In July, I went to France for a wedding, and then went on a group trip through Scandinavia that I absolutely loved. I did some travel reading and ended up with a mood-read as well. I may not have found any new 5-star reads, but I certainly still picked up some great ones. Let’s get into the stats!

Stats

Total books read: 9

#readmyowndamnbooks: 6

Re-reads: 1

Reviews

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood (5 stars) (re-read) – Due to moving stress, I found myself in need of a comforting re-read with a guaranteed HEA, and literally binge-read this book in a single day. From my initial review: I honestly just enjoyed the crap out of this book–it’s grumpy/sunshine fake dating in an academia setting, based on Star Wars fanfiction, and it’s extremely sweet and also very funny. It’s a book that I can see myself re-reading when I’m in a bad mood, and if you’re a romance fan, I definitely recommend picking it up!

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros (4 stars) – Ok, so this book is everywhere right now, so I’m not going to do a long-winded review. This book has a lot in common with other popular fantasy/romance books, and it still manages to be a fast-paced and extremely entertaining read despite reminding me of several other series. It’s compelling, it’s action-packed, it’s got a good romance, and it made me like dragons more than I normally do.

Fairytales of the Macabre by Olivie Blake (4 stars) – I’m in my Olivie Blake era and I never want to leave. I found Blake’s indie-published trilogy of short story collections on Amazon soon before it was announced that they’re being edited and combined into a single collection for a mainstream publisher, and I’m glad to have found them first in their original and complete forms. This was a solid collection of dark fairytale retellings with unexpected twists, and I look forward to the next two in this series.

My Mechanical Romance by Alexene Farol Follmuth (4 stars) – This is written under beloved adult fantasy author Olivie Blake’s real name (Blake is a pen name), under which she writes YA. I knew already that I loved her adult work (The Atlas Six was stellar) and I ended up loving her take on YA as well. This book deals heavily with women in STEM, a topic close to my heart, and included well-developed friendships and romances as well. I’ll continue picking up lots from this author.

Under a White Sky by Elizabeth Kolbert (4 stars) – Kolbert’s writing about the environment and climate change research is interesting and informative; I also enjoyed her book The Sixth Extinction. The audio narration was well done also.

Alexandra Petri’s U.S. History: Important American Documents I Made Up by Alexandra Petri (3.5 stars) – This was a bit underwhelming for me; my expectations may have been too high. I loved the concept of the premise (humorous takes on U.S. history) but didn’t find the execution as funny as I wanted it to be. It was still a fun read, but not a laugh-out-loud one.

Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan (3.5 stars) – I liked the idea of a book about an audio narrator written and narrated by an audio narrator probably a bit more than the actual storyline of this book. I enjoyed the family and friendship dynamics, as well as the main character’s journey, but didn’t vibe with the romance. I also don’t really think this should have been marketed as romance, as the book would have worked just fine without that element.

For Butter or Worse by Erin La Rosa (3.5 stars) – A food-focused contemporary romance about rival chefs fake dating that was fun but didn’t necessarily blow me away.

The Woman Who Fooled by World by Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano (3 stars) – I first heard about Instagram scammer Belle Gibson on the Maintenance Phase podcast, and picked up this audiobook for an easy nonfiction read. It wasn’t as interesting as I was hoping.