What did you read in July

[ufcasey]

It's a new month - so what did you read last month? Any ratings/reviews/recommendations?

[Vespasia]

I had a fairly average month both in terms of number and quality of books read.  

Wilder Girls by Rory Power
Jaws by Peter Benchley
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
The Six Deaths of the Saint (Into Shadow, #3) by Alix E. Harrow (Kindle Short)
What the Dead Know (Into Shadow, #4) by Nghi Vo (Kindle Short)
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai


They were all 4 star reads except for The Great Believers. I'd originally given it 4 stars but reduced it to 3 after some reflection. Part of me wants to drop it further. There were aspects of the story I had zero interest in and others that I was unhappy with. I feel like I was giving it more credit than it deserves since it deals with such an important subject. 

Fourth Wing was the best book of the month, but I am not sure that it quite lives up to all the hype. In addition to the constant fixation of one character on another's bod, there were some discrepancies that really stood out. 

Jaws gets an honorable mention as a quick and fun read. 

[travella]

Prisoners of the Castle: An Epic Story of Survival and Escape from Colditz, the Nazis' Fortress Prison by Ben MacIntyre - 3* (I found the information fascinating, but it felt repetitive especially in the middle.)

The Librarian of Burned Books by Brianna Labuskes--DNF (This book just never grabbed me.  The only thing that kept me going was trying to figure out how the three story lines would come together, but even that wasn't enough in the end.)

Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin - 3* (I was leery about this book- I am not really interested in video games or romance novels. but so many people were talking about it that I gave it a shot. I went in thinking it would probably be a DNF, but in the end it was ok). 

[dearprudence]

The Boston Girl- 5*

The Romance Recipe- 2*

Summertime Guests- 3*

The Candid Life of Meena Dave- 3*

Tripping Arcadia- 5*

The Woman in the Library- 5*

[estrellita]

I started the Throne of Glass series, so most are those!

From the series:
The Assassin's Blade ***
Throne of Glass ***
Crown of Midnight ****
Heir of Fire ****

Others:
Romantic Comedy **
Weyward ***

I was disappointed in both non-series books this month. There were funny parts to Romantic Comedy, but the romance part was boring and I didn't feel like they had any chemistry. Weyward was ok. I liked the concept but that was about it. I found myself waiting for things to happen and when they did, it felt underwhelming.

The TOG series has been good. I didn't like any of the characters for a while but they're growing on me. I do like that the characters are complex and make mistakes. I'm on the next book and will probably read something else in between this and the next two!

[mrspez07]

Visual:
Homecoming by Kate Morton 4*
The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende 4*
Weyward by Emilia Hart 4*
I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson 5*

Audio:
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid 4*

The Japanese Lover was less of a slog than some of her other books have been, I enjoyed how things developed.
I think most of my 4s were because I felt I really enjoyed them and was satisfied after I read them. It’s easy to forget books shortly after reading tho. I’m totally blanking on the storyline on Homecoming 🤔
ETA: the cover on homecoming makes me think English countryside, so that is throwing me off. I’d still give it a 4

[litskispeciality]

This has been an awful year for my reading. I only finished one book The Golden Couple 3.5*'s (ending was weird and rushed)

I got about 70% The Lies I Tell and have to finally finish this weekend before it's due back. So far I highly recommend this book, but try to read it when you can do it in chunks. A few plots and I'm getting lost because I only read a few pages at a time.

[susiebw]

Between kindle books and audio books, I read A LOT in July (for me, anyway), and really enjoyed most of it.

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt (audio) - 5*

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne - 4*

Run Rose Run by Dolly Parton and James Patterson - 4* (this had some huge plot holes and the premise was sort of a giant hole in itself, but the story was still a fun read)

Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson (audio) - 5* (ridiculous premise, but so good)

Out of the Silence: After the Crash by Eduardo Strauch Urioste - 4* (this is the book that the movie Alive was based on, about the Uruguayan rugby team plane crash in the Andes)

I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid (audio) - 3* (I had higher expectations here, but it was weird.)

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins - 4* (Hunger Games prequel about President Snow as a teen.)