July Reading / Life
- I read nine books in July, which is a lot for me. The addition of audiobooks has definitely jacked up my numbers.
- Other than this month’s favorite (Mudbound), lighter choices tended to work best for me and I read three that I’ll be adding to my 2016 Summer Reading Guide (All Is Not Forgotten, Siracusa and You Will Know Me).
- I listened to Dataclysm on audio, but it probably would’ve worked better in print with the number of graphs and charts he tried to verbally explain. And, I finally got to Tiny Beautiful Things and the audio was amazing…it’s the first audiobook I’ve ever rated 5 stars.
- I loved parts of How to Set A Fire And Why, was comforted by Dinner with Edward, and (mostly) enjoyed Behold the Dreamers.
- On the TV viewing front, my husband and I have been really into The Chef’s Table, a Netflix documentary series spotlighting respected chefs and restaurants and recently started Last Chance U, about college football.
- Most importantly, the Olympics starts this weekend! Do you have any idea how excited I am?! Get ready for a couple Olympics-themed blog posts and lots of Olympics chatter on Twitter!
Best Book of the Month
Mudbound by Hillary Jordan (March 4, 2008)
Fiction, 354 Pages
Affiliate Link: Buy from Amazon
August Releases I’m Excited About
Bright, Precious Days by Jay McInerney (August 2)
War Porn by Roy Scranton (August 2)
The Lauras by Sara Taylor (August 4)
Top Backlist Books on my “To Be Read” List
Nobody’s Fool by Richard Russo
The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock
The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
Most Popular July Posts
Ten Books Set Outside the U.S.
Ten Non-Bookish Things About Me
Top Ten Tuesday: Bucket Lists and Rabbit Holes
Favorite Posts by Fellow Bloggers
- The “business books” on The Book Wheel’s 5 Books to Change Your Career Outlook list don’t sound like the boring kind! I added Originals to my TBR list.
- I always love Ann at Books on the Table’s eclectic recommendation lists…and I really enjoyed three books on her What to Read Next – July list!
- Shannon at River City Reading shared how she can spot a favorite in the first 10 pages based on “style, sentence structure, and voice.”
- Despite not being much of a music person, I loved Rory at Fourth Street Review’s creativity in talking about Stephen King’s Revival by creating a literary mix tape.
I’ve had Mudbound for a while and really do need to get to it.
Yes – I hope you get to it!
You had lots of great reading done in July. From July’s posts I enjoyed the most Ten Non-Bookish Things About Me and Top Ten Tuesday: Bucket Lists and Rabbit Holes. Here’s to hoping that August be equally satisfying!
Thank you! And I hope August goes well for you too!
Ooh, lots of good things in July! Did Cheryl Strayed do the audio for Tiny Beautiful Things? I feel like that could be a divisive one as an audio book since it’s (for lack of a better word) epistolary, but I’m glad to hear it worked for you. I personally loved that one (as a regular ol’ dead trees read) too.
Also, I really need to get to your post on becoming a fellow audiophile (or, at least, regular audio book listener)! After shifting from adamantly denying that I’d like audio books to loving them to now neglecting them in favor of podcasts, I’m so interested in how other people find their way to them.
She did do the audio! And it was fantastic…her voice and tone complemented her words so well.
It took me 2 years to find my groove with audiobooks! For me, it was all about finding the genres that work well for me and the listening times that work as well. I finally figured out that audiobooks didn’t work for me while running (podcasts do much better there!), but did work while doing things around the house and driving.
Thanks for the mention! And I love two of your books on the top of your backlist (I’m a huge Richard Russo fan in addition to my DRP love).
Oh – yay! So glad you’re a Russo fan! I hope to get to it sometime this year.
SO pumped for the Olympics! If I didn’t already have Tiny Beautiful Things in print, I’d totally be interested in listening to it…I usually feel like audiobooks aren’t quite the same as reading-reading, but that seems like the kind of thing that would lend itself well to being read.
I’m usually with you on audiobooks not being the same as reading, but I really loved this one on audio. However, I did order the print version after I finished the audio so I can have it to refer to (b/c I think I’ll be referring to it a lot!).
Thanks for the mention! And I loved Mudbound as well. I think Hillary Jordan has published another book recently — I need to track that down. I just finished listening to Siracusa (long car trip from Chicago to New Hampshire) and it was great on audio.
You’re welcome! I checked Goodreads and it looks like she published something in 2011 and a short ebook in 2012. The 2011 is a retelling of The Scarlett Letter, which doesn’t interest me quite as much.
Glad to hear Siracusa was great on audio too!
Wait a second, The Lauras is coming out this week???? I thought it wasn’t out in the US until next year!!!
Totally agree about Dataclysm being better in print – I can’t really imagine reading that one without being able to see all the charts.
I’ve been confused about this too…Goodreads and the publisher’s website says Aug 4 (not 2, which is odd), but then Amazon says 2/28/17. So, I went with 8/4 since it was on the publisher’s website, but I could be completely wrong about that!
I enjoyed parts of Dataclysm…certainly fascinating info. Just couldn’t follow verbal explanations of charts and graphs!
I can’t wait for the Olympics either! I’m actually hosting a party for the opening ceremonies on Friday!!!! I think August might see a little dip in reading stats 🙂
Oh, my reading stats are going to be in the tank this month for sure! But, well worth it!
Thanks so much for including me and yes, Originals is a great book to add to your list! It’s so interesting that you forget that it’s helpful until it’s all done and over with.
Yay – just what I like in my “business” books!
I’m happy to see Mudbound was your top pick for July! I also loved that novel.
I can’t believe I just got around to it now!
Oooh… The Lauras…
Also, I really love your ‘Favourite Posts by Fellow Bloggers’ – it’s not too long and overwhelming, and there is usually something there that I’ve missed!
So I’ve now found out The Lauras isn’t coming out in the US until Feb 2017…oops.
And thank you!
Haha! Oh well, it gives me more time to read The Shore, which is still just sitting there on my shelf. I know!!