July!
In July I read 14 books for a total of 3,267 pages and an average of 105 pages per day. Wow, frands! This was a stellar reading month! I owe a lot of my page count to the Chaos Walking trilogy.
I did sneak in quite a few shorter books this month, but I also read some pretty hefty tomes. With the exception of the Chaos Walking trilogy (further reviews to come), I really enjoyed everything I read!
Bob
by Wendy Mass & Rebecca Stead
First Sentence: I feel bad that I can’t remember anything about Gran Nicolas’s house.
Middle-grade, contemporary fantasy
The Fairytale Princess
by Wendy Jones
Children’s, fairytale collection, art
The Jewel and Her Lapidary
by Fran Wilde
First Sentence: Visitors to the Jewel Valley should expect rustic accommodations and varying degrees of adventure, as the area is both remote and not under protecting of any State of Commonwealth.
Fantasy (with jewels!)
The Fire Opal Mechanism
by Fran Wilde
First Sentence: Among those questioned following the recent unrest – including several Pressmen, professors, and former students – the three-member commission found the testimony of librarian Ania Dem, lately of Far Reaches University, and her companion, the known thief Jorit Lee, by far the most confounding.
Fantasy (with jewels!)
The Knife of Never Letting Go
by Patrick Ness
First Sentence: The first thing you find out when yer dog learns to talk is that dogs don’t got nothing much to say.
YA fantasy, sci-fi, semi-dystopia
Tehanu
by Ursula K. LeGuin
First Sentence: After farmer Flint of the Middle Valley died, his widow stayed on at the farmhouse.
Fantasy
The Topaz Marquis
by Fran Wilde
First Sentence: The man waiting outside my studio three days before the new year was dark with travel, his cloak ragged and mud-stained.
Short story, fantasy (with jewels!)
Ruby, Singing
by Fran Wilde
First Sentence: Yes, I went walking with him near the Deaf King Inn.
Short story, fantasy (with jewels!)
The Ask and the Answer
by Patrick Ness
First Sentence: “Your noise reveals you, Todd Hewitt.”
YA fantasy, sci-fi, semi-dystopia
Kim Reaper: Vampire Island
by Sarah Graley
Comic, modern fantasy, YA-ish
Monsters of Men
by Patrick Ness
First Sentence: “War,” says Mayor Prentiss, his eyes glinting.
YA fantasy, sci-fi, semi-dystopia
A Little Bit of Mindfulness
by Amy Leigh Mercree
First Sentence: Mindfulness has become a popular buzzword in the last several years.
Non-fiction, informational, lifestyle/self-help
The Ables
by Jeremy Scott
First Sentence: Those of you with sight are going to have to bear with me, at least for a while.
YA/MG contemporary fantasy, superheroes
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
by Gail Honeyman
First Sentence: When people ask me what I do – tax drivers, dental hygienists – I tell them I work in an office.
Literary fiction, contemporary
Better Reads Challenge:
I did an excellent job of making time for reading this month.
July: 30/31
Year: 202/365
TBR Tear Down:
Ok, I know I keep giving myself a pass for The Other Queen – Gregory is one of my fave authors and I do mean to read it. I just keep picking up other books instead. This month I’d like to finish that and both the Earthsea books and just be done with this round of books.
Non-Review Highlights:
Author Chat: Elizabeth Bear and Cadwell Turnbull
My Life Outside Books (Sorta): June 2019 Vacation (with lots of books)
*cover images from Goodreads
Wowza you read a lot of books this month. I see you read a lot of Patrick Ness’ books. The only one I’ve read is A Monster Calls, which I adored. I’ve heard good things about the Chaos Walking series… Are you going to be reading the 3rd book in the series?
I’ve been seeing Bob everywhere lately… I love me a good MG fantasy story, so I need to look into it!
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Oops I see you actually read the entire Chaos Walking series! I’m going to assume you enjoyed?
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Haha the opposite actually…
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Ness is readable, I’ll give him that. But I think I’m all set with his books at this point. I kept Monster cuz it’s amazing and I love the illustrations. But his work, while readable….is also pretty frustrating. After the Chaos trilogy, I’m over it. Lol.
Bob is a really quick, cute little read!
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