The weather is pretty nice today and I'm having a hard time with the fact that summer is already so close to being over. When you live in a place that is winter more than 6 months of the year, it's always sad to know the end of the nice outdoor weather is creeping toward an end. In the meantime, I'll sit here and enjoy the breeze and the sound of the breeze in the trees.
So, now that we've marched right in to August, how about a quick wrap up on last month's goings on?
Stats
Well...July turned out to be quite the reading month!
I read 11 books last month and tied for my record for the year. Three of those reads were audiobooks, staying on the average for the number of audiobooks I read in the month since I started back in April.
The books I read in July were somewhat longer than those I read in April, however, and my page total for the month heartily surpassed any prior months this year at 4017. That seems like a crazy high number.
In fact, it works out to nearly 130 pages per day, also a record for the year. I'm really not quite certain how I read so much, but I think maybe it has to do with having books that read faster because I don't think I really spent that much more time with my nose in a book compared to usual.
I am currently sitting at 59 books read for the year (57 as of the end of July). This means that this year is the 2nd highest reading year in the past decade and is well on track to set a record in the total books department as well. If I stay on track for the remainder of the year I could potentially hit 100 books by December 31st. That is amazing!
I've also made a substantial dent in pages toward my lifetime goal of 1,000,000 pages read. I'm nearly to 20,000 pages for this year, sitting in the 4th place for the past decade. By the end of August, I should be pretty close to passing the record set in 2014.
With all that reading accomplished, that means that my Goodreads goal of 64 books for the year is not very far off. As of the 31st of July, I had 11% of my goal to go (7 books). I should (if things go as planned) meet that goal by the end of August. I find this terribly exciting. My book nerdiness is showing in abundance these days.
Books Read
In July, I read 11 books... That breaks down to:
Three - 3-star reads
One - 3.5 star read
Two - 4 star reads
Two - 4.5 star reads
Three - 5 star reads
(That is a stellar month for reading right there!)
3 books were audiobooks.
4 books were ARCs.
2 books were group reads for read-a-thons.
Now let's look at each book individually...
Scythe by Neal Shusterman was my first read of the month AND my first 5-star read of the month. I grabbed this one pretty shortly after it arrived in my most recent BookOutlet order. A dystopian fiction where no one dies unless they're "gleaned" by a scythe, it was a return to a genre of fiction I've missed. It read super fast and was just plainly awesome. I can't wait to read the sequel soon!
The Boy and Girl Who Broke the World by Amy Reed was an ARC that was a bit of a tongue in cheek nod to Twilight in some ways, but also stood totally on its own. Continuing a bit of the dystopian thread, this one is about the friendship between one boy (Billy) and one girl (Lydia) living in a small Pacific coast town where things are going just a little weird. Amidst all of that, they are trying to figure out who they really are. It's a bit of magical realism and a bit of coming-of-age all wrapped up in one. I gave it 4.5 stars and very much enjoyed it.
Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum this is the third in the Land of Oz series. It's a super fast and easy read and still holds the whimsy of the series together. I gave it 3.5 stars as the ending seemed a little overly rushed for my liking, but it was still fun. I plan to continue reading the series.
The Rejected Writers' Book Club by Suzanne Kelman was my first completed audiobook of the month. This was a total departure from my usual reading, but I enjoyed it all the same. It's a cozy read, a little bit of "chick lit" if you will. The characters are kooky and funny, but still (mostly) believable. It was a solid 4-star.
Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff taught me that sometimes it's good to branch out. I read this one as the group read for the final Biannual Bibliothon. I never would have picked this one up on my own as space just isn't my usual thing. This is a YA space opera with a pile of different protagonists, each writing from their own point of view. It's the first in a series and I didn't think I would enjoy it as much as I did, but I'll totally be waiting for the second book to be released. I wound up giving it 4.5 stars.
Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid was audiobook number two. WOW. Seriously. WOW. This was my favorite book of the month with a very solid 5 stars and two thumbs way up. Again, not a book I thought I would really like. I read it because everyone and their dog in the booksphere kept raving about it. That can sometimes be a total miss, but in this case it was worth the hype. The whole story is told in an interview format and, with a whole cast reading, the audiobook is totally the way to go with this one. I still would like to own a hard copy and reread it in that format down the line, but this was just fantastic to listen to. HIGHLY recommend.
Let's be honest, it's always hard to be the next book after an amazing 5-star read. Unfortunately, that's what happened to Chances Are... by Richard Russo. I found myself frustrated by this one in a few places and very nearly DNF'd it, but I hung in there and it wound up getting 3 stars. An ARC I received from the publisher, this is a contemporary fiction read following three college buddies who reunite decades after graduating for a weekend on Martha's Vineyard. Surrounding them is the memory of the last time they spent time together, just before their mutual friend Jacy (who was with them that weekend), disappeared. It didn't wow me, but it wasn't an awful read either. It just felt okay.
I requested Jerkwater by Jamie Zerndt as an ARC after I read the synopsis and found that it had strong reference to the Ojibwa culture. For me, that felt like a bit of a local focus, since I live in northern Minnesota, where Ojibwa traditions are still very much alive. The story was decent, but felt a little choppy and (as is often my issue) the ending just left me a little unfulfilled. Still, I enjoyed the characters and the plot enough that this one finished up with 3 stars.
Magical realism is one of my current favorite genres, so I knew I needed to read Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe by Heather Webber. It did not disappoint. With a feel similar to that of a Sarah Addison Allen novel, I was hooked early on with this one. It's cute and fun and just plain lovely. It wound up being the last of my 5-star reads for the month.
The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney had been on my TBR the longest out of everything I read in the month of July. When it came time to find a new audiobook read and I found this one in the library lists, I grabbed it and dove right in. Unfortunately, this one was a bit of a slog. The writing feels a little pretentious and the use of high-buck language made it a slow going narrative. I still found appreciation in the writing and did overall like the book okay. I think using the audio did work in it's favor and I ultimately ended up giving The Nest 3 stars.
The last of the July reads was Stardust by Neil Gaiman. I had never read a Neil Gaiman book before and, again, this isn't one I would have normally picked up on my own. But it was the group read to finish off my quest for The Book Junkie Trials, so I took on the challenge. Worth it! Something of a hodgepodge of fantasy and fairy tale retelling, this one was fun and charming. The ending was a bit overly sweet, but still tolerable and didn't knock down my overall opinion much. Ultimately, I went with 4 stars and decided that more Neil Gaiman reads will definitely be in my future.
And there you have it. July in a (fairly long) nutshell. The kids have been awake for a couple of hours and I've pieced this post together between playing in the water table, the Crabbie sand box, and then washing my messy children. Now it's time to go and enjoy the rest of the evening. Hopefully you'll find something in this condensed review list to enjoy for yourself.
Happy reading!!
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