Books Read
1) Twice Tempted by a Rogue by Tessa Dare (★★★★☆ – e-book, Libby) – A fun historical romance novel with a kickass female protagonist and a thrilling conclusion.
2) The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano by Donna Freitas (★★★★☆ – print, owned, Target) – An intriguing story about the different ways a woman’s life can unfold, whether or not she decides to have children with her husband.
3) You Can’t Be Serious by Kal Penn (★★★★☆ – audiobook, Libby) – A really wonderful celebrity memoir about an Indian actor turned White House staffer turned actor again.
4) It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey (★★★★☆ – e-book, Libby) – A superfun contemporary romance about a socialite who has to transform her late father’s rundown bar in a small town.
5) Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America by Ijeoma Oluo (★★★★★ – print, owned, Target) – A really compelling nonfiction read about all the ways toxic white masculinity has slowed down progress in our society.
6) The Vanishing Stair by Maureen Johnson (★★★★☆ – audiobook, Libby) – The second in a series about a group of teens solving mysteries at a boarding school in Vermont.
7) A Beastly Kind of Earl by Mia Vincy (★★★☆☆ – e-book, owned, Amazon) – A historical romance with a really inventive plot that didn’t fully live up to my expectations.
8) How to Not Die Alone: The Surprising Science That Will Help You Find Love by Logan Ury (★★★★☆ – print, library) – A book about dating in the modern age that made me feel a lot less stupid about my struggles with dating.
9) Yours to Keep by Lauren Layne (★★★★☆ – e-book, owned, Amazon) – A short and sweet contemporary romance that gave me all of the happy feels.
10) Close Enough to Touch by Colleen Oakley (★★★★☆ – print, owned, Thriftbooks) – A book about a woman who is allergic to human touch… and what happens when she finally emerges from the reclusive life.
Book Challenges
- Book Club: Our book club pick for July was The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano and we had a fascinating discussion about it! All of us loved the book (I think everyone gave it 4 or 5 stars), but wanted something different from the ending. Our book club is comprised of married women with kids, single women without kids, and married women without kids, and we had a good discussion about motherhood and the expectations of women.
- Unread Shelf Project: I had a DNF for the Unread Shelf Project this month! The prompt was “a book set in a country/culture different than yours” so I chose A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles, which I thought I was going to love. Unfortunately, it just bored me to tears and I gave up after 147 pages.
- Goodreads Challenge: I had some DNFs for my Goodreads Challenge this month, which is fine! I’m mostly trying to get through all the books I added to my list so long ago, and a lot of those books just don’t work for me these days. I DNF-ed Ex-Libris by Anne Fadiman and How to Be a Person in the World by Heather Havrilesky, but loved Close Enough to Touch by Colleen Oakley. That’s 3 books crossed off for July, woo!
Book Stats
- # of books read: 10
- # of pages read: 3,413 pages
- Genre breakdown: Romance (40%), Nonfiction (30%), Fiction (20%), and Mystery/Thriller (10%)
- Format breakdown: e-book (40%), print (40%), and audiobook (20%)
- Fastest read: How Not to Die Alone (4 days)
- Slowest read: You Can’t Be Serious (11 days)
- Star average: 4.0
- % of books by or about BIPOC or the LGBT community: 20% (eeks!)
- Abandoned books: 4 (A Gentleman in Moscow, Ex-Libris, How to Be a Person in the World, and The Duchess Deal)
- Goodreads goal check-in: I set a goal of 135 books this year and currently, I am 4 books behind schedule.
Superlatives of June
- Favorite book of the month: How Not to Die Alone by Logan Ury
- Favorite romance of the month: It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey
- Least favorite book of the month: A Beastly Kind of Earl by Mia Vincy
- A buzzy book that definitely lived up to the hype: The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano by Donna Freitas
- A buzzy book that definitely did not live up to the hype: A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
What was the best book you read in July?
Wow! What a fabulous month for books!
In July, my favorite book was The Push… but I already think I have a favorite for August: Jar of Hearts!
I’m always going to wonder if I would have enjoyed The Push more if I was a mother. I know it resonated so deeply with lots of mothers!
It’s very impressive that you read such a wide variety of books – I usually read the same three types of genre! Go you!
I think listening to book podcasts has really opened up my reading world! I used to exclusively read romance and chick lit, but I’ve definitely been more apt to branch out thanks to being more involved with book podcasts/Bookstagram!
That’s the wonderful things about books – how wildly differently they can impact us individually.
A Gentleman In Moscow is one of my favourite fiction reads EVER. But then I very much disliked The Midnight Library, which is generally raved about far and wide. Go figure.
I also did not like The Midnight Library, so I’m with you on that!
I think it might have been the wrong time to try A Gentleman in Moscow. Maybe I’ll appreciate it more at some other time in my life!
Bomb Shelter and The Violin Conspiracy were favorite reads for me in July. I also loved The Charm Offensive!
Good for you for abandoning those books! Life is too short to read something that isn’t the right fit for you. I am not surprised you abandoned Gentlemen. I liked it but did not love it. But his books are never a hit for me.
The Many Lives would be such an excellent book club book! I wish I had suggested it for my book club! We have a similar kind of diversity among married/not married/parent!
It made for such a great discussion with our wide variety of mothers and non-mothers alike, and we all had soooo much to say about the ending haha. It felt really good to talk with them about it!
I’ve heard so many great things about The Violin Conspiracy that I’m going to have to move it up my list!
I haven’t been reading nearly as much as I used to lately… but only because I’ve gotten REALLY into the New York Times crossword puzzles!
Wow, so many books. I didn’t read… anything in July. Are you shocked now? (Ok, I was traveling with my family for pretty much the whole month, in my defense).
You had an awesome month – and your ratings were (generally) good. DNFs are good too – do. not. waste. your. time. If it’s not for you, it’s not for you.
Also? I misread Kal Penn as Kash Patel and could NOT figure out why you would be reading a book by that (redacted). Ha! 🙂