August Rewind.

August in Photos

5 Things that Happened in August

1. I launched my YouTube channel! I'm still a bit nervous and overly-deliberate with what I want to say while filming, but so far it's super fun. If you would like to follow along with my bookish videos and reviews (or just want to support me in this new venture) I would greatly appreciate it if you subscribed! (And a big THANK YOU to those who have subscribed already!) Feel free to share my channel with any of your bookish friends if you'd like. Thank yoooou! :)
2. Mark was in Israel from August 1 to August 15. I developed an annoying bit of insomnia during that time, the evidence of which can be seen in my second and third YouTube videos—hello, dark circles! Wine, melatonin, no devices after 8pm—nothing worked.  I flat-out INSISTED it didn't have anything to do with Mark being gone (I'm not that kind of girl! I LOVE having the whole damn bed to myself!), but I'm suddenly sleeping like a baby now that he's back. So. Marriage/co-habitation is weird.
3. Much to our surprise we found a new favorite sushi place, which is a big deal as most other local spots have ranged from just okay to majorly disappointing (hard dry rice, get away from me) and/or overpriced for what you get. This place is in a cursed location where restaurants seem to come and go on a yearly basis, so hopefully it sticks around. I guess I'll just have to make myself a regular to do my part in keeping them in business!
4. I went to the used book sale for my local library and stocked up on 13 books for $17, wooo! If you'd like to see what I got, I linked my book haul video below.
5. Mark and I saw "Boyhood," and really enjoyed it overall. In some ways, I think it is getting such attention simply for the way the movie was shot (filming over 12 years using the same actors), as the story itself was sweet but a bit cliched and not particularly noteworthy. I did like the film's sentiment about time and moments, and many of the scenes were SO familiar to Mark and myself (divorced parents, moving A LOT/being the new kid, doing the every-other weekend thing with dad, having "The Talk," trying to figure out who you are as a young person, etc). Ethan Hawke's performance was great, and I could see the title of "boyhood" applying to his story arch as well. I do recommend it.

Read in August

Ironically enough, it was a slow reading month for me as I was busy setting up my booktube channel.

• Lexicon by Max Barry: In a word, MEH. For more words, see my quick review video below.
• If I Stay by Gayle Forman: Not as heartwrenching as promised, but I enjoyed it. This one was also included in my mini-review video.
• Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver [in progress]: This has had a slow start for me. It's a little too textbook explain-y, I think? But I'm reading chapters here and there.
• Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie [in progress]: So far, this is wonderful.

The Book Wanderer in August

1. Hello & The Booktube Newbie Tag
2. Library Book Sale Haul
3. A-to-Z Book Survey Tag
4. Mini Reviews: If I Stay, The Opposite of Loneliness, and Lexicon
5. Top 5 Wednesday : Top 5 Book Spines

Favorite Song from August

* I'm on a total remix kick lately. Electronica just seems so beachy and summery to me. I don't know why that is—the energy maybe? Electronica is an extrovert of music genres, and summer is the extrovert of seasons, so electronica is perfect for summer, does that make sense? Whatever, I'm talking out of my bum. ANYWAYS. I really enjoyed this hour-long Summer Memories mixtape by La Belle Musique on Soundcloud (the first half hour is super fab, but it does lose some energy in the second half). The Atlas Hands remix above is included in the playlist.

What I'm Looking Forward to in September

SO MUCH! September and October are my favorite months of the year. While it is a bummer that Mark is leaving for Israel (AGAIN) for basically all of September, we will be meeting up for a European trip with my family. We're headed to Austria, Germany, and Switzerland for two weeks. Mark and my 6th wedding anniversary is on the 28th of September, and I believe we'll be in Lucerne on that day. Lucerne is a city we spent just a few hours in on our Swiss-Italy trip in 2012 and really enjoyed, so we're happy to return and celebrate our anniversary abroad. Sounds pretty fantastic to me :)

Happy September, friends!