Summer Time Fun Times – July 2024 Overview

If someone asked me what I got up to in July I’d genuinely have no idea without my calendar to hand. July 2024 disappeared without a trace, and now it’s August. Although the intense sunshine we’re having at the moment is making me forgive how quickly time is going.

Much like June I think I got a really good balance of social and relaxing time during the last month. I did quite a lot, but still have plenty of evenings and the odd weekend to just relax, read and do my own thing.

Things I got up to in July 2024

At the start of the month me and Luke headed on our annual pilgrimage to 2000 trees festival. I will admit there was less music that I wanted to see this year, but everything we did see was fab. And we still had an amazing time. Tickets for 2025 have already been booked.

The only other gig I had in July 2024 was Alkaline Trio which was another great one. It seems like every show I go to now are bands who have existed for 10+ years, and I’m not mad about it. Me and Luke also headed to the St Albans Comedy Garden for an afternoon and all four comedians were great. I had no idea how much I would enjoy Ross Noble but he was great!

The things I watched and read

After cancelling our Cineworld cards we’ve been more selective over what we’ve seen at the cinema. We only headed to the cinema once and that was to see Deadpool and Wolverine which was perfect in my opinion. It was funny, it was full of action, and full of great characters and guest stars. And the soundtrack was fab, so much so we’ve already picked up the vinyl version.

TV wise me and Luke watched the latest season of The Boys which I really enjoyed. As expected it was pretty gruesome and there were plenty of scenes I had to look away from, but I think I enjoyed this one more than season three.

I finished the newly adapted Good Girls Guide to Murder which came out on BBC. Yes the series did skip out a few bits here and there, but overall I really enjoyed it and I think they did a great job taking it from book to TV show. I can’t wait to see what they do with season two, and season three (if you’ve read the books you’ll know what I mean).

All things books

I had two awesome book events during July 2024. The month started out with one of my favourites with Lindsey Kelk, Giovanna Fletcher and Paige Toon. As soon as I saw Giovanna was a guest I booked a ticket without thinking, and the event was so much fun. I picked up my first Paige book which I can’t wait to read.

Only last week I headed to an event with five authors including Bea Fitzgerald. It was a slightly chaotic signing with so many authors, but I took three books with me and came out with another one as well.

At the very end of the month I put my big girl pants on and joined an in-person book club. My first meet up is in September and I’m both equal parts nervous and excited. But I thought it was about time I talked about my favourite hobby with people in person. I’ll report back after I’ve been!

My favourite books of the month

• The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods was my only five star of the month. It was actually my virtual book club pick and I’m so gutted I couldn’t make the talk about it. The story follows three separate characters all connected to a mystery bookshop and a forgotten manuscript. I absolutely loved how all the characters stories blended together and it was magical.
• Things we left behind by Lucy Score is the final book in the Knockemout series. Yes the book isn’t full of the best writing and there are some questionable things the make characters do, but I absolutely loved the banter and how Sloane and Lucian’s relationship blossomed.

Things that made me happy in July 2024

Formula one has made me so happy recently. There were three races in July and none of them were won by Max or Red Bull which I find insane. This season is probably one of my favourites to date as it’s really anyone’s game for the championship and constructors.

I had a lovely little solo morning in St Albans in the month. I had nothing in particular to do but I picked up breakfast, sat in a Waterstones café to read and wandered around a few shops and it was lovely. Just a few hours out of a morning to do my own thing makes a world of difference.

It might not be much but we’ve finally made a little progress on our utility room. We now have the basic walls up and it’s made it so much easier to visualise the space and how it will look. I’m hoping when I’m writing this post for August I’ll have even more updates to share.

What did you get up to in July 2024?