Reading Recap July 2019

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Happy August!!! Another summer month has flown by and another chapter of amazing reading has come to an end.

My wonderful reading group is still thriving and it’s bringing me endless joy. You can check it out HERE.

You can find always find my full reviews and opinions for each book on Goodreads. Just click on Books Read in 2019.

July in a snapshot:

Books Read in June: 10

Ebooks vs Paper:  2/8

ARCs: 4

Audiobooks: 1

Favorite book of June: The Most Fun We Ever Had

Genres Read: women’s fiction, literary fiction, thriller, YA

Five Star Reads:

◼️ The Most Fun We’ve Ever Had  by Claire Lombardo –

Where do I even begin? This novel completely captivated my heart from page one in a way that is almost indescribable.

I am a mother of five girls and I am madly and ridiculously in love with my husband of almost 2 decades. I connected with Marilyn and David in ways that I’ve never connected with characters before. 

I’m not exaggerating when I say that page after page I gasped at the way Claire Lombardo puts words together. I am going to buy this book so that I can highlight the passages that I fell in love with. Lombardo describes parenthood, love, sisterhood, and life PERFECTLY.

This book is an absolute gift and a beautiful treasure. It will be in my heart and on my mind for many years to come.

◼️ The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai – This book just broke my heart. ⁣
⁣I cannot imagine the fear and panic in the gay community during the AIDS crisis. ⁣
⁣And then on top of that…the misinformation and the fear-mongering and hatred and the way that the public treated these men…it hurts my heart just to think about it. ⁣
⁣
Rebecca Makkai did an incredible job telling the story of these “boys” and their hopes, dreams, fears, and demons. She wrote a stunningly beautiful coming of age tale. ⁣
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The characters became so real to me. They burrowed deep into my heart and I know I’ll think about them for a long time to come. 

◼️ The Girls at 17 Swann Street by Zara Zgheib – This book broke my heart. It’s such a raw, beautiful and unflinching portrait of disordered eating. Yara Zgheib has struggled with anorexia for many years and her honestly is eviscerating. I loved the hope and the love portrayed within these pages.

Four Star Reads:

◼️ Lock Every Door by Riley Sager- A heart pounding thriller that I inhaled in a matter of hours. I found the setting completely consuming and vivid and I was obsessed from the first page. Riley Sager always writes thrillers that hit the mark.

◼️ The Whisper Man by Alex North – (ARC- Pub Date 8/20/19) – I finished this last night (I stayed up way too late) and I still have goosebumps. ⁣
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THE WHISPER MAN is Alex North’s debut thriller and man is it a good one. It’s dark and creepy and unsettling and IT GOT TO ME, Y’ALL. ⁣
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I read it almost entirely in one sitting and i think the best way to describe it is that it just left me feeling unsettled. Which is the mark of an excellent thriller. ⁣
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Whew! Off to cleanse the palate so I can sleep tonight. 

◼️ The Dearly Beloved by Cara Wall (ARC- Pub Date 8/13/19)–

This book is quiet and abiding and steady and calm. It contains beautiful prose and gorgeous descriptions of life and love and faith. It is not a fast read nor is it an explosive one.  If you enjoy character driven narratives then this one is for you. 

I will say I would have loved to hear more of what happened in the 50 years of friendship. But this was a lovely read.

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett (ARC- Pub Date 10/8/19)- I’m a sucker for young adult dystopian novels and this one was definitely satisfying. 

The entire time I was reading it I kept thinking it was a cross between The Hunger Games and The Handmaid’s Tale and then I saw that others were calling it a cross between Handmaid’s and Lord of the Flies and that’s even more perfect. 

Be warned: this book is violent and jarring. Some of it seems far-fetched, some of it seems as if it’s happening as we speak. It’s all equally horrifying. 

I love the message behind this book. I love the idea of women standing up for themselves and discovering their true magic and this book has such a feminist plot. It’s quite wonderful. 

However…

I have some major issues with the plot. The author chose to skip big chunks of time and skim the details when I would’ve liked way more detail about the day-to-day during the grace year. I also feel like the love story part was unnecessary. Shrug. 

That said, this book made me feel. It made me feel terrified, stressed, worried. It made my heart pound and I couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next. So in my eyes that is a four star book. 

Three and a Half Star Reads:

Girls Like Us by Christina Alger- This thriller/police procedural/crime novel packed a punch. l loved the strong female protagonist and I enjoyed the constant action. 

I really liked that there was more to this case than there seemed to be. I thought the story was going to go one way and I’m so happy that my assumptions were incorrect. 

The plot kept me guessing and though I didn’t love this one quite as much as The Banker’s Wife, it was still a great read in its’ own right!

Three Star Reads:

The Better Sister by Alafair Burke (Audible)- Interesting and definitely kept my attention. I loved the sisterhood part of the story for sure. However, it’s just kind of one of those stories I won’t remember for long. It wasn’t super remarkable but it was fun.

Two and a Half Star Reads:

The Gifted School by Bruce Holsinger- Compulsively readable but mannnnnn did I despise all of the characters. They all seemed like such miserable people. Ugh.

Whew! What a month! Check in y’all! What did you love/hate/just feel meh about?

Love to you all!

xoxo

S