A detailed look at March’s reading habits: 24 books read, two DNFs, seven books read from my Up Next Shelf. I also read books continuing four favourite series of mine, and I finally finished the Throne of Glass series!
Overview
| July Blog Updates | July Bookish Posts |
|---|---|
| 📖 Weekly Wrap: July 20th to July 26th 📖 Weekly Wrap: July 27th to August 2nd | 📚 None this month! |
July Reflection and Into August
Feminism was a significant theme in my book reviews this month! I posted three reviews that explore feminism (including its pitfalls through white feminism). July was also a slow reading month – I had a lot of work going on and deadlines, which drew away from my reading time.
The highlight of July was that I finally finished the Throne of Glass series! I put off reading the last two books for over 2-years (because that’s how much I don’t like Chaol, but I digress). I also read quite a few books that continued some of my favourite series, one of which I also completed this month:
- Age of the Andinna series by Kristen Banet
- Dark in You series by Suzanne Wright
- Elemental Paladins series by Montana Ash (Completed!)
- Legion of Angels series by Ella Summers
I discovered that re-reading books helped me get out of my reading slump. And, I’m making an effort to stick to my to-be-read lists. Hopefully, this way I won’t overthink starting new books or new-to-me authors.
Books I Read This Month
Key: 🔁 re-read | 🤓 reviewed on this blog
• Empire of Storms (Throne of Glass, #5) by Sarah J. Maas
• The Enemy’s Triumph (Age of the Andinna, #5) by Kristen Banet
• The Rebel’s Vision (Age of the Andinna, #4) by Kristen Banet
• The Warrior’s Assault (Age of the Andinna, #3) by Kristen Banet 🔁
• Victoria’s Discovery (Taken, #3) by Stacy Jones
• Tower of Dawn (Throne of Glass, #6) by Sarah J. Maas
• The Grace Year by Kim Liggett 🤓
• Reckoning (The Elemental Paladins, #7) by Montana Ash
• Olandon (The Tainted Accords, #4.6) by Kelly St. Clare
• Victoria’s Embrace (Taken, #4) by Kelly St. Clare
• The Gladiator’s Downfall (Age of the Andinna, #1) by Kristen Banet 🤓 🔁
• The Mercenary’s Bounty (Age of the Andinna, #2) by Kristen Banet 🔁
• Omens (Dark in You, #6) by Suzanne Wright
• White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
• Ghost’s Whisper (Legion of Angels, #9) by Ella Summers
• Dragon Unleashed (Fallen Empire, #2) by Grace Draven
• The Elemental Collective: Volume 1 by Montana Ash
• The Perfect Score (Kissing the Enemy, #3) by Maggie Dallen
• Snared (Kaliya Sahni, #2) by K.N. Banet
• Prison Princess (Paranormal Prison) by Rebecca Royce and CoraLee June
July Breakdown
Most Favourite and Least Favourite*
*Can’t be a re-read
My Most Favourite: Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas. See why here.
My Least Favourite: Knocking Her Up by Jenika Snow and Jordan Marie
Longest and Shortest Books
My Longest Read: Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas at 984 pages
My Shortest Read: Saved for Me by Abby Knox at 78 pages
Statistics
Most Read Genre: High Fantasy
Most Read Author: Kristen/K.N. Banet
17 New Reads
*Person of Colour includes non-white human characters in fantasy novels
Best Performing Bookstagram Posts
July Book Reviews
Theme of Week 1: Character-Driven
Lovely and Relatable:
When You Were Everything by Ashley Woodfolk
Quick Take: A powerful tale of lost friendship but also self-discovery. The Heroine is struggling to deal with losing her best friend while also navigating her parents’ separation.
Gorgeous Yet Sorrowful:
The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver
Quick Take: The book blew away my expectations. It was blunt in its grief, decisive in its healing and subtle in its love. For a book that was so sad and emotional, I finished the story with a smile on my face and one thought: I NEED MORE.
Theme of Week 2 and Week 3: Feminism
Impactful and Reflective:
The Grace Year by Kim Liggett
Quick Take: A dystopian novel that makes overt naturalized misogyny that explores how women support and dissent from the patriarchy.
Performative White Feminism:
Women Don’t Owe You Pretty by Florence Given
Quick Take: I changed my rating to 1-star at the end of the 2020 summer. The novel is very similar to Chidera Eggerue’s What a Time to Be Alone. Given’s book also dissects “pretty politics,” not acknowledging that she inhabits every visible privilege “pretty politics” affords: white, non-disabled, thin and cisgender.
Important and Transformative:
Sex and World Peace by Valerie M. Hudson et al.
Quick Take: The book, recommended by Emma Watson as a must-read, shows the need for intersectional feminism as femicide becomes incontrovertible.
Books I’m Looking Forward to in August
Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer
Releasing August 4, 2020
Helpless by Crystal Ash
Releasing August 28, 2020
Follow Me
❃ Blog ❃ Instagram ❃ Goodreads ❃ Facebook ❃ Bloglovin’ ❃ StoryGraph ❃
[…] 📖 Weekly Wrap: July 20th to July 26th📖 Sex and World Peace by Valerie M. Hudson📖 The Monthly Wrap: July […]