I haven't been well enough to do a lot this summer, but what I lack in living, apparently, I more than make up for with reading.
July, it turns out, was one of my best ever reading months. I finished thirteen books (almost fourteen), and made a good start on two others. I admit, three of them were novellas, but I'm still proud of how many books I got through last month.
I ended up reading some really fun books, too, as most were circus, carnival or theme park themed for a reading challenge that I was participating in, and I just can't resist a good story about a magical circus or an old school massacre in a creepy abandoned carnival. If you can't, either, keep reading for a few recommendations!
July Reading Stats:
📖13 books completed, 2 started.
📖3 hardbacks.
📖2 paperbacks.
🎧7 audiobooks
📖 1599 pages (4310 pages including audiobooks).
🎧 68 hours 28 minutes listened at 1.1x or 1.2x speed.
📖 5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ reads!
📖 4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ reads!
📖Average rating: 4.25 stars.
📖Average book length: 333 pages.
📖Average time to finish: 5 days.
I Read:
📖Where Dreams Descend by Janella Angeles. 3.75⭐
📖I Found a Circus Tent in the Woods Behind My House by Ben Farthing. 5⭐
📖Hide by Kiersten White. 4⭐
📖Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen. 5⭐ (Reread).
📖When the Tides Held the Moon by Venessa Vida Kelley. 5⭐
🎧Six Scorched Roses by Carissa Broadbent. 5⭐ (Reread).
🎧Onyx Storm Graphic Audio Part Two by Rebecca Yarros. 5⭐ (Reread).
🎧The Funhouse by Dean Koontz. 2.75⭐
🎧The Crown of Gilded Bones Graphic Audio Part Two by Jennifer L. Armentrout. 5⭐ (Reread).
🎧Caraval by Stephanie Garber. 4⭐ (Reread).
🎧Legendary by Stephanie Garber. 4⭐ (Reread).
🎧Finale by Stephanie Garber. 4⭐ (Reread).
🎧Spectacular by Stephanie Garber. 3⭐ (Reread).
And I Started:
🎧The Family Experiment by John Marrs.
📖The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.
Favourite Reads: I read some really great books in July, and can't choose between When the Tides Held the Moon, Water for Elephants, and I Found a Circus Tent in the Woods Behind My House.
When the Tides Held the Moon was one of the most beautiful books I've ever read, about a young Puerto Rican blacksmith who falls in love with a merman in a 1920s Coney Island sideshow, after he unknowingly built the tank that would imprison him. As Rio, the merman, grows weaker and more miserable away from the sea, Benigno vows to get him back where he belongs, but to do so, he has to outsmart the cruel sideshow owner, put his trust in the other performers, and worst of all, let him go. The forbidden, enemies to lovers romance, the found family vibes, and the writing itself were all so gorgeous, it left me an emotional wreck, but in the best way. It was one of the easiest five stars I've ever given to a book, and it's now on my list of all-time-favourites!
Water for Elephants was a reread for me, but I hadn't revisited it since the movie came out over a decade ago, and really enjoyed reading it through fresh eyes. I think I loved it even more than I did the first time. It's a brilliant story about a young veterinary student called Jacob who jumps aboard a moving train after his parents die, and finds himself aboard a travelling circus. He's taken under the wing of August, the charismatic but cruel animal trainer and his wife, Marlena, the star of the equestrian act, and is given a job as the circus' vet, looking after their menagerie of animals. The circus is struggling to compete against rival circuses during The Great Depression, so they bring in an elephant to try to fill the seats, only... the elephant won't listen to a single command. As August takes his rage out on the elephant and his moods become more and more erratic, Jacob and Marlena try to divert his attention elsewhere to save the elephant they've become attached to, while theirs start to shift to each other... Meanwhile, the roustabouts and performers are being red-lighted, and denied wages to save money, and one character is suffering the ill effects of the prohibition. It's a book full of animal cruelty and human suffering, shining a light on the reality of American circuses of the time, but mixed with an addictive love triangle, and showing the lengths people will go to help their friends, it's really well balanced. It's well worth the read, especially if you like the film.
I Found a Circus Tent in the Woods Behind My House was another brilliant read. It's a short novella about a man and his young son who get trapped by a circus tent that they discover in the woods on their property, and it won't let them leave unless they perform for them. It's 99 pages of fast-paced tension as they run from unnerving circus performers, and other horrors, like creepy ambulatory clown statues and shadow-men, while trying to find a way out of their claustrophobic nightmare. It's been a while since a book creeped me out so much (the claustrophobia and clowns mostly did it), but it was one of those books I became thoroughly absorbed in, and couldn't put down. I don't think I'll be going near a circus tent or the woods ever again, though...
Favourite Listens: I read some great audiobooks in July- mostly rereads of books I enjoyed in print. I especially enjoyed part two of the Graphic Audios of Onyx Storm and The Crown of Gilded Bones, which both dropped last month. They were so much fun in this format, except for the cliff hanger endings, which both left me wanting to curl up in a ball on the floor, and cry. Even knowing what was coming, the last few chapters of both were still devastating.
Least Favourites: I'd have to choose The Funhouse by Dean Koontz and Spectacular by Stephanie Garber. They were both fine, but nothing special. I found them a little on the mediocre side, and lacking in excitement and plot. I once again found Tella's kidnapping storyline in Spectacular a bizarre writing choice for a fluffy Christmas story, not to mention that the lack of consent in a YA novel is more than a little concerning for a book aimed at impressionable teenagers, and it was even worse when voiced aloud. It's never going to be a favourite of mine. To be honest, I wasn't even planning a reread of it, but it felt odd reading the rest of the series without including it.
Aaannnd... that was what I read in July.
I'll do my best to catch up with what I read in August ASAP... so, by my speed lately, I'll probably see you in November! Haha!
Have you read anything good lately?
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