Books Read in July

A cool spot on a hot summer day at our local nature center.

It was mostly a Big Book Summer month for me! Here's what I finished reading in July:

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins - YA fiction on audio

Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King (OH) - adult fiction

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert (UK) - adult fiction

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata (Japan) - adult fiction

Doomsday Book by Connie Willis (UK) - adult fiction

It was an all-fiction month in July and almost all adult fiction, except for one YA novel on audio. That fiction covered a wide variety of types and genres, including science fiction, mystery/thriller, romance, general fiction, and a time travel historical thriller! That made it a very fun reading month. I enjoyed all of these novels very much. My favorite is an easy pick, though, because I was completely knocked out by Doomsday Book--could not stop reading, yet never wanted it to end! Two weeks later, I still can't stop thinking about it. That's some good summer reading.

Progress in 2020 Reading Challenges:
You can see all of the reading challenges I am participating in and full lists of the books read for each at the challenges link. I have some fun ones going this year! Here's how July stacked up:

Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2020 - I read 2 books from my own shelves last month.

2020 Monthly Motif Reading Challenge - July was Around the World, and I read Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, set in Japan and written by a Japanese author.

Back to the Classics 2020 - No classics last month (but I am working on one now!)

PopSugar Reading Challenge - this is a unique one! It's getting challenging now that many categories are filled, but I fit 2 of my books into nee PopSugar categories: Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata is set in Japan and Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert is written by an author in her 20's (can you believe she's just 23 years old?)

2020 Nonfiction Reader's Challenge - No nonfiction in July.

2020 Diversity Reading Challenge - Three of my books included diverse characters, though none fit the July theme of LGBTQ+.

Travel the World in Books Reading Challenge - I added Japan to my worldwide reading tour last month.

2020 Literary Escapes Challenge - I added one new state: Ohio.

2020 Big Book Summer Challenge - I added three more Big Books in July, for a total of seven so far.

And finally, Bookish Bingo hosted by Chapter Break - not really a challenge per se, but a fun game that I play each month! Stop by to print out this month's Bingo card and play along. In July, I filled 21 spaces on my bingo card, which is great for only five books:

Spaces Filled:

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes - cake/pie/dessert, animal, multi-word title, audiobook, free book
Mr. Mercedes - in a series, read a physical book, shelf love
Get a Life, Chloe Brown - birthday, diversity, made you laugh, read an ebook
Convenience Store Woman - set in a foreign country, library book, not in a series, book club read
Doomsday Book - made you cry, feast, red/white/blue on the cover, gift
Free Space

What was your favorite book read in July?