Monthly recap – June 2021

Welcome to a literary latte!

Every other recap tends to start with a similar introduction but honestly – how is it the middle of the year? Already? Someone tell me where time is going and then tell time to slow down please.
June for me was a very busy month – I was working 9 to 5 as a summer temp for three weeks or so, working on another project, seeing friends and family (but not too much because I’m still cautious about covid) and trying to wrap my head around the fact that I’m going to university in about 2 months. Plus, it might be important to mention that I read so many books which I’m so happy about – 12 books in total (taking me 10 books ahead in my GoodReads challenge) which is amazing! I love when I love reading you know?

LET’S GO

LET’S GO!

• These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong ★★★★★
  I wrote a full review of this one here but to summarise: stunningly atmospheric writing, tension, lovers to enemies to lovers, a dark mystery and I absolutely adored it. Can’t wait for the sequel in November!
• Counting Down With You by Tashie Bhuiyan ★★★★☆ (4.5)
  I’m kind of torn between 4.5 and 5 stars with this one because I totally flew through and it did deliver on the cute but cliche YA contemporary I was looking for. But I much preferred the build up to their relationship rather than the actual relationship so that’s why I ultimately knocked off half a star. More detailed review to come though once I’ve read all of the books I mentioned in my 5 star predictions post!
• The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon ★★★★☆
  I’ve recently been reading more adult/new adult contemporaries and this one was so good!! Work rivals to lovers story with a fake dating element and I loved it. So cute with a great writing style and I definitely want to read more from Solomon in future.
• Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid ★★★★★
  This one was absolutely incredible!! I flew through this one and it’s quickly become one of two favourites (Mid Year Freakout Tag coming soon to find out more of my faves!) for 2021. The Riva siblings are such iconic characters and I love how complex each of them is. 10/10 recommend _{(and I’m also not sure whether I prefer this or The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo! Both were just amazing)}
• HP book 5
  I’ve been (re)reading this one for over a year so not sure it really counts as a June read but hey ho.
  

• Uglies, Pretties and Specials by Scott Westerfield (reread) ★★★☆☆ (3.5, 3.5 and 3 stars)
  This was a reread because the Uglies series was one of my favourite dystopians back when these were really hyped (2012-2014 maybe?) I’m glad I chose to revisit these because they are just so fun and I flew through them! Definitely has flaws but for a reread it delivered on the nostalgia I was looking for.

• Heartstopper (volumes 1-3 and the mini comics) by Alice Oseman ★★★★☆
  I’ve never read a graphic novel before but this was absolutely adorable and such a great introduction! I definitely want to pick up more in the future so do send me your recommendations! I’m so excited to read volume 4. I’d never read a graphic novel before but I am so glad that I decided to pick this up because they were so much fun and I flew through them in around an hour and a half. It just all felt so real – from the cutest romance to the British secondary school chavs – definitely recommend. Plus seeing the colour versions in the mini comic series was so lovely (no but the adoption scene aw!!).

Like I said above, June was super busy!

• I was working a lot _{(9 to 5 in an office so I felt like an actual adult, which, I have to keep reminding myself, I am)} which was amazing for my bank account but tiring for me.
• I continued to work on my small business – learning new skills, trying to teach myself more about marketing, planning ahead for future Instagram content and just generally trying to be productive
• After what feels like forever, In The Heights was finally released and I went to see it with friends in the cinema (which I haven’t been to in years so that felt weird). I absolutely adored it and as a film adaptation it was amazing! Some of the changes from the Broadway show were a little annoying but overall I preferred the soundtrack and I loved the choreography and fun energy it brought.

My Spoiler Thoughts on In The Heights (+ comparisons to the Broadway show)

Okay so I absolutely loved it and would give it the full 5 stars because the choreography and music was stunning. The new riffs and cast were so perfectly done and I will probably be replacing the OBC recording with the movie soundtrack in my musical theatre playlist.
Alabanza will never not fail to make my cry though!! However some minor things that did bug me:

– Firstly I hated how Pacience y Fe changed from not her winning the lottery but to her choosing whether or not to die. What was the need please.
– Secondly, I don’t like how they unnecessarily removed Camila’s character arc. I know Enough was probably cut for time (although it is one of my faves but oh well) but I just don’t know why she wasn’t kept in?? The new lyrics for the intro keep throwing me off haha.
– Next off I wish that they’d kept the fight between Nina and Benny in The Club – “Why don’t you run home to Daddy? He loves to remind me that I’ll never be good enough for your family”. This set of lyrics is one of my faves in the musical so I hate that they cut that! And that they gave the iconic scene in Blackout to Nina and Usnavy. Although I do keep getting the ‘Are you having a laugh, I’ve been trying all night, you’ve been shaking your ass for like half of the Heights’. Real nice’. ‘You barely gave me a chance all evening’. ‘Do I get another dance’ ‘I’m leaving’ bit stuck in my head. That whole section is just sung so well I love it.
Overall though I really loved it and I want to see it again so hopefully it goes on UK streaming services!

• Discovered a new fave food which is the Costa cheese and tomato toasty – incredible
• Redownloaded Sims 4 and spent too long in CAS and build mode.
• Binge watched Modern Family which is now my new fave show (equal to How I Met Your Mother which for me says a lot!)

I also relaunched (ish) A Literary Latte and uploaded more than one blog post which for me is a rarity!

On the blog:

I recently came across a TikTok account called Best Version Project and I honestly loved the concept and the message behind it, and so I’ve set myself some goals within that which I won’t be sharing but am going to be actively working on and holding myself accountable for.

Other than that though…

• Keep reading! I’d love to read another 10 books but I’m not putting any pressure on a number.
• Continue to work on my small business – I’m nearing 2K followers on Instagram and I’d love to reach that goal soon! I also want to just continue to maintain regular, quality content that fits my branding and update stories too because I’m terrible at doing that.
• Stay up to date on current affairs – I’m going to be studying a very current affairs based course at uni and so I need to be keeping up to date. I’ve got so bad at regularly reading news articles/The Economist so I need to get back to that so that I’m in the loop!
• Start making time for yoga and workouts again I always go through phases of being super motivated and just… not when it comes to exercise so I need to get back on the yoga/exercise bandwagon because I’ve been so bad at regularly exercising lately and it’s not good for my mental health.

And that’s everything for the recap! Overall June was actually a pretty good month and I’m hoping that July will be too! It’s so crazy how quickly time is going though and I honestly want this summer to slow down because I’m both excited and really nervous about going to uni in September!

How was your June? What books did you read and have you read any of the ones I mentioned? What did you get up to and what are you looking forward to in July?

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