Emma Reads Books: July Wrap-Up

Hello Interwebs!

So in the month of July I read 9 books total which totaled 2601 pages. Disclaimer though, one of the books I read was a short story in a series I'm working my way through and another was a graphic novel. It was a very successful reading month and everything I read was either a four or a five star read. Also this month I finished my goodreads goal! At the end of the month I've finished 42 books total and my goal for 2020 was 40! Now onto the books I read.

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman.

This is the first book in Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy which I read for the first time in middle school (two decades ago). Just after Independence Day we took a trip to the redwoods and decided on this book to listen to on audio book in the car. The audio book is AMAZING. It's a full cast performance and really brought the story to life. We listened to this from July 6th to July 7th while driving and I gave it a 5/5 stars on goodreads.

By the Book by Amanda Sellet.

This was a book I was working on at the end of June and finished early in July. This is a YA contemporary about a girl named Mary who is going to public high school after years in a private school that closed down. She makes friends with a group of girls and they start the scoundrel's survival guide using classic literature tropes to avoid the pitfalls of high school dating. This was a cute, sweet little bookish story which is always right up my alley. This was a book I got as an eBook from the library and I rated it a nice solid 4/5 stars.

I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown.

This was a memoir written by a black woman from Ohio. This was one of the June/July picks for Reese Witherspoon's book club. I enjoyed this book but for me personally there was a lot of religious/Christian overarching themes that I understood but I didn't really relate to. Other things really did resonate with me. This book is an important story that people should be exposed to. I read it from July 9 to the 15th and gave it a 4/5 stars.

A Fatal Waltz by Tasha Alexander.

This is the third book in the Lady Emily Mystery series. This book follows Lady Emily Ashton as she's planning her wedding to her fiancee Colin while working on solving a murder. Emily's friend Ivy's husband Robert is arrested for the murder of his political mentor and Emily begins investigating the murder to clear his name. The book takes place primarily in Vienna and had a beautiful setting and I still find these books highly enjoyable. This was the last book in the series available as an eBook from the library app but I'm still going to forge ahead with them. I read this from the 9th to the 18th and gave it a 4/5 stars.

The Bridal Strain: Emily & Colin's Wedding by Tasha Alexander.

This is the short story that fits in between books 3 and 4 in the Lady Emily series. This book follows Emily and Colin as they elope in Greece following the events of A Fatal Waltz, It's a short 27 page book and it was a cute little interlude that ended with Emily and Colin getting married in Greece. Loved it and gave it a 4/5 stars. This book also took me about an hour to read.

Eliza Hamilton: The Extraordinary Life and Times of the Wife of Alexander Hamilton by Tilar J Mazzeo.

This is a biography written about Eliza Schuyler Hamilton and I loved this. She was an amazing woman who went through so much in her life: before, during, and after her marriage to Alexander Hamilton. I highly recommend this as it's a biography with references but its written more like a novel. I read this from the 18th to the 26th and gave it a 5/5 stars.

Love & War by Melissa de la Cruz.

This is the second book in the Alex & Eliza trilogy and follows them from their marriage (where book one ends) through the end of the war and into their first years of marriage living in New York City and Alexander establishing his law practice there. This was a cute, quick read of a YA fiction about Alexander and Eliza Hamilton and I enjoyed it a lot. This one I read from the 26th to the 29th and gave 4/5 stars to.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz.

This is a YA gay romance about two Latino boys: Aristotle "Ari" and Dante in the 1980s/1990s. It follows the two boys through their friendship beginning one summer when Dante offers to teach Ari to swim. From there on the boys are inseparable. They become closer through accidents and a year Dante spends in Chicago rather than Texas and ends after Ari's parents help him to realize that he's in love with his best friend after Dante is the victim of a gay bashing. The two boys have such a wholesome friendship that develops organically into a romance but it also has a lot to do with Ari's relationship with his own family: his two much older sisters, his brother in prison for murder, his parents who won't talk about his brother and his father who is a Vietnam vet with PTSD. They learn how to talk to each other and be a stronger family. Both boys' families are supportive and strong adn there's a friendship between them as well as the boys. I started this book on audio on the 28th of June and didn't finish it before I had to return it. Then I had to wait for either the audio book or eBook to become available again so I didn't finish this until the 30th of July. Totally worth it and I gave it a strong 5/5 stars.

The Promise Omnibus by Gene Luen Yang, Michael DiMartino, and Bryan Konietzko.

This is the first Avatar: The Last Airbender graphic novel omnibus and this was a birthday gift from my boyfriend that didn't arrive until the end of the month. This takes place immediately after the TV series and involves the aftermath of the war that concluded in the series. Zuko is now the Fire Lord and is trying to remove the fire nation colonies from the earth kingdom while trying hard to be his own leader and not the leader his father was. Aang and Katara and Sokka are helping with the peace movement. Toph is establishing her metal bending academy. Then Zuko learns the truth of one of the oldest fire nation colonies and refuses to force them to leave their homes bringing him and the Earth king to the brink of war. This was so, so, so good and exactly what I wanted of these characters that I loves so much. I read this book from the 30th to the 31st and I gave this a strong 5/5 stars.

I also bought way too many books in July, personally I blame my birthday in the middle of the month. First up are the 3 books I got from Book of the Month. One was the normal book I get every month and then I had a free add-on for my birthday month since I'm a BFF and then I got a second add-on because I wanted it.

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (2020).
On the Come Up by Angie Thomas (2019).
The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus (2019).

Then for my birthday I went to Barnes & Noble and got a bunch of books.

Florence Adler Swims Forever by Rachel Beanland (2020).
The Deep by Alma Katsu (2020).
Jo & Laurie by Margaret Stohl and Melissa de la Cruz (2020).
The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin (2020).
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (2016).
Summer of '69 by Elin Hilderbrand (2019).
28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand (2020).
The Promise Omnibus by Gene Luen Yang; Michael DiMartino; Bryan Konietzko (2020).