July Recap

Um, is it seriously August already?

While I'm sad that I didn't get to blog about any of the books I read in July, when I look back at my July calendar, I'm ecstatic that I read as much as I did when I could. Farming season is in full swing, and I haven't read a single book since sweet corn started. Here's a look at the books I DID get to read in July:

1. Drop Dead Healthy by AJ Jacobs
2. A Child Called "It" by Dave Pelzer
3. Thunderstruck by Erik Larson
4. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
5. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
6. Panic by Sharon Draper

I also got halfway through Unbroken by Laura Hillebrand before I had to take it back to the library, as well as Paddle Your Own Canoe by Nick Offermann, which I haven't gotten to finish yet but really like so far.

Best Non-Fiction: Thunderstruck by Erik Larson, because Larson is awesome and always teaches me about science and history and other things I know nothing about. This book is about a murder at the turn of the century and Guglielmo Marconi, who essentially invented wireless radio transmitters. Erik Larson is basically the epitome of who I imagine a real historian is; if you like history,  I would also recommend In the Garden of Beasts about the US ambassador to Germany during the rise of Hitler, and Devil in the White City about the Chicago World Fair and a serial killer. Really enthralling stuff, I swear!

Best Fiction: Has to be a tie between Sharp Objects and Before I Fall. Sharp Objects is a great thriller about a journalist investigating a series of murders in her hometown (not as good at Flynn's other masterpiece Gone Girl, but still really good adult fiction). Before I Fall is by Lauren Oliver, a super well-known YAL author specifically for teenaged girls, and her book was surprisingly complex for me. It's about a girl who dies in a car accident (happens in the prologue- not a spoiler!) and then has to relive that same day to see if she can change the course of history. Wasn't expecting to be so into it, but I actually loved it! Cheers to you, Lauren Oliver!

My goal of reading thirty books this summer seems a little farfetched at this point, since I've only read twelve to date. Even so, I'm glad I set a lofty goal and am hoping for more reading in August (it's not like any of us are busy or anything, right?)

Happy August!