July was a full-on #BigBookSummer month for me, with just a few books but mostly LONG ones for the challenge ... and all great! Here's what I finished reading last month:
The Air You Breathe by Frances de Ponte Peebles (Brazil) - adult historical fiction
Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton (Australia) - adult fiction on audio
Blackout by Connie Willis (UK) - adult fiction
Allergic by Megan Wagner Lloyd & Michelle Mee Nutter (CA) - middle-grade graphic novel
Yes, that's it! Just four books read in July, but all of them except Allergic were Big Books, over 400 pages, including the audio. I read mostly adult fiction last month (three of four), with one middle-grade graphic novel and just one book on audio. These were all excellent, but my favorite has to be Blackout, since I absolutely love Connie Willis' Oxford Time Travel series. Even with demerits for ending abruptly, with no hint on the cover that it was part 1 of 2, it was still outstanding, and I can't wait to read part 2.
Progress in 2021 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 above. I have some
fun ones going this year!
Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2021 - Three of my books came off my own shelves (and the audio had been in my backlog for a while, too, but I only count the ones that take up physical space!).
2021 Monthly Motif Reading Challenge - July was Short But Fabulous, and Allergic fit perfectly.
Back to the Classics 2021 - No classics in July (again!).
2021 AtoZ Reading Challenge - Oddly, all of my book titles started with A or B, and I already had those spots filled.
PopSugar Reading Challenge 2021 - this is a unique one, with 50 quirky categories. My list is getting pretty full now, but I added another 2 categories to my list this month. That brings me up to 27:
2021 Nonfiction Reader Challenge - No nonfiction in July.
Diversity Reading Challenge 2021 - Two of my books (half) were diverse last month (The Air You Breathe and Allergic, and I counted The Air You Breathe for the mini challenge theme for July, LGBT+ because there were lesbian and bisexual characters in it.
Travel the World in Books Reading Challenge - I traveled back to the UK and Australia and also to Brazil, perhaps for the first time ever in my reading!
2021 Literary Escapes Challenge - I added no new states.
2021 Big Book Summer Challenge - I forgot to report on my own challenge last month! Three of my four books in July were Big Books, plus four in June brings my current total up to 7 Big Books so far this summer! Listening to Big Book audios helps.
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 17 spaces on my bingo card - not bad for only 4 books!
Spaces Filled:
The Air You Breathe - physical book, travel/journey, song lyrics in the title, snazzy dresser, shelf love
Boy Swallows Universe - not in a series, audio book, eye roll, red/white/blue on the cover
Blackout - vehicle on the cover, weapon on cover, LOL, LGTBQ, in a series
Allergic - animal/pet, free book
Free Space
What was YOUR favorite book read in July?
Wow—I'm so impressed that you got three big books read in July! I'm still making my way through my second big book since the challenge began, so you're making impressively fast progress. And I'm excited to read Allergic—I mentioned on the review that I ordered and received a copy of it! That is funny that all of your book titles started with A or B for the AtoZ challenge. My favorite book read in July was The Song of Achilles, or Goodbye Stranger if we're including books I re-read (and that one is my favorite of all time). Thanks so much for sharing!
ReplyDeleteWell, one was on audio, and the other two weren't TOO big. I just started Anna Karenina which will definitely take me all month on its own! But I always have an audio going, too :)
DeleteI want to read both of your favorites!
You are making great progress - congratulations!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Shelley - though no nonfiction last month! I'll make up for it in November :)
DeleteIt's not the number of books that matters, but the quality and you read really good (and long!) books in July. And, you're making good progress on your challenges.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Helen! I agree - quality over quantity.
DeleteTHE AIR YOU BREATHE sounds like one I would enjoy! I hadn't heard of it before, but now I'm definitely going to check it out. We had two kids over for dinner last night who served two-year church missions in Brazil. It was fun to hear them speaking Portugese and talking about how much they loved Brazil!
ReplyDeleteIt was SO good! I knew very little about Brazil - what fun to hear about it first-hand!
DeleteEven with demerits for ending abruptly, with no hint on the cover that it was part 1 of 2, it was still outstanding, and I can't wait to read part 2.
ReplyDeleteI felt the same way - and All Clear makes it all worth it. If possible, even better than Blackout!!
Glad to hear it!! I'm using my birthday gift card to buy All Clear :)
DeleteI have Allergic high on my TBR. I can't wait to read it and gain perspective from a person who suffers from allergies. We are blessed here not to have severe ones.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear that's not an issue for your family! The graphic novel is all about family and friendships, too :) Hope you enjoy it!
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