July Wrap-Up
I’m warning you now, this might potentially be the shortest and least interesting Wrap Up I’ll ever write. Not doing a great job of selling this post, am I? 😂 Well, July was once again a very busy month for me, the majority of which I spent at my family home where the moody wifi didn’t allow for much blogging. It has also been the worst reading month of 2021 because technically, I only read 2 books. But hey, at least it can only go up from here, right? Welcome to my July Wrap Up!
The Books I Read in July
How to Come Alive Again: A guide to killing your monsters – Beth McColl
This book is effectively a self-help book. It’s a guide to dealing with your mental health with a focus on depression and anxiety.
My favourite aspect was definitely the way this book is structured. Beth McColl covers a lot of ground, from simple ways to manage daily life, how to find a therapist, what kinds of medication are available, to questions you should be asking your doctor.
The chapters are split into advice, personal stories and helpful lists, including affirmations to help you not spiral as quickly.
Additionally, the author is very adamant about the fact that mental health advice isn’t a one size fits all. The book encourages you to take what you need and leave what you don’t.
Lastly, the audiobook version of this was great! It’s read by the author which really makes her writing voice shine even greater. Unfortunately, the downside of the audiobook version for me was that it was kind of hard to orient myself within the book. So I suggest if you want to actually use this book, you get a physical copy!
Ultimately, I didn’t learn as much new information as I would’ve hoped. But if you’re someone who’s new to dealing with mental health struggles, this book is a great resource!
The Martian – Andy Weir
I’ve read The Martian 5 times this month.
That’s actually a new personal record. Last year, I read this book 8 times and thought that was a lot. Well, guess this year it’ll be even more. To be honest, I stopped tracking all my rereads of this book on Goodreads because it’s getting ridiculous (and Goodreads sucks at counting rereads lol). It’s also screwing with my reading statistics quite a bit 😂
This month, I struggled to focus on reading. I’m in the middle of two amazing books I enjoy, but I simply wasn’t in the right headspace to give them the attention they deserve. So back to my comfort book I went. Surprisingly, I am not sick of it yet!
But I hope that next month I can get back to reading other books because there are so many incredible books on my TBR!
Posts I Wrote
To make it easier for you to find them, here are the posts I wrote in June!
- My June Wrap-Up
- Self Care Ideas for Bad Mental Health Days
- My Mid Year Bok Freakout Tag and Reading Statistics
- The 5 Oldest Books On My TBR
Posts I Loved
Finally, here are some posts by other bloggers that I loved in July!
- Selene from OnTheBookSel wrote a great post about The Argument for Rereading
- C.G from PaperFury wrote a wonderful review of The Other Side of Perfect by Mariko Turk, one of my favourite 2021 reads!
- Marie from Drizze & Hurricane Books wrote about how her blogging has changed over the past 7 years
- Sumedha from The Wordy Habitat shared her blogging journey and the lessons she learned
- The team over on The Quiet Pond wrote a wonderful post recommending 12 Wholesome and Healing Reads for Sad Days
Some Closing Words
July was a bit of a weird month, I’m not gonna lie. But it also brought some unexpected joy! I finally found a therapist and we’ll be working together starting August. Getting to this point has been quite a journey and I am unbelievably relieved and happy that I can finally get the help I need. And yeah, my reading month wasn’t great (although a month where I reread The Martian can’t be fully bad), but that’s life. Hopefully, August is a little better!
How was your July? Any personal achievements that you’re proud of? Did you also reread an old favourite? Let’s chat!
I hope you have a lovely day,
If you like my work and would like to support me, you can buy me a coffee!
9 Comments
CG @ Paper Fury
Thank you for sharing my post!! And I’m glad July has had some good parts for you despite being a weird month!! 🤗💛
Sumedha
Sorry to hear that July wasn’t that great for you. But yay for finding a therapist & reading your comfort book! I Haven’t read The Martian but I’m intrigued now. Why would you say its a comfort read for you?
Hope you have a great Month in August. And thanks for linking my post 😊
bookshelfsoliloquies
Thank you!! I think it’s primarily a comfort book because I’m so familiar with it? I know how it ends so it doesn’t have the stressful anticipation of the unknown. But I also think considering a lot of stuff goes wrong in it, it’s overall a fairly calm book to me? Maybe that’s because the action is relatively contained to like two main locations. It also just feels like the kind of story where the movie adaptation would have the “based on a true story” and the white text at the end, telling you where people are now lol. And the original audiobook performance by RC Bray is fantastic! Especially in the pandemic a story about science and hope and human perseverance has also been particularly relevant to me. And because I know it so well I can look more at details in the writing and structure which is always fun! So it’s really a mix of reasons! 😂
I hope your August is wonderful!✨
Anjali S
Sorry to hear that July was not a great month for you but hopefully August will be better! I need to reread Martian one of these days. I tried the audiobook and although the narrator was great the science kind of went over my head. I need to reread with my pb again coz I am pretty sure I will love it.
bookshelfsoliloquies
Thank you! I can only recommend rereading it 😌 And yeah, I don’t fully understand most of the science stuff because I’ve never been a chemistry person! I recently read Project Hail Mary and I did a little dance of pride when I finally understood some of the science haha! Looking forward to your thoughts on the reread! 👀
Jayati
Sorry July wasn’t that great for you! But wow rereading it 5 time? I’m still trying to process that! Hope August is better for you!
July was okay for me to and I’m still looking for a therapist (congrats on finding one!) and I hope it goes well for you!
abookowlscorner
Wow, you really weren’t kidding when you said you loved The Martian! 😂 But I highly approve of this strategy of turning to comfort books whenever you’re feeling down. For me, that series is Harry Potter – I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve read it this year because I’ve kind of lost count…
But fingers crossed your August will be better than July!
bookshelfsoliloquies
No, I was not kidding even tho me constantly rereading this book is a bit of a joke 😂 I just love it so much! I used to be a huge HP fan, it was the first book series I was really obsessed with and I have a lot of good memories of that time. But eventually my interest and emotional attachment faded which has honestly been kinda nice because for me it meant that I had no emptional conflict about how to enjoy the books while not supporting JKR, simply because I’ve lost my emotional attachment and nostalgia for the series and it’s no longer a part of my life! But I’m glad I’m not the only one who rereads comfort books! 😎
abookowlscorner
Ahh, yes, the JKR thing is awful! Why couldn’t she just be as accepting as the people in her stories are? 😪 Her actions really have tainted part of my childhood, but still, there’s nothing that could ever stop me from loving Harry Potter 🥰