Books I Read in July 2022

Book of Night by Holly Black

5 out of 5 stars

I was intrigued by this book because it is written by a popular young adult fantasy writer and is her first adult novel. Not to mention, it’s very interesting take on shadows. If you’re tired of the usual vampire/werewolf urban fiction stuff this book is right down your alley! It definitely ends with a lot of questions so I can’t wait for the sequel!

Home Before Dark by Riley Sager

5 out of 5 stars

Riley Sager has many many books in the horror genre. Thanks to Book of the Month and a dear friend, I decided to try one of his books. As you can tell from my 5 star rating I was very impressed! I’m definitely adding his other works to my to-read list. Psst he also just came out with a new book called The House Across the Lake. What I love most about my favorite horror/thriller books are giant totally-didn’t-see-it-coming twists! This one definitely has those. The haunted house and long-held secrets are just the sprinkles on top.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

3 out of 5 stars

I have one gaping hole of a genre as a reader and that is literary fiction. I don’t know quite how to explain it but I can’t stand some books that are literary fiction and more about symbolism and similar to books you’d be assigned in high school. This one fell in that category. I did read it all the way through (one time I read The Goldfinch by Donna Tart which also ended up in this assignment type feel category and I forced myself to read the whole thing. Huge waste of my time). It had a little excitement but for the most part I just wondered “what’s the point? where’s the action?”. It takes place in a pandemic induced apocalypse and follows multiple points of view.

The Burning Girls by C.J. Tudor

5 out of 5 stars

Oh. My. God. This. Book. Remember earlier when I mentioned that my favorite books have the crazy twists in them? This one has those. I literally had to back track and keep reading some sentences over again because my brain couldn’t process the twist even though I knew it was there. I’m still trying to puzzle what all the twists snowball into. On top of the twists, I really liked how the author made her main character a female single mother reverend. And pointed out the difficulties with that title. I hope to read more by C.J. Tudor.

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

5 out of 5 stars

Dang! I have been reading some good books lately! This author writes in such a beautiful way that I wish I had more words to describe it. The characters and character development are top notch. I will be honest, I saw some of the ending coming BUT that is so low on the totem pole compared to everything else in the book. It follows the story of Elizabeth Zott who is a female chemist in the 1950s/60s who struggles to fight patriarchy in the world but especially in science. You also learn about the lives that Zott touches and the results of that interaction.

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