July kicked my ass, like hardcore parkour kicked my ass.
I moved this month, yay! Now I can’t find anything, boo!
I read three books, yay! I wish it had been more, boo!
I finished my anthology story edits and am resubmitting to the editor, yay! I haven’t even started on my WotF Q4 story, boo!
I haven’t heard back about my WotF Q2 story yet, yay? I’ve heard the finalists have already been notified, so at this point I can only hope for another HM, boo!
And I think that covers that…now on to the books!

Book One:
Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix

Sigh, big ol’ damn SIGH…
This book is hard, I had actually forgotten how hard it was. I think I repressed the memory of having read it because it was so dang hard. Things in this one get bleak, and when you think they can’t get much worse…they get worse.
Between moving, not having heard from WotF, having to train a new employee at work (ugghh, so exhausting), bitter bitches that remind me of Professor Umbridge, and Ms. Pure Evil in Pink herself terrorizing Hogwarts I crawled out of July sore, aching, smelling of liniment, and angry.

Whew…
deep breaths…
Okay, better now.
I also forgot Sirius died in this book. I guess Ms. Rowling got a taste for blood at the end of book 4 and just kept going.
It’s funny though, re-reading the series as an adult after having lost most of my family; my mentors, the people I loved and admired the most. It really does change how one interacts with life. If Harry was destined for certain things, it’s this strength, independence and the reminder of heartache that will keep one going, walking in grace, and kind to those who seem least likely to deserve it. Well, at least for Harry and myself, lol.
Book 5 is a good one for sure, heartbreaking definitely, and it gives me pause before diving right into book 6. I think I need something light first, maybe a book about murder? Yeah, that’ll do. 🙂

Book Two:
Many Lives, Many Masters by Brian L. Weiss, M.D.

Interestingly enough, It seems I tended away from fiction for this month’s choices, which suits me just fine. Sometimes you need to mix it up.
You know I’m not even sure how this book came across my path, but was it ever good, wow! I was completely fascinated by it, enjoyed comparing what it said about spirituality and past lives to my own system of beliefs, and found it made some really good points independent of what I believe.
It was also a lot of fun to read about someone switching points of view about his scientific life and moving into beliefs about a spiritual one, and how believing in both of those things doesn’t necessarily negate the other. Believe it people.
For a short, fascinating read, I say check this one out. It’s terribly interesting.

Book Three:
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson

I need to be a bit careful about going into how I felt about this book. I don’t want to belabor any point I’d like to make about it, but I will slide out the soap box for just a moment.
Working in L.E. for over a decade, I can tell you our justice system is broken, and this book will open your eyes to it. I just don’t see how one can read it with an open heart and think anything but. With that said, I learned a lot from the stories Mr. Stevenson shares about the prisoners, children, and others who have been let down by their fellow man. I cried at many points throughout this book, and not the pretty kind of crying…I ugly cried. If you stop for one moment of your life, lift your face to the sun to feel it’s warmth play on your skin, and thank whatever you believe in that we live in this day and age where you have all the things you have. It would behoove you, yes you, to realize injustice, torture, pain, starvation, medieval systems of government and punishment STILL exist in our ‘modern’ society, and we all need to pitch in and catch this left behind part of our world up to the rest of what we’ve worked so hard to elevate. We have plumbing, clean drinking water, etc. Why then? Why? Is this part of our society so neglected? I know it’s ugly. I know it’s easier to have someone else look at it and handle it. I know it’s so much easier to think they are all just criminals and got what they deserve. Well Mr. Stevenson can point out just how wrong we all are in believing that. It’s broken guys, and it needs to be fixed. Grab this book, a box of tissues, and let it change your perspective on a few things in life. Highly recommend as a non-fic read.

That’s all for this month folks. I know hearing about Q2 is on the horizon, and I will have started my Q4 story within the first week of August, so we all have that to look forward to hearing about.

-xo