July Reading Wrap-Up + August TBR

Hey, everyone!! Can you guys believe we are in August?! I have BIGGGGG NEWS! I was hired and will be teaching high school English! :) This is such an exciting moment in my life and I have been setting up my classroom since I got hired. School in general is a scary thing for many Americans as we transition back to school and I will be teaching virtually when we start. July was a rocky month for me in terms of mental health because I was struggling with not getting hired, but now that I know where my life is going I have a lot more joy and energy.

THE BOOKS:
 

Burn Our Bodies Down by Rory Power- 5 stars I'm so happy that this was the book I started my July with because I love it. I've given both Rory Powers' books 5 stars and I now consider her to be a favorite author. She is fantastic. I love cornfield horror and this story was shocking and gripping. I loved the ending and where the story went.

RWBY The Official Manga Volume 1: The Beacon Arc by Bunta Kinami- 3.5 stars This was a fun manga and I wasn't familiar with the story of RWBY, but I enjoyed the experience. I wasn't the biggest fan of the art, but the story was fun. Check out my review here.

Hood Feminism: Notes Form the Women That a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall- 5 stars This nonfiction piece is FANTASTIC. One of my favorite nonfiction novels, for sure. It tackles how feminism which is predominately white centered is not feminism at all because it forgets about Black and minority women. Powerful, true, and an important novel in the anti-racist genre.

Carrie by Stephen King- 5 stars I loved rereading this novel. Carrie has always been one of my favorite stories and revisiting it in audio form was a wonderful experience. I cried, I anticipated, I raged, and I mourned. This novel is so brilliantly told with excerpts from court documents surrounding Carrie White and novels on Telekinesis. Love it so much!

Dangerous Prayers: Because Following Jesus Was Never Meant to Be Safe by Craig Groeschel- 4 stars This novel is quite popular right now and with good reason. I love prayer and prayer is powerful, but none of these concepts are new to me or things that I haven't done. I like Craig, but I don't know if I like him enough to search out his back catalogue. However, if you are new to walking through prayer and praying outside of rehearsed prayers this is a great asset.

A Savior is Born: Rocks Tell the Story of Christmas by Patti Rokus- 5 stars My best friend bought this book in the bargain section at Mardel and then proceeded to read it to me in my parked car in a parking lot. We couldn't stop laughing because the rocks were so enduring and accurately placed. This is a great book for kids who love rocks.

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld- 3.5 stars This is the sequel to Uglies, which I really enjoyed. I liked Pretties, but I found that it suffers from middle book syndrome and drags in many ways. It struggles to keep the same pacing as the previous book and its because the stakes are not high until the very end. I am curious to read the last book and see how the original trilogy ends.

Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler- 5 stars I LOVE THIS BOOK. I love the story arc and following Olamina's journal alongside her daughter's commentary. I was heartbroken and this book made me cry. It made me angry and it hurt. It's dark. It's violent. It's hopeless and hopeful. The ending was so perfect that I cried. Oh, how I wish that Butler had completed this series. I would give anything to read about how Earthseed fared on a planet in the solar system. I prefer this one to the first book, but I love the both for different reasons.

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo- 4.25 stars This was a powerful story and it's a great listening experience. The story is important because I didn't know about the flight that changed many Dominican peoples' lives after 9/11. I really enjoyed the story, but I found it easy to not stay interested in each POV. I liked both characters, but I cared more about Camino's story since I enjoyed reading about the Dominican culture on the island.

Emergency Skin by N.K. Jemisin- 5 stars I LOVE this short story/novelette. I am so happy that it won a HUGO Award because it deserves it. This story was fantastic and I think about it often. The story follows an entity without skin as it travels to a desolated Earth to pick up necessary items to help the colony survive. The story hits so many important topics and themes. It's my kind of sci-fi story and reading it after Earthseed made me feel like I was as close to Butler's space as I may ever get (even though they are very different stories).

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt- 4 stars I love this movie. It's one of my childhood favorites and I have been wanting to read it for a long time. I enjoyed the story, but I like the book so much more because Winnie is so young and it makes her dynamic with Jesse pretty gross whereas in the movie I eat that stuff up like catnip. I just prefer the movie, okay.

The Art of Friendship: Creating and Keeping Relationships That Matter by Kim Wier- 4.25 stars I really enjoyed this book and there were some chapters that I absolutely loved, but I wanted a lot more from the book overall. However, if you are struggling with friendships (keeping them, creating them, or being intentional with friends) then this is a great book to read.

The Last Conversation by Paul Tremblay- 3 stars I was a huge fan of The Cabin at the End of the World, but this story was not a good one for me. I liked the concept a lot, but it felt very disconnected and I just didn't fall in love with this Forward story like I did with Emergency Skin.

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia- 4 stars I wanted to absolutely love this gothic Mexican horror ghost (without spoiling it that's the best description) story, but once I started reading it I knew it wouldn't be a new favorite. I was worried I wouldn't end up liking it as much as I did, but I really enjoyed the tone and the descriptions. That was this book's strong suit, but the plot was so obscure and ridiculous that I couldn't give it more than 4 stars.

Depersonalise by MSJ- 3 stars This is a poetry collection with artwork from many different creators. The author is only 18, so for her age, the poetry is pretty impressive. I enjoyed the collection for what it was, but it wasn't a favorite. I usually rate poetry 3 stars, so this is a standard poetry collection for me.

Banned Book Club by Kim Hyun Sook, Ko Hyung-Ju, & Ryan Estrada- 4.75 stars This is a manwha that follows the (fictionalized) college life of Kim Hyun Sook as she lives in South Korea and deals with the protesting at the university she attends. This book tackles the importance of reading, protesting, and desiring change. I was unfamiliar with this period of history in South Korea, so it was a great experience to learn and I loved the story overall. Check out my review here.

This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers- 5 stars (Reread) Oh, how I love this book. This book follows Sloane on the day that she is going to kill herself and a zombie apocalypse breaks out. It deals with her having to wrestle with not wanting to be alive while all of the teens she is surviving with in a high school expect her to. This is a book about survival, depression, abuse, and inner strength. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this book. When I read it in high school I enjoyed it, but I wasn't in love with it. As someone who loves the post-apocalyptic genre and loves finding new expressions in the genre, my heart breaks for this world and its characters. There is so much pain and desperation. I loved this book for all of its aspects-- from the characters, to the romance, to the darkness of humanity, to the deaths (because Summers isn't afraid to GO THERE), to the longing and uncertainty of human life in a world enraptured in walking death. Check out my updated thoughts and old review on my Goodreads.

Please Remain Calm by Courtney Summers- 5 stars This is the novella follow-up to This is Not a Test and it follows Rhys's POV and picks up literally right at the end of This is Not a Test. This is less than a 100 pages, but I cried and was a wreck. This book will destroy you and like I said earlier, Summers is not afraid to kill her characters. I loved the pain and the hope and the hopeless that this novella is counterbalanced with. It is a wonderful and intense story that follows up This is Not a Test well.

Somebody Give This Heart a Pen by Sophia Thakur- 5 stars This is a fantastic poetry collection filled with grit, heart, and pain. I loved everything about it. It tackles blackness, God, pain, suffering, and injustices in Britain. I can't wait for it to release in September because I want to purchase a copy for my classroom.

Juice Like Wounds by Seanan McGuire- 5 stars This is a short story that is set in the world of In An Absent Dream (one of my favorite books of the year) and the story of Lundy, Moon, and Mockery. In the novel, we are told about this and how the events change Lundy and Moon, but we were not allowed to follow it and I'm glad we didn't because this story needed to be told separately. It is an important tale and it ripped my heart apart. Also, the writing is TOP tier. Like how is McGuire able to write such beautiful prose. Check out my review here.

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine- 3.25 stars I know that this book is beloved, but I like the movie more. The audiobook is only 5 parts, but it felt SO LONG. The longest short audiobook ever is how I would describe Ella Enchanted. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it. I've read better and smarter retellings. This is important for the age that it's written towards, but Ella is kind of a lame character towards the end and I didn't care for her character growth. Consider this one another childhood movie I prefer to the book.

Randomize by Andy Weir- 2 stars This is my least favorite of the Forward collection so far. I am not a fan of the story in this one. It's pretty bland and uneventful in regards to characters, pacing, and plot. Check out my review here.

This is My America by Kim Johnson- 5 stars This book is so important and timely. I loved the characters and the story was powerful. It made me cry so many times. I was angry and frustrated and joyful. It follows Tracy as she fights for her father's wrongful conviction as he is about to be sentenced on death row and her brother being falsely accused of murder in Galveston. It tackles racism, wrongful convictions, police and their desire to catch anybody even the wrong people, the KKK, and a multitude of other topics. This book is so layered and filled with powerful statements. Another book I can't wait to put in my classroom.

Overall Thoughts: I read 23 books in July! I had no DNFs and a multitude of favorites. I'm currently at 138 books for the years as I'm writing this and I'm absolutely SHOCKED. I have never read so many books in a year and I thought this would be a year I wouldn't get much reading done. Since May, I've been reading over 20 books a month and I don't know if that will change once I start teaching, but we shall see! Here are my 5-star reads (I am including novellas and short stories because they were all BOMB):

1. This is Not a Test

2. Parable of the Talents

3. Carrie

4. Juice Like Wounds

5. Emergency Skin

6. This is My America

7. Please Remain Calm

8. Burn Our Bodies Down

9. Somebody Give This Heart a Pen

10. Hood Feminism

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 Challenge Tracker:

*2020 52 Owned Books TBR:

5/5 A Lineage of Grace books
Binti: Home
The Most Important Women of the Bible
Hidden Bodies 

Elevation
Bonhoeffer Abridged
Four Past Midnight 

Parable of the Talents 

Tuck Everlasting

9/52

*Books That I Owned Before 2020 That I Read:

Binti: The Night Masquerade

The Beauty of the Cross

Twenty-Two

Uglies

Carrie

This is Not a Test

Total Combined with 52 Books: 15/52

*Audiobook TBR: 

We Are All Good People Here
Uglies 

Tuck Everlasting
3/20

*5-star Predictions Tracking Progress:

Stop Calling Me Beautiful: 5 stars (reread)

The Wives: 1.5 stars
The Return: 4.5 stars
none this month!

3/20

*Series I Want to Read:
Binti: Home
Beneath the Sugar Sky

Binti: The Night Masquerade 

Authority
Hidden Bodies 
DEV1AT3 
In An Absent Dream

Parable of the Talents 

Juice Like Wounds 

Please Remain Calm
10/10

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Currently Reading / Hoping to Finish in August:

Already Finished:You Have Arrived at Your Destination, Vampire State Building, Such a Fun Age, Venus in the Blind Spot

Netgalley eARCs: Vampire State Building, Venus in the Blind Spot, The Only Good Indians, Conjure Women, Colossians, Jesus of the East, Love to Eat, Hate to Eat, 7 Feasts, The Hidden Girl and Other Stories, Until the Mountains Fall, TRUEL1F3, Women in a Patriarchal World, Kingdom Come, God Sees Her

Sent by Publisher: Becoming a Next-Level Prophet, Warfare Prayers for Women, For All Who Wander Journey Guide

Audiobooks: Such a Fun Age, Beloved, Daughter of Rome, A Gathering of Shadows, Conjure Women, Children of Virtue and Vengeance, A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World

Ebook: You Have Arrived at Your Destination, Bind, Torture, Kill (BTK), The Good Nurse

Books I Bought / Was Gifted: Acceptance, Beloved, The Stranger Beside Me, Biblical Healing and Deliverance, The Harp of Kings, The Insanity of Sacrifice, The Spiritual Gifts Handbook, Celebration of Discipline, The Purple Book, East of Eden, Moments of Grace

On Hold (AKA I will pick this up eventually someday LOL):Children of Vice & Virtue, A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World, The Insanity of Sacrifice, The Spiritual Gifts Handbook, For All Who Wander Journey Guide, Celebration of Discipline, The Good Nurse, The Purple Book, East of Eden, Moments of Grace

ARCs That Come Out in August:

 

Finna: Poetry

Some Kind of Animal: YA Horror

Slaying the Giant of Fear: Christian Living

Seven Devils: Sci-fi Space opera

The Subjects: Mystery/Thriller

The Living Dead: Horror

Against the Loveless World: Literary Fiction 

Every Bone a Prayer: Literary Fiction

You're Not Enough (and That's Okay): Christian Living

We Are All the Same in the Dark: Mystery/Thriller

Crown Noble: Poetry

I Choose Brave: Christian Living

Born Again and Again: Christian Nonfiction

The Dark Tide: YA Fantasy

The Best of Friends: Mystery/Thriller

Esther: Bible Study

The Power of Knowing God: Christian Nonfiction

The Daughters of Ys: Fantasy Graphic Novel 

Blue Flag Volume 1: Contemporary Romance Manga

A Court of Lions: YA Fantasy 

You Can Trust Me: Mystery/Thriller

The Night Whistler: Mystery/Thriller

The Courage Factor: Christian Living

A Sorcery of a Queen: Fantasy

 

Audiobooks:
 

The Water Dancer: YA Fantasy

I Killed Zoe Spanos: YA Thriller/Mystery

The Poet X: YA Contemporary Poetry

My Dark Vanessa: Contemporary

Be the Bridge: Christian Nonfiction

House of Evil: True Crime

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes: YA Dystopian

Mistborn: Fantasy

Their Eyes Are Watching God: Classics

Ebook:
 

Moon of the Crusted Snow: Post-Apocalyptic

Summer Frost: Sci-fi Short Story

Ark: Sci-fi Short Story

Mirage: YA Fantasy

The Deep: Fantasy

Upright Women Wanted: Fantasy or Sci-fi (can't remember which one)

We Too: Christian Nonfiction

In the Shadow of Spindrift House: Horror Fantasy

The Tenant: Mystery/Thriller

 

Books I Own:
 

Fahrenheit 451: This will be a reread, but I want to prepare before I start teaching this one. 

Home Before Dark: Literally Dead Book Club Pick for August!

Lilith's Brood: Bind-up of the Xenogenesis series. I want to read at least book 1 (Dawn).

Sex, Jesus, and the Conversations the Church Forgot: I have been meaning to pick this up ever since I bought it, but I keep putting it off. Not in August!

Samson & Delilah: I want to read these two books side by side for comparison of the Samson story (from the book of Judges).

In the After: More post-apocalyptic books!

Moses: I really want to dive deep into the legacy of Moses.

Have you read any of these books? Are you interested in reading any? What was your favorite book of July? Let me know down below in the comments!