Books Read in July

Ahh...it's so much easier to keep up with my reviews during summer, when many of my books are longer ones for my Big Book Summer Challenge, which means fewer reviews to write!

July was a good reading month, in spite of 2 Did-Not-Finish books. Here's what I did finish in July:

• Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon (France, Scotland) - adult fiction
• Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (UK) - adult fiction on audio
• Red, White, Blue by Lea Carpenter (NY) - adult fiction (reviewed for Shelf Awareness)

• Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton (WY, MT, SD) - adult fiction on audio
• Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld (NY, CA) - teen/YA fiction

(Note: I also started but did not finish (DNF) The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe and Made for Love by Alissa Nutting)

I finished just five books in July, but they were all excellent, and two of them were Big Books (more than 400 pages) for my Big Book Summer Challenge. My favorite? Impossible to choose! I absolutely loved every page (or minute) of Dragonfly in Amber (#2 in the Outlander series), Great Expectations, and Afterworlds. Of the five books I read, four were adult fiction and one was YA, and two were on audio. I'll share the link to my review of Red, White, Blue once it is published on Shelf Awareness.

Progress in 2018 Reading Challenges:
This is my favorite part of my monthly summary - updating my Reading Challenges! I read 3 books from my own shelves for my Mount TBR Reading Challenge, bringing my total-to-date to 14. I can always rely on my Big Book Summer Challenge to boost my TBR numbers! For the Monthly Motif Reading Challenge, July was Vacation Reads so I chose Dragonfly in Amber. I added Great Expectations for the Back to the Classics Challenge, bringing my total for the year so far to 3! That also counted for the 2018 Badass Books Challenge: a book published more than 100 years ago. I added France & Scotland to my Travel the World in Books Reading Challenge. For my 2018 Literary Escapes Challenge, I added just one new state but it was a rare one for book settings - Montana (Dragon Teeth). And for my own Big Book Summer Challenge, I finished my second Big Book for 2018 - Dragonfly in Amber (and am now reading my 3rd one). There is still plenty of time to join the summer fun - click the link for details!
 
Finally, Bookish Bingo hosted by Chapter Break - not really a challenge per se, but a fun game that I play each month. I filled in 21 squares in July - a good Bingo month for me!

Spaces filled in:

Dragonfly in Amber -  Over 400 pages, in a series, foreign country, in a series, time travel (& distance travel), feast, shelf love
Great Expectations - Hat on the cover, lol
Red, White, Blue - Multi-word title, dual POV, read a physical book, free book
Afterworlds - Mythical creature, character wears glasses, special powers, magic, young adult
Dragon Teeth  - Historic
Free Space

What was your favorite book read in July?