Bookish Chatter | July 2022 Reading

Friends, I have been trying to get back into the habit of a monthly reading recap for quite a while now. You should see my WordPress drafts — months of efforts are saved, in vain. I keep running out of time and before I know it – poof – it is way too late to share! But I’m in an acceptable window right now and am doing my best to get this published.

July included a round of covid for my family and a week of quarantine. You’d think that would mean lots of reading time but my experience didn’t pan out that way. I barely read for two weeks as we worked our way through the illness and played catch up around the house as we started creeping back into our typical routines. I often ebb and flow with my reading and it’s not uncommon for me to have a few quiet weeks while my focus turns to other projects. The difference this time is that I really wanted to be reading and couldn’t. It felt devastating at the time but now that I have a little more perspective, I can see that it was okay. All of those books on my lists are still there, waiting patiently for me to get to them.

A few highlights from the month:

• I returned to The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society when I began to reenter the world of reading after covid. It hits the spot every time.
• The 2022 Booker Longlist was released on the 26th and I finished two of the books that very day! Small Things Like These and Oh William! were both highly readable and quick to get through, if you’re looking for a place to dip your toes.
• I finally finished The Books of Jacob, despite starting it in April. I wasn’t a fan but am glad to say that I read it. I have a goal this year to read more big books, so this one helped me stay on track with that aim.
• The newest Ruth Galloway mystery, The Locked Room, was published in July and I saved my Audible credit for it. It was another excellent addition to the series.
• My love of Japanese culture was stoked by The Housekeeper and The Professor and My Year of Meats. Another one of my reading goals for the year is to prioritize Japanese literature, so check!
• I finished four chapter books with my kiddos this month and Josefina is my favorite American Girl so far.
• If you’re looking for a very weird book, then Bunny just might be for you.
• My favorite of the month: Oh William!. There’s a close tie for second: The Housekeeper and the Professor and Small Things Like These.

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I’m thinking about how to incorporate this year’s bookish goals into these monthly recaps if I’m able to continue them, but the goals I wrote aren’t very helpful to me right now. I made them vague on purpose because I’m no longer counting books read, which makes measuring progress a little tricky. So they’re hanging out in the back of my brain and I’m trying to find ways to make them a little more specific and measurable without making reading feel like homework.

August is going smashingly so far, so I’m looking forward to writing another monthly recap as soon as the month ends. How has your reading been? Any new discoveries lately? I’d love to hear from you!