OMG guys! July is here!!!!! I’m so excited about all the reading I will get done. I KNOW I will finish my books to read in July list with no problem. In addition to any other Books to Read from previous months…ahem…May.
For my Books to Read in July list, I’ve chosen books from authors that I have LOVED in the past year.
It was actually really hard to narrow it down to just five books, but like I said, I’m sure I will be reading much more this month. You know, with all my free time and all that.
My kids are now self sufficient…after YEARS of hearing “Mommy I’m bored” or “He/she hit me/kicked me/touched me/looked at me sideways” and my all time favorite, “Mommy, I’m HUNGRY”. Oh, who am I kidding? I still hear that last one. I think the kids think I’m running a diner.
See Related Post: Am I Running a Diner Here?
So…anyway. Books to read in July. These authors only share one thing in common. They all have unique storytelling styles. these are not a dime a dozen, run-of-the-mill authors. No siree.
Sit back and enjoy.
The Last House Guest by Megan Miranda
Littleport, Maine is like two separate towns: a vacation paradise for wealthy holidaymakers and a simple harbour community for the residents who serve them. Friendships between locals and visitors are unheard of – but that’s just what happened with Avery Greer and Sadie Loman.
Each summer for a decade the girls are inseparable – until Sadie is found dead. When the police rule the death a suicide, Avery can’t help but feel there are those in the community, including a local detective and Sadie’s brother Parker, who blame her. Someone knows more than they’re saying, and Avery is intent on clearing her name before the facts get twisted against her.
I loved the idea of “backwards storytelling” that Megan Miranda used in All the Missing Girls. Admittedly, it was a little difficult to follow in the beginning, but it was definitely a unique way to tell a story, one that keeps the reader on their toes.
While I wasn’t as big of a fan of The Perfect Stranger, the second Megan Miranda novel I read, I am excited about this new novel. I hope she can create the same storytelling magic she had with All the Missing Girls so I’m looking forward to adding it to my books to read in July list.
Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover
When Tate Collins meets airline pilot Miles Archer, she knows it isn’t love at first sight. They wouldn’t even go so far as to consider themselves friends. The only thing Tate and Miles have in common is an undeniable mutual attraction. Once their desires are out in the open, they realize they have the perfect set-up. He doesn’t want love, she doesn’t have time for love, so that just leaves the sex. Their arrangement could be surprisingly seamless, as long as Tate can stick to the only two rules Miles has for her.
Never ask about the past.
Don’t expect a future.
They think they can handle it, but realize almost immediately they can’t handle it at all.
I do a lot of fan girl-ing when it comes to Colleen Hoover. While I didn’t cry when I met her at a book signing (yes, there were people that did cry), I was legitimately tongue-tied around her. I admire her immensely because she started off as a indie author like me. She’s an inspiration to indie authors everywhere…and I was able to untie my tongue long enough to tell her that.
The first book of hers that I read was November 9 and I picked it up because I liked the cover. Yup. I am TOTALLY guilty of picking up books because I like the cover.
When I realized it was romance, I was initially disappointed. I. Don’t. Do. Romance.
Or at least, I didn’t do romance until I read Colleen Hoover’s brand of romance. Her romance is REAL. There are no Prince Charmings and glass slippers and ballgowns. It is gritty and realistic. I immediately started going through Colleen;s backlist, in addition to reading her new stuff.
Read my review of November 9 HERE
I have trouble picking my favorite Colleen Hoover novel—they’re all pretty great and definitely unique. I am hoping that “Ugly Love” will be no exception. At any rate, it’s getting added to my books to read in July list.
Forever, Interrupted by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Elsie Porter is an average twentysomething and yet what happens to her is anything but ordinary. On a rainy New Year’s Day, she heads out to pick up a pizza for one. She isn’t expecting to see anyone else in the shop, much less the adorable and charming Ben Ross. Their chemistry is instant and electric. Ben cannot even wait twenty-four hours before asking to see her again. Within weeks, the two are head over heels in love. By May, they’ve eloped.
Only nine days later, Ben is out riding his bike when he is hit by a truck and killed on impact. Elsie hears the sirens outside her apartment, but by the time she gets downstairs, he has already been whisked off to the emergency room. At the hospital, she must face Susan, the mother-in-law she has never met and who doesn’t even know Elsie exists.
As with Colleen Hoover, I have yet to read a book by Taylor Jenkins Reid that I don’t like. No, scratch that. I have yet to read a book by this amazing author that I don’t LOVE. I would be hard-pressed to pick a favorite.
Recently, I read both Daisy Jones & the Six and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and they were both examples of divine and unique storytelling. In fact, I included The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo on my list of Best Books of Summer 2018 and wrote an exclusive review of Daisy Jones & the Six on my blog.
Read my Review of Daisy Jones & the Six HERE
While Forever, Interrupted is from Reid’s backlist, I have no doubt that is every bit as amazing as her other books. This is going to the top of my books to read in July list as I have already started it. Hey, it’s not cheating if I tell you about it!
Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen McManus
Echo Ridge is small-town America. Ellery’s never been there, but she’s heard all about it. Her aunt went missing there at age seventeen. And only five years ago, a homecoming queen put the town on the map when she was killed. Now Ellery has to move there to live with a grandmother she barely knows.
The town is picture-perfect, but it’s hiding secrets. Ellery knows all about secrets. Her mother has them; her grandmother does too. And the longer she’s in Echo Ridge, the clearer it becomes that everyone there is hiding something. The thing is, secrets are dangerous–and most people aren’t good at keeping them. Which is why in Echo Ridge, it’s safest to keep your secrets to yourself.
I read Karen McManus’s One of Us is Lying in the fall and man, I couldn’t stop raving about it. It was The Breakfast Club with a murder thrown in for good measure. I even included it in my Best Books of 2018 post.
Read my review of One of Us is Lying HERE
I loved that while it was playing on cliches of high school, it really knocked down those cliches by the end of the book. I imagine that this new book will be similar and I can’t wait to dive in.
The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters by Balli Kaur Jaswal
The British-born Punjabi Shergill sisters—Rajni, Jezmeen, and Shirina—were never close and barely got along growing up, and now as adults, have grown even further apart. On her deathbed, their mother voices one last wish: that her daughters will make a pilgrimage together to the Golden Temple in Amritsar to carry out her final rites. Arriving in India, these sisters will make unexpected discoveries about themselves, their mother, and their lives—and learn the real story behind the trip Rajni took with their Mother long ago—a momentous journey that resulted in Mum never being able to return to India again.
Last year when I want to read Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows, I couldn’t find it anywhere except for a small indie bookstore in the backwoods of Pennsylvania. Okay, maybe that’s slight exaggeration, but at any rate, it was difficult to find. I had really wanted to read this novel about a culture radically different than my own, so I persisted.
Read my review of Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows HERE.
After I read it and adored the characters and the story, I included it in my 5 Best Books of Summer of 2018. Earlier this year, I was delighted to learn that the author had another book coming out, The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters. I hope that this one is as enchanting as the first.