Books Read in July

Book By Book

July was all about my Big Book Summer Challenge! Here’s what I finished reading last month:

• Airborn by Kenneth Oppel – middle-grade/teen fiction on audio
• The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (IL) – adult fiction, a re-read
• Fly By Night by Frances Hardinge – middle-grade fiction

• The Book of M by Peng Shepherd (VA) – adult fiction on audio
• If You Want to Make God Laugh by Bianca Marais (South Africa) – adult fiction

So, I read 5 books in all in July, and all of them were Big Books (i.e. over 400 pages), even my audios! It was an all-fiction month for me, which I always enjoy, with a mix of adult and middle-grade/teen books. Two of the five were listened to on audio. I’m going to cheat and choose TWO favorites because this was my second time reading The Time Traveler’s Wife, and it is still in my Top 5 Favorite Books of all time and still made me sob uncontrollably, even though I knew what was coming. Since I already knew that one was a favorite, I also want to give some love to If You Want to Make God Laugh, another wonderful novel from the author of Hum If You Don’t Know the Words that I read in record time and loved.

Progress in 2019 Reading Challenges:
This is my favorite part of my monthly summary – updating my Reading Challenges:

Mount TBR Reading Challenge – Just 2 of my 5 books were from my own shelves, low for a Big Book Summer month, but one was brand-new and I’m not counting audios (though the challenge allows you to) because they don’t take up physical space! However, I should get extra credit for Fly By Night which sat on my shelf for 11+ years!

Monthly Motif Reading Challenge – July was Through the Years month, to read a book that has something to do with time, so of course The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger was a perfect fit.

Back to the Classics Challenge – No new classics this month – I tried to get through Catch-22 but set it aside about halfway through.

Monthly Keyword Challenge – I didn’t read a single book with any of the monthly keywords in the title…again, for the 7th month in a row! Nope, not one all year so far. Clearly this challenge wasn’t a good choice for me.

Nonfiction Reading Challenge 2019 – No nonfiction last month.

Diversity Reading Challenge – Two of my books were diverse.

Travel the World in Books Reading Challenge – I added a second book set in South Africa (both by the talented Bianca Marais!).

2018 Literary Escapes Challenge – I added 2 new states: Illinois and Virginia.

2019 Big Book Summer Challenge – I added five more Big Books for a total of 7 so far this summer.

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 17 squares in July – not bad for 5 books:

Airborn – in a series, death/murder, audio book

The Time Traveler’s Wife – travel – space/time/distance, read a physical book, made into a movie

Fly By Night – spy, thief, shelf love

The Book of M – dual or multiple POV,  free book, not in a series

If You Want to Make God Laugh – BBQ/grilling/cookout, foreign country, pet

All Books! – long – over 400 pages

Free Space