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July 2016 Reflection


Happy August, everyone! As of today, July is now over, and that means that it is time for a monthly reflection!

If this is your first time reading one of our monthly reflections, be sure to check out our monthly reflection tag later. I'll also explain to you what we do in our monthly reflections. We have monthly reflections so that we can reflect and look back on how the blog and it's Instagram page did during the month. It helps to give us an idea of what we're doing right, or what we're doing wrong. We also give you guys a look into what's to come in the next month.

That being said, let's begin! I really do think that August was a good month for us, so let's hope that this reflection looks good!


Looking Back Into July


The Blog
July was great for the blog. Our pageviews for the month went up, continuing our sudden increase that started last month in June. We got 102 more pageviews in July than in June and it increased by about 34% percent. Hopefully in our August 2016 Reflection, I'll say for the third time in a row that our pageviews increased.

Something that is bad is that some of the posts published this month got a low amount of pageviews, despite the high number of overall pageviews to the blog. The thing that is really interesting about this is that these two posts are book reviews. Usually, filler posts will get less views, and book reviews will get more. That means that people weren't interested enough to actually go and view the post. "Book Review: How Many Letters Are in Goodbye?" only got five pageviews, and "Book Review: Being Jazz" got four. (Although I did post the latter late.)

Instagram
Not only did I successfully complete the #sammyreadsjuly16 photo challenge, but we also managed to gain some followers. I am unsure of the exact number of followers we had back in June, but I do know that it was a little over 100, and we are now at 182 followers! Might not be amazing for four and a half months of being on bookstagram, but we are slowly getting there. Heh heh. (Hopefully we will reach 200 in August!)



Goals
Okay! It's time to see if I completed the goals I set for myself back in June. The bad thing is, I never really remember the goals I set for myself after two weeks or so, so I never really know if I did it or not! Maybe I should make it a goal to check my goals! In June, I made the following goals:


Now did I complete these goals?

  1. Yes! I did! We don't have all book reviews, of course, for that would be very difficult to pull off. (Especially since Em and I are kinda slow readers.) However, they are book related, and I find them to be interesting. So I'll give it a yes.
  2. This month, all of the pictures are mine except for two that Em took. So, yeah: I think that I definitely took more of my own pictures.
  3. I succeeded! Finally! She actually wrote two posts this month! And she also said that she wants to take pictures again! Yay! So there's a very good chance that you'll see some of her pictures for our August photo challenge, which I'll get to in a bit.

Coming Up in August


The Blog
Sigh. Just like last month, I don't have much planned. My apologies! It just seems like time is passing by so quickly! Where has the summer gone? Does anyone else feel this way? Anyway, moving on, I do have some things planned. For instance, there's the bookshelf tour that I have promised to do in both June and July. I'll try to get around to it this month. I also will make a one month bullet journal update post, for anyone who is interested in that. Hopefully there will also be a book review on The Goldfinch. I just hope that I finish it. It is such a big book! Other than that, I really don't have anything planned. At all. I am hoping that Em will write a few posts (please!). I'm sure that I can figure something out, though.

Instagram
So for this month I have picked out a really creative, fun, and challenging photo challenge to do. I have picked the #challengeBookamajig photo challenge created by the bookstagrammers @booksthetics, @readsleepfangirl, @alittlebookworld, and @booknerd_reads.


Also, Em said that she would help me out with the pictures this month. She will take some pictures on her fancy camera (so hopefully there will be a better quality!) and will be editing them, too.

Goals for August
Ever since April or so, we have created goals for ourselves. My goals for August are the following:


  1. Keep track of my goals. Every month, I remember my goals for two weeks or so, and then I forget about them and don't make an effort to complete them. This month, I want to keep my goals in mind.
  2. Make a bookshelf tour post. I have been wanting to do this one for a while now, yet I haven't done it yet! I don't want to continue to break my promise, so I'll try to make sure to do it this month. If I don't, I don't know if I'll ever do it.
  3. Have a better feed. Let's be honest: our feed on Instagram doesn't look that good. It's not organized and does not look very appealing. So, in August, I want to have something that ties the pictures together. I think that this will be something about the editing, whether it be bold colors, a little washed out, bright, or dark. I think Em will want bold colors, though.

And that wraps up our July 2016 Reflection! July has been a fun and successful 4th full month on the blog! I hope that you continue to enjoy our blog. Happy reading, everyone!

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This Month's Popular Posts

Quotes: The Nightingale

I realized that, over a year ago, I wrote a post called "Quotes: Audacity" , and that this post did really well (it's actually Reading is Inevitable's most read post!), and yet I never wrote another post of quotes from a book. I liked writing that post, too. I like sharing quotes I like from books. That's why I started doing it on our bookstagram page . So why did I never write another one of these "quote blog posts"? I don't know. But I intend to write at least another one. And that's why I'm here today. Well, there's that, and then there's also the amazing book that is The Nightingale.  If you've read some of my recent blog posts or have poked around a bit, you would know that exactly a month ago I published my book review on The Nightingale , in which I explained my love for it and why you should read it yourself. And while I actually have another post in the works on that book because it definitely deserves more than on

Quotes: Audacity

As some of you may know by looking at my posts on our social media page (@readingisinevitable on Instagram), I am currently reading Audacity by Melanie Crowder. It is a beautiful book written in free verse, and follows the life of Clara Lemlich, a female Jewish immigrant who came to America in the early 1900s. (For the full summary of the book, click here .) I absolutely love books written in free verse, or any type of poetry, in fact! This book is so lovely that I have decided to dedicate a whole post to some of my favorite quotes or parts! (Note: I am only on page 294, and there are 366 pages, not including the extra content at the end of my local library's copy.)

Book Review: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

Title:  Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe Author:  Benjamin Alire Sáenz Genre: Realistic Fiction, YA Fiction Rating:  5 out of 5 stars ★★★★★ Reviewer:  Julia Dante can swim. Ari can't. Dante is articulate and self-assured. Ari has a hard time with words and suffers from self-doubt. Dante gets lost in poetry and art. Ari gets lost in thoughts of his older brother who is in prison. Dante is fair skinned. Ari's features are much darker. It seems that a boy like Dante, with his open and unique perspective on life, would be the last person to break down the walls that Ari has built around himself.  But against all odds, when Ari and Dante meet, they develop a special bond that will teach them the most important truths of their lives, and help define the people they want to be. But there are big hurdles in their way, and only by believing in each other — and the power of their friendship — can Ari and Dante emerge stronger on the other side.

Book Review: The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes

Title: The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes Author:  Anna McPartlin Genre: Realistic Fiction Rating: 4 out of 5 Reviewer: Julia I can't believe how amazingly wonderful this book is. I can't believe that I put off reading it for so long. (I've had the book sitting with my other TBR books for at least a year now.) This book is beautiful and so well written, and it snagged at my heart, bringing a few tears to my eyes.