July Book Review

Happy July book review!! I was somehow able to squeeze in FIVE books this month! We can thank two glucose tests and a toddler learning to nap in her own crib for this. And all the mamas out there said "AMEN!" to one of those three, I'll let you guess which one. 😉

I stepped out of my comfort zone a little this month with my reading by including two books with a touch of magical realism and fantasy. Now, let's take a look at what all I read this month.

First up this month was Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry. This is a YA book that was compared to Jenny Han's To All the Boys I've Loved Before which is still one of my favorites. Instead of having letters mailed out to her crushes, Quinn has her journal stolen and exposed. Quinn keeps lists of everything in her journal from boys she would like to kiss to things she would never admit out loud to things she wants to do before she graduates high school. An anonymous Instagram opens up and starts posting Quinn's lists and blackmails her into facing her fears or else her whole journal will go public.

While I didn't love this book as much as TATBILB (it's really difficult to dethrone that one), I did enjoy it and can see it being popular amongst teens.

Next up was So Old, So Young. A podcast I follow, Bad On Paper, selected this as their book club pick several months ago and my name FINALLY came up on the waitlist. This book has an interesting premise in that you only see the characters during 5 parties over a span of 20 years starting right out of college. Maybe I just waited too long and let the anticipation build too much, but this book was just "meh" for me. I wasn't a fan of any of the characters which made it hard for me to care about what was going on in the book. That being said, I think it would make a great book club book because there is a bit you can talk about. In fact, I did a big post inspired by this book yesterday where I listed the 5 parties I would pick to describe my life.

Every December, I do a post on Facebook asking for 12 book recommendations from friends and this one was given to me years ago. After a friend let me borrow it this summer, I finally read The House in the Cerulean Sea and loved it. The main character, Linus, is sent to a magical island for a highly classified assignment where he is to keep tabs on the six orphans who live there and their caretaker. I quickly fell in love with the characters in this book and could picture all of them in my head. I was elated when I found out that the book is being turned into a TV series!

Two magical/fantasy books in a row? I know, who am I?!? Retro was written by my nephrologist's daughter so I was really excited to read it! Ash is an out of work actor who takes a job as a Time Travel Agent where she gets swept away in the glitz and glam of this new job. She quickly develops a crush on a mysterious coworker as well as a private eye who is pursing her -- back in 1937! However, Ash starts questioning everything when she thinks she's being erased from her real life.

It was so cool reading this book knowing-by-association the author. You can tell that the author is extremely smart and really researched the topic. The premise of the book was really cool and as someone who isn't usually drawn to magical realism, the book kept my attention and I kept turning the pages to see what happened next.

The last book I read in July was Katherine Center's newest book, The Shippers. A notoriously bad at love runaway bride is determined to break her curse and make her first kiss and first crush fall in love with her while aboard a cruise ship for her sister's wedding. Throw in her childhood bestie, Cooper, and a little fake flirting -- or is it?? -- and you have yourself this adorable read. I flew through the book in 24 hours and loved it! I feel like Katherine Center tends to fly under the radar a little, but I adore her books. I related to the main character JoJo a lot and found the cast of characters to be very entertaining.

I've already started my next book but am always looking for recommendations. What are you currently reading?