I’m putting this post together while I sit here watching the Olympics. I’m a huge Olympics fan and I try to take in as much of it as I can throughout the few weeks that it’s on. There are just so many “holy crap I can’t believe it” moments that I love watching. I’m definitely not reading as much at the moment because of it but I just don’t care!
Any other Olympics fanatics out there? What are your favorite sports to watch? Gymnastics is definitely a big one for me, but I’ve also really enjoyed watching all the track and field events, triathlon, the super long bike races, and boat racing (rowing).
With that, let’s jump into our list of what we read in July.
Becky
House of Flame and Shadow by Ann Dávila Cardinal
I finally got my library hold on the final Crescent City book by Sarah J Maas and House of Flame and Shadow didn’t quite hold up to the other two books for me. It took me a little longer to get into than I was expecting, although I do think it picked up about halfway through. The ending, for me, took care of most of the loose ends, but I could easily see spinoff books happening. As someone who has fully enjoyed the Maas Universe, I’ll probably read any spinoffs. Just hoping the small ACOTAR crossover in this series doesn’t take over the ACOTAR books.
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads
A Queen This Fierce and Deadly by Stacia Stark
The second collection I finished in July was the Kingdom of Lies series. I wrapped up listening to A Queen This Fierce and Deadly by Stacia Stark and was both glad the storyline wasn’t pushed beyond four books and also sad to say goodbye to those characters. I don’t think I fully appreciated this series properly while listening to it, but now that I’ve moved on to a different author, I find the new series lacking in comparison. Kingdom of Lies was a great holdover while waiting for Crescent City #3 and would make an excellent Maas hangover choice.
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads
Jess
I actually got some reading done in July! We went on a 14 day road trip (70+ hours in the car) and reading saved my sanity.
Wild Awake by Hilary T. Smith
Wild Awake tells the story of Kiri Byrd, a quirky teenager grieving the death of her sister while trying to figure out who she is in the world. She plans to spend the summer winning Battle of the Bands and convincing her best friend that he’s in love with her, but a call from a stranger throws her plans out the window as she delves into the mystery surrounding her sister’s death.
I’ll be honest – while I had high hopes for this book, it seemed like a poorly written copy of Emery Lord’s When We Collided. There were some differences, but there were multiple times in the book where I found myself comparing plot points. A bike accident instead of a motorcycle accident. A manic pixie dream girl who falls in love with a mysterious boy. The story wasn’t bad; it just felt unoriginal.
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The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
In The Sky is Everywhere, Lennie navigates a world without her sister, who died suddenly 4 weeks prior to the start of the story. The story follows Lennie as she discovers her sexuality, muddles through her grief, and writes poems that she leaves around town. When Joe Fontaine, a handsome musical genius, takes an interest in her, she gets sucked into a love triangle of sorts between Joe and her grief, constantly wondering if there’s room for happiness in a time of mourning.
I’ve heard about this book so many times over the last few years, but I had yet to pick it up until last month. Apparently, bereaved siblings was my topic of the month. The Sky is Everywhere depicted grief in a way that’s different from what I’m accustomed to. It wasn’t wrong; it was just different. I related to some of the plot points… returning back to school after losing a sibling, finding it difficult to go through their things, and random moments of absolute despair are all things I’m familiar with. However, the super-charged sexuality and sudden interest in boys threw me for a loop. When I lost my brother, my love life was the last thing on my mind, but Lennie used it as a distraction from her grief.
Plot aside, the characters were fantastic. I feel like each one was well-rounded and had their own story, aside from maybe the main character’s best friend. Namely, Gram and Uncle Big felt like real people, and by the end of the story, I was rolling my eyes along with the protagonist at their slightly embarrassing actions.
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads
Joli
When Skies Are Gray: A Grieving Mother’s Lullaby by Lindsey M. Henke
Heartbreaking, but so beautiful. If you’ve experienced pregnancy/neonatal/child loss or are close with someone who has, I highly recommend reading Lindsey’s book.
Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
This book was super charming and I liked it a lot! It’s a cozy mystery that’s also got a good dose of humor, found family, and enough seriousness here and there to make it have some substance. The characters were mostly great, and I enjoyed the plot and did not guess the twist. I thought it was really well balanced and just an enjoyable read all around and I’ll definitely consider picking up the second Vera Wong book when it comes out in 2025!
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads
Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone (Ernest Cunningham, #1) by Benjamin Stevenson
I kept hearing about this book so, when I saw that it was available on my favorite audiobook platform (Everand), I decided to give it a listen. Man…I’ve never struggled to understand what was happening in an audiobook more than this one.
Our main character is an author. The book being read is his own book, and he interjects here and there to explain things. Oh, and he’s an “expert” at writing mystery novels. Then he introduces this crazy onslaught of characters that I just. Couldn’t. Remember! Even the mom isn’t called “mom” because the narrator calls her by her first name. There was the mother, the sister-in-law, the stepfather, the brother, the dead brother, the ex sister-in-law….and on. There’s even a chapter where the narrator interjects in the telling of his story to say something like “you must be confused by now, let’s go over all the characters.” Yeeeaahhh it helped me for a chapter maybe.
Does it help that I have ADHD and can’t for the life of me remember details like names and other details from one chapter to the next? No…but it’s normally not so much of a problem.
Overall, I thought this book was too much too muchness. So many characters, plot lines all over the place, a twist I had to keep going back on to figure it out…you’ve gotta be a really hard listener and maybe take notes to follow this audiobook.
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads
The Favor by Adele Griffin
This one was entertaining, but not exactly what I was expecting. I got a bit frustrated with the main relationship and wanted to slap both the main characters, haha! For more explanation, check out my full review of The Favor.
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads
Molly
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
A dystopian narrated by an Artificial Friend named Klara, who is purchased to keep a dying girl named Josie company. Beautifully written with a powerful voice and a bittersweet ending.
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads
Running Close to the Wind by Alexandra Rowland
Broke pirates attempt to uncover government secrets in this cozy/comedic fantasy. This was the July pick for my fantasy/sci-fi book club and I have to admit that I found the humor really off putting initially. But the character development is pretty stellar, in my opinion, and I found myself really invested in the protagonist and his friends.
Still not sure how to rate this one, if I’m being honest. It was a wild ride.
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads
Funny Story by Emily Henry
I’m disappointed to say that, for me, this was not entirely a hit. I read Beach Read a couple of years ago and loved it, but each Emily Henry novel I’ve read since then hasn’t lived up to that first experience.
While the main characters have wonderful chemistry, this book is somewhat predictable and lacks a solid throughline. There are about six different subplots happening, but none of them felt like the main plot. I wish Henry had chosen to do one or two things well instead of doing half a dozen things mediocrely.
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads
Renee
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
My experience with this dystopian novel was a bit different from Molly’s. While I found the concept of using an Artificial Friend to explore the concept of what it means to love and be family, the writing style often left me feeling frustrated.
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads
Everyone in my Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson
This is a very meta whodunnit-style mystery in which the narrator, Ernie, presents the story about his own family as the book he’s writing. Trapped on a mountain at a ski lodge during a storm, dead bodies start piling up. He knows someone in his family is behind it. The book is humorous and not too intense. The narrative voice is fantastic. I really enjoyed reading this. It was clever and creative; a fun spin on a mystery.
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads
The Only One Left by Riley Sager
To me, summer is reading thrillers. I love trying to figure out what’s going on and solve the mystery at the core of the story. In this one, it’s 1983 and Kit moves into a crumbling old mansion high up on the cliffs in Maine. She’s there to be a live-in caretaker for Lenora Hope, a very old woman who is still considered (by public opinion) the main suspect in the murder of her whole family decades before.
As Kit grows close with Lenora, she works to unravel the mystery of what really happened in that house all those years ago. What she learns is that not everyone is who they say they are, and that she is much closer to the story than she’d ever known.
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads
Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll
This book is inspired by true events, particularly those involving some of Ted Bundy’s earlier crimes. It begins in the late 1970s when a man enters Pam Schumacher’s sorority house and an unspeakable, violent tragedy occurs. Pam is a survivor and the only person to see the man’s face.
She meets a woman named Tina who believes this case is related to the disappearance of her friend Ruth several years before. Over the next 5 decades, the two women will work together to find answers and get justice for their friends.
I listened to the audiobook of this and it was really well done. Sutton Foster reads for Pam and I was completely engrossed in the story. It is very intense at times, especially the scene in the beginning where the attack in the sorority house is detailed. It ultimately makes some interesting commentary on our society’s fascination with true crime and the people behind those stories.
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
The main character in this genre-bending novel goes to work for the government to be a bridge for time travelers. Her job is to help make sure Graham Gore, who died on an arctic expedition in 1847, adjusts to life in 21st century London.
This book was very ambitious, but I also felt like it was trying to do too much. It was part sci-fi, part romance, part historical fiction, and it didn’t all work together that well for me all the time. It often felt like I was reading different books.
That said, the last 70 pages or so were action-packed and probably my favorite part of the book.
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads
Sara
Binti by Nnedi Okorafor
Novellas are perfect afternoon reads, and I read Binti in one shot. Okorafor’s scifi in this story is very organic (there’s a living spaceship!), and deeply intertwined with history and culture, which is not a pairing I see often. Binti herself was an enjoyable MC, the narrative managed to build pockets of nearly meditative atmosphere within the short page count without anything feeling hurried or interrupted, the different locations were fun to explore, and I felt quite satisfied by the ending. I’m looking forward to reading the other Binti novellas!
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads
Covenants by Lorna Freeman
I also read Covenants in under 24 hours, but it stole a lot more sleep! This story reads like a good old-fashion fantasy adventure. The large cast of named characters is not completely comprised of white men and has a fun web of interesting interpersonal dynamics. On occasion, the worldbuilding doesn’t quite feel cohesive, but it doesn’t disrupt the story. Magic and dragons and cat people are always a win, there are fun fights, and the prose is clear and funny with a strong character voice. Bonus points for fantasy swearing that doesn’t sound silly!
That’s our list! What did you read in July?
