July was HOT. I’m so ready for fall.
July goal:
I’m probably going to DNF the book I started yesterday, and I’ve already finished 1 in July. I’m going to stick to super readable summer fare, so I’ll commit to 4 books this month.
What I read:
- The Beach at Summerly—Beatriz Williams
- Kindle / 357p
- Jul 5 – 12
- 3.5⭐
- Review
- Atmosphere—Taylor Jenkins Reid
- Kindle / 332p
- Jul 13 – 16
- 5⭐
- Review
- Worst Case Scenario—TJ Newman
- Kindle / 317p
- Jul 17 – 19
- 4.5⭐
- Review
- The Wicked City—Beatriz Williams
- Kindle / 384p
- Jul 20 – 30
- 2⭐
- Review
In-progress:
- The Storyteller’s Death—Ann Dávila Cardinal
- Kindle
- 36%
Abandoned:
- Murder Your Employer—Rupert Holmes
- Kindle
- 6%?
2025 Note: I quit linking titles to that big site that funds the rich dude and fascism a while ago—and the same guy owns Goodreads, so now I link to Storygraph. Regardless, I recommend supporting independent bookstores. My favorite is Old Town Books (they ship!). You can also support my favorite podcast through their Bookshop.org link at KickBezosInTheBalls.org (or pick a local shop of your choosing). And you can never go wrong with your local library!
2025 Progress
Star Ratings:
Based on the flat stars, not the quarter stars I assign in my reviews.
- 5 stars: 2 books
- 4 stars: 8 books
- 3 stars: 14 books
- 2 stars: 2 books
- 1 star: 0 books
- 0 stars: 0 books
- Abandoned: 2 books
- Not rated: 0 books
Pages Read/Hours Listened:
(Does not include partial books, abandoned books, or edited manuscripts)
- January – 1359p, 4h 13m
- February – 766p, 8h 0m
- March – 1475p*, 15h 49m
- April – 0p, 4h 22m
- May – 1840p, 8h 57m
- June – 1861p, 5h 57m
- July – 1425p, 0h 0m
*Note: Storygraph has a slightly different number because they count what they think I actually read each day based on when I update my progress. I always count the entire book in the month it was completed, even if I read everything but the last page in the previous month.
Reading Goals:
Read 36 books
I finished 4 books toward my Goodreads Challenge, and I’m 5 ahead.
- Audiobooks: 8
- Kindle: 17
- Physical books: 0
*Note: I edited a book in April/May and read the 297 pages 3 times in the process, so I feel like I could count another 3 books and 891 pages toward my total.
Decrease my TBR
- Jan 1: 59 physical / 20 digital
- Feb 2: 59/20
- Mar 2: 59/20
- Apr 6: 59/20
- May 2: 59/20
- Jun 4: 59/21
- Jul 5: 59/21
- Aug 3: 58*/20
*I finally switched these stats over to Storygraph and realized I have discrepancies between my physical TBRs on Goodreads and Storygraph. A problem for another day.
Read 25 minutes per day
July 31 was Day 1415 of my reading streak.
July was a very uneven reading month for me. I struggled for a few days before abandoning one book. The next one was fine. The next two FLEW—I didn’t want to put them down. And then the final one was a little slow.
I’m already 36% done with my first book of August, but there’s some traveling ahead. I’ll set a goal of 4 books again.
As always, you can find me other places to see what I’m reading:
