, and I just haven’t been reading it for enough time all at once.  I need an hour or so to read constantly to get into it I think.
3. Not the Only Sky— I’ve had this book on my Netgalley shelf for forever and since it came out 2 months ago, now is as good a time as any to start reading it.  It looks really good, and I’m looking forward to the chance to download it and start.
4. Select— I don’t think this book comes out until October, which is good because it means I’m not even behind!! I’m putting it on the list now because I can read it on my phone after I finish Not the Only Sky, and then I’ll type up a review and have it on file for the fall.  I honestly don’t even know what this is about, I’m just going for it.

Physical Books

1. The Glass Castle— I never had much of an interest in reading this book, although it was recommended to me a couple of times, but I just found out that it’s going to be a movie sometime in the fall, and that’s enough for me to read nearly any book.  Plus, it was on a bunch of “Must Read” lists, so I clearly need to give it a chance.
2. Big Little Lies— I’ve had this book on my shelf for the past couple of months, and have wanted to read it for at least a year.  Since I own it AND can watch a TV show right after, it seems dumb not to go ahead and put it on my TBR. (also side note but I got the TV show edition since it was on sale for $.50 but look how pretty the real one is)

Audiobooks

1. Orange is the New Black— Unlike Big Little Lies, I want to read this book because I’ve started watching the TV show and it’s INCREDIBLE.  I genuinely never thought that I would enjoy it this much, because I heard that it was just over sexualized nonsense, but I’m loving it and so I might as well hear the accurate story, and what better mode of doing that than listening.

Blogging

This month, I really just want to get ahead on my blogging and schedule my posts for the entire summer.  I’m road tripping to Colorado, and I plan to document that on Our Voices Matter (my other blog), so that’ll take up a lot of time and use of the internet and I can’t be worried about uploading blog posts for the end of June –> July.  Don’t worry though, I’m sure I’ll be VERY active on Twitter.

Besides just posting early, I plan on reaching 400 followers, which I’m aware is a giant number but I think it would be awesome.  (For added incentive, I’m doing a giveaway when I hit 500)

Writing

I decided a couple of weeks ago to set aside the story I worked on for all of Camp NaNo because there’s wayyyyyy too many plot holes, and now I’m going to work on the story I wrote a blurb for in Mahriya’s challenge.  I’m drafting characters and plot FIRST this time, which should greatly improve it, since before I felt like I didn’t know the characters 40 pages in.  Read my blurb and excerpt and let me know what you think!

Buying Books

Since I’m going to be in summer this month, which means day trips and vacations, I want to buy a book at every place I go to, and write in the covers where I purchased them.  I think this could be a really good use of my money because I’ll have mementos and books to read.  Win win!!!

What books do you plan on reading this month? Do you think my TBR is too big?  What are your blogging goals for the month?