Well, here we are at the end of another month already. This year is just flying by. Managed to read 13 books–8 Specfic (5 Fantasy, 2 SciFi), 4 Romance, and 1 Thriller. Overall, not a bad month by any means, but I was hoping to get through more books on my 20 Books of Summer TBR list. I’ll have an update post on my challenge progress soon.
Favorite Reads of the Month:
- Touch by Claire North. Ah, my second Claire North book and the second that I’ve loved! It’s hard to explain why I love her writing so much, except that it’s about that human connection, she’s telling multiple stories, etc. Can’t wait to read more of her work.
- Last Bastion by Rachel Aaron and Travis Bach. Most of you probably know I’m a fan of Rachel Aaron’s by now–she’s my most reviewed author on the blog! I love her style and I’m really digging this LitRPG series she’s co-writing with Travis Bach. This series is fun because it takes place in a very World of Warcraft like setting and it brings back memories from my WoW days. But what makes it special is the heart, you really love the characters and root for them, even when they’re in conflict with each other. I love the direction this is going in and can’t wait to read more.
July’s Book Reviews:
I’ve had several books to review this month, but I’ve been spreading out my reviews more–only posting two a week right now, so I have a posted a few less than normal. Only eight this time around, here they are in case you missed them.
Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson – 5/5 stars
The Beast’s Heart by Leife Shallcross – 4.5/5 stars
The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang – 5/5 stars
Asha & The Spirit Bird by Jasbinder Bilan – 4/5 stars
The Defiant Heir by Melissa Caruso – 4/5 stars
Myths & Mortals by Charlie N. Holmberg – 4.5/5 stars
Touch by Claire North – 4.5/5 stars
The Blood Prince by Josie Jaffrey – 4/5 stars
Other Posts:
Again, not a ton of other posts this month. I continue to not post discussions much, womp womp. I vow to get better at this one day!
- 20 Books of Summer Challenge – July Check In
- Quick Fire Fantasy Tag
- The Secret Life of a Book Blogger Tag
- Soul Ripping Romance Tag
Plans for August:
August will be the final month of 20 Books of Summer, so my concentration is going to be be on getting books read from my challenge TBR pile. In addition to the Summer TBR pile and the few eARC’s I had on there, I’ve since been approved for a couple of other eARC’s so I’ll be doing my best to get through those as well, because I want to stay ahead of my ARCs instead of waiting until the last minute like last year.
The other thing I’ll be doing for August is prepping my Fall TBR. There are lots of great releases coming out this Fall, so many books that I’m looking forward to. I also really want to concentrate on backlist books this season, however. I have a HUGE pile of books in my living room that I am slowly but surely working my way through and my goal is to continue to do this.
There’s also the DC book festival upcoming–The National Book Festival. I’ve heard in years past that they didn’t have a great selection of SFF authors there, but this year there is a plethora of amazing authors attending. I don’t think I’m going to head down for this one because it a) will be super crowded and crowds are not my thing and b) it means a weekend away from reading and I’ll already have a busy month with a couple of other social events. But, wanted to make others in the area aware of it in case they were on the fence about going.
So, that was my month and my plans for August! How was your month? What are your plans for August? Leave me a note in the comments, I’d love to chat!
Way Too Fantasy 
Wow, you had a great month! Also your reviewed books were all 4 stars or higher, so I’d say that was successful😁 I’ve got way too many books to read this month and I’m getting stressed!
Thanks, Tammy! It was pretty darn good. Would have liked to get further with my TBR pile but regardless read a lot of great books. Definitely know what you mean, I feel the pressure too!
Looks like you had some pretty solid reads for July!
I’ve also been unintentionally plotting my Fall TBR, trying to figure out how to balance my ARCs and backlist. I’m participating in RRSciFiMonth in November, and trying to use that as an excuse to get through some backlist books; so far my tentative TBR is 5 backlist books and 2 2019 releases. Good luck waging war on….I mean reading your TBR!
That sounds like a good plan. I’m trying to get together a Fall TBR myself. The only thing I’m participating in is Tammy’s backlist read thing, but I’ve only assigned 5 books to it–I really want to stay realistic about things because I also have some ARCs and a bunch of new releases. We’ll see how if goes.
Thanks, good luck to you as well!
Looks like a great reading month! Good luck with all of your August reads💜
Thanks, Kaya! Hope you have a great August as well!
You seem to have had a great reading month – no book rating lower than 4/5! I’m a bit jealous 😉 Here’s to August being just as good 😀
Thanks! It was a pretty decent month. 🙂
Hope your August is great too!
You’re right. The Nat Book Fest usually don’t have many SFF authors, but I’m excited for who’s coming this year. I plan on attending, but yea. Getting into a very popular’s author’s presentation may require you to stand in a very long line. There will be lots of people but feels crowded only when you’re in those popular presentations.
I hope you have a great time! I just am past the point of feeling like dealing with crowds much lol. 🙂
I love Rachel Aaron too and I’ve been meaning to check out that new litRPG series. Didn’t know you used to play WoW! So did I, but not so much these days because it’s such a time sink. I’ve also been meaning to check out her other series set in the Heartstrikers world, but as usual, too many books, too little time!
Yeah, I haven’t played for years. I’m not much of a gamer, but I enjoyed the social aspect of that type of game. Heartstrikers is really fun, but definitely recommend her LitRPG one since you used to play WoW, you’d probably get a kick out of it. Definitely get the too little time, too many books thing, hah! Oh! I just set up Rachel Aaron with an AMA on r/fantasy for September 4th. You should stop by and say hi! 😀
You had a great reading month with loads of lovely books. Hope your August tbr reading goes well and can’t wait to see your Autumn reads.
Lynn 😀
Thanks, Lynn! I do wish I’d gotten a couple of more books in during July, but I still managed to get quite a few books read!
It looks like you had a fantastic reading month!! I’ve been meaning to check out Claire North’s full novels for a while. I loved her Gamehouse novellas! And I first found out LitRPGs were a thing last year, with Sufficiently Advanced Magic, and now I want more. 😀
I’ve heard great things about her Gamehouse books and want to read those next.
The next LitRPG I’m reading is a short one with vampires for my bingo card. I think the genre is interesting but this was probably gripped me because it’s by Aaron and I love her stuff. 😀