My Month Is Booked: July 2024

Hi everyone! Welcome to July’s My Month is Booked linkup! :] I’ve switched up my Goodreads Reading challenge goal to 52 books! (I think I started the year hoping to finish ~20!)

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Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, by Elizabeth Gilbert – This is by the author of Eat, Pray, Love (which I haven’t read yet) and is a book club pick from someone I follow on IG (she picks 1 nonfiction + one fiction novel each month). I picked this up as an audiobook as it’s narrated by the author and it’s kindasorta a self-help book, but different! The focus is on embracing your creativity (no matter what avenue it is that you’re interested in pursuing) and finding fulfillment in your life.

Yours Truly, by Abby Jimenez – This is the second part of a trilogy (did not realize this), but can be read as a stand-alone book + is a rom-com about 2 ER physicians who fake-date each other. The author does a great job touching on heavier topics, depression, anxiety, caregiving for someone with chronic disease, while still having lots of lighthearted + hilarious moments. I’d never heard of a “cinnamon roll” but apparently this means a sweet/lovable character who’s too good for this world. (Very apt description of one of the main characters, haha.) It’s a slow burn + there is a lot of miscommunication that may make you want to shake em’ both and tell them to just talk to each other, but definitely an enjoyable read + I’ll be checking out the other two in the series!

Uprooted, by Naomi Novik – Agnieszka grows up in her valley home a few miles from a corrupted wood full of evil; they rely on a wizard to keep its powers at bay, and every 10 years, he demands a young woman to be handed over to serve him for 10 years. All her life, she believes it’s her best friend Kasia who will be taken, but she is not the one he chooses.  I wanted to like this more, but it was hard to like anyone in the book. Agnieszka makes being clumsy + getting dirty/muddy all the time almost her entire personality and the wizard is just…angry. I also listened to this as an audiobook — the main character is supposed to be 17 and the narrator’s voice for her did not sound young, so it was harder to suspend reality. She does an absolutely excellent job with the dark/creepy bits in this though.

The Little French Bistro, by Nina George – Once upon a time, I read The Little Paris Bookshop, written by the same author, and I absolutely adored it. As it follows the life of a woman who decides to leave her life behind + finds herself on the coast of Brittany, where she meets a cast of colorful locals + showing her that it’s never too late to start searching for what gives your life meaning.

I thought this would be similar-ish to The Little Paris Bookshop, but I may have gone in with too-high expectations. There were a lot of side characters that felt tangential/almost interexchangeable, and not that helpful in keeping the story going/flowing. I questioned the main character’s decision-making a lot and it didn’t feel like there was a whole lot of character development.

Floreana, by Midge Raymond – Floreana follows the lives of 2 different women a century apart from one another. Set in Floreana Island in the Galápagos Islands, it provides aperspective of what may have occurred regarding people who really did actually move out there to make a life for themselves on a remote island back in the 1920’s-1930’s.

Not gonna lie, this initially caught my eye because of the cover + because of the setting (I’d love to go dive there someday!). This was definitely an interesting read, as I’d never actually known about the history of that island.

P.S. This is an ARC (thank you to NetGalley + the publisher in exchange for an honest review! :) — expected to be published in 2/2025!

Fourth Wing, by Rebecca Yarros – The premise of dragons was a win for me. :D Fourth Wing is about a 20yo named Violet Sorrengail who has trained all her life to become a scribe, but is ordered by the general (aka her mother) to strive to become a dragon rider instead. In this world, there are fewer dragons willing to bond than there are cadets — other cadets want her dead because of her mother, and if the dragon decides you’re too weak/a liability, it will incinerate you.

If romantasy is your thing, this would be a good pick! It gave me Divergent vibes as far as there being 4 different “factions” + hidden secrets. I couldn’t put it down, but will say that the romance part wasn’t too believable (seemed pretty sudden and could’ve been developed more — there was also some smut, which I can’t say I’m used to reading + did not know would be considered appropriate for YA?). I loved the personality the dragons brought into the story though and borrowed the sequel immediately after, har har…

Iron Flame, by Rebecca Yarros – And here’s the sequel! In the interest of not throwing out spoilers, this continues right where Fourth Wing left off and builds from there. There is more drama, more world-building, more ending on a giant cliffhanger that I actually did see coming this time, but am upset about because the next book is not out yet. I believeeee the 3rd book’s release date will be January of next year, so thank goodness I have hundreds of books left of my TBR list still?

I joined a GoodReads group and decided to do a “buddy read” where my buddy picks 2 books out of my to-read list for me and I pick  2 for them + we discuss em’ at the end of the month! These two were her picks for me (I like how both have “June” in the title, haha — very fitting for June!).

The Unmaking of June Farrow, by Adrienne Young – A mysterious curse plagues June Farrow’s family line — after her grandmother’s death, June discovers cryptic clues involving her mother’s disappearance decades ago.

It was hard for me to put this down as I really wanted to find out what happened next. 😅 It definitely went in a direction I wouldn’t have guessed from just reading the synopsis, but I did end up guessing a couple little twists by the end. This was an enjoyable read!

Goodnight June, by Sarah Jio – If you’re looking for an unrealistic Hallmark/Lifetime-movie-type book, you’ll find it in this one! Enter June Andersen, a career-oriented professionally-successful banker who returns to her hometown in Seattle to inherit her great-aunt Ruby’s children’s bookstore to her, and magically falls in love with…

You think I kid, but…

(I don’t mean this in a bad way —  sometimes you just want something that’s kinda sappy with a guaranteed happy-ending. Some of my most favorite memories involve me chillin’ on an armchair with several cats on my lap/head next to Linda, also decorated in cats, whilst watching Hallmark movies over the holidays. <3) It’s a cozy read, albeit highly, highly unrealistic in the romance department. But like I said, Hallmark movie!! (I didn’t see the reveal coming tho!)

Got any book reviews from this month? Link em’ up below and make sure you visit others in the linkup too for reading inspiration! :]

• Do you watch Hallmark movies?
• Have you ever done a “buddy read”? I like the idea — it’s helping me to slowwlyy get through my ever-growing TBR list!