June was My Month of British Fiction. July was The Month I Didn’t Read or Blog. As a result, I never posted a June wrap up and my July wrap up was turning out to be pretty boring. So I’m going to just squeeze them together and go from there. Here’s what I read in June:
- Yoon, Nicola: Everything, Everything (YA fiction — Sept. 1 from Delacorte Books)
- Freeman, Anna: The Fair Fight (fiction)
- Gawande, Atul: The Checklist Manifesto (nonfiction, audio book)
- Cocks, Heather and Morgan, Jessica: The Royal We (fiction)
- Ansari, Aziz: Modern Romance (nonfiction, audio book)
- O’Malley, Daniel: The Rook (fiction)
- Brennan, Sarah Rees: Unspoken (YA fiction)
- Oates, Joyce Carol: The Lost Landscape (memoir)
- Stevenson, Bryan: Just Mercy (nonfiction)
Nine books in June certainly isn’t anything to sneeze at, although I do wish I’d gotten to a little more nonfiction and a comic book or two as well. But c’est la vie, it is what it is.
And here’s what I read in July:
- Lee, Harper: To Kill a Mockingbird (fiction)
- Cline, Ernest: Armada (fiction, audio book)
- Groff, Lauren: Fates and Furies (fiction – Sept. 15 from Riverhead)
- Leovy, Jill: Ghettoside (nonfiction)
Only four books! That’s so weird. But July was also a crazy challenging month for me in some personal ways, so I can see why reading took a back seat.
My favorite fiction book over the last two months was probably Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon a wonderful young adult novel about a girl who isn’t allowed to leave her home as a result of severe allergies. When a boy moves in across the street, Maddie discovers that there’s value and even joy in taking risks. While the book isn’t obviously like Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, Maddie and Olly’s story gave me the same kind of swoony feelings I felt for Cath and Levi. It was just delightful.
Fates and Furies was also pretty excellent, but in a different way. Groff is such a spectacular writer, and this portrait of a marriage is sharp and, in a lot of ways, unexpected. I won’t say more for fear of spoilers, but know that this is a book I can see myself picking up to reread when it comes out next month.
A Look to August
I have basically no reading plans for the month of August. Between getting ready to leave on a three week trip to London and Greece, then being on the trip, I just don’t know what I’ll be in the mood to read. I guess I do plan to pack Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel to read on the plane on the way over, but other than that I’ll probably bring whatever is grabbing my attention at the time. You can expect a “Books in My Carry On” post, and lots of Instagram photos of the bookstores of London, later this month.
What books are you most excited to read in August?
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I’ve got several of those books to read but now I want to read Everything Everything the most!
It’s so great! I think you will love it.
Fates & Furies was the BEA book I got most excited about and am planning to dig into it soon! I want to read it early before too many people start talking about it. Glad to hear good things from you!
It was a great read, one of the only books that would hold my attention during my July reading slump. I’m actually excited to possibly reread it when it comes out since I liked it so much.
I just started All the Light We Cannot See for book club, and all the hype has made me a little apprehensive. I also need to reread Macbeth this month, since I’m going to teach it first once my students come back.
All the Light We Cannot See is on my list for when it comes out in paperback… hopefully the hype will have simmered by then.
You probably won’t read much except en route while you’re traveling, I’ll bet! Hope you’ll be able to share some pictures from your trip! I hadn’t heard of Fates and Furies, but I love marriage books, so will add it to my list!
I reserved “The Rook” and “The Fair Fight” based on your descriptions – absolutely loved “The Rook” and tore through it, and quite enjoying “The Fair Fight”. Kind of reminds me of Sarah Walters’ “Fingersmith” with the setting and the way the shifting (mainly) female perspectives introduce plot twists.
Yeah, that’s a good comparison for The Fair Fight. And I’m glad you loved The Rook — I adored that one.
I’m currently reading Peter Clines’ The Fold and LOVING it. I also started Armada and can’t wait to get back to it. Between those two and the new Jennifer McMahon novel, August is becoming one of my favorite months for books I’ve read!
I’ve just started to reread Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series; it’ll be the third time I’ve read the first (His Majesty’s Dragon) and it stands up wonderfully, but this time I plan to read beyond the fifth to actually complete the series; I’ve been resisting this idea for years (because I don’t want to think about there not being any more to discover in the series) but, on the other hand, I am enjoying the rereads so much that I’m not sure I can stop myself anyway!
Have a wonderful trip and good luck with packing all (one, no, really?) those books!
Packing books for a trip is SO HARD. Like, I want to have good things to read… but I also know I will buy books while i’m there because OF COURSE we are going to a bunch of bookstores. Choices, choices.
I am enormously excited to read Zen Cho’s Sorcerer of the Crown this month — I have it on my iPad right now and am trying to force myself to go slow with it and savor it. I’m enjoying it a LOT so far. And I’m also excited for Aliette de Bodard’s book, which I have seen a ton of buzz for, and for some of the nonfiction I’ve got piling up in my spare room/office at the moment. AUGUST.
That book looks so great! I am going to look for it when it comes out because I do love me some epic fantasy.
Regardless of having a crazy summer and doing little blogging, you read a great range of books over the last two months.
It’s been a largely great summer of reading, even during my slow periods. I’m really grateful for that.