Hi bookworms! Even though there is technically still over 12-hours left in July, I wanted to get something memorialized for my July wrap-up since I will have a separate Medieval-A-Thon wrap-up tomorrow.
I am 42-pages away from finishing Lost Boy by Christina Henry which I will complete tonight. So, with that included, I read 14-books in the month of July which also happens to the be the exact same number that I read in June. I am quite happy with that number!
Side Note: Anyone else love Larry David and miss Curb Your Enthusiasm with every fiber of your being? Just me?
Back to the wrap-up ((sorry for the side-bar)):
Since I have reviewed the majority of these books on this blog, which you can find by clicking on ‘July’ over to the right, I am just going to give a numbered list here with my star rating. Overall, I had a great month. I read five 5-star books, four 4.5-star books, two 4-star books and two 3.5-star books. Any month where you have only 3.5-stars and above, as far as ratings go, is pretty solid.
At this point, I am fairly positive that Lost Boy will end up with a 4-star but depending how it finishes, it could actually be a 4.5. I will let you know that in my Medieval-A-Thon wrap-up.
So, without further ado, here are the books I have completed so far in July 2019:
- The Girl in Red by Christina Henry (ARC), 3.5-stars
- Wild and Crooked by Leah Thomas (ARC), 4.5-stars (cerebral palsy & LGBTQIA+ rep)
- Illuminae by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman, 5-stars
- Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid (audiobook), 5-stars
- Those People by Louise Candlish (ARC), 4-stars
- The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell (Books with Friends Book Club) (audiobook), 3.5-stars
- Soul of the Sword (Shadow of the Fox 2) by Julie Kagawa (ARC), 5-stars
- Lock Every Door by Riley Sager (ARC), 5-stars
- Roar by Cora Carmack (Page Turners Book Club) (audiobook), 4.5-stars
- A Stranger on the Beach by Michele Campbell (ARC), 4.5-stars
- The Wicked King by Holly Black (audiobook), 5-stars
- Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (ARC), 4-stars
- Lethal White (Cormoran Strike 4) by Robert Galbraith (aka JK Rowling) (audiobook), 4.5-stars
Some other random stats would be that six of these are YA and seven are Adult; seven of these are ARCs (Advanced Reader Copies) provided to me by the publishers in exchange for honest reviews, and four of these I listened to part or the entire story via audiobook.
As far as my monthly TBR challenge prompts go, I completed three of the four (I did not make TBR Jar selections this month in lieu of participating in two book club selections, hence why there is only four instead of the five originally set forth in January).
The one I did not complete was my ‘Read a New Release for Next Month’. I did not read any August 2019 releases this month. I am so behind on my ARCs but we’ll get to that in a later post.
I did complete the following:
- Read a New Release from 2019: Lethal White by Robert Galbraith (650-pages BTW)
- Read a New Release from Current Month: Lock Every Door by Riley Sager
- Read a Sequel: Soul of the Sword (Shadow of the Fox #2) by Julie Kagawa
Although I do have multiple books that would fit some of these challenges, I only count the one that completed the challenge first. I think for August I will be able to complete all four of my challenges (also not selecting TBR Jar picks again) as I really want to read a couple of September releases I already have my hands on.
How did your July reading go? Did you participate in any readathons or book clubs? What was your favorite book of the month? What did you like the least? Are there any July 2019 releases I need to get my hands on?
I want to know. Leave a comment here and contact me through any of my social media links!
Cheers & Happy Reading~
Read a shiny book to earn the breastplate of your suite of armor: For this I completed, The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell. I haven’t done a review or decided on a star rating for this book yet. It was a lot. There were a lot of character perspectives to follow and time jumps and things got hecka confusing there for a while. I did enjoy it. I thought the characters were great but I am just a bit at a loss as too how much I enjoyed it. Does this ever happen to anyone else? Regardless, the ouroboros-type graphic on this is super shiny in the light of the hardcover version that I read.
Read a book with assassins in it to earn your fighting
The Dark Tower series
A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin – As with The Dark Tower series, this is an EPIC fantasy series that I absolutely love. The difference with this one, it’s not completed yet. Martin is still working on book 6, The Winds of Winter, which has been pushed back a few times as far as release date goes. The first five books of this series come to over 5,000-pages, so, again, it’s A LOT. Thus far I have read the first three books of this series, enjoying each one a little more than the previous, and really need to move on. I wouldn’t plan to finish this one this year but I would at least like to complete the fourth book, A Feast for Crows. With the final season of the smash-hit, HBO series beginning in April, I feel like I will be on a Game of Thrones high after that and it may be a good time to pick this one up. There is also the companion novel, Fire & Blood, which released at the end of last year, that I also own and want to read. Ultimately, I will include that as part of the series.
Throne of Glass
Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson – When Monday Charles goes missing, her best friend, Claudia, seems to be the only person to take notice. Claudia knows that Monday would never leave her with a new school year looming and all that comes with that. Claudia brings up her concerns repeatedly to her parents, to adults at school, even to Monday’s family and everyone seems to brush her off. More and more confused and more and more concerned for her friend’s safety, Claudia decides to investigate the matter herself. This book is vivid, heart-wrenching and important. Jackson’s writing is so smooth and engaging. I finished this book in 2-days, absolutely loved it and have recommended it to friends since who have enjoyed it as well. This story takes place in present day Washington D.C. and focuses on missing kids who are overlooked and abandoned. It examines failures in our society in a really creative way and I feel it is quite an impactful read.
Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer – This is another vivid and heartbreaking story concerning loss, grief and the art of moving forward. Following two high school students with equally complicated histories, this story examines their relationship development and their efforts to rediscover happiness after great personal tragedies. Again, Kemmerer’s writing really set this book apart. I found it fluid and easy to enjoy. I felt connected to the characters and my heart truly hurt for them at times. I loved the format of this as well, which ties in correspondence, both in letter and email form. In my opinion, that trope tends to add depth to a story, as sometimes characters (and real people) are better able to express themselves through the written word than through interpersonal communications. I feel like it allows us to delve deeper into character’s inner thoughts, dreams, desires and motivations.
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli – At the time that I read this, I felt like I was the last person on the globe who had not read this story. I won’t go into too much detail here, as with the movie released last year, I feel like everyone pretty much knows what this is about. A boy, corresponding with a crush, coming out to his family, friend drama, teenage angst, it was amazing and adorable and I loved it. The end.