July… What happened in July? Honestly, I ain’t got a clue. It was my first month on a retainer contract (meaning I have 3-days of work per month) and “suddenly” finding myself with a heckuva lot more free time resulted in me getting very comfortable very quickly with doing nothing particularly productive every day. 😅 *big sigh* I guess you can say that I have a very lazy + avoidant personality, so I tend to really stick to my comfort zone, which means that I (mostly) allow myself to shove my head in the sand and just exist in ignorant bliss. I am the question hound in the “on fire” comic strip turned meme where the house is burning down and the hound is sat at the table saying “this is fine” (at least for now).
In other news, well, there really isn’t much other news. I managed to be productive a few times over the past month by doing a spot of spring cleaning here and there, but otherwise, I’ve just been languishing the days away… I’m trying not to be too hard on myself cos this is a big life change and I’m very much a creature of comfort and routine, so it has messed me up a bit. But I hope that August will see a turn around at some point. 🙂 Here are some photos from gaming, bookstagram, book mail, and my catto. 🐈
Well, with all of the extra time that I now have, you’d think that I’d be reading heaps again, but alas, that’s not the case. Granted, I did read 13 books this month, but only because the last four books I read were short stories. If we’re talking about full-length novels, I read 8 books. But it’s quality, not quantity, right? Happily, it’s another month where the majority of my reads were above 4-stars! ✨ Despite feeling quite indecisive about my favourite this month, I think I have to give the honour to The Fury of the Gods by John Gwynne. Such a satisfying conclusion to such a epic trilogy!
In terms of blogging, it’s still been a tough one for me. I’m still gaming more than I am reading and blogging, but I tried to make a bit more time to participate in different things. We had our Let’s Talk Bookish post of the month about participating in bookish discussions, and coincidentally, I’ve just joined the Fantasy with Friends weekly discussions. It’s been a lot of fun!
TEXTis linked to my review (if available)
4.5 & 4.75 pandas
Mini Book Review: Nine Goblins by T. Kingfisher
4 & 4.25 pandas
Book Review: Of Owls and Oolong by Shari L. Tapscott
3.25 & 3.5 pandas
Miss Gentle and the Case of the Very Flat Monk by Travis Baldree (3.25), Arcana: The Cursed Fate by Sam Prentice-Jones (3.5)
3 pandas and below
The Wednesday Witches Book Club by Sarah Beth Durst
I totally dropped the ball with my reading challenges and didn’t intentionally pick out books to fill up my prompts, but coincidentally, two can fit for the Buzzword and the Year in Aeldia. I still need to write my review for the Aeldia 5-star prediction though! And yes, I’m counting Paladin as an occupation cos in the world it’s set in, it’s practically an occupation, lol. I also read a lot of my backlist so yay for that! ✨
✔ Goodreads Reading Challenge: 64/100
✔ Beat the Backlist 2026: 📚 6 backlist books // 📱 0 backlist ARCs ⇢ 0 bingo spots
✔ 2026 Buzzword Reading Challenge: July (“occupations”) ⇢ Paladin’s Hope
✔ Year in Aeldia 2026: July (5-star Prediction) ⇢ Paladin’s Faith
And that’s it, friends. I can’t believe it’s already August. Don’t know what this year is running from, but I kind of wish that it would slow down a little. 😅 How was your reading month? I hope everyone is doing as good as can be and taking good care. Hope August treats you well! 🫂
dinipandareads 
Paladin is definitely an occupation😀
I can quite see how suddenly having less to do makes you feel like doing even less. I get round it by making lists. It’s so satisfying ticking things off even if they’re only tiny things that take hardly any time
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Honestly, I’m so good at being lazy that I wish it was an occupation, haha. 🤣 I also love making lists but I’m not very good at… implementing what’s on them *sigh Maybe one day I will be that person that makes lists and completes them too, lol.
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😂😂
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All big life changes take some adjustment! I’m sure I’d be doing the exact same thing 😅 I’m so used to always being on the go that having more free time would make me greedy for relaxation, haha.
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Greedy for relaxation! That’s actually a great way of putting it. I did feel greedy for it and now I’m just so used to getting it, and I honestly love it. I need to love it less, haha 🤣
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I’ve seen an uptick in folks reading John Gwynne’s books and all of you end up devastated haha. I guess I’ll have to try them one day.
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Oh really? I haven’t noticed that on my booksta or in the blogosphere but that’s awesome. Maybe cos one of his series has gotten a reprint from Broken Binding and they’re absolutely stunning so people are reading it? But his books are devastating. So good, but devastating 🤣 I hope you enjoy (and feel devastated in the same way) too if you ever get around to reading them, haha.
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Oh wow 3 days a MONTH?? yeah that’s not enough for me 😭 rn work is slow as we’re two fulltimers and there’s not enough stuff to do (she’ leaving end of the month; they dont wanna go back on their decision) — and even then I find it hard. Then again i’m used to coffee shop mayhem to always be gogogo now I need to slow the F down 🙈
Hope august is kind to you and you’ll get somehow of a routine!
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Yeah… 3 days a month is… Nothing 🤣 It’s a huge change from working 5-days a week and often, for a few hours over the weekend, and definitely overtime too. Sigh. That said, I am enjoying the freedom of doing nothing so much now but at the same time I’m battling guilt for enjoying it, lol. It’s good to have a balance of gogogo and slowing the fork down. I think I have felt that more and more over the years as I’ve gotten older, haha.
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Oh yes definately! We need to learn to slow down and relax
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[…] was a buddy read with Dini and we both had conflicted feelings towards it unfortunately. I believe she enjoyed it more than me […]
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As a teacher, I definitely understand that vast stretches of time can be rough. I usually laze about for most of June before needing to impose some sort of structure on myself for the rest of the summer. You’ll figure out what works for you!
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I definitely feel spoiled about not feeling that rush to find something new immediately, but I definitely also need to impose a structure for myself or create some kind of balanced and productive routine moving forward so I can find something new. At this rate, I’ll just continue being a blob at home, lol.
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I think it’s absolutely fair to take some time to work out a new routine and way of being after such a big life change! My husband currently isn’t working, and is also finding the lack of structure to be a struggle to cope with sometimes.
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It does take time. I think a big part of the struggle is coping with the guilt of enjoying all this free time and not having to scramble to find something new immediately because I have decent safety net. But yeah, the lack of structure… And the will to create said structure… I will get there… One day soon! 🤣
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Sometimes it’s okay to slow down, but I feel you about feeling lazier when you get into a cozy mode of hibernation. Love all your book mail!
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I wish being lazy was an occupation, lol. I would be such a good employee and I wouldn’t have to contend with guilt, haha.
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Right? I would be the best employee! 😂
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I hope you’re doing okay with such a major change. It must definitely be disconcerting to have such a major shake up. I completely forgot that you said Winnie The Pooh was getting added to Dreamlight Valley; I really must get back on there soon and try the update out. Its awful so exciting to see that you’ve got a SE of Agnes Aubert’s and a copy of To Kill A Kingdom. I loved the former and have had the latter recommended to me a lot. The only reason I don’t have a copy yet is that I keep hoping Waterstones will restock their SE edition.
Its lovely seeing so many highly rated read for you this month 🥰 that John Gwynne series is a must read for me ASAP and Kingfisher’s books always come with such a surprising balance of darkness and charm (at least the ones I’ve tried).
Are those SEs of the Rebecca Ross duology? I need to check out those short stories with titles by Robert Jackson Bennett and Heather Fawcett in the collections when I try KU sometime. Its a shame to see another Sarah Beth Durst book underwhelming you though. I also recently saw the lead of the latest described as frustrating when it comes to decisions and I’m nervous to say the least 😬
I’m also with you when it comes to wanting this year to slow down. I feel like I’ve blinked and lost a month or something 🙈 I hope you have a wonderful August ❤️
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That was supposed to be also so exciting not awful 🙈
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Haha, don’t worry, I gotchu 😉
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I can’t remember if you mentioned the last time you played DDV but there have been so many changes! It’s great. I’m really getting more and more into the game, and it’s eating up into my reading and blogging time, but I’m enjoying myself immensely, so I can’t be too mad about it! Haha. So glad to hear that you loved Agnes Aubert and I’m a big fan of IA’s older stuff, so I’m looking forward to giving their new stuff a try. I hope you enjoy TKAK whenever you get your hands on a copy (✨manifesting that Waterstones SE for you!✨)
Yes, the Gwynne series is so good and I loved Kingfisher’s series too. I hope you enjoy them whenever you give them a go. And Kingfisher really is the queen of balancing darkness and charm! 😍 And yes, they are the Illumicrate SEs (2026 version). They’d previously put out an edition with their book box, but I missed the second book, so I jumped on this before I even read it—and now that I have, I’m so glad I listened to my gut instinct that I would love it, haha! Also, re. Durst’s latest, do you mean in the series that we’ve read? Yikes on a bike. Not sure if I’m looking forward to reading it now, but really, I should just probs give up, haha.
Let’s see how the rest of this year goes. I hope you have an awesome August as well, Charlotte!
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Oh its been ages. I’m not sure I’ve even been on it this year 🙈 I’ll have to download the updates, as theres bound to be a few since I last did, then see just how much has changed for myself. Glad to hear you’re enjoying your time on it. Thank you, so far no luck but I’ll continue to hope they restock 🤞🤞
Thank you 🥰 yes its such a tricky balance to get right but she nails it everytime. Yay I’m so glad you got hold of them then and that it ended up being everything youd hoped for. Yes the sea one. I feel exactly the same way as you. Maybe we should counter it with a second buddy read whenever we give it a try. That way we’ll hopefully have one good read to balance it out…and probably end up abandoning the other in the process 😂
Thank you.
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Love the cat pic. Too cute! Look at all those 4.5 star books. I feel like that’s a record for you in one month.
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Hehe, she normally avoids all the fluffies I have on my bed, but this time she was huddled with them and it was so cute! It was definitely another very positively-rated reading month 🙂 I hope that streak continues!
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Three days a month of work? How does that work? Sign me up! Just kidding, I hope you find ways to make yourself feel satisfied at the end of the day.
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Hahaha, I mean, honestly? I can’t lie and say that I’m not enjoying it. Even though it’s been jarring going from full-time work to this type of consultancy contract, the amount of free time I have now (that I’ve always wanted) has been amazing. Probably too amazing but… Yeah, I’ll find my balance soon 😂. I hope! Haha
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I also have an avoidant personality (which could be a mix of burn out, depression, etc.), but I am trying to be more intentional with the things I do and viewing it more positively. I’ve even started to add things I enjoy doing to my daily to do list. Like yes, I need to do dishes today, but I also need to spend an hour playing Pokopia!
I get it though, because I also fall into doing “nothing” during the summer when I’m not teaching, and I start to feel terrible about it, but I think it’s all about how we view productivity.
Doing hobbies is productive! Reading is productive! Look at all of your pictures, the graphics, the reading you did! That’s not nothing!
I hope August brings you lots of self love, joy, and comfort! 💖
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Honestly, I think a big part of my avoidant personality has to do with my depression (and definitely due to burn out when I was working full-time). I am trying to be kind to myself although the guilt kind of eats me up, but being intentional with what you do sounds like a very positive way of looking at it! I just need to find the will to strike that balance because right now I’m very… content with my transition into a blob, lol. 🤡
Thank you for bringing the positivity and shining it on my brain! 💜 I know I’m doing things and being productive, just not in the way that my brain has been conditioned to think of productivity. But you’re right! I’ve got things done and I shouldn’t be too hard on myself 🙂
I hope you have an amazing August as well! ✨
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