What did you read in July?

[Vespasia]

I can't believe it's already August! What did you read last month? Anything you would recommend? Any disappointments?

[rootbeerfloat]

Violeta by Isabel Allende - 3.5*
Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez - 3.5*
Hello, Molly: A Memoir by Molly Shannon - 4*
The Wedding Crasher by Mia Sosa - 3*
A Sky Beyond the Storm (An Ember in the Ashes #4) - 3*
Book Lovers by Emily Henry - 3.5*
Lover Arisen (BDB #20) by JR Ward - 3*
The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn - 4*
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles - 3*
You Can't Be Serious by Kal Penn - 4*

[mie]

The Bodyguard by Katherine Center 4*
Happiness for Beginners by Katherine Center 4*
The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston 4*
Nora Goes Off Script by Annbel Monaghan 3.5*
What You Wish For by Katherine Center 3*
Fisher's Light by Tara Sivec 3*
Reckless to Love You by J Saman 3*
The Birthday List by Devney Perry 3*
Below Zero by Ali Hazelwood 3*
The Infinity Between Us by NS Perkins 3*
Indigo Ridge by Devney Perry 3*
Juniper Hill by Devney Perry 3*
Every Summer After by Carley Fortune 3*
Locked In by Anna Chastain 3*
The Ones Who Got Away by Roni Loren 3*
The Wedding Ringer by Kerry Rea 3*
The Plight Before Christmas by Kate Stewart 3*
Garnet Flats by Devney Perry 2*

I really enjoyed The Bodyguard.

[tacokick]

The New Black West: Photographs from America's Only Touring Black Rodeo by Gabriela Hasbun

The Last to Vanish by Megan Miranda

The Villa by Rachel Hawkins

The Murder Rule by Dervla McTiernan

Unmask Alice: LSD, Satanic Panic, and the Imposter Behind the World's Most Notorious Diaries by Rick Emerson (so bad)



The Bright Lands by John Fram (very bad)

Mothered by Zoje Stage

The Family Game by Catherine Steadman (fun)

A Selfie as Big as the Ritz by Lara Williams

The It Girl by Ruth Ware

We'll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han (bad)

Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman

Groupies by Sarah Priscus (not good)

Mr Nobody by Catherine Steadman

Guest: A Changeling Tale by Mary Downing Hahn (not my fave)

This Is Not a Pity Memoir by Abi Morgan (such a bizarre story)

The Community by N. Jamiyla Chisholm (a little disappointing)


Dear Child by Romy Hausmann (eh)

The Darkest Secret by Alex Marwood

He's Gone by Deb Caletti (eh)

Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey (I need to add her to my authors I think I like but I actually don’t list)

Paper Girls: Deluxe Edition Book One by Brian K. Vaughan, Cliff Chiang, Matt Wilson, Jared K. Fletcher, and Dee Cunniffe (not as good as the show!!)

No Exit by Taylor Adams (so bad)

Paper Girls: Deluxe Edition Book Two Brian K. Vaughan, Cliff Chiang, Matt Wilson, Jared K. Fletcher, and Dee Cunniffe

[dearprudence]

Would definitely recommend
Jameela Green Ruins Everything - 5*
Our Crooked Hearts - 5*
Embers on the Wind - 5*

Fun summer reads
The Smash-Up - 4*
The Party Crasher - 4*
The Summer Place - 4*

Fine, nothing special
Minor Feelings - 3*
Tracy Flick Can't Win - 3*
Mirror Mended- 3*
Wrath Goddess Sing- 3*

would not recommend
Ethan Frome - 2*

[travella]

Slow month for me:

5*
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

2*
Under The Whispering Door by TJ Klune

[estrellita]

The Magician King - Lev Grossman 4*
Book Lovers - Emily Henry 4*
The Silent Patient - Alex Michaelides 3*
Every Vow You Break - Peter Swanson 4*

[litskispeciality]

Goodreads is giving me a hard time with finished dates. Overall a really good month

Last Night at the Tele Graph Club

Verity - blew through it, but agree with comments that it would never happen that way

Lucky - quick read, but the timeline didn't make sense, and the way it wrapped up wasn't great

I'm chipping away at 2 books as well, and 1 ahead of my updated goal 18/30

[Vespasia]

I was on vacation the last week and averaged a book a day. Some of those won't be on the list until next month but I am still pretty proud of that! I was in a reading rut during June so this is a big improvement. 


A Mirror Mended by Alix Harrow - 4.5*

The Vanished Days by Susanna Kearsley - 2.5*

Our Crooked Hearts by Melissa Albert - 5*

Signal Moon (short) by Kate Quinn - 4.5*

Rivals by Katherine McGee - 3.5*

Upgrade by Blake Crouch - 5*

Small Spaces by Katherine Arden - 4*

One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid - 3*

Dead Voices by Katherine Arden - 4*

[charlatti]

Best reads of the month:
A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers (short and sweet)
The Prettiest Star by Carter Sickels (sad and beautifully written)
Upgrade by Black Crouch
Walk the Vanished Earth by Erin Swan
Kaleidoscope by Cecily Wong

Would recommend:
The Precipice by Paul Doiron — new to me mystery series, randomly picked a middle one to start with. Enjoyable
Drunk on All Your Strange New Words by Eddie Robson — really fun!
The Night Shift by Natalka Burian — weird and really interesting


Not my favorites:
The Burning Season by Alison Wisdom — ok, not great
Our Crooked Hearts by Melissa Albert — also just ok
Halsey Street by Naima Coster — good, not memorable
The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult — I expected her usual fast-moving page-turner but this was a slog
The Lifeguards by Amanda Eyre Ward — meh

[mrspez07]

Audio:
The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny 3*
No One Goes Alone by Erik Larson 3*
The Last Thing Ge Told Me by Laura Dave 4*

Visual:
Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson 4*
Address Unknown by Katherine Kressman Taylor 5*
Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissen 3*

Address Unknown was very short but very powerful.
Next favorite of the month was Black Cake.