July Reading Recap

After a pretty successful June reading month, I set some goals for myself in July and while I blew some of them away, I failed on others. I got sick in July and didn’t touch a book (or audiobook) for over a week and a half, which really set me back. Some of my goals for July were reading at least six ARCs, listening to two audiobooks I bought, read a Stephen King novel, etc. So, with that in mind, here’s how I did on the reading front in July.

I read 8 ARCs which bypassed my goal of six and I read a Kindle book I owned (Dear Martin) but I only listened to one audiobook I owned (Save the Date). I’m only ONE prompt away from finishing the PopSugar reading challenge (norse noir) and hoping to get that read sometime in August or September.

Total books read:  16

• Save the Date by Morgan Matson
• What to Read and Why by Francine Prose
• What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
• From the Corner of the Oval by Beck Dorey-Stein
• Exceptional by Liz and Dick Cheney
• Brave Enough by Kati Gardner
• 500 Words or Less by Juleah del Rosario
• Mean Girls by Micol Ostow
• Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win by Charlotte Piazza
• Dear Martin by Nic Stone
• The Running Man by Stephen King
• The Cerulean by Amy Ewing
• Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney
• Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee
• Red Clocks by Leni Zumas
• No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy by Jim Proser

Audiobooks listened to: 3 and a half. I listened to Save the Date, Exceptional, and Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue entirely on audiobook, but the Running Man audiobook didn’treally work for me so I switched to the paperback about halfway through.A slow audiobook month for me.

Best book: Hm, this is a hard one. I absolutely LOVED Cerulean and it felt so new and fresh. However, Sometimes I Lie was the book that got me out of my sick reading slump so that really means something!

Least favorite book: Either Exceptional or No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy. They just both didn’t EXCITE me. Exceptional because Dick Cheney as a narrator…no thanks…but also it wasn’t really what I expected. And No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy was really well written but had a huge swath of the story taking place entirely on the battlefield and it kind of wore me out.

Book of the Month Club pick: I didn’t pick a July book because I had ARCS of The Last Time I Lied and Ghosted but I loved Last Time I Lied. I still haven’t read Ghosted yet but it should be interesting. I’m still trying to catch up on my backlog BOTM and have three more books so I might not get a book in August either, since I already have an ARC of The Dinner List.

TBR for August: I’m doing #ARCAugust and excited to catch up on the HUGE number of ARCS I have accumulating in my Kindle haha. Here’s my tentative August TBR list, though I’ll have a more detailed TBR post up later. I’m also hoping to read a book by one of my former professors sometime this month but I’ve been meaning to do that for awhile…so I might haha.

• An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena
• The Opposite of Innocent by Sonya Sones
• Sadie by Courtney Summers
• RIP Eliza Hart Alyssa Sheinmel
• The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
• The Similars by Rebecca Hanover
• When We Caught Fire by Anna Godbersen
• #DoNotDisturb by Jedidiah Bila
• Those Who Knew by Indra Novey
• A Lady Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee