July in Review

These posts are inspired by a great YA blogger, The Magic Violinist.

Books I Read
In July, I read 13 books. Here are the highlights:

Caged Graves by Dianne K. Salerni (4.5 stars)
Compelling historical mystery with a gentle, believable romance.

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman (5 stars)
So so good! This fantasy novel has a complete compelling world, with the most interesting and unique dragons ever!

Earthman Jack v. The Ghost Planet by Matthew Kadish (3.5 stars)
Epic space adventure chock full of plasma blasters, evil aliens, and hyperspace.

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick (5 stars)
Follows a boy on his 18th birthday who has decided to murder a peer, and then commit suicide. Powerful, surprising, intense, and important.

Mothstorm by Philip Reeve (4 stars)
I LOVED this trilogy and I'm so sad that it's over. Once again, Philip Reeve brought us a tale of daring space adventure, alien battles, and piratey rescues.

Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson (4 stars)
A thoroughly engaging and well-researched telling. I learned so much and was glued to the page.

Obsessions I Acquired

In June I joined the ranks of people with wearable tech. I wanted pedometer that would motivate me to get off the couch during the summer. It's a time-suck. I sit way too much in the summer. So, I tested the waters with the cheapest FitBit (the Zip). I loved it! It really did motivate me. But, I wanted a pedometer that would sync to my phone and that I could wear on my wrist.

Enter the Garmin Vivofit, my new pedometer. Freakin awesome!

My activity level has really increased - I am now averaging over 10,000 steps per day. That's impressive for me in the summer.

Activities Documented

Thanks to my Vivofit I have some data for you. This month I walked 250,577 steps. I am most proud that each week shows an increase from the week before:

I earned several fun badges as well, including winning 2 community challenges. I came in second place in both of the other weekly challenges so that rocks!

I also logged at least one daily walk (1.5-2 miles each) on 15 days this month. I would like to do even more in August.

Discovery of the Month

After a 30+ years of hating Dr. Pepper, I have now discovered that it's actually really tasty. Suddenly I find myself choosing Dr. Pepper over other beverages. Shocking!