What did you read in July?

[ufcasey]

What did you read in July? (feel free to include anything you are reading today)
Would you recommend any of them?
Which was your worst read of the month?

[ufcasey]

A Duke Changes Everything by Christy Carlyle - 3 stars (historical romance)
Daring and the Duke by Sarah MacLean - 3 stars (historical romance) *worst book of the month, but it wasn't terrible
I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown - 3.5 stars (non-fiction)
Always the Last to Know by Kristan Higgins - 4 stars (contemporary fiction) * recommended
The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz by Erik Larson - 4 stars (non-fiction)

Not finished reading: The House of Special Purpose by John Boyne

[mie]

Beard With Me by Penny Reid 4*
Beach Read by Emily Henry 4* - enjoyable quick read
Almost Just Friends by Jill Shalvis 4*
Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner 3*

[rainbowchip]

In Five Years by Rebecca Serle - 5* It was different than I thought it was going to be but it still was really good.

The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander- 5* Lots of new info I hadn't known before. I wish I could make people read it.

The Return by Rachel Harrison- 4* very creepy but kind of weird.

The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré - 4* character driven (which I don't always love) but it was interesting getting a story from a culture I'm not super familiar with.

Red at The Bone by Jacqueline Woodson - 3* Very character driven but also "lyrical". It was hard for me to follow because it jumped around to different POVs and different times.

Why We're Polarized by Ezra Klein - 5* This was so fascinating.

Devolution by Max Brooks - 4* surprisingly realistic story about Bigfoot. It kept me interested and I stayed up until 2am finishing it one night. I couldn't put down the last 20%.

Not Like The Movies (Waiting on Tom Hanks #2) by Kerry Winfrey- 3* nice cute rom-com.

[Vespasia]

I read:
The Glamourist (Vine Witch, #2) by Luanne Smith - 3*
Chosen Ones (The Chosen Ones, #1) by Veronica Roth - 4.5*
China Rich Girlfriend (Crazy Rich Asians, #2) by Kevin Kwan - 3*
How the Light Gets In (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #9) by Louise Penny - 4.5*

I really enjoyed Chosen Ones and I was happy with how they finally wrapped up (I hope?) the ongoing stuff in the Gamache series. The other two were just okay. 

I also read Trejo's Tacos: Recipes and Stories from L.A by Danny Trejo. I don't usually count cookbooks but I actually read all of the non-recipe text in this one! 

[meowmaps]

Sigh, Gone: A Misfit's Memoir of Great Books, Punk Rock, and the Fight to Fit In by Phuc Tran 5*
The Herd by Andrea Bartz 4*
Afterlife by Julia Alvarez 5*
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado 5*
A Murderous Relation by Deanna Raybourn 3*
When Time Stopped: A Memoir of my Father's War and What Remains by Arianna Neumann 5*
These Ghosts are Family by Maisy Card 4*
Take Me Apart by Sara Sligar 3*
Friends and Strangers by J. Courtney Sullivan 5*
A Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh 3*
Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu 4*
The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi 3*

My worst read was Take Me Apart.

[rootbeerfloat]

The Unhoneymooners, Christina Lauren - 4*
Get a Life, Chloe Brown (The Brown Sisters #1), Talia Hibbert - 3.5*
The Chosen Ones, Veronica Roth - 2.5*
Take a Hint, Dani Brown (The Brown Sisters #2), Talia Hibbert - 3.5*

[tacokick]

The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth (I wish she had left the “suspense” element out. The characters would have made a good novel on their own without there needing to be a “twist”)

You'll Never Know, Dear by Hallie Ephron

Home Before Dark by Riley Sager

All My Mother's Lovers by Ilana Masad

All My Lies Are True by Dorothy Koomson

Then Again, Maybe I Won't by Judy Blume

With or Without You by Caroline Leavitt (I always like her books but this was little flat)

Impersonation by Heidi Pitlor (very interesting look into the life of a working class ghostwriter)

Summer People by Elin Hilderbrand (she isn’t up to tackling social issues)

28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand

A Good Marriage by Kimberly McCreight

Wylding Hall by Elizabeth Hand (Daisy Jones and the Six owes a ton to this book)

The Half Sister by Sandie Jones

Friends and Strangers by J. Courtney Sullivan (solid, lots of books about class coming out lately)

Beach Read by Emily Henry

I Was Told it Would Get Easier by Abbi Waxman

One By One by Ruth Ware (I think the best of her books I’ve read)

He Started It by Samantha Downing (a mess)

[abs]

The Last Train to Key West--4.5*
The Heir Affair-3*
Big Summer--1*

I'm still having a very hard time finding books I can get into right now. I need light but not super light.

[travella]

5*
Where is the Bermuda Triangle? by Megan Stine (read with my kids). The format of the book worked really well to get the kids thinking and hypothesizing. We all really enjoyed this book.

4*
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

3*
Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene

1*
Where is Area 51? by Paula Manzanero (read with my kids). We all lost interest in this book by the end.

[minzy]

Flights - Olga Tokarczuk - 3.5 stars
No One Is Too Small To Make A Difference - Greta Thunberg - 3.5 stars
These Happy Golden Years - Laura Ingalls Wilder - 4 stars
A Dog’s Purpose - W. Bruce Cameron - 3.5 stars
The Story of More - How We Got to Climate Change and Where to Go from Here - Hope Jahren - 4 stars
The First Four Years - Laura Ingalls Wilder - 3.5 stars
The Dutch House - Ann Patchett - 3.5 stars

No real standouts for me in July.

[litskispeciality]

High Achiever 4*'s - completely different than what I thought it would be, but good, fast read
Ghosted - 2.5 *'s

14/24 for the year

[mrspez07]

I finished in July-

Audio:
I couldn’t get through Doing Harm but may listen to it at another time.
I’m nearly done with Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny

Read:
The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton 4*
The Storyteller’s Secret by Sejal Banjini 3*
The Zorzi Affair by our own Sylvia Prince 3.5*
The Second Empress by Michelle Moran 3*
The Simple Wild by KA Tucker 2*
Falling Together by Marisa De Los Santos 3*

I had a bunch of Library holds/pickups come in, so I’ve been trying to get through that pile. A very good month numbers-wise for me.