I fell behind on writing my monthly reading reviews this summer so I’m trying to do a quick catch up. And I started this update just a couple of days into August and we’re now halfway through the month – oops! So I’m not planning to do an in-depth review of what I’ve read, just an overview. Perhaps that will relieve some pressure and allow me to finally press publish on this post.
My summer reading has been varied but definitely still romance-focused, surprisingly. Friends, I’m trying to sneak my way back into literary fiction and have several books going right now and am making some progress. Fingers crossed that I actually finish one of them!
June
My favorite book of the month was The Priory of the Orange Tree – a massive fantasy novel with dragons and a magical orange tree. It was beautiful and had a ton of moving pieces; it was so fun to watch all of the characters converge and use their powers to save the world. I’ve started the prequel – A Day of Fallen Night – and am very slowly immersing myself into that world. Very slowly!
July
July was a very slow month for me but extremely enjoyable so it’s hard for me to it narrow down to one favorite.
- The God of the Woods – a perfect summer mystery. A child going missing at a summer camp is bad enough, but compounded with the fact that she’s the child of the camp’s owners and her brother went missing on the same property years before? What a wild ride. I couldn’t put this book down and have been recommending it to everyone!
- Rose Cottage – I have wanted to read more of Mary Stewart’s romances ever since I first read Thornyhold. I loved this small cottage setting and watching Kate’s romance with a childhood friend blossom. This was another wonderful summer book and I’m so glad I finally read it. Also — it’s just $2.99 on Kindle!
- Book Lovers – such a fun romance! I’d started this one earlier this year and abandoned it. I didn’t think I was a fan of contemporary romance and gave up on it really quickly. I’m not sure why I got back on the Libby waitlist for it but I’m glad I did. It was fun! And sweet. And I was rooting for Nora and Charlie all the way.
Also – the new graphic for July came from Storygraph. I think I’ve decided to completely abandon Goodreads and live on Storygraph from now on – the stats it generates are amazing. Let’s be friends!
Currently Reading
Right now I’m dipping in and out of this year’s Booker Prize longlist and am reading My Friends, This Strange Eventful History, and Wandering Stars. I’m also enjoying A Day of Fallen Night (as written about above). I don’t usually have so many books going at once but it’s working for my brain right now. Changing things up has been helpful!
And that’s all I can do right now. I hope August’s review is more robust and helpful. But even if it isn’t, I’m still thankful to have a place where I can share my excitement and chat with you about what I’ve been reading.
take good care!
The Cozy Burrow 
Sent you a friend request on StoryGraph – I abandoned Goodreads almost 2 years ago and never looked back! It’s so refreshing to be on an app where you get emails like “Look at this cool new feature that people have been asking for, and we made it!” Goodreads hasn’t had an update in, I don’t know, 15 years.
I found a copy of Rose Cottage at a used book sale and had pulled it out for my Autumn reads, but you said it seems like a summer book, so I’ll try to get to it earlier! I’m not reading the Booker Longlist like I did for the Women’s Prize, so I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts & what I should pick up!
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I definitely think Rose Cottage is suited for the summertime. And hurrah for finding a used copy! I hope you enjoy it 🙂
And YES about Goodreads vs Storygraph. I’ve had a ton of fun exploring storygraph and am loving the features.
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I have Strange Eventful History on my list but I don’t know anyone else who has read it so I will be interested to hear your thoughts.
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I just started it today! It was on my radar because of the Booker Long List nod, and then this morning I listened to the Poured Over conversation. It sounded SO good and right up my alley (multi-generational story with a structural tie-in AND themes of family/belonging/post-colonialism)
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I hope you’re loving it, Mary! I can’t wait to really dig into it.
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I am only a couple of hours into the audio but am enjoying it. I love that it’s WWII through a French Algerian perspective, which I haven’t seen before!
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That’s plenty! I’m impressed. I have added The Priory of the Orange Tree to my TBR list.
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I think you’re going to love The Priory! I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on it 🙂
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so many good books here!
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Yes! It feels good to be reading 🙂
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Your overview is very thorough. For some reason, I loved The Dictionary of Lost Words. It looks to me like you have read quite a lot. I do like that we all like different books. Every reader is different and that is a good thing.
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I also LOVED The Dictionary of Lost Words. I enjoyed the setting and the exploration of how words were/are defined. The author has another book that I’ve added to my TBR, The Bookbinder. Have you read it yet? It looks good too!
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I just added you as a friend on StoryGraph! I’m still using Goodreads, too. I like the stats that you can get on SG, but there’s still info on GR that I can’t find on the other site.
I’m looking forward to God of the Woods. It’s come up on hold for me twice and I’ve had to delay delivery because I just haven’t had time to read it and don’t want to hold up the list. But it looks like I might get it again soon!
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I hope you’re able to get to The God of the Woods before summer ends… it’s so perfect for this season! And thank you for the Storygraph add!!
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My Friends was my favorite book last year… hands down. (and Wandering Stars was in my top ten as well!) I am ever so glad to see you here… I am so glad your reading is so abundant! XO
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I only have about 30 pages left in My Friends. I don’t want to rush it! I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to stay focused at first, but it quickly sucked me in. I’m not sure if I’ve ever read a novel about Libya?
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Back in the day I read a lot of Mary Stewart, she’s a great writer. I’ve just finished a book called The Liar by Nora Roberts. I hadn’t read any of hers previously and rather enjoyed it.
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I haven’t read any Nora Roberts either but know she’s popular at the library. Thank you for your nod of approval!
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Oooooh I cannot wait to read God of the Woods! It sounds so good!
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YES! It’s so much fun. I hope you get to it soon 🙂
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Thank you for the recommendations I can add to my ever growing TBR list! This was a nice summation of books, don’t feel bad about falling behind. Your wellbeing is more important than a timely post. Look forward to seeing more (this was my first post of yours, as it fell upon my Reader feed)!
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Thank you for commenting, Kimberly! It’s always nice to see new faces 🙂 I hope you found a good book or two in this post – take good care!
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so many folks are switching to Storygraph! I really use Goodreads just for the easy access to what I read when (and easy-to-snag snapshots of special shelves – like prize lists and projects) so I’m not sure it makes sense for me to change?
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Yes – that’s something I like about Goodreads too. I think Storygraph can be used in the same way but haven’t tinkered with it like that to make sure. AND – the Storygraph features that I’ve learned to use are really amazing. Maybe it’s worthwhile to import your books and just fiddle around with it? I think you’d really enjoy it.
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I’m way down on the holds list at the library for God of the Woods but I’m excited to read it when I get it!
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I also sent you a friend request on Storygraph!
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I hope you get it soon! It’s one of my favorite books of the summer!
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