The Sunday Post #30 - Planning for August

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer

It's a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things you received, share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead, and more.

Eek! My husband just surprised me with a copy of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child! I'd been saving up my Swagbucks money to get it so I guess I get to spend that on something else now! (*ahem* The Girl Who Drank the Moon)
My week has mostly been spent trying to catch up with my blogging, emails, etc but we also took two trips out to 'out of the way' parks for picnics and exercise. 

I still have a lot of catching up to do but I'm excited for the new month. I'll be participating in ARC August and there's a Bout of Books as well! 

This Past Week On The Blog

Book Tour Spotlight & Giveaway: The Gift by Rebecca Hubbard
Book Blitz & Giveaway: The Chronicles of Hawthorne by Rue
Top Ten Tuesday: Things Books Inspire Me To Do
Picture Book Review: Lionheart by Richard Collingridge
COYER Progress Update
ARC August 4.0 Sign Ups & Goals
Stacking the Shelves
July 2016 Wrap Up

Coming Soon
August TBR & Giveaway
Top Ten Tuesday: Books I'd Buy Right This Second
Book Review: The Jolley-Rogers and the Cave of Doom
Series Review: The Spiderwick Chronicles 
Book Review: Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

Books I Finished This Week

What I'm Currently Reading

(physical books)
Wednesdays in the Tower by Jessica Day George
I've been waiting on this book for months. This is such a cute series.

Paper and Fire by Rachel Caine
I started Wednesdays in the Tower because this one was just boring me. I liked Ink and Bone but I don't know about this one so far. Someone assure me that it gets better so I don't end up in a slump trying to finish it.

(ebook)
Sunborn Rising: Beneath the Fall by Aaron Safronoff
I just started this but I think I'm really going to enjoy it. The worldbuilding is incredible!

Currently Watching

Stranger Things
So I kind of really love this so far. I love that everything about it screams 80's from the title font to the music. It's literally like watching something from the 80's (well, at least from what I know of it... I was just a toddler in the 80's.)

Have a great week! 

July 2016 Wrap Up

July was not my greatest reading month. I stayed pretty busy with vacation, family visits & birthdays, among other things and didn't have much time to read. Let's hope that August is better! 

Books I Read

Pages Read: 1894

Challenge Progress

(See my overall progress here) 

New Places Visited

(A Most Magical Girl)
London, England
Highgate Cemetery
Finsbury Park
Bloomsbury
Hampstead
Stepney

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Dreams of Distant Shores
Nevernight
Darkstalker
A Most Magical Girl
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Nevernight
A Most Magical Girl
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Nevernight
Darkstalker
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ABC CHALLENGE PROGRESS
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Reviews Posted In July

The Wolf Road by Beth Lewis (5 stars)

Winter by Marissa Meyer (4 stars)

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill (5+ stars)

Skeleton Island by Angie Sage (3 stars)

Red's Planet by Eddie Pittman (3.5 stars)

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman (3 stars)

On Your Mark: The Adventure Begins by C.J. Milbrandt (3.5 stars)

Stars Above by Marissa Meyer (4 stars)

Picture Books Reviews Posted in July

Counting With Barefoot Critters by Teagan White

The Night the Stars Went Out by Suz Hughes

Do Not Bring Your Dragon to the Library by Julie Gassman

Lionheart by Richard Collingridge

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How did you guys do on your goals this month? What was your favorite book? 

Stacking the Shelves #68

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by TYNGA'S REVIEWS that features the books we bought, borrowed, were gifted, and were given for review.

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FOR REVIEW
Thank you Netgalley!

The Peculiar Night of the Blue Heart by Lauren DeStefano - This is a middle grade ghost story and with the Halloween holiday on it's way I am so very ready for this! (Yes, I'm already excited about Halloween!)

The Evil Wizard Smallbone by Delia Sherman - This middle grade fantasy is full of magic, wizards, and enchanted animals.

The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco - That cover is fantastic, is it not?! Ok, ok, I'm more interested in the witches! 

IN MY MAILBOX

Journey & Quest by Aaron Becker 
Many thanks to Candlewick Press and Aeicha @ WordSpelunking!

GIFTED / WON

Remnants by John Hennessy - This is a YA post apocalyptic sci-fi that I've heard good things about! Thank you, Anna @ Adventures With A Book Nerd! 

BORROWED

The Voyage to Magical North by Claire Fayers - A middle grade fantasy adventure that I've been seeing really great reviews for recently. 

What did you add to your shelves this week?

ARC August 4.0

ARC August is hosted by Read, Sleep, Repeat. 

You can SIGN UP HERE

I do believe this will be my first time participating. I've been pretty good with keeping up with my ARCs since the Clean Sweep ARC Challenge in May but I do have quite a few to read in August . So why not? 

GOALS

I'd like to read at least 4 of the 6 ARCs I have right now.

Are you participating in ARC August?

COYER PROGRESS UPDATE

The COYER Summer Vacation Challenge is hosted by Michelle @ Because Reading and Stormi @ Books, Movies, Reviews! Oh My!

Runs from June 18th to September 2nd!

My Sign Up & Goals Post

I've been slacking on actually participating in this challenge. I'm reading books and that's the ultimate goal, and I chime in on the Facebook posts from time to time. but that's about it. I wanted to join in on the COYER BINGO but I didn't read much at all in July. I missed the Twitter parties because I wasn't home. There's probably a lot more that I'm missing out on as well because I just haven't been keeping up with the mini-challenges and stuff. 

I have been keeping track of what I've read at least. In my sign up and goals post, I decided that I would try to read 16-20 books in all.

Books Read in June (during COYER)

Books Read in July

Currently Reading

I'm hoping August is my month for COYER. I'm going to try to visit the website more and join in on all the fun. I also hope to read a lot more. I want to focus on horror reads in September and October so August is my month to knock out the majority of my review books and at least some of the books in my TBR pile. 

Are you participating in COYER? How are you doing so far?

Picture Book Review: Lionheart by Richard Collingridge

Title: Lionheart

Author: Richard Collingridge

Publisher: David Fickling Books

Publication Date: February 23, 2016

Length: 32 pages

Source: borrowed

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N 

Synopsis: 

Richard hears something in his room before bedtime. Is it a monster? He doesn't wait to find 

out and sets off running through the streets, over the hills, through the forest, and into the fields until he finds himself in a magical jungle. With the help of his stuffed lion Lionheart, Richard finds the courage he needs to face his fears. 

My Thoughts: 

Richard hears a noise in his room and takes off into the night, stuffed lion in hand. He runs and runs, through the city, fields, and forest until he reaches a magical jungle, all the while being chased by... something. Then he comes across his stuffed lion, Lionheart, but he's no longer a little stuffie. Now he's a great big lion that carries Richard on his back to a safe place where he can play with the animals and helps him chase away all of his fears. 

The richly imagined illustrations are gorgeous. Each extra-thick page is delightful. There's plenty of contrast and detail. The animals made this book especially fun for my daughter.
The stuffed Totoro and Oscar the Grouch on the last page were a fun little addition.

This is the perfect read for any child who loves animals, stuffies, and imaginative stories. It would also be a great read for any child who may be in need of chasing away their fears of monsters or the dark.