The Looooong and the Short of It with a Giveaway: June 2020 Wrap-Up Post and What to Expect in July

Posted July 5, 2020 by Lisa Mandina in End of the month post, giveaway / 13 Comments

Once again another month seemed to speed by. Which is good if you think about it. Because hopefully that means someone is getting closer to making a vaccination to this horrible virus and we can start possibly getting back to normal? I know, end of the year seems to be the earliest that anyone thinks is possible, but I guess as long as the months go this fast, that will be here quicker than we know, right?

While there seemed to be a lot of rain in May, June was the opposite. Hardly any rain, and really hot! Which on the one hand, meant less mowing, but on the other hand meant sitting outside didn’t last as long because we got too hot. I did get my dishwasher put in, and decided that as small as it is, my old stoneware dishes didn’t fit that well. Plus, I’ve never been that excited with them, so I bought some new Corelle brand dishes. They’re square shaped and pretty I think. So I’m happier. But I only got a 4 place setting set, so I need to buy another.

I got a review on my self-published novel, by a guy I’m friends with from back in my college days. I can’t believe he really read it, but his review definitely shows me he did, and then, well, let’s just say he thinks maybe the main character love interest is based on him, and well, it might have been a little bit. Lol! So that was embarrassing when he asked about that. But anyway, still hoping to get reviews, and it is in Kindle Unlimited so you could read it for free if you want, and it’s pretty short, only 25,000 words. Here’s the LINK.

So, let’s move onto the book and blogging stuff, right? And let’s just say my reading wasn’t great last month either. Only 14 books read. But I had 4 DNF books too. Not great! And already this month I’ve already DNFed two more. Although, to be fair, I had two books with over 500 pages, and two of them with over 300. So probably page-wise I might still be at the same number as last month’s? And while there were some really good ones, there were a few mediocre reads as well. And I still haven’t reviewed all of them.

June Reviews:

And once again my number of posts in June went up, 41 compared to the 37 in May. I think I jumped in to help out some blog tours that needed extra attention a couple times. And I know I’m booked so far into the end of August with books to review. I’ve really got to stop that. It’s probably why I’m ending up with a lot of DNFs because I just can’t get into books when I know I have other books to read and some just aren’t grabbing me.

Challenges:

Another month of none done. Although I’ve picked up a few this month to try to get through. We’ll see.

  1. Blogging – still working to learn more about WordPress every month. While I’ve kind of figured out how to add things into the custom html I get for some blog tours, it doesn’t always work the way I want it to. I think I did a tiny bit better about commenting, but nowhere near where I want. I’m thinking maybe I should schedule one day a week to do a lot of that, maybe not add anything else to that day and just go comment. Saturdays might be a good day for that, as a lot of blog tours don’t get scheduled for that day, and now that I’m not doing the Cleaning Up My TBR posts anymore, those are open. I also have been getting books that come out in 2021 I want to add in my planner, so I went and bought the 2021 planner refill pages online today so I can start adding those! Here are the weekly posts I’m still doing.

Lisa’s Looking Forward To:

Cleaning Up My TBR:

So as I said above, I’m not doing this post anymore. However, I did go through a couple times and clear out some books. I was at 3007 on June 10th. And after a couple weeding out, but also adding new, I am currently at a total of 2994 books on my TBR on Goodreads. So it’s down, even if not as much as I’d like.

2. Reading: As of this post which is 4 days after June is over, I am now 8 books behind, 103 of my 220 goal. Not good. I won’t consider changing my goal until I get about 10 books behind. So that could actually happen this month. I wonder if this is about when I changed last year? Who knows. But as I also mentioned above, I did read a couple books over 500 pages, so that definitely put a dent in how many I got read, not to mention without having to drive to work, I’m not getting as many audiobooks listened to either.

3. Writing: Well, I did get a little bit of editing done on my YA which is my Camp NaNoWriMo project for July, but that actually wasn’t until July 1st. And so I was all happy to be “on track” until I got vertigo on July 2nd and haven’t been able to do much writing or reading even since then. Still excited about my self-published novella from earlier this year though. Again, if you’re interested in reading and reviewing, and have Kindle Unlimited, it is free. Here is a link again if you’re interested: Amazon.

What to Expect in July:

Hmm. Well I think I forgot to mention that the last week of June I was able to get into my school library and start doing inventory. I have to wait a couple weeks to go back, but hoping to get back to that the second half of July. Also, now that my vertigo is mostly gone, I hope I can get the editing done on my YA so that I can get it polished up and maybe start querying agents? I don’t know. We’ll see how that goes.

Here is my proposed TBR based on blog tours and ARCs I have:

  1. Hard to Handle by K. Bromberg – actually already posted the review on July 1st.
  2. Rock F*ck Club #6 by Michelle Mankin – reviews posted on the 4th, actually finished last month but since I didn’t love it as much as the rest of the series, I was asked to wait on posting my review.
  3. Sweet Spot by Rebecca Jenshak – An audiobook I read and should be posting a review for on July 8th
  4. The Lost City by Amanda Hocking – reading an e-galley right now and planning to post my review on July 9th
  5. Engagement and Espionage by Penny Reid – I think I’m reading and reviewing on July 12th?
  6. The Queen by Jennifer L. Armentrout – hopefully on a tour to read and review on July 15th
  7. Keeping You Away by Kennedy Fox – should be posting a review as part of a blog tour on July 16th
  8. The Morning Flower by Amanda Hocking – part two to the book I’m reading right now. I have on my calendar to post a review on July 17th, but that may wait until closer to the pub date of August 4th.
  9. Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon – hope to read the ARC and post a review on July 19th
  10. Flirtasaurus by Erin Mallon – should be reading for a blog tour on July 21st
  11. The Proposal by Maya Hughes – maybe reading for the author by July 22nd?
  12. Ever Cursed by Corey Ann Haydu – should be reading an egalley and possibly doing a review on July 23rd?
  13. The Dark Tide by Alicia Jasinska – I started this a couple months ago when it was supposed to come out in June. It got postponed till July, and I finished it just recently and have the review already written and scheduled for July 25th
  14. Prelude for Lost Souls by Helene Dunbar – I have an ARC of this I hope to read and review by July 26th
  15. You May Kiss the Bridesmaid by Camilla Isley – supposed to be reading for a blog tour and posting on July 28th
  16. This is So Happening by Amelia Kingston – reading for the author and should be posting an e-galley review possibly on July 31st.
  17. Rebel Heart by Penelope Ward and Vi Keeland – this is a past due audiobook review that I hope to get done and posted some time this month.
  18. Cocky Catcher by Chiquita Dennie is on my calendar with a question mark to possibly post a review or just a blitz on July 18th.

I don’t know that I’ll get those all done. Especially the ARCs will get pushed aside if they’re not a scheduled tour. But I have been doing more DNF on books I just can’t get into, so that could come into play with the new to me authors listed above as well.

How was your June? What are you looking forward to in July? Are you still doing okay with this craziness? Right now I’m just wondering what school will look like in the fall. The way numbers of people infected is going, we maybe doing virtual school again this fall.

Giveaway:

I have reached out to my winner, but haven’t heard back yet, so I may be choosing a new winner tomorrow if I don’t hear back by then. I’ll update you when I find out.

Since I’ve quit doing my CUTBR giveaways weekly, I’m going to do a giveaway with my month-end post I think. And if I do start weekly wrap-up posts, I’ll remind everyone about it each week. I’m going to give the same choices as before. ARCs I’ve finished and also a finished copy of Autoboyography by Christina Lauren that is autographed. Somehow I ended up with two autographed copies! I will make it international in that you can pick a book for under $10 if The Book Depository ships to you. Just fill out the Rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Please follow and like us:
0
fb-share-icon0
Tweet 0
Pin Share20

Tags:


13 responses to “The Looooong and the Short of It with a Giveaway: June 2020 Wrap-Up Post and What to Expect in July

  1. Danielle Hammelef

    I was so looking forward to reading outside in July, but have to wait because sweating and reading just don’t go together. I have been enjoying my blackberries which are producing yumminess now and hopefully will be transforming my yogurt for another week or so. I hope your July is going well!

    • Lisa Mandina

      July is okay so far, other than I’ve been suffering with Vertigo for most of it. It is exciting when we get fresh fruit! Hope you get to enjoy that. Thanks for stopping by!

    • Lisa Mandina

      I wish I had the time for them! I need to be writing! Not that I’ve gotten any of that done either. Thanks for visiting!

  2. shooting

    I read 15 books in June, which is really good for me. Sorry about the DNFs – but sometimes it happens. I really hope to work on my own writing this month. I always say it and it never happens, but I’m slowly figuring out where I want some things to go, etc. I hope you have a fantastic July!!!

    -Lauren
    http://www.shootingstarsmag.net

    • Lisa Mandina

      Yeah, DNFs aren’t great, but I’m learning to be more accepting of them since there are so many books out there I want to read still! Thanks for stopping by!

  3. Congrats on getting a review for your book! Despite the slight embarassment…lol. Us writers always tend to pull from our personal lives for characters. The people around us just need to get used to it haha!

    • Lisa Mandina

      Yeah, just didn’t expect he’d actually read a romance! LOL!! Thanks for stopping by!

    • Lisa Mandina

      I’m more worried about commenting on other people’s blogs! I do the same with manually approving. Just really helps with spam. Thanks for stopping by!

  4. Oh girl, I totally get you! I am really looking forward to that vaccine! People around here are out and about acting as if nothing is going on, refusing to wear masks even though it’s mandatory now, and it honestly give me anxiety. I just hope all these people who refuse to wear the mask wont refuse the vaccine too ?

    I hope you’re having a good July, you know, considering. Lol.

    • Lisa Mandina

      Yeah, hopefully they will get the vaccine, because I don’t even want to think about what happens if they don’t! July is okay so far, just really hot. Thanks for stopping by!

Leave a Reply

(Enter your URL then click here to include a link to one of your blog posts.)

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.