July certainly went by quickly! I hope August slows down a bit, but time is a fickle thing, so it probably won’t. It was a really good reading month though, with 17 books finished and all of the books on my TBR read. The majority of them were excellent with only two coming in as just ok. I even managed to get in two nonfiction books this month! That brings my total this year to six, which was my goal. So pretty happy about that. Speaking of goals, I am 64% complete with my Goodreads goal for the year. I just might have to celebrate by having some cake!
I have put the books in the order that I have read them and linked the titles either to my reviews or to their Goodreads pages. ARC’s are marked with an asterisk.
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches was wonderfully delightful and such a cozy little fantasy. I don’t think there are plans for it to be a series, but I would love it if it was. I would love to spend more time with this found family.
*Mister Magic was pretty creepy and a really good read. I was so intrigued and found it really hard to guess what was really going on. The ending was bittersweet, but satisfying.
Crash from Outer Space is a middle grade nonfiction book that does a great job of explaining what really happened in Roswell in 1947. I liked that even with all of the evidence presented the author leaves it up to the audience to believe in the existence of aliens and UFOs.
*Thornhedge is a brilliant retelling of the Sleeping Beauty Fairytale. It is only a novella but there is so much packed into such a small story. The characters are also brilliant and wonderful.
Secretly Yours was one of my just ok books. I liked the characters and their romance, but the overall plot about the secret admirer fell very flat for me. Also the writing style and dialogue often didn’t work for me.
Fairy Tale was a brilliantly done story, with three parts to it. I really liked the characters and the story for the most part. It did get a bit long by the end though.
*Where the Dead Sleep was the second book in a very well done mystery series. I really like the small town setting and the characters. The author also has a very strong writing style.
Hestia Strikes a match was my biggest disappointment this month. I just wanted more of the plot to be about the second civil war that was happening and not so much about Hestia’s love life.
The Blackhouse was another brilliant mystery by Peter May. I just love his writing style and how he can slip in incredible twists that you don’t see coming and that leave you breathless.
Nettle and Bone is another wonderful book by T. Kingfisher, another author who really knows how to spin a tale.
A Darker Shade of Magic was just as good this time around as the first. This time I listened to the audiobook and I highly recommend you choose that option if you listen to books. The reader was excellent.
*Her Radiant Curse was a well done prequel that explained a lot of the backstory of characters we meet in Six Crimson Cranes. I loved the sisters and the bond they shared.
A Gathering of Shadows was also just as fun this time around. The audiobook was also wonderfully done with the addition of a new reader who read Lilah’s parts.
American Sherlock was my second nonfiction of the month and a fascinating look at early forensic techniques and how they were developed and used to solve crimes.
*The Mystery at Dunvegan Castle is the third book in the Edinburgh Nights series. It was very well done with lots of twists and a locked door, or castle in this case, mystery that was hard to solve.
Fourth Wing ended up being better that I originally thought it would be. I eventually did get caught up in the story and the characters. My main issue was how predictable it was. I pretty much had it all figured out by the first 50 pages including that big “twist” on the last page. But I will still probably read the next one.
Vampire Weekend was a fun book to end the month on. I loved all of the music references, especially the punk rock ones. The plot was pretty brilliant as well. I loved the characters and how boring Vampire life was presented as being.
Hopefully my streak of reading really good books will continue this month. I have some really good ones already lined up on my TBR for the month, so I am pretty sure my reading will go smoothly. Although I do have several really long books on that list, so my monthly total might be a bit low. But I am ok with that seeing as how I am so far ahead on my Goodreads challenge.
Until next time….
Confessions of a Serial Reader 