Monthly Rundown: July 2015

Is it really already August? Good grief. This year has flown by. I had an insanely excellent reading month and with as many hours as I worked I’m really not sure how it’s possible. I finished a total of 21 books! Okay, 4 were graphic novels and one was a short story but WHATEVER. I managed to post 16 reviews as well so I call July an absolute success.

Here are the cover shots of all books reviewed and the breakdown of the best and the worst.

• [2 Jul] Shades of Treason by Sandy Williams ★★★½
• [3 Jul] Trollhunters by Daniel Kraus, Guillermo del Toro ★★★
• [4 Jul] Bull Mountain by Brian Panowich ★★★★★
• [8 Jul] Love May Fail by Matthew Quick ★★½
• [9 Jul] Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty ★★★
• [10 Jul] Game by Barry Lyga ★★★½
• [11 Jul] Blood of My Blood by Barry Lyga ★★★★
• [16 Jul] The Coincidence of Coconut Cake by Amy E. Reichert ★★★★
• [17 Jul] The Boy Who Drew Monsters by Keith Donohue ★★★½
• [21 Jul] Damage Done by Amanda Panitch ★★★½
• [23 Jul] Armada by Ernest Cline ★★★
• [24 Jul] Blindsighted by Karin Slaughter ★★★★
• [25 Jul] Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor ★★★½
• [28 Jul] The Long Walk by Richard Bachman, Stephen King ★★★★★
• [30 Jul] Fables Vol. 22: Farewell by Bill Willingham ★★★
• [31 Jul] Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon ★★★★

Best of the Month: Bull Mountain by Brian Panowich
Hands down. Absolutely loved this one. If you’re a fan of southern gothic/country noir reads, do yourself a favor and pick this one up.

Least Favorite: Love May Fail by Matthew Quick
So this was my first Quick and apparently wasn’t the best one to start with. Not sure if his books are for me though.

Biggest Surprise: Blindsighted (Grant County #1) by Karin Slaughter
This series has been on my TBR for years. My book fairy sent me a copy and I was blown away at how crazy intense this one was. I can’t wait to make time for the rest of the series!

Biggest Disappointment: Armada by Ernest Cline
This wasn’t completely terrible but after my undying love for RPO I had some pretty high hopes for this one. Enjoyed it, but really wish I loved it more.

Reading Plans for August

I’ve been doing pretty excellent at staying on top of my review books and I only have four review books left for August. Two of them are tour stops, The Uninvited: A Novel by Cat Winters and Crooked Heart by Lissa Evans. The Uninvited will have a giveaway so be sure to check back for that! Speaking of giveaways, my Damage Done giveaway is still running for a few days. The entries are super low so chances are high of winning!

I’m knocking it out of the park on my Summer Bingo Card, having only 2 books to finish to cover my remaining squares. Replay by Ken Grimwood and The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers are the ones I currently have picked out but who knows what might happen.