I tweaked my format for this month’s round-up a bit…let me know what you think!
I also entered the current decade and joined Netflix and Instagram! I know, this is embarrassing on all fronts. My husband and I started watching Bloodline and…holy sh&t, did Episode 1 have an ending! I can’t wait to see where it goes from here. I’ve also been watching the new series, Unreal, on Lifetime. And – if you’re a Bachelor/ette franchise fan, this is a must watch!
Finally, I stocked Hanover Avenue‘s White Knight Bedroom with ten books…ranging from juicy to extremely serious. Check it out here (for the gorgeous decor AND the books!).
Best Book(s) of the Month
Bull Mountain by Brian Panowich (July 7, 2015)
Southern Fiction, 304 Pages
Affiliate Link: Buy from Amazon
The Beautiful Bureaucrat by Helen Phillips (August 11, 2015)
Fiction, 192 Pages
Affiliate Link: Pre-Order from Amazon
July Reading
July brought me a month of extremely solid reads…and, a couple of mind-blowers! I attribute this turn of events to the reading mentality I adopted over my July 4th vacation…low tolerance for “meh” books! I’ve tried to keep this going ever since and it’s working for me.
Bull Mountain and The Beautiful Bureaucrat knocked my socks off…in totally different ways (full reviews coming)! Summerlong (I actually read this in late June, so cheating a bit here), Girl at War, and Circling the Sun all came very close to getting 5 Goodreads stars from me! I enjoyed Tiny Little Thing (cheating again) for the fantastic beach read that it is and Days of Awe‘s (mini review coming) snarky writing was a nice change of pace following Bull Mountain. Go Set A Watchman, while not a great book in and of itself, was a totally unique reading experience. The only real disappointments were Dare Me and Pretty Is.
August Releases I’m Excited About
Days of Awe by Lauren Fox (August 4)
The Beautiful Bureaucrat by Helen Phillips (August 11)
Best Boy by Eli Gottlieb (August 24)
The Fall of Princes by Robert Goolrick (August 25)
Top Non-Review Books on my “To Be Read” List
A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman
Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill
Did You Ever Have A Family by Bill Clegg
Where All the Light Tends to Go by David Joy
Most Popular July Posts
My Ten Latest Book Acquisitions
Ten Books That Celebrate Diversity/Diverse Characters
Ten Hyped Books I Haven’t Read…Yet
Favorite Posts by Fellow Book Bloggers
- Tara at Running N’ Reading shared the things she’s learned at 40 (run shirtless, anyone?!). Happy 40th Birthday!
- Kelly at The Well-Read Redhead shared the 5 Books She Was Reading 10 Years Ago…and it’s quite an eclectic list! I wish I’d tracked my reading that long ago because I would have loved to see what I was reading (and, I can’t remember now!)!
- And, Kathy at Kathy Reads Fiction reflected on her three years of book blogging (she’s been on quite a ride!) and taught me some awesome technology tips (all relating to images), which I’m always thankful for since I’m the opposite of a techie!
It sounds like you had a great month! I’ve found that having a low tolerance for “meh” is definitely the way to go. Three cheers for Netflix – you’re in for a ton of fun with all the streaming!
It totally turned my 2015 around…and some great books! And – Netflix could be a huge thorn in my reading time’s side, but we’re enjoying it so far…especially getting to find shows we both want to watch!
Welcome to the 21st century! I’ve recently joined it myself. lol My son has a subscription to Netflix and gave me his login credentials a few years ago so that I could use it. (Sweet child; raised him right to take care of mama haha) I think I’ve used it once, so maybe I’m just trickling into the 21st century one show and one picture at a time. 😉
I loved Where All Light Tends to Go. Don’t read it thinking Bull Mountain, although there are similarities. It’s subdued in a lot of ways in comparison. Enjoy!
Oh good, I’m not the only one!
Thanks for the tip on Where All The Light Tends to Go…maybe I’ll put some time in between it and Bull Mountain. I want it to stand on its own and avoid comparing them.
Sounds like you had a great July. I’m hoping the library will get Bull Mountain soon; it’s on order. But you’ve convinced me to read it.
Oh good! I hope it works for you!
Gooooood reading month! I feel like that’s been a theme for almost everyone this month, which is always a good thing!
July hot streak for all! I’ll take it 🙂
Thanks so much for sharing my post, Sarah, as well as the birthday wishes! Oh, my gosh…I am SO EXCITED that you are now watching Bloodline – GAH!!! You’ll have to send me messages and let me know where you are in the series…it just keeps getting wilder and crazier and you are going to be completely addicted. I’m excited to read The Beautiful Bureaucrat; I have a copy and think I’ll be reading it next. Hope you have a great weekend!
Of course! I definitely will – I’m going to have to talk about it with someone! Hopefully, we’ll do Episode 2 tonight 🙂
And – I hope you love TBB – it’s so weird..I was thinking WTF is going on much of the time!
Sarah,
We loved Bloodline and began watching it while we were staying in Islamorada on our friend’s boat in the marina that is owned by Kevin in the show. We also went and hung out at The Mooring’s (where the Rayburn house and resort is filmed) until we got kicked off the property! Can’t wait for filming to begin on season 2 next year!
Just finished Summerlong. Still thinking about it. Loved A Hundred Summers as a fun summer read. And I have been telling all my local eastern shore friends to read The Shore so we can talk about it…!
Thanks so much for this blog. I can’t tell you how much I LOVE IT!!
Oooh – very cool! And – how did you get kicked off the property?! I need to hear this story! Hopefully, we’ll be watching Episode 2 tonight 🙂
I’d love to hear what you thought of Summerlong and so glad all your buddies are reading The Shore! I want to re-read it at some point.
And – thank you for your sweet comment – it means so much that you’re such a loyal blog follower!
What a great July! I have Pretty Is near the top of my stack. I’m sorry it didn’t work for you (and now I’m nervous!)
There were parts about Pretty Is that I really loved – the first couple pages being one of them! It just felt a bit clunky overall. Would love to hear what you think of it when you’re done! Have a great weekend!
I am so looking forward to Bull Mountain!
I agree with you. I have a low tolerance for ‘meh’ books too. Some books though have a slow start and a big second half. Your blog looks great!
I’m glad to hear Beautiful Bureaucrat was good! The articles you’re linking to look great — I actually had a similar idea of posting about what I was reading five years ago, but wasn’t sure it would be interesting to anyone!
I also have a low threshold for meh and don’t continue with books that don’t suit me. I love the cover of The Beautiful Bureaucrat and am curious about that one and Summerlong. Have another solid month this time around!
I just got an ARC of The Beautiful Bureaucrat in the mail — really excited to start it!
Great month! I’m loving Bull Mountain so far and can’t wait to finally see what people are buzzing about with TBB.
The Beautiful Bureaucrat is going to be one of my next reads and I can’t wait! Everything I’ve heard about it has been very positive 🙂
I look forward to seeing what you have to say about the Helen Phillips book (it looks different). I also posted about August novels that I’m excited about over at http://www.thecuecard.com … as well as review of My Salinger Year. I’m liking Circling the Sun and I’m midway through. Enjoy your books.