July 2019 Wrap Up

Two-thirds of the way through the summer already!  I set myself some high goals for the month of July, tackling one ARC after the other before allowing myself the chance to devote myself utterly to WORDS OF RADIANCE, which clocks in at 1081 pages.  Altogether I read five books and one novella, and am over halfway through WORDS OF RADIANCE. Quite an impressive month!

How were the books I read? It was a bit of a mixed bag, with the majority being solid, but not FANTASTIC reads.  There was one unfortunate 2.5 rating, but the hero of the month was THE POPPY WAR, which was an excellent, engrossing read.  Runner-up goes to WICKED FOX, which surprised me for being more contemporary than fantasy, but still a fun supernatural YA book.

Here, for your general consumption, are updates on my book bingos, Great Series Read Project, and a complete collection of this month’s reviews.

Great Series Read Project Update

This was an excellent month for my ongoing project to actually read sequels to books I like! First off, I read both of the currently released books for THE MEDUSA CYCLE by Emily Devenport.  Sadly, I’ve decided the series isn’t for me and I won’t be going further, but better to know that then just having the series hanging out in the “maybe” pile! I also read THE POPPY WAR, in prep for reading sequel THE DRAGON REPUBLIC next month, and managed to fit in prequel novella THE GALLOWS BLACK by Sam Sykes.

MOST importantly, however, I stayed true to my goal of starting WORDS OF RADIANCE this month. It’s a daunting tome but I am really glad I’m maintaining my commitment to this series.  If all goes well, I think I’ll aim to read book three, OATHBRINGER, in December when I have a lull in my reading schedule.

Notable Posts

San Diego Comic Con Book Tag
San Diego Comic Con 2019 Book Haul
August 2019 TBR

Reviews/Books Reads

SOUL OF THE SWORD by Julie Kagawa 3.5/5 Stars
THE STORM CROW by Kalyn Josephson 3.5/5 Stars
MEDUSA UPLOADED by Emily Devenport 3/5 Stars
THE POPPY WAR by R. F. Kuang 4/5 Stars
MEDUSA IN THE GRAVEYARD by Emily Devenport 2.5/5 Stars
THE GALLOWS BLACK by Sam Sykes 3.5/5 Stars
WICKED FOX by Kat Cho 4/5 Stars

Beat the Backlist Bingo Progress – 18/24 (Regular), 18/80 (Epic)

• A Book Involving Music (Epic) -MEDUSA UPLOADED by Emily Devenport
• Debut Author – THE POPPY WAR by R. F. Kuang

r/Fantasy Book Bingo – 12/25

• SFF Novella – THE GALLOWS BACK by Sam Sykes

Retellings Bingo Progress – 5/24 – Silent Assassin Level Achieved!

• N/A