What did you read in July?

[litskispeciality]

Ratings? Recommendations? If you're doing a challenge how are you looking mid-year(ish)?

[snshne322]

Read:

Golden Eyes by Maya Banks **
Dating-ish by Penny Reid ****
Eleventh Grave in Moonlight by Darynda Jones ****
Beauty and the Mustache by Penny Reid ****
Ask the Passengers by A.S. King ****
Burying Water by KA Tucker ***


It was a bit of a light month for me, but I'm still ahead of my goal of 117 this year.

[rootbeerfloat]

A Court of Wings and Ruin, Sarah Maas - 3*
The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas - 5*
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, Lisa See - 4.5*
Dirty (Dive Bar #1), Kylie Scott - 3*
A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows (Outlander 8.5), Diana Gabaldon - 3*
The Sun is Also a Star, Nicola Yoon - 4*
Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk, Kathleen Rooney - 4*

I had a productive month thanks to travel and all my holds coming up at the same time. I'm 2 books ahead of schedule, 31/50 of the year.

[litskispeciality]

Slow month, but I'll take it:

Everything Everything 3.5 *'s
60% of "The Wolf of Wallstreet

Goodreads says I'm at 12 (13 with a re-read) of 24 for the year. Hoping to catch back up (thought I was a little further ahead?) but it also says I'm more than 50% of the pages I read in 2016 so it's quality, not quanity.

[booknerd]

I read:
HP and the SS- 5*
HP and the CoS- 5*
The Kind Worth Killing- 4*
HP and the PoA- 5*
HP and the GoF- 5*

I'm at 21 books for the year out of 50. So I'm about 7 books behind but I've got a vacation coming up at the end of the month and I've been making reading more of a priority since it's part of my self-care.

[oliviapope]

The Underground Railroad- 4*
Here and Gone- 4*
The Book of Unknown Americans- 4*
The Couple Next Door - 4*
The Secrets She Keeps- 5*
Behold the Dreamers- 4*
Before the Fall- 2*
Eleanor and Park- 3*
The Girl on the Train- 4*


Pretty good month for me, Before the Fall really slowed me down though. I just could not get into it.

I think I'm 4 or 5 ahead of schedule for my reading challenge of 50, but I'm about to start a new job that will slow me down quite a bit.

[dorothyinAus]

I read:
33. Daisy McDare and the Deadly Political Affair by K.M. Morgan -- 3***
34. Death, Limes, and Videotape by Summer Prescott -- 3***
35. Monsieur Pamplemousse on Vacation by Michael Bond -- 4****
36. Live and Lime Die by Summer Prescott -- 3***
37. Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne -- 5*****
38. Death by Cake: The Orange Marmalade Cake Murders by Luna Snow -- 3***
39. Girl in a Red Tunic by Alys Clare -- 3***
40. The Dragon in the Ghetto Caper by E.L. Konigsburg -- 4****

Goodreads says I'm 13 books ahead of schedule towards my annual goal of 48 books.  I've read 26 of 40 books for my Monopoly Reading Challenge, which I feel is a pretty good total and ahead of the average 3⅓ books a month I need to complete the challenge.

I feel I've "cheated" a bit on some of the books as they were Kindle Freebie novellas/short stories not necessarily what I would otherwise consider a book.  But I read those mostly when I wake up in the middle of the night because I can read them on my phone and not bother DH.  They're quick reads and do the job of helping me get back to sleep, so they're not all bad.

[frog]

The True Story of Hansel and Gretel ****
Seraphina **
Queen of Shadows ***
Shadow and Bone ***
Heartless ****
The Bear and the Nightingale ****
The Book of Spies ***
City of Thieves *****
Siege and Storm ***
Ruin and Rising ***
The Birth House ****
Fledgling ****
The Countess **

I'm well ahead of goal for the year - 92/100

[charlatti]

Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor 4*
South Pole Station by Ashley Shelby 5*
Cocoa Beach by Beatriz Williams 2*
Grace to the Finish by Julie Hyzy 4*
The Reluctant Queen by Sarah Beth Durst 5*
Celine by Peter Heller 4*
I Found You by Lisa Jewell 3*

I'm 6 books ahead for my year goal of 100. I was hoping to get farther ahead over the summer -- School starts in two weeks and life will get crazy, but I should be ok to make my goal.

[rainbowchip]

Homegoing 5*
The Glittering Court 3*
The Twelve 4*

I'm currently 4 books behind my goal of 52 this year. I need to have a productive August to catch up.

[pandora89]

Her Every Fear - 3*
Every Last Lie - 3.5*
The Woman in Cabin 10 - 3*
The Hate U Give - 5*
The Other Twin - 3.75*
I Found You - 4*

I am 42/75. July started off slow but I managed to catch up a bit near the end.

[travella]

Crazy busy vacation month, but slow month for reading

Atlas Obscura by Joshua Foer 4*
Beartown by Fredrik Backman 4*

I've almost meet my yearly challenge 28/30.

[kelliebeans104]

I had a pretty good July, quantity and quality-wise. I had two five star books - my first of the year (not including rereads)!

HP and the Sorcerer's Stone (reread) - 5*
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate - 4*
Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney - 5*
The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs - 3*
American Gods by Neil Gaiman - 4*
The High Mountains of Portugal by Yan Martel - 1*
84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff - 5*

I've read 37 books so far this year and am 5 books ahead of schedule to my goal of 55.

[Vespasia]

Underground Airlines 4.5*
The Likeness (Dublin Murder Squad #2) 4*

I set my goal really low and I am currently 5 books ahead at 19/25. we're going away next week and I hope to finish a few more but I might read Winter of the World which is so damn long. It took me over a month to read the other books in the Centenary trilogy because I had a hard time getting into them.


frog I didn't know you read the Bear and the Nightingale. 4* is good from you. Yay!

[hurricanedrunk]

The Hate U Give - Angie Thomas 5*
The Power of Habit - Why We Do what we do in life & Business - Charles Duhigg 3*
Of Mice & Men- John Steinbeck 4*
Crown of Midnight- Sarah Maas 5*
Firefight- Brandon Sanderson 4.5*
Six Scary Stories - Various 3*
The Sun is Also a Star - Nicola Yoon - 4*
The Wonder- Emma Donoghue- 1*
Life of PI - Yann Martel 3.5*
A Monster Calls- Patrick Ness 4*
The Shack - William Paul Young 2*

Had a good July due to some vacation time - I am ahead for the year 67/100.

[ufcasey]

1.5 stars
The Fix (Amos Decker #3) by David Baldacci

2 stars
Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn

3 stars
Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay
Taken by a Vampire by Joey W. Hill
Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh
Falling for the Highlander by Lynsay Sands
Archangel's Enigma (Guild Hunter, #8) by Nalini Singh

3.5 stars
Grave Witch by Kalayna Price
The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine

4 stars
Flamecaster by Cinda Williams Chima

4.5 stars
Fall of Kings (Troy, #3) by David Gemmell


According to GR I am 6 books behind schedule for my goal this year. House stuff is killing my goal.

[MrsAxilla]

I can't with you ladies reading so damn fast! I look at my list at the end of each month like "surely I forgot to log four or five books??" NOPE. I'm averaging two a month.

Homegoing - 5 stars
Who Thought This Was a Good Idea - 4 stars

[booknerd]

Aug 2, 2017 21:45:27 GMT -5 MrsAxilla said:

I can't with you ladies reading so damn fast! I look at my list at the end of each month like "surely I forgot to log four or five books??" NOPE. I'm averaging two a month.

Homegoing - 5 stars
Who Thought This Was a Good Idea - 4 stars

Yes, someone said it! I get proud for reading 4 books a month and then I see what other people read in a month and I'm just amazed.

[MrsAxilla]

Aug 2, 2017 22:01:02 GMT -5 booknerd said:

Aug 2, 2017 21:45:27 GMT -5 MrsAxilla said:

I can't with you ladies reading so damn fast! I look at my list at the end of each month like "surely I forgot to log four or five books??" NOPE. I'm averaging two a month.

Homegoing - 5 stars
Who Thought This Was a Good Idea - 4 stars

Yes, someone said it! I get proud for reading 4 books a month and then I see what other people read in a month and I'm just amazed.

Oh I regularly bitch about this.  Mostly because I'm jealous.

[miniroller]

I also don't go through nearly the volume as some voracious readers here 😳
I'm not even a slow reader; I just don't have the TIME!!! I know, I know- prioritize! I have a neighbor with whom I go to the library; she goes every 4-5 days to get 2-3 books. LADY! She knows to only text me every 2-3 times now though, ha!

Ok- I'm about 2/3rds through
Not a Scientist: How Politicians Mistake, Misrepresent, and Utterly Mangle Science by Dave Levitan & Its very interesting so 3.5*

And my other fiction-attempt (usually I have a non-fic & fiction going simultaneously), meant to be my "lighter" read, but isn't though also really good! (Just not the "beach read" break for which I was hoping): May We Be Forgiven: A Novel, A.M. Homes. Also 3.5* as it's intriguing, just not the lighter read/ break for which I was hoping, but a great book!!

[dorothyinAus]

Aug 2, 2017 22:01:02 GMT -5 booknerd said:

Aug 2, 2017 21:45:27 GMT -5 MrsAxilla said:

I can't with you ladies reading so damn fast! I look at my list at the end of each month like "surely I forgot to log four or five books??" NOPE. I'm averaging two a month.

Homegoing - 5 stars
Who Thought This Was a Good Idea - 4 stars

Yes, someone said it! I get proud for reading 4 books a month and then I see what other people read in a month and I'm just amazed.

This is one of the reasons I never did the seasonal challenges at The Nest. From the beginning I knew I would never be able to complete it according to the definition of a "book" there (specifically the number of pages.)  I made 8 books this month, but 4 were Kindle Freebie novellas/short stories, and 2 were children's books, though one of those was actually read aloud with my husband, a bit each week and we started it on May.  The Nest challenges with 30 or more books over the 3 months were just failure staring at me from the get go; why would I want to start something I was never going to be able to complete?

[MrsAxilla]

Aug 2, 2017 22:51:16 GMT -5 dorothyinAus said:

Aug 2, 2017 22:01:02 GMT -5 booknerd said:

Yes, someone said it! I get proud for reading 4 books a month and then I see what other people read in a month and I'm just amazed.

This is one of the reasons I never did the seasonal challenges at The Nest. From the beginning I knew I would never be able to complete it according to the definition of a "book" there (specifically the number of pages.)  I made 8 books this month, but 4 were Kindle Freebie novellas/short stories, and 2 were children's books, though one of those was actually read aloud with my husband, a bit each week and we started it on May.  The Nest challenges with 30 or more books over the 3 months were just failure staring at me from the get go; why would I want to start something I was never going to be able to complete?

I gave up on challenges a few years ago.  Why should my favorite past time be a chore?  My only goal is to read stuff that I enjoy and expands my reality.  

These speed-reading freaks are awesome for book recs, though.  

[snshne322]

Aug 3, 2017 0:36:09 GMT -5 MrsAxilla said:

Aug 2, 2017 22:51:16 GMT -5 dorothyinAus said:

This is one of the reasons I never did the seasonal challenges at The Nest. From the beginning I knew I would never be able to complete it according to the definition of a "book" there (specifically the number of pages.)  I made 8 books this month, but 4 were Kindle Freebie novellas/short stories, and 2 were children's books, though one of those was actually read aloud with my husband, a bit each week and we started it on May.  The Nest challenges with 30 or more books over the 3 months were just failure staring at me from the get go; why would I want to start something I was never going to be able to complete?

I gave up on challenges a few years ago.  Why should my favorite past time be a chore?  My only goal is to read stuff that I enjoy and expands my reality.  

These speed-reading freaks are awesome for book recs, though.  

I never did the challenges either.  I think they're interesting, but what I like to read never quite fit in the spots.  And like you mentioned, I don't want it to feel like a chore. I'm going to read all the romance I damn well want to and not feel bad about not reading Jane Austin, Moby Dick or A Tale of Two Cities because I feel like I should read more classics. 

[litskispeciality]

I love you ladies (and gents) for reading so many books and giving me new ideas. Do you have any insight or advice on how you can read so many books?

[ufcasey]

Aug 3, 2017 7:41:05 GMT -5 snshne322 said:

Aug 3, 2017 0:36:09 GMT -5 MrsAxilla said:

I gave up on challenges a few years ago.  Why should my favorite past time be a chore?  My only goal is to read stuff that I enjoy and expands my reality.  

These speed-reading freaks are awesome for book recs, though.  

I never did the challenges either.  I think they're interesting, but what I like to read never quite fit in the spots.  And like you mentioned, I don't want it to feel like a chore. I'm going to read all the romance I damn well want to and not feel bad about not reading Jane Austin, Moby Dick or A Tale of Two Cities because I feel like I should read more classics. 

I'm cracking up because that's the book I am reading right now just because I felt like I should try to read some more classics and WHY AM I DOING THIS BECAUSE THIS BOOK IS SO BORING. Your post is giving me the courage to just quit it already.

I also never did any of the challenges because I didn't like the idea of picking my books solely on some random checklist criteria.

[snshne322]

Aug 3, 2017 8:39:28 GMT -5 ufcasey said:

Aug 3, 2017 7:41:05 GMT -5 snshne322 said:

I never did the challenges either.  I think they're interesting, but what I like to read never quite fit in the spots.  And like you mentioned, I don't want it to feel like a chore. I'm going to read all the romance I damn well want to and not feel bad about not reading Jane Austin, Moby Dick or A Tale of Two Cities because I feel like I should read more classics. 

I'm cracking up because that's the book I am reading right now just because I felt like I should try to read some more classics and WHY AM I DOING THIS BECAUSE THIS BOOK IS SO BORING. Your post is giving me the courage to just quit it already.

I also never did any of the challenges because I didn't like the idea of picking my books solely on some random checklist criteria.

Lol.  Glad I could help!

[snshne322]

Aug 3, 2017 8:32:32 GMT -5 litskispeciality said:

I love you ladies (and gents) for reading so many books and giving me new ideas. Do you have any insight or advice on how you can read so many books?

I'd say 2/3s of the books I read are audio.  I'm fortunate that I listen some at work and I have 90 minutes of commute time each day.  

If I didn't have that, I'd be lucky if I read one physical book a week  I'm not really a fast reader.

[charlatti]

Aug 3, 2017 8:32:32 GMT -5 litskispeciality said:

I love you ladies (and gents) for reading so many books and giving me new ideas. Do you have any insight or advice on how you can read so many books?

I average about two books a week, so I'm not sure if that qualifies. I read for about an hour each evening. I've learned I need a good half hour of screen-free time before I head to bed in order to fall asleep easily, and I read for another 10-30 minutes in bed. 

I also choose books carefully and I have no problem quitting books if they aren't working for me. I have no desire to make reading feel like a chore.

[rainbowchip]

[/quote]

I also choose books carefully and I have no problem quitting books if they aren't working for me. I have no desire to make reading feel like a chore.[/quote]

I really need to work on this. I think I'm too optimistic about books (especially highly recommended books) getting better so I never drop a book.

[MrsAxilla]

Aug 3, 2017 8:39:28 GMT -5 ufcasey said:

Aug 3, 2017 7:41:05 GMT -5 snshne322 said:

I never did the challenges either.  I think they're interesting, but what I like to read never quite fit in the spots.  And like you mentioned, I don't want it to feel like a chore. I'm going to read all the romance I damn well want to and not feel bad about not reading Jane Austin, Moby Dick or A Tale of Two Cities because I feel like I should read more classics. 

I'm cracking up because that's the book I am reading right now just because I felt like I should try to read some more classics and WHY AM I DOING THIS BECAUSE THIS BOOK IS SO BORING. Your post is giving me the courage to just quit it already.

I also never did any of the challenges because I didn't like the idea of picking my books solely on some random checklist criteria.

I LOVE that book!!