Watched & Read, July

Well summer is just flying by, I can't believe it's already August (mid August actually, I'm a little late on the July recap post). The first half of this year felt like it was going by so slowly and now every month feels like it lasts only a week. I'm not sure if that's because of world events or just the summer season itself (not really feeling like summer this year either), but what a weird timeline we live in. I have been finding I've been drawn towards reads that are an escape from the harshness of reality, but also novels that tie in a bit of historical fiction, or at least real world circumstances. It feels good to be "away from real life" by picking up a book, but still able to take something away from what I'm reading, maybe a bit of perspective, or maybe relate to life challenges from characters in the books/apply their lessons learned to my life as well. I've also been loving sinking into a longer book for a longer period of time rather than speeding through quick beach reads (and on that note, ditching reads that don't pull me in. Life's too short to read a book that you find yourself trudging through just because you started it and feel like you have to finish it, it's ok to ditch it and maybe revisit later, or maybe never revisit at all). Anyway, all that said, here is my short, but extremely worthy list for July:

*Where to listen: I use the Libby App all the time which is free to everyone who has a library card. I also pay for Spotify and if you do you get 15 hours of an audiobook per month, so basically two shorter books or a book and a half.

*Where to read: I thrift a lot of my books, use the library a ton, download checked out Libby books to my kindle, and occasionally treat myself to a crisp new book from a book store as well.

*Where to watch: most everything I watch can be found on Disney+, Prime, MAX.

*Side note: I got my kindle second hand from my dad who had an extra (thanks dad!) and have never actually bought a kindle book from Amazon and instead hook up my @libby.app account and only read borrowed books on it. Give it a try if you’re looking to limit or no longer purchase from Amazon. It takes a little finagling, but just give it a quick google/YouTube search and step by step instructions will pop up on how to do this!

July Faves

Watched:

• The Paradise: This was a 2 series show on Prime that felt like an easy background watch, but the sets and scenery were so lovely and felt really transportive and relaxing to have on in the background. If you want something not too serious, with a little romantic drama, accents, and beautiful imagery check this one out!

• We Were Liars: This was the first season of a newly released show (I think they'll do another season, but not sure). I think it was actually based on a book, which I didn't know until I had already watched the show. To be honest, I started it once before and immediately stopped watching because of the first scene. It was a bit dark and I thought it was going to be a murder/scary show, but then I heard good things about it so I kept going and started watching it again and I'm glad I did! It dealt with some heavy topics, but wasn't really scary or too intense. It's set on a fictional private island near Marthas Vineyard so the scenery is beautiful which is always a win for me. It follows the story of a young teen who suffered a tragic accident and lost her memory. Through the series you uncover the truth of what happened alongside her, and it had me jaw dropped when you find out what happens. A great watch if you want to get sucked into a show and maybe binge a few episodes a night.

Read:

• Winter Garden by Kristen Hannah: Just like most other KH novels, I was ugly crying my way through this. The beginning starts like most of her other books, easy yet intriguing set up, and then... it hooks you. Then it becomes a page turner and once it becomes a page turner it's extremely hard to set it down. The ending was heart filling and heart breaking, just like most of her other books. The story told throughout brings so much perspective about life to light. Although fiction, it's based on true events, so picturing what happened is just heartbreaking to think that this is the real story for so many people out there. While it's an emotional read, it's not something that feels too heavy to bare during hard times. It almost felt reassuring to read, like we will make it too, maybe there is hope during a dark time.

• Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid: Ugly cried my way through this whole book. I think I read this in 3 sittings, it was another TJR page turner for me; in a different way than some of her other books, but definitely a page turner. I was captivated between both timelines and needed to know what happened next in both of them. If you want a good love story, like space, and love a novel that covers real world topics and perspective shifting thoughts, do not sleep on Atmosphere. 

• Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty: I'm listening to this one on audiobook and I do think I'll finish it, but I'm not quite done with it just yet. It's an interesting concept, but it doesn't totally feel like a page turner IMO. I'm not going to ditch it though, it might just take me a bit longer to get through.

• One Golden Summer by Carly Fortune: For now, I've hit pause on this read, I just couldn't get sucked in. I was listening to it on audiobook, so maybe if I go back to it I'll try reading a physical copy.

That’s it for now! Stay tuned for next months shares and drop me a message/comment if you have any reccies for my TBR!

Until next time xx, Rose