After my success in June, I was determined to make my July reading wrap-up just as long. Ultimately, this might’ve been too ambitious considering half of last month’s books were graphic novels. I suppose I was successful at completing more reading in July than in June if I look just at novels.
I’m still very pleased with this wrap-up (even if I was expecting to read ten books a month in the summer). I made it half-way through a stack of physical books in my room, while also adding a new one to that stack. I also listened to my first audiobook!
As you read through the books on the lower numbers, you might find that I get… repetitive.
6. Sunburn by Chloe Michelle Howarth
Published June 22, 2023
Rating: 3 stars (or lower)
Genres: Literary Fiction, Queer, Romance, Coming of Age, Lesbian
Summary: It is the 1990s in the small Irish community of Crossmore, where Lucy feels out of place. Despite having close friendships and a very handsome childhood best friend named Martin, she has never felt the draw to motherhood or marriage like every other person her age. When a spark escalates to an infatuation with her school friend Susannah over the summer, a secret relationship begins. As school comes to a close, Lucy must decide between her two lives and what her future holds.
Here is my professional opinion: This story felt “blah.” It’s not that I wanted some intense drama; I’m okay with a slow moving story. I understand this is authentic with the repetitiveness and immaturity of a teenager and young woman, but it didn’t feel like there was a story at all. It was just Lucy circling herself and trying to make “everyone happy.” Her wallowing got tiring pretty quickly. I kept waiting for something new to happen, but it’s the same note throughout. It made me depressed and not in a good way. The ending also wasn’t satisfying. I might be judging this book more harshly because my expectations were really high. The prose and language were beautiful, and the obsession with Susannah was written really excellently. I did unfortunately have to force myself through the last 40% though, and might’ve skimmed it if I’m honest.
5. Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton
Published August 6, 2019
Rating: 3 stars
Genres: Horror, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Humor, Animals, Zombies, Dystopia
Summary: A dirty-minded and foul-mouthed crow with his lovable, wrinkly bloodhound surviving in a world where “MoFo’s,” or humans, have become infected. S.T. is the domesticated crow of Big Jim and the animal-sibling of Dennis the bloodhound. When Big Jim’s eyeball falls out, S.T. is at first determined to cure him. When that proves fruitless, he realizes him and Dennis must go out into the big wide world to survive. With crude humor and knowledge from his psuedo-human life, S.T. becomes one of the only creatures who can save humanity (or animals, more so).
I am so sad I didn’t love this book! The premise was great; conceptually the story had a lot of potential. I felt as if the execution was where it faltered. A lot of the messaging was WAY too on the nose, especially the reason for the humans’ demise. The humor wasn’t for me but it didn’t bother. It made me eye-roll sometimes, chuckle other times. I got bored about half-way through with the repetitive events that the duo were living through. The introduction of the twist near the end was too far-fetched. I was a bit confused at first, too, which didn’t help. The one death (not going to spoil it) also didn’t feel purposeful, more like an intentional tearjerker than a part of the narrative. Plus, I never really did understand why Dennis didn’t talk.
4. Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
Published October 2, 2020 (and August 27, 2024)
Rating: 4 stars
Genres: Sci-Fi, Fantasy, RPG, Comedy, Adventure
Summary: As life on Earth ends as humans know it, a sadistic dungeon crawling game show replaces it. It’s not just imperative to survive, but to survive in style. Carl is a typical guy who enters the “dungeon” with his ex-girlfriend’s Persian show cat named Princess Donut. As the game’s rules get explained, and Carl and Donut go exploring, they uncover the danger. Every floor has a time limit to collapse, coupled with different mobs and bosses of varying monstrosities. Best way to keep going: kill, kill, kill!
My feelings towards this book are complicated. I 100% get the hype surrounding it. It is unlike anything I’ve read before, with a super cool mix of obvious and hidden plot. Dinniman is obviously a creative, with the unique mixes he comes up with for the book. I found Carl to be a decent protagonist, though I didn’t always love his jokes (not the crude ones, but the ones verging on—or are—offensive). Princess Donut is cute, though. The middle portion started getting sort of repetitive and boring for me, though the beginning and end are stellar. I was confused why it ended where it did, on dialogue. A cliffhanger is smart, but one where it feels like the rest of the page got cut off is not. I’d be willing to read the next book, but I’m not sure this is a huge hit for me.
3. Warriors: The Prophecies Begin #1: Into the Wild by Erin Hunter, narrated by MacLeod Andrews
Published January 9, 2003; Audiobook narration October 9, 2017
Rating: 5 stars
Genres: Fantasy, Cats, Children’s, Audiobook
Summary: “For generations, four Clans of wild cats have shared the forest according to the laws laid down by their warrior ancestors. But the ThunderClan cats are in grave danger, and the sinister ShadowClan grows stronger every day. Noble warriors are dying—and some deaths are more mysterious than others. In the midst of this turmoil appears an ordinary house cat named Rusty . . . who may turn out to be the bravest warrior of them all.”
2. Hell’s Heart by Alexis Hall
Published March 10, 2026
Rating: 4.5 stars
Genres: Sci-Fi, Horror, Queer, LGBTQ+, Sapphic
Summary: This debut from Alexis Hall is being called a mix between Gideon the Ninth and Moby Dick. With Earth in ruin, humans mostly live in space in protected domes, spacesuits, and ships with all kinds of new governments, entities, and faiths over their head. Life in the solar system is sustained by a volatile, hallucinogenic substance called spermaceti, which is harvested from large beasts called Leviathans who circle Jupiter. Lonely and broke, the narrator “I” decides to join a hunter-barque for Leviathans, called Pequod. As the Pequod launches itself into a dangerous voyage trying to find a legend, “I” finds herself drawn into the captain’s, “A”‘s, orbit while she finds comfort in her crewmate, “Q.”
How can I even explain my reaction to this book? I don’t mean this in a haughty way, but you won’t enjoy this book if you don’t get it. I feel like I got it. A lot of the hard-hitting philosophical moments made me pause. The over-description of processes and world-building didn’t bother me like it bothered low-raters and DNF’ers on Goodreads. On a technical level, the world-building was haphazard but properly space-themed and futuristic. The novel had story building levels to it, even though they were slow and drawn-out. The ending was honestly expertly fashioned. Plus, it had a twist to it that I hoped for but didn’t expect to read.
1. This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
Published July 16, 2019
Rating: 5 stars
Genres: Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Romance, Time Travel, LGBTQ+, Queer, Lesbian, Sapphic
Summary: In a time traveling war between technology and nature, an agent of Commandment finds a letter: Burn before reading. What began as a simple taunt turns into correspondence between two rival agents, Red and Blue, as they wage war for their factions. Their relationship grows, builds, flourishes. If they were ever discovered, it would mean death for them both. Someone has to win the war.
I keep referencing one specific line in my head for this: The competition of “Ultimate Lesbian Longing and Yearning.” The brilliance of this co-written novel/novella/book (how do you quantify the beautiful scope of 198 pages?) is astounding. It is poetic and devastating and a slow crawl toward warmth and existence and love. Sometimes I struggled to imagine or understand some of the chapters, but it didn’t matter as much as the letters. The little details can be important, but the message and overall story is what hooked me. It takes a lot for a book to make me tear up, but I felt them welling in my eyes, BLUE, and preparing to make them swollen, RED. Even the plot twist was a light bulb moment that I loved. I know I’ll want to reread this in the future.
2026 monthly wrap-ups: January, February, March, April, May, June
2025 monthly wrap-ups: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
