Books Read in July: 19
Books Read for the Year: 117/225
Topical Books/Monthly Goal Books:
Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe, by Heather Webber (TBR). This was such a lovely Southern fiction read!
The Light Over London, by Julia Kelly (TBR). An excellent historical fiction!
The London House, by Katherine Reay (TBR). I enjoyed this a lot.
Gospel Wakefulness, by Jared C. Wilson (spiritual).
Blue Ridge Sunrise by Denise Hunter (TBR). I enjoyed this second-chance romance.
Demons of Good and Evil, by Kim Harrison (TBR). Loved this, as always.
For Review:
Hotel Laguna, by Nicola Harrison. I enjoyed this historical read! There’s a bit of mystery mixed into this post-World War read, and the characters are vivid and realistic.
And Then There Was You, by Nancy Naigle. This was such a sweet romance. It opens with a woman discovering she’s been the victim of an elaborate con and turns into a small-town romance with the detective working her case. I love how faith is woven throughout the narrative subtly and pervasively.
The Last Exchange, by Charles Martin (review forthcoming). This book. Y’all. Charles Martin is my absolute favorite author, and I was thrilled when I got the chance to read it four months before release day! I’ll be buying this in hardback when it hits shelves. Martin writes such believable, larger-than-life characters, and I fell in love with Maybe Joe and Pockets almost immediately. This book touched my heart on a deep level, and the theme, “A life laid down is better than one picked up,” is still resonating with me days after finishing this.
What Happens After Midnight, by K. L. Walther. This was a fun YA read, although bits of it felt a little bit too-good-to-be-true. (Their relationships with the adults in the story, for example. And the freedom they had at a boarding school.)
Hello Stranger, by Katherine Center. This read was great fun! It was interesting, reading about facial blindness. I can’t imagine how terrible that must be!
Thief Liar Lady, by D. L. Soria. This was a re-telling of Cinderella. Sort of. I enjoyed it, and the main character, a lot.
Ladies of the Lake, by Cathy Gohlke. I loved this historical fiction read! The characters were so much fun to read (except Dorothy, who I didn’t really like.) I listened to the audio book, and thought it was very well done.
Ghosted, by Amanda Quain. This was a decent YA read, as long as you’re not really expecting a re-telling of Northanger Abbey.
The Keeper of Hidden Books, by Madeline Martin (review forthcoming). This is a wonderful historical fiction read! I was invested from the first page, and soon found myself engrossed enough to go without sleep.
The Bone Hacker, by Kathy Reichs (review forthcoming). Another solid thrill read in the Temperance Brennan series.
The Secret Recipe of Ella Dove, by Karen Hawkins (review forthcoming). I enjoyed this book in the Dove Pond series, although I disliked Angela and Jules immensely.
Just Because:
A Year with C.S. Lewis. I enjoyed this devotional so much!
Chasing Fireflies, by Charles Martin (audio). This was such a good read! Martin has a way of creating such quirky and believable characters who are just fascinating. I do wish we’d found out what happened to jack, though.
Left Unfinished:
Forever Hold Your Peace, by Liz Fenton. I didn’t really care for the characters, so I didn’t make it very far into reading this.
Good Fortune, by C.K. Chau. I wanted to like this, but I found the opening messy and chaotic and I didn’t care for the characters.
Clementine and Danny Save the World, by Livia Blackburne. I read about 40% of this before realizing my attention kept wandering and I just didn’t care about these characters and what they were up to, despite my enjoyment of the tea theme.
Tastes Like Shakkar, by Nisha Sharma. I couldn’t stand the male MC in the opening scene and I don’t care for insta-anything.
A Fatal Groove, by Olivia Blacke. I found the first 10% boring. The characters didn’t catch my attention at all.
Guardians of Dawn: Zhara, by S. Jae-Jones. DN\Fed because of the incessant giggling of the MC…she even called it the Good Looking Giggle. Please, spare me from ridiculous YA characters.
You’re An Animal, by Jardine Libaire. Made it 10% into this, but didn’t like any of the characters.
The One That Got Away, by Charlotte Rixon. I read 10% of this, but was just bored. And, frankly, anything that opens in the POV of a suicide bomber probably isn’t for me.
Tomorrow Is Another Day 
3 thoughts on “What I Read in July (2023)”