What I read in July 2024

Hello everyone, I'm back again with another reading post. I swear I do this every time, but I'm surprised by how many books I've read over the past month. I always feel like I'm not hitting my TBR list, but in the end, I always read many more books than I expected. These posts always end up a bit longer, so let's jump right into it (don't forget to grab your tea or coffee)!

The Long Game by Elena Armas - ★★★¾

This was the release from Elena Armas last year. I received an ARC for her latest novel, and wanted to catch up and read last year’s. From the summary, this plot didn’t initially intrigue me. It’s a dual-POV, grump/grump romance that follows Adalyn and Cameron. After an embarrassing social media crisis, Adalyn is exiled by her father to manage a North Carolina soccer team. What she doesn’t realize that it’s a little league team, and that the coach is no other than the retired professional football (soccer) player, Cameron Caldani.

At first Cameron is set on running her out of town, but once they start to get to know each other, they realize there is more than meets the eye than their reputation.

While Elena Armas is known for her slow burns, this one is borderline an insta-love story. You can tell immediately that they both attracted to one another, and get immediate crushes. I do feel that this story had a some depth, but not as much as the American Roommate Experiment. I originally rated this 4.25 stars, but since sitting on it for the past month, I’m going to change my rating to a 3.75.

The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes - ★★★★★

This was a highly rated book by @winstonandbooks, and I can definitely see why. It’s a perfect LGBTQ+ YA coming of age with a romance subplot. It was a quick read that touched on so many important topics and difficulties that teenagers go through. I highly recommend this one!

Legendary by Stephanie Garber - ★★★★★

This was the second book in the Caraval series, and I wasn’t sure how the story was going to continue. Even though the first one ended in a question mark, I was worried I wasn’t going to like it as much as the first one. Especially since so many people so conflicted with this series!

I personally really liked it. While I don’t find Tella to be as likable as Scarlet, I really enjoyed following her in this book. The romance subplot might surpass the one from the first book, mainly because I find Dante to be a much more interesting and complex character.

While this story had some strange pacing, where some points were super fast paced and others were much slower, I still really enjoyed it. I personally wasn’t that invested in the plot point about their mother, but I loved the appearance of Jacks (IYKYK, getting ready for OUABH).

While I can completely understand why this whimsical YA fantasy isn’t for everyone, I’m really enjoying it!

Wildfire by Hannah Grace - ★★★★★

This was Hannah Grace’s second book, and it was also my souvenir book while in Dublin! It has taken me a while to read this, but I thought this was the perfect summer read since it takes place predominantly at a summer camp.

This story follow Aurora and Russ, and after extreme chemistry and a one night stand, never expect to see each other again. Especially as camp counselors at the same summer camp. After being put in the same counselor group, and a long meeting where one rule in particular stood out (no hooking up or dating your fellow counselors), they decide to be friends. This was a beautiful true slow burn. While you could tell they liked each other, it was beautiful reading them get to know each other, and help each other through both of their family drama. While this book is completely different from the fluffy spice of Icebreaker, I really loved this one!

The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston - ★★★★¾

I have enjoyed every Ashley Poston book I've ever read, so when I head that people LOVED this one, I put off reading it. I always get nervous when people hype up a book, because what if I don't like it? This summer I finally took the time to give this one a read, and I'm so glad I wait til now. You know that quote that says something along the lines of a book will call to you when it’s the perfect time to read it, and that could not be true.

There are books that I’ve had on my shelf for months, and then I’ll be in the mood to read it, and I’m so glad I read it at that moment instead of reading it when I originally bought it.

Ashley Poston is known for doing romances that have a cute whimsical magical element to them. And she always does them justice! I don’t want to say too much about this one, because I kind of feel like this story would be best if you can go in blind, but I loved it.

The conversation around grief was written so well, the romance was super cute, and I also like the talks about change. This was for sure one of my favorite reads of the year. Highly recommend.

How to American: An Immigrant's Guide to Disappointing Your Parents by Jimmy O. Yang - N/A

One of J's friend's recommended Jimmy's audio book to me. When I saw that not only was it short, but it was immediately available, I gave it a listen. I really enjoyed this one! I didn't really know much about Jimmy Yang's career, other than the fact that he was in Crazy Rich Asians. After listening to his audio book, I checked out the show he was in, Silicon Valley! I also really enjoyed the show, and highly recommend checking not only this audio book, but the show he's on.

For the Record by Juliana Smith* - ★★★★

This was an ARC I received. It's pretty cool to read this story. I've read 2 other JS books in the past. Her Christmas story, and the first book in the Wells Family series. While there was nothing wrong with her other two books, the growth between those books and this one is really noticeable. This story had a good amount of depth, and I honestly just fell in love with both of these characters.

This story was a dual POV, dual timeline best friend's brother-in-law romance.

Just For the Summer by Abby Jimenez - ★★★★¾

Abby Jimenez is another author I love. She’s one of the only ones where I’ve read every single book she’s ever released. I highly recommend reading this one after reading Part of Your World. It’s all part of the the standalone interconnected series, but this one specifically connects more than some of her other stories.

I love this romance. Abby Jimenez has the ability to make book boyfriends that are absolutely perfect, with plots that focuses on a heavier topic every time, and still is somehow able to be hilarious at the same time. Justin may be one of the best book boyfriends ever? He is the definitely of “If he wanted to, he would”. Really loved this one so much. Highly recommend!

The Perfect Marriage by Jeneva Rose - ★★★

You know I honestly forgot that I read this last month. The fact that this book barely stood out this month shows what I really think about it. It’s about this married couple, and the husband is having an affair. After slipping back into his wife’s bed after a night with his mistress, he gets a rude awakening when cops go to arrest him because his mistress was found murdered. Things get crazy when his wife, who is his lawyer decides to defend him.

There were lots of twists and turns, and while there was nothing wrong with the story itself, I also felt like the story wasn’t anything that special? It gave me Criminal Minds vibes or something I would have seen on an episode of a crime show. I do understand why people really like it though!

None of This is True by Lisa Jewell - ★★★★½

This was a highly anticipated thriller. This is my second Lisa Jewell novel, and what I’ve come to realize is that Lisa Jewell is basically literary fiction with a thriller subplot? Both of her books are really big on the story telling, and while it does have plot twists, the way that she writes them really leads up to the twist, so sometimes you’re not as surprised? I don’t know if this makes sense.

I listened to this through audiobook,and I loved the full cast this one had. This audiobook was extra fun, because it was about two women who speak on a podcast, and so the audiobook format worked really well for this novel! One of my favorite thrillers for sure, highly recommend.

The Good Part by Sophie Cousens - ★★★¾

This was a book that my friend, Christina, gave me. It’s kind of funny, because I believe Haley Pham read this book a couple of months back, and since she enjoyed it, I was super excited to give this one a read.

This book is about a girl whose life was at rock bottom in her late twenties. She was basically still an assistant at her job, even after working there for years, she lived in a shared apartment, but her roof was constantly leaking, and she’s had so many dating disasters, she’s almost given up.

After her latest dating fail, she finds a wishing machine on her walk home. And she decides to make a wish. Her wish was that she wants to skip to “the good part” of her life. Where she was killing it at her job, she met the love of her life, and didn’t live in an apartment that leaked. When she went to bed, the last thing she expected to happen was to wake up next to a strange man.

This is when she starts to realize that she was transported into her 40-something’s life.

I don’t want to say more, because I think what makes this story special is reading it through all the twists and turns. I really enjoyed this one, and I think the main thing to take away from this book is to try to stay present, and be grateful for all the good you have now, even if it’s not necessarily where you want to be.

This book definitely makes me want to read some of her other books, because I had a lot of fun reading this one!

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley - ★★★★¼

The final book I’m going to talk about with you guys today is The Ministry of Time. This was a book I bought at the airport when I was on my way home from Disney. I wasn’t entirely sure what this story was going to be about, but was really pleasantly surprised. It’s a sci-fi with a romance subplot, and it’s done in such a way that I think most people would enjoy this one.

Kaliane has such a way with words, some sentences were just so beautiful to read. It’s kind of funny saying that, because even if I can appreciate a well written book, it’s another thing to talk about how beautiful the actual writing was.

There were certain plot points that I wished were focused on a little bit more, but overall, I really enjoyed this one, and recommend it for the people who want to dip their toes in sci-fi!

TBR for July:

• Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez✔️
• Legendary by Stephanie Garber✔️
• Funny Story by Emily Henry ❌
• The Backtrack by Erin La Rosa❌
• The Fiance Dilemma by Elena Armas✔️
• The Good Part by Sophie Cousens✔️
• Funny Feelings by Tareh Dewitt (finished in the beginning of August already) ✔️
• The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston ✔️
• The Comeback by Lily Chu ❌
• Out On a Limb by Hannah Bonam-Young (currently reading)
• Wildfire by Hannah Grace ✔️

Tentative TBR for August:

• Funny Story by Emily Henry
• The Backtrack by Erin La Rosa
• The Comeback by Lily Chu
• Out On a Limb by Hannah Bonam-Young
• Finale by Stephanie Garber
• Off Camera by Chelsea Curto
• Four Weekends & a Funeral by Ellie Palmer
• The Break-Up Pact by Emma Lord
• Dune by Frank Herbert
• Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune
• A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

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So that was my July reading in a nutshell! How was your reading this past month? Read anything good? let me know! As always, thank you for reading! Chat soon xx