The Books I Remember – July Edition
Hi, I'm going to switch back to writing my mini reviews here on Substack. Turns out, making pretty posts and having easy access to my lack of likes took the fun out of it. As you may remember from before, I'd usually provide a list of all the books I read the previous month with my rating, a bit about the book, and my feelings on it. What you may not know is that I didn't create those blurbs as I went along, I wrote them at the end of the month often having forgotten what I read at all. Unless a book really stuck with me I had to go on StoryGraph and remind myself everything from the name of the characters to plot points. So moving forward a little bit of a different approach, though it'll still look the same to you all. As I finish reading each book, I'm gonna take notes in a draft blog post then and there, so I don't have time to forget anything. Then at the end of the month, I'll go ahead and post the monthly roundup. Anyway. July books.
Now, I read 14 books in July, and I'm not gonna subject you to all of them. These are just the stand-outs — the ones I still can't stop thinking about.
Ordinary Saints by Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin
Jay had basically ignored her super religious upbringing for years after moving out and realizing she's gay, but when her brother might literally become a saint, she's forced to actually look back at that whole world and figure out what, if anything, was ever really valid.
This Summer, I Ate the Rich by Maritza Moulite and Maika Moulite
Brielle is stuck between worlds: the Haitian community that shaped her and the American life her mom is firmly rooted in. She's also trying to be a normal girl breaking into the culinary scene while hiding the tiny complication that she's, uh… a zombie. The book balances real zombie lore with her split identity in a way that feels way more grounded than the title makes you expect.
From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout (reread)
I barely remembered From Blood and Ash, so I started rereading the series because a coworker wanted someone to scream about it with. Now I’m hooked and deep into the third book in the series.
If you can't wait for the next roundup, I'll be making my old posts public here and bringing over content from my Booksta account so there's plenty to catch up on in the meantime.