July Wrap Up!

Happy end of July friends!! I somehow failed this month’s TBR while also exceeding all expectations. Let me explain how that happens. I did NOT follow through on the Four Nations Readathon. I got about halfway, and it served it’s purpose of getting me out of my slight reading funk. So I quit halfway because I got into reading books I didn’t really want to be reading, and that just isn’t fun right? Reading should be fun. So my reading continued to blossom AND I went on vacation for the last almost week of the month. Long car ride + COVID closing everything around us = plenty of reading time.

All this to say that whereas I did not follow my TBR, I read a whopping 31 books this month (I pushed the last book today because I liked the symmetry of 31 books for 31 days of the month. This is seriously WAY more than I would ever read in a month, I’m honestly shocked it somehow happened. It didn’t feel like I was reading this much throughout the month, but I keep a draft of this post all month so I can remember my ratings. So when I looked at it a few days ago and really counted, I was amazed. (Also, several are short story/novellas).

I don’t want anyone to see this and think they don’t read enough. As my partner likes to say, I am very extra. The amount you read or don’t read is valid. I will likely never come even close to this number again, and I blame it entirely on COVID and it stealing my social life and needing to destress by way of books. I can’t be anxious about my own life if I’m anxious about character’s lives!

PHYSICAL BOOKS

1. The Unhoneymooners, Christina Lauren – 5/5 stars (reread)
2. In the Neighborhood of True, Susan Kaplan Carlton – 4/5 stars
3. Shatter Me (Shatter Me #1), Tahereh Mafi – 4.5/5 stars
4. Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass #3), 4/5 stars
5. All the Stars and Teeth (All the Stars and Teeth #1), Adalyn Grace
6. The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games #1), Suzanne Collins – 5/5 stars
7. Catching Fire (The Hunger Games #2), Suzanne Collins – 4/5 stars
8. Unravel Me (Shatter Me #2), Tahereh Mafi – 4/5 stars
9. Ignite Me (Shatter Me #3), Tahereh Mafi – 4/5 stars
10. Restore Me (Shatter Me #4), Tahereh Mafi – 3.5/5 stars
11. Hieroglyphics, Jill McCorkle – 4/5 stars (also Netgalley but received physical book from publisher)
12. With or Without You, Caroline Leavitt – 4/5 stars (also Netgalley but received physical book from publisher)
13. Head Over Heels, Hannah Orenstein – 4/5 stars
14. Mockingjay (The Hunger Games #3), Suzanne Collins – 4/5 stars

EBOOKS

1. Not That Kind of Guy, Andie J Christopher – 3/5 stars
2. The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
3. The Bride Test (The Kiss Quotient #2), Helen Hoang – 4.5/5 stars (reread) (FourNationsReadathon)
4. The Choice, Nicholas Sparks – 3/5 stars (reread) (FourNationsReadathon)
5. Take a Hint, Dani Brown (The Brown Sisters #2), Talia Hibbert – 4.5/5 stars
6. Destroy Me (Shatter Me #1.5), Tahereh Mafi – 4/5 stars
7. Fracture Me (Shatter Me #2.5), Tahereh Mafi – 3/5 stars

NETGALLEY/EDELWEISS/AUTHOR EARCS

1. One Hundred Dogs and Counting: One Woman, Ten Thousand Miles, and A Journey into the Heart of Shelters and Rescues, Cara Sue Achterberg
2. In A Holidaze, Christina Lauren – 4/5 stars
3. The First to Lie, Hank Phillippi Ryan – 4/5 stars
4. Float Plan, Trish Doller – 5/5 stars
5. The Code for Love and Heartbreak, Jillian Cantor – 3.5/5 stars
6. In Case You Missed It, Lindsay Kelk – 3.5/5 stars
7. Sorry Not Sorry, Sophie Ranald – 3.5/5 stars
8. Recommended For You, Laura Silverman – 4/5 stars
9. Set Fire to the Gods (Set Fire to the Gods #1), Sara Raash & Kristen Simmons
10. A Tortured Soul, L.A. Detwiler – 4/5 stars

Look out tomorrow for my August TBR! I am betting high on myself next month, because even if you don’t reach the moon, you’ll fall amongst the stars!

Happy reading, folks!