Monthly Wrap-Up by A Book Wanderer

July 2021 Monthly Wrap-Up

Hello Readers! I hope you’re all staying well. It’s so frustrating to see the pandemic ramping up again here in the states. We had a bit of a scare when my father-in-law came down with Covid. Thankfully he was vaccinated and only has a mild case so far. We also avoided getting it. Yay for vaccines! If you’ve been one of those waiting to get the jab, please go get it now!

I had a very nice reading month in July, reading mostly off my backlist and I had a blast crossing off a few of those books that have been waiting on my shelves for such a long time. Looking back at My July TBR, I ended up reading seven of the nine books I had planned (plus one extra advanced reader copy), bringing my total pages read to 3,073 pages! And friends, I’ve FINALLY started Daisy Jones & The Six audiobook, so that one will reappear again on my August TBR.

Let’s see what I managed to read!

Be sure to check out The Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction!

July Wrap-Up

(Link to synopsis on Goodreads through the book title.)

I started the month reading Damnation Spring by Ash Davidson, and oh my I was so impressed with this debut. So well-written and researched. A beautiful story!


My Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Available 8/3/21
My Review

Next I picked up The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed, an important YA novel set during the LA riots in the 1990s. Nostalgic and educational, with a wonderful cast of characters.

My Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐
My Review

I was starting to feel like one of the only people who hadn’t read The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary, so I was happy to pick this one up. It was especially nice to get lost in this one after reading the two previous heavier books. It totally lived up to the hype!

My Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐.25

How Sweet It Is by Dylan Newton was an impulse request on Netgalley that spoiled my no-ARC plan for the rest of the month. Oops. I did enjoy this romance set around Halloween. I just wish I would have saved it to read in the Fall.

My Rating ⭐⭐⭐.5
Available 7/13/21
My Review

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller has appeared on several of my TBRs over the past few years and now that I’ve finally read it, I get what all the fuss was about. AND I’m mad at myself for not reading it sooner. This one was soul-crushingly beautiful. It also fulfilled ‘A book that has won the Women’s Prize For Fiction’ prompt on My Popsugar Reading Challenge. Now I need to read Circe, but I’ll need a few months to recover from this one first. 😉

My Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

When I binged Love & Gelato and Love & Luck by Jenna Evans Welch last summer, I couldn’t wait to pick up Love & Olives. But I waited until summer. I so enjoyed being immersed in Santorini, Greece, and I did something special with my review for this one!

My Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
My Review and Pictorial Collage

Another super hyped book I’ve been waiting to read is One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus. I also needed to read this one to cross off the Popsugar prompt ‘A locked room mystery’. Even though I ended up getting spoiled before I finished this one, I enjoyed it!

My Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I was able to squeeze in The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han the last few days of the month. I’ve had this series waiting on my shelves for years. It definitely reads YA but it gets better as it goes. I was a huge fan of the To All the Boys series, though, and knew I wanted to read this one, as well. I’ve already started the second book!

My Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

In case you missed it…

Highlights from elsewhere…

How was your reading month? Have you read any of these books? Did you add any of them to your TBR? Let me know in the comments!

Happy Wandering!

16 thoughts on “July 2021 Monthly Wrap-Up”

  5. Love and Olives and The Black Kids are two that I’ve enjoyed! Glad your father-in-law didn’t get that bad of a case. Unfortunately my state is currently one of the bad ones and we’re going back to a mask mandate thanks to all the people who won’t get vaccinated. Ugh. Hope you have a good August!
    Lisa Loves Literature

    Reply

    1. We definitely should be going back to a mask mandate here in Texas, too. Thankfully many of the businesses and schools seem to be ignoring our dumb politicians. It’s so frustrating, right?! I hope your August is great, too!

      Reply

  6. I read The Song of Achilles last summer and I’m also really mad at myself at how long it took me to read it! It was such a beautifully written book! As a huge fan of mythology, I knew where the story was headed but that ending still got me in the feels! I definitely need to go read Circe soon because I have not read that one yet.

    Happy reading! 😊

    Reply

  8. So glad your father-in-law only had a mild case. Yay for vaccines! My daughter is too young to get the vaccine, so I’m nervous about her starting school next week. But I’ve taught her well about keeping her mask on and her hands clean. So, hopefully she’ll be okay.

    The Song of Achilles sounds so good! I’m adding it to the top of my list now.

    Reply

    1. I don’t envy parents having to make those tough choices for their younger kids. All my kiddos are over 16. Hopefully this surge will start trending down—and hopefully it will encourage more people to get vaccinated.

      The Song of Achilles was AMAZING. I hope you can get to it soon!

      Reply

  9. I’m so relieved to read that your FIL’s Covid case was mild! Cases are already back to last October’s levels here and school has not even started with all the unvaccinated kids. Black Kids sounds really good and I have neglected my ARC for others this summer. I’ll have to get it to the top of my TBR soon!

    Reply

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