My Most Anticipated Releases for September

I feel like this is a less exciting month for releases for me. There are a few that I'm really excited for, but the rest are more or less...whenever I get around to reading them, cool. I'm in no rush.

SEPTEMBER 1

I Will Never Leave You

My SVT Story [6 Months Post-Ablation]

For previous posts, click the label "SVT" at the end of this post or at the bottom of my blog.

I hit my 6 month mark in July and am now past 7 months post-ablation. I absolutely meant to do an update and then life happened. It's been an incredibly busy past few months. We're now a month into the school year and soccer is underway. Oh and Mason is potty training. And I'm enrolled in college again! Yes, it's been busy to say the least.

I had my follow up appointment with my electrophysiologist  in April or May (I was a day late to the appointment so had to reschedule). It was supposed to be at 6 weeks, but due to the pulmonary embolism, I went back way earlier and that pushed my 6 weeks closer to 8. I ended up being closer to 9 or 10 weeks post-ablation after the reschedule. He said that if the SVT had not come back in 3 months, he felt confident it would not and that he didn't see the need to continue seeing me unless I felt I needed to come in. It was a crazy feeling because I thought I'd for sure be seeing him at least once a year for...well, the rest of my life.

I was really struggling once again with anxiety up until that point. I was having issues with high blood pressure (which always made me nervous to go to the doctor - although it was only high at the cardiologist's office...nowhere else), chest pains, dizziness, etc. After my follow up, I decided to start off with gentle yoga to get back into exercising. I've now been doing yoga for a few months and there is such a huge difference in how my body and mind behave on days I don't do yoga or if I take 3 days off in a row. I was clenching my shoulders up to my ears and it was resulting in some pretty nasty back and neck pain. Yoga has really helped me a lot. I am much less stressed and ache less on days where I do yoga. If you're interested, I highly recommend Yoga with Adriene on Youtube. She's wonderful, funny, and her 30-day programs are great! I'm on the tail end of doing her TRUE series.

I am still on blood thinners for the pulmonary embolism and I go back in October for a repeat CT scan and then hopefully, I will switch over to baby aspirin. My blood work came back negative for any type of disorder, so it most likely was my birth control (which I no longer take) combined with the procedure that did it.

It's weird to me that most days I feel normal now. I feel stronger and healthier. I don't check my heart rate very much at all. I still do every once in a while, but it isn't an all-day affair now. It's not a panicky situation. I have had fewer and fewer little hiccups and what nots in my chest from my heart as time passes. I know my doctor said he believes I am cured but I'm still very cautiously optimistic. I do think I am cured, but I'm not going all out and going skydiving and running marathons. I'm trying to take care of my heart and strengthen it up slowly but surely. :)

Bout of Books 23 [Days 5-7 Progress + Finish Line]

We're in the homestretch now. I'm doing well on my goals and hope to continue on through the weekend (where I normally slack). To see my TBR and goals for BOB, see my TBR and Goals post.

[DAY 5 PROGRESS]
Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi - started at 58, ended at 89 (31 pages)
Cracked Kingdom by Erin Watt - started at 5%, ended at 28% (70 pages)

TOTAL: 488 pages // 1 book finished
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[DAY 6 PROGRESS]
Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi - started at 89, ended at 166 (x pages)
Cracked Kingdom by Erin Watt - started at 28%, ended at 33% (x pages)

TOTAL: 580 pages // 1 book finished

READING UPDATE:  I didn't even get around to doing a reading update yesterday. It was just hectic. I'm currently working on Furthermore and reading Cracked Kingdom in bed at night. I'm pretty proud of reading 488 pages so far this week, which averages out to 97 per day, especially with college going on!
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[DAY 7 PROGRESS]
Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi - started at 167, ended at 178 (11 pages)
Cracked Kingdom by Erin Watt - started at 33%, ended at 39% (18 pages)

TOTAL:  609 pages // 1 book finished

READING UPDATE: I don't think I will read too much today, but I am very pleased with how much I've read this week :)
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[FINISH LINE]

TOTAL: 609 pages // 1 book finished

FINAL THOUGHTS: Overall, I feel like I did pretty well this BOB. Even though I only finished 1 book, I think I did better than last time :) I am impressed by this because I'm working on college full-time. I did slack on cheerleading the last half of the week and that is something I will work on next time for sure. I want to set aside time to encourage everyone every single day. Otherwise, I hit all my goals - I finished one book, read every day, and I participated in one chat.

Bout of Books 23 [Days 1-4 Progress]

I'm glad the BOB readathon has rolled around at this point because I need to really hit the books hard and finish my NEWTs. I have 4 more books to go for the last 11 days of the month. I'm SO close, I can taste it! To sign up for Bout of Books, go here. It's a low pressure readathon and I love participating. I'm an expert once again, so I will be encouraging as many readers as I can :) To see my TBR and goals for BOB, see my TBR and Goals post.

[DAY 1 PROGRESS]
The Ruby Circle by Richelle Mead - started at 4%, ended at 11% (25 pages)

TOTAL: 25 pages // 0 books finished

READING UPDATE: Good morning! I'm hoping to make a good dent in The Ruby Circle today, but I also have to do some schoolwork too. So we will see how this goes.
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[DAY 2 PROGRESS]
The Ruby Circle by Richelle Mead - started at 11%, ended at 61% (181 pages)

TOTAL: 206 pages // 0 books finished

READING UPDATE: I worked on my schoolwork more than I did read (while also catching up on American Ninja Warrior). I also joined into the Twitter chat, which is just one of my favorite things when BOB rolls around. This is definitely, easily the best community of readers there is out there. Everyone is just wonderful and we have so much fun! I am on track with my goals of reading a little every day and participating in one chat.
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[DAY 3 PROGRESS]
The Ruby Circle by Richelle Mead - started at 61%, ended at 100% (141 pages)

TOTAL: 347 pages // 1 books finished

READING UPDATE: I would love to finish Ruby Circle today and I think I could do it. I do. I need to do some cheerleading today and visit some blogs! I'm impressed with yesterday's progress because I am still working on my college class and I have a one-track mind with that haha
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[DAY 4 PROGRESS]
Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi - started at 17, ended at 57 (40 pages)

TOTAL: 387 pages // 1 books finished

READING UPDATE: Totally forgot to update this morning and link up. Whoops. I finished The Ruby Circle yesterday and then when I tried to read in bed, I zonked. I picked up Furthermore today and I'm hoping to make a sizeable dent. Hopefully.

Bout of Books 23 [Goals + TBR]

It's time for BOB readathon once again. I am participating for the 20th time! Bout of Books 23 runs August 20 to 26 and is hosted by Amanda and Kelly. I am going to try and update on Twitter and Goodreads. My goal is to finish out my NEWTs strong! As always, my goals are small and attainable because I want BOB to be a success!

[GOALS]
**Read a little every day
**Finish one book
**Participate in one Twitter chat
**Be a cheerleader!

[TENTATIVE TBR]
**Any books left on my NEWTs TBR

Interested? Sign up here!

I'm also an Expert again and will be trying to visit tons of blogs and tweets to encourage my fellow BOB-ers - as well as run sprints on Twitter!

TBR Throwdown Readathon [TBR]

I'm participating in the TBR Throwdown and since I'm working on my NEWTs this month, I'm unsure how much I will get to this week for these particular challenges, but we'll see! :)

1. Been on your shelf the longest: Silver Shadows by Richelle Mead
2. Smallest book on your shelf: The Ice Dragon by George R.R. Martin
3. Most colorful cover: Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi
4. Has Orange on the cover: The Fiery Heart by Richelle Mead
5. Most anticipated read: Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend

Updated on 8/13: I am starting out with The Fiery Heart because I'm already in the middle of reading it. Once I finish it, I'll either do Silver Shadows or Furthermore. I do need to read Silver Shadows before I can read Nevermoor via the NEWTs rules :) So starting point for Fiery Heart is 214 pages.
Updated on 8/15: I finished The Fiery Heart and I'm working on Silver Shadows and Furthermore next.
Updated on 8/19: Silver Shadows is done!
Updated on 8/19: And I read Soul Surfer (rather listened to it) which doesn't really count for any of the challenges. But it was a really short book, so maybe that?

Total books finished: 3

Total pages read: 586 + 3 hr 52 min

July Book Haul

Books I Read in July

Can I just say how much I appreciate the aesthetic of the reads this month?! Look at all that blue :) I also dyed my hair blue (and purple and teal) in July...so blue vibes!

In July, I finished 17 books and DNF'd 1 book.

• The Delphi Effect by Rysa Walker (379 pages, 2016, Kindle, YA Sci Fi) - 5 stars | My Review
• Unwind by Neal Shusterman (335 pages, 2009, Paperback, YA Dystopia) - 4 stars | My Review
• How to Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran (8 hr 45 min, 2012, Audio, Adult Nonfiction) - 1 star | My DNF Review - DNF @ 15 minutes  
• I Must Say: My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend by Martin Short (8 hr 40 min, 2014, Audio, Adult Nonfiction) - 5 stars | My Review 
• Heart of Iron by Ashley Poston (467 pages, 2018, Hardcover, YA Sci Fi) - 5 stars | My Review
• By Your Side by Kasie West (352 pages, 2017, Kindle, YA Contemporary) - 4 stars | My Review 
• The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw (308 pages, 2018, Hardcover, YA Fantasy) - 3.5 stars | My Review 
• History Is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera (320 pages, 2016, Kindle, YA Contemporary) - 3.5 stars | My Review 
• Truthwitch by Susan Dennard (412 pages, 2016, Hardcover, YA Fantasy) - 4 stars | My Review
• Yes Please by Amy Poehler (7 hr 31min, 2014, Audio, Adult Nonfiction) - 5 stars | My Review  
• Turbo Twenty-Three by Janet Evanovich (319 pages, 2017, Paperback, Adult Mystery) - 4 stars | My Review
• Hardcore Twenty-Four by Janet Evanovich (320 pages, 2017, Kindle, Adult Mystery) - 2.5 stars | My Review  
• The Chocolate Cat Caper by JoAnna Carl (244 pages, 2002, Kindle, Adult Mystery) - 1 star | My Review
• Paper Princess by Erin Watt (370 pages, 2016, Kindle, YA Contemporary) - 4 stars | My Review 
• Broken Prince by Erin Watt (350 pages, 2016, Kindle, YA Contemporary) - 3.5 stars | My Review
• Twisted Palace by Erin Watt (322 pages, 2016, Kindle, YA Contemporary) - 4 stars | My Review  
• Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them: The Original Screenplay (293 pages, 2016, Hardcover, YA Fantasy) - 5 stars | My Review
• Fallen Heir by Erin Watt (295 pages, 2017, Kindle, YA Contemporary) - 4 stars | My Review 

Pages read: 5086 + 16 hr 11 min

Pages DNF: 0 + 15 min
Average pages read per day: 154

Total pages: 5086 + 16 hr 26 min

August Monthly TBR & Challenge Updates

I'm so happy! July has been my best reading month of the year to date. I completed 3 of my yearly challenges in July: my Goodreads reading challenge, Beat the Backlist, and Travel Gnome! So now I need to concentrate on finishing series, reviewing my Netgalley books, and catching up on Owlcrate books. :)

My Tentative TBR for August:

• Brave Enough by Katie Gardener [Netgalley]
• The Fiery Heart by Richelle Mead [NEWTs]
• Silver Shadows by Richelle Mead [NEWTs]
• Ruby Circle by Richelle Mead [NEWTs]
• My Fairy Godmother is a Drag Queen by David Clawson [NEWTs]
• Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi [NEWTs]
• The Apprentice Witch by James Nicol [NEWTs]
• Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend [NEWTs]