Where the Hell Did the Month (And My Reading) Go?! | July 2023 Wrap-Up

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It literally feels like yesterday that I wrote my June Wrap-Up, but here we are again. Welcome to my July 2023 Wrap-Up aka “Where the hell did the time go and what did I actually do this month?”. I’m telling you right now, this will be a short one! I’m here to talk about what I read, my Camp NaNoWriMo experience, and give you the usual life update. Let’s get into my July 2023 Wrap-Up…

The Books I Read in July

Books I’m Currently Reading

In shocking news, I have picked up a physical book from my owned TBR! A few days ago, I was browsing my shelves for a new attempt at finding a bedtime read and settled on Welcome to Night Vale. It has been on my shelf for ages now and I was feeling in the mood for something weird and oh boy, what a great choice! Admittedly, I have only listened to a handful of the podcast episodes but I adore that kind of weird and absurd writing and the book does it so beautifully. I started annotating it because it has too many fun lines for me not to scribble in the margins and tab my favourite ones.

I also started listening to With a Kiss We Die, a thriller told through a true-crime podcast that was on my NetGalley TBR. I was so happy to see my current audiobook subscription had it available because with a podcast format, I just had to give this a shot on audio!

A Life Update

Welcome to the life update part of my July 2023 Wrap-Up! I’m not gonna lie, the second half of July was rough for me. Every year, without exception, as soon as my summer break hits and with it the lack of structure I get from university…I just fall into a depressive slump. Seriously, this has been happening for as long as I can remember and it makes getting shit done even harder than it already is.

However, this year I anticipated it and noticed what was happening pretty early on and have been digging myself out of the depression hole ever since. I don’t know if this is #relatable at all but one of the early signs my brain is having A Bad Time is the way my sleep schedule shifts. You know, the “tossing and turning until 3am and then only getting the deep dreamless sleep between 5am and 8am” kinda vibe. This in turn messes with my day because my sense of time is all wibbly wobbly timey wimey and what do you know, it’s 6pm again and I haven’t done a thing! So yeah, this has been a lot of my days lately but I’m ever so slowly putting things in place to keep me from spiralling too much.

In good news, August is looking pretty exciting! First of all, I’m turning 25 this Friday! I have some feelings about that but for the most part it simply doesn’t feel real. That’s a fake number, I’m sure of it.

Next, I’ll be DMing my very first Dungeons and Dragons mini-campaign for my closest friends this month! We live all over the place but we have managed to find a date to meet and play the first session in person. Yes, I am terrified but also incredibly excited.

Finally, I will be heading to Sweden for a few days with my partner! It’s been a few years since I’ve been and after spending most of my childhood holidays in Sweden, I’m excited to share another little adventure with my favourite person. We’re already planning to visit a cat cafe so you it’s gonna be a good trip.

Additionally, (and this might be weirdly personal to include in a life update but since I talk so much about my mental health here it felt right), I have an ADHD assessment at the end of the month! Ya girl might finally get a diagnosis! I’m nervous and excited and not sure what to do with those feelings yet, but overall I just hope this gives me some clarity either way.

My Camp NaNoWriMo July 2023 Wrap-Up

July brought me another round of Camp NaNoWriMo and well, it didn’t go as I expected!

I set myself the somewhat lofty goal of 50k words which, looking at my past years of the “big” NaNoWriMo in November, I should’ve hit pretty easily. However, I barely hit 20k!

I think it would be easy to beat myself up and call this a failure, but here’s why I consider it a win.

1. My main goal wasn’t actually a word count, it was showing up to write every single day! And for three weeks, I did just that! Then the depression hit and I decided to just end my writing month because I didn’t want to force myself to write and take the joy out of it.
2. I now have 19.5k more words than I had before and that’s always a win for me.
3. I had a lot of fun continuing to explore this sci-fi setting I came up with last year and sitting down to write felt like an adventure every single time.

Ultimately, while I didn’t hit my word count goal, I learned a lot about my writing process and this story!

Let’s Chat!

That’s it for my July 2023 Wrap-Up! I hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into my reading, writing, and personal life. July was over so quickly it barely felt like a real month. Now, I’m excited to see what August brings and I’m ready to soak up all the adventures and exciting things happening. Swedish cinnamon buns will cure my depression, right?

As always, I love hearing from you so let’s have a chat in the comments!

⭐️ How was your July? What’s the last book from your TBR you picked up?

⭐️ Are there any exciting things happening for you in August?

I hope you have a lovely day,

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