A detailed look at July’s reading habits: My July Wrap includes 45 books read and four DNFs, with some poignant themes! My August Hopefuls list includes two hyped books: Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby and A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman.
Overview
| July Blog Updates | July Bookish Posts |
|---|---|
| 📖 37 Dramatic Books in May | 📚 The Mid-Year Book Freakout Tag: 2022 |
Outline
July Reflection and Into August
I read so many books in July because this month was so stressful. I had to submit my graduate school research paper at the end of the month, so I spent every day writing a lot. When I wasn’t writing, I was reading in an attempt to sublimate my stress. The average of the books I read in July is an all-time high for 2022 at 4.16-stars. Evidently, I really enjoyed the books I read this month. 🙃
I started to slowly read fantasy again this month! If you’ve been following my blog this year, you’ll know that fantasy has been a genre that I haven’t felt drawn to for a while. Luckily, the few epic fantasy books I did read were all above 3-stars. Additionally, The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne turned out to be my favourite book of the month. I adored how the book equally developed the plot and characters. I’m so happy that one of my suspicions was correct at the end of the novel!
Also, I discovered a completed romantic suspense series that features a serial killer (the Heroine) and an FBI agent (the Hero) that was AMAZING. The first book in The Mindf*ck series is The Risk by S.T. Abby. It’s not a dark romance but definitely has dark themes, so I’d recommend looking up the content warnings before reading. The romance is so sweet, but, as the reader, you know the other shoe is gonna drop because the Hero does not know his awesome new girlfriend is an active serial killer.
The Summer BINGO challenge I participate in also finishes in August, so most of my August Hopefuls are to fulfil my remaining prompts on the BINGO board. I’d like to complete a whole BINGO board at least once in 2022.
Books I Read This Month
Key: 🔁 re-read | 🤓 reviewed on this blog | 📜 from Up Next Shelf
• Chosen (Chosen, #1) by Stacy Jones 🔁
• The Risk (Mindf*ck, #1) by S.T. Abby
• Sidetracked (Mindf*ck, #2) by S.T. Abby
• Scarlet Angel (Mindf*ck, #3) by S.T. Abby
• All the Lies (Mindf*ck, #4) by S.T. Abby
• Paint It All Red (Mindf*ck, #5) by S.T. Abby
• The Summer of Broken Rules by K.L. Walther
• Skyward (Skyward, #1) by Brandon Sanderson 🔁
• A Lady’s Guide to Fortune-Hunting by Sophie Irwin
• Secrets of a Summer Night (Wallflowers, #1) by Lisa Kleypas 🔁
• Gin Fling (Bootleg Springs, #1) by Lucy Score with Claire Kingsley 🔁
• The Making of a Highlander (Midnight in Scotland, #1) by Elisa Braden
• The Taming of a Highlander (Midnight in Scotland, #2) by Elisa Braden
• Worth the Fall (The McKinney Brothers, #1) by Claudia Connor 🔁
• Sweep of the Blade (Innkeeper CHronicles, #4) by Ilona Andrews 🔁
• Scandal in Spring (Wallflowers, #4) by Lisa Kleypas
• Mistress by Amanda Quick 🔁
• Highball Rush (Bootleg Springs, #6) by Claire Kingsley with Lucy Score 🔁
• A Natural History of Dragons (The Memoirs of Lady Trent, #1) by Marie Brennan
• This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub 📜
• Tribe (Chosen, #2) by Stacy Jones 🔁
• Rushed (Adventures in Love, #1) by Aurora Rose Reynolds
• Risky (Adventures in Love, #2) by Aurora Rose Reynolds
• Fall Into Temptation (Blue Moon, #2) by Lucy Score
• It Happened One Autumn (Wallflowers, #2) by Lisa Kleypas
• The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang 📜
• The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano by Donna Freitas 📜
• Between Hello and Goodbye by Emma Scott
• Mine Till Midnight (The Hathaways, #1) by Lisa Kleypas
• Mr. Fixer Upper by Lucy Score
• Holding on to Chaos (Blue Moon, #5) by Lucy Score
• The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh
• Fighting the Odds by Kristen Granata 📜
• The Fine Art of Faking It (Blue Moon, #6) by Lucy Score
• The Temptation of a Highlander (Midnight in Scotland, #3) by Elisa Braden
• Pretty Face (London Celebrities, #2) by Lucy Parker
• The Beast and the Wanton by Viola Grey
• The Crush by Karla Sorensen
• Always Be My Duchess (Taming the Dukes, #1) by Amalie Howard
• The Forgotten World of the Witches (Forgotten, #1) by Angelica Aquiles
• Ward’s Castle by Ella Goode
• Rafe by Rebekah Weatherspoon @ 51%
• The One Who Loves You by Pippa Grant @ 32%
• Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score @ 18%
Book Types: Most books were on Kindle Unlimited (21).
Rating Distribution: Most July reads were 4-stars (17).
July Breakdown
Want to Read from this month
*These buttons (🇨🇦 🇬🇧 🇺🇸) and the Kindle Embeds contain affiliate links. I may earn a small commission when you click on the links at no additional cost to you. You can read my full disclaimer here.
Waiting on Forever by Claudia Connor
✰
Get the Book: 🇨🇦
The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis
✰
Get the Book: 🇨🇦 ~ 🇺🇸
The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter
✰
Get the Book: 🇨🇦 ~ 🇬🇧 ~ 🇺🇸
Meet Me in Paradise by Libby Hubscher
✰
Get the Book: 🇨🇦 ~ 🇬🇧 ~ 🇺🇸
This Vicious Grace by Emily Thiede
✰
Get the Book: 🇨🇦 ~ 🇬🇧 ~ 🇺🇸
A Line in the Sand by Teri Wilson
✰
Get the Book: 🇨🇦 ~ 🇬🇧 ~ 🇺🇸
Most Favourite and Least Favourite*
*Can’t be a re-read
Most Favourite: The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne. See why here.
Least Favourite: Ward’s Castle by Ella Goode. See why here.
Longest and Shortest Books
Longest Book: The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang~ 559 pages
Shortest Book: The Beast and the Wanton by Viola Grey ~ 59 pages
Statistics
Most Read Genre: Historical Romance (11).
Origin Breakdown: Most of the books I read were “instant” reads (28), meaning I purchased/borrowed and immediately read them.
Most Read Author: Lucy Score (6).
*Person of Colour includes non-white human characters in fantasy novels
My August Hopefuls
I had a lot of reading plans in August because, on top of my monthly reading goals, I wanted to complete the Summer BINGO challenge. I needed to read four books to fulfill this challenge: A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman, The Skin We’re In by Desmond Cole, Persepolis Marjane Satrapi and Sisters by Daisy Johnson. The Skin We’re In also fulfilled the TBR Knockout prompt written by an author from my city. Persepolis also fulfilled my monthly goal to read a nonfiction book since it’s a graphic novel/memoir.
The two books I hoped to read over 500+ pages were The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow (which I finally got around to in October) and The Hunger of the Gods by John Gwynne. I’ve struggled to read the books I chose for this prompt in 2022; however, I have read at least one 500+ page book each month this year. Obviously, I’m in my 300-400 page book era.
I finally got around to Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby. It was my pick for the Buzzword Reading Challenge August prompt: an item in the title. That book was on my Up Next Shelf for eight months… and unfortunately, that’s not the oldest one on that shelf.
Summer Reading BINGO Challenge: ISBN ends with my age
Anticipated August Releases
Babel by R.F. Kuang
Released on August 23, 2022
Flor’s Fiasco by Ruby Dixon
Released on August 28, 2022
See my Upcoming Release page for more of the books I’m looking forward to in August!
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