Categories
Book Club Books

#iwsgbookclub Aug. 2022 Check-in + What I #read in July

It’s time for a monthly check-in. We, at the IWSG Book Club, invite you to share your thoughts and or progress on our current member spotlight books via this Goodreads poll or social media. I’ll be sharing my thoughts below, as well as on the poll, and encourage you to share in the comments below, if you’re not up for trying the poll.

This post contains affiliate links. If you click through to make a purchase, I may make a small commission at no additional cost to you. Any amount I make goes towards my dream to host a book fair in Hampton Roads, VA. Please see my About page for more details. Thank you for your support.

Amazon.com | Bookshop.org

Our craft book for the month- Started but haven’t gotten as far as I would like, especially since it’s such a short book.

Amazon.com | Bookshop.org

Our member book for the month- Acquired but have not started yet. Hope to crack this open this weekend.

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In July 2022, I read 4 titles, sticking to my two IWSG Book Club reads and two exploratory reads. I’m behind in my Goodreads challenge but have plenty of time to catch up, Still, I’ve been playing catch up for a while, even this post is a mash-up to save time and makeup time.

2022 Reading Challenge

2022 Reading Challenge
Toi has
read 2 books toward
her goal of
60 books.
hide

Below you’ll find my star ratings and review blurbs for each title I completed in the indicated month. If you have not signed up for my newsletter, please consider doing so. That’s where I post an overview of what I’ve been reading, watching, and writing quarterly, as well as talk about my love of reading while offering tips for having a healthy reading lifestyle. You can also click the Goodreads links to see the thorough reviews. At the bottom of this post, you’ll also be able to watch a video of my monthly reviews, if that’s more your style.

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5.0 – Planning for Murder.

Review

Amazon

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5.0 – Cool Female Character

Review

Amazon

4.0 – Magical Fairytale

Review

Amazon

Bookshop

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2.0 – Just not my genre.

Review

Amazon

You can watch my July Goodreads challenge update here. Click below to watch my July book review video, if that’s more your speed.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords #blacklivesmatter

Categories
IWSG

#IWSG August 2022- LIFE

Created and hosted by the Ninja himself, Alex J. Cavanaugh, the Insecure Writers Support Group posts the 1st Wednesday of every month. Click here to learn more or sign up.

This post contains affiliate links. If you click through to make a purchase, I may make a small commission at no additional cost to you. Any amount I make goes towards my dream to host a book fair in Hampton Roads, VA. Please see my About page for more details. Thank you for your support.

Optional Monthly Question: When you set out to write a story, do you try to be more original or do you try to give readers what they want?

Due to LIFE, I was unable to answer this question or even put together my usual post. Hope to be back to normal next month. If you didn’t see the IWSG newsletter, check out the update on the book club below.

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The IWSG Book Club Evolves Once Again

There are some interesting changes starting in August 2022 for the IWSG Book Club hosted on Goodreads.com. Back in September of 2021, we started featuring books by IWSG members and have enjoyed discovering the talents of this group. We set a simple interactive schedule posting our selections the first week of the month, posting a general poll the second week, encouraging a check-in on week three, and hosting micro discussions (3-questions each) in week four. So now it’s time to take a small evolutionary step.

Since the IWSG is a support group for writers, we thought we should revisit the original mission of the group, to help our members hone their skills, while still featuring member books. At the end of the day, the book club wants to support the IWSG members in the best way possible. That means, moving forward we will continue to spotlight one member book each month and also feature a craft book each month.

We’ll keep our same weekly festivities but offer a few tweaks. The monthly check-in will now be a simple poll members can engage with and share online. Just like the general poll, you do not have to be reading the current spotlight books to engage with either of these polls.

The discussions will be more general, removing the 3-question demand and allowing members to simply share their thoughts or their reviews, and or ask questions from other readers about their experience.

The spotlight books for the month of August are:

Fire Angel by Susanne Matthews: Goodreads | Amazon | Bookshop

Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon : Goodreads | Amazon | Bookshop

We hope you’ll join us in celebrating these books. As always, we encourage members to engage as much or as little as they’d like. Feel free to read one book, both books, or neither. We understand that writers don’t always have time to read, but we hope members will be enticed by some of the selections from time to time and join the festivities.

We highly encourage members to share the spotlighted member book image online or add it to a Goodreads bookshelf. It’s a great way to give a book exposure. Members are also welcome to suggest books and polls for the whole group to enjoy.

We are so excited about the new direction of the IWSG Book Club and look forward to seeing members participating and supporting one another.

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Have you been busier than usual lately?

Have you tried the IWSG Book Club?

It may take some time, but I promise, I will eventually stop by your blog. My response time has gotten slower but I’m still making my rounds.

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After hanging out with Alex, be sure to stop by and visit this month’s co-hosts: Tara Tyler, Lisa Buie Collard, Loni Townsend, and Lee Lowery!

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Click here to visit other IWSG blogs and sites to receive and share more inspiration and support. (This month, I’m #30).

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords #blacklivesmatter

Categories
Book Club

#iwsgbookclub July 2022 Micro Discussions

Please join the IWSG Book Club today on Goodreads for two short discussions about the two books we featured in the month of July. There are still 3 days left in this month so there’s no rush. We are hosting 3 short questions for each book we featured and encourage you to share your reviews and or thoughts. Discussions will remain open indefinitely, so stop by anytime, even if you haven’t read the book(s).

This post contains affiliate links. If you click through to make a purchase, I may make a small commission at no additional cost to you. Any amount I make goes towards my dream to host a book fair in Hampton Roads, VA. Please see my About page for more details. Thank you for your support.

Reaching For Normal (Bloo Moose #1) by Jemi Fraser. Please click the image below to join the short discussion.

Amazon.com

Magic at Midnight by Ronel Janse van Vuuren. Please click the image below to join the short discussion.

Amazon.com | Bookshop.org

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords #blacklivesmatter