Lisa's Library: Where The Dancing Bookworms Live: OMG It's Already August! A Monthly Review and My Reading Plans For The Next Four Weeks

Aaaaannd now it's August!

July just had to fly by didn't it? Ah well, at least it was a fun month!

Life Recap

Well, I've said it in a previous recap; I've taken up swimming and I love it! I've been going to our local pool and swimming for an hour a day, 4 times a week. And when I say swimming, I mean genuine lap swimming, like 800 to 1600 yards a day.

(I should probably mention that I used to be a swim teacher and lifeguard; lap swimming used to be my norm)

I'm feeling pretty proud of myself with the exercising. It feels great when I'm doing it, and it's keeping a lot of the pregnancy aches and pains away. Plus, the weightlessness in the water is a preggo's idea of luxury!

I've also signed up for prenatal yoga classes at my hospital. They're nice, easy classes that provide a decent workout, especially for my hips.

Besides the happy exercising, I've got another thing to be happy about: my baby's kicks are now big enough to actually see! I'm so used to his kicks and punches at this point, but it's pretty awesome that I can now actually see the bigger ones jostle my stomach!

Things are great! There's only one downside; apparently I'm gaining a little too much weight. We had a recent appointment with our OB/GYN, and it turns out that I've gained about 27 pounds so far in the 25 weeks that I've been pregnant. The recommended amount of weight gain is around 25-35 pounds for the entire pregnancy.

I'm not too worried about the extra weight gain, but it was a little frustrating to hear that I needed to make some diet changes when I thought I was eating right already. Fortunately, they were small, easy changes to make, and it turns out, my OB/GYN was right; two weeks into the new diet and my weight has been staying about the same (don't worry, this is safe), so things are getting back on track!

(Final note: Shark Week is awesome!)

Reading Recap
I am super proud of myself, super proud! Two weeks ago, I set myself a reading goal for the month, along with a strict reading schedule. The goal was to finish 10 books by the end of July, including a few books for book clubs. Challenge accepted!

.....Aaannnd Challenge Completed!

It's awesome when you set yourself a goal and you manage to achieve it exactly on time (the trick is to make sure the goal stays within reason, and you don't take too much on at once). I read all the books I set myself to, (minus one read--I couldn't get a specific on time from the library, so I swapped it for another read) and I stuck to my schedule perfectly, finishing the last two books literally last night.

Here are all the books I read in July! 7 were re-reads (it was supposed to be only 6, but, like I said, I had to swap a read at the last second), and 4 were for a summer reading challenge. I also read one BOTM this month.

Title: The Mummy Case (Amelia Peabody #3)
Author: Elizabeth Peters
Date Finished: July 4
Quick Review: A decent third installment in one of my favorite historical mystery series, re-read for fun

Full Review | Goodreads Link

Title: The Cuckoo's Calling (Cormoran #1)
Author: Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling)
Date Finished: July 10
Quick Review: A great re-read and an official favorite! J.K. Rowling doesn't just write Fantasy-- she can write mysteries too!

Full Review | Goodreads Link

Title: The Two Towers (Lord Of The Rings #2)
Author: J.R.R. Tolkien
Date Finished: July 12
Quick Review: A re-read and still a masterpiece!

Full Review | Goodreads Link

Title: The Silkworm (Cormoran Strike #3)
Author: Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling)
Date Finished: July 14
Quick Review: An excellent second installment in this mystery series, that still fooled me on the re-read!

Full Review | Goodreads Link

Title: The Reef
Author: Nora Roberts
Date Finished: July 18
Quick Review: A Nora Roberts read that I've read before over a decade ago, and only read again because it fulfilled a reading challenge requirement

Full Review | Goodreads Link

Title: The Outsider
Author: Stephen King
Date Finished: July 19
Quick Review: A decent creepy thriller, but also pretty formulaic. Not Stephen King's best, but made for a great book club discussion.

Full Review | Goodreads Link

Title: The Goose Girl (Books Of Bayern #1)
Author: Shannon Hale
Date Finished: July 23
Quick Review: A re-read that fulfilled a reading challenge requirement, and reminded me again of why I really like this book.

Full Review | Goodreads Link

Title: The High Tide Club
Author: Mary Kay Andrews
Date Finished: July 24
Quick Review: This was a new one for me, and I read it to fulfill a reading challenge requirement. Extremely predictable and not my normal reading choice.

Full Review | Goodreads Link

Title: Career Of Evil (Cormoran Strike #3)
Author: Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling)
Date Finished: July 31
Quick Review: A great re-read, that makes me anxious to read the next one!

Full Review | Goodreads Link

Title: The Perfect Couple
Author: Elin Hilderbrand
Date Finished: July 31
Quick Review: An okay mystery/family drama. Not really my type of novel.

Full Review | Goodreads Link

Self-High-Five! *.....ugh, too comfortable on couch to actually do a self high-five*

My Plans For This Month
So obviously I plan to keep swimming and taking prenatal yoga classes. The town pool is going to close on August 19th, so I'm going to have to find an indoor pool with a reasonable membership rate, in order to keep my current momentum going.

As for my reading plans this month.....well, I don't think I'll be quite as strict with my schedule this month. At least for now. I'd like to be able to complete another 10 books for August, but I'll be happy if I only manage 8.

Here's my loose reading plan for now (to be finalized later on):

BOTMs I Want To Do This Month