Here we go, another month gone, and the end of this year is getting closer and closer. It felt like I did June’s wrap-up only a week ago! Over here, things have been crazy as usual, again, sleepless nights and a lot of nerves have been wasted… My little one is now in the toddler tantrum era, and it’s been a “blast”, I pray that God gives me strength and patience because I know I am running low on both… But these details aside, I still managed to read some books, and I am happy to tell you all about them!

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OVERVIEW:

BOOKS READ: 20
DNFs: 2
AVERAGE RATING: ★★★ 3/5
SERIES STARTED: 2
PAGES READ: app. 6,912

ALL THE BOOKS I READ THIS MONTH:

1. Dissection of Immortal Hearts by Alexandrina Krusharska
2. Power Play by Chelsea Curto
3. An Academic Affair by Jodi McAlister
4. Just Friends by Haley Pham
5. Storm and Fury by Jennifer L. Armentrout
6. Winterfrost Market by Jenny Sandiford
7. A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher
8. The Ginghams by T. C. Kemper
9. The Summer of Yes by Courtney Walsh
10. Kilt Trip by Alexandra Kiley
11. Beartown by Fredrik Backman
12. Ink and Ivy by Ashley Willingham
13. XOXO by Axie Oh
14. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
15. City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
16. The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion Vol. 1 by Beth Brower
17. The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion Vol. 2 by Beth Brower
18. The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion Vol. 3 by Beth Brower
19. The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion Vol. 4 by Beth Brower
20. The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion Vol. 5 by Beth Brower

CHALLANGES

1. Fantasy Challenge Dark Path: I have ticked: Dragons, High fantasy/Epic fantasy, Touch her and die, Forbidden Magic, Dark Fantasy, Fae, Curse, Betrayal. What is left is: Tournament/ Deadly competition, Political intrigue, Assassins, and Pirates.
2. A to Z reading challenge: I have ticked A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, R, S, T, U, V, W and Z. Left: Q and Y
3. Valentine’s book boyfriend bingo: the prompts are: Firefighter, Shadow Daddy (whatever this one means lol), Prince, Cinnamon roll hero, Hockey player and Mountain man. Cinnamon roll hero, Mountain man, Hockey player, and Prince: checked!
4. Romance challenge: I have completed them all: Contemporary romance, Small town romance, Paranormal romance, Military romance, Holiday romance, Sports, Second chance, Western, Fantasy, Romantic comedy, Workplace and Spicy romance.
5. Romance trope bingo: The ones I have got: Grumpy and sunshine, Friends to lovers, Slow burn, Opposites attract, Fake relationship, Forced proximity, Enemies to lovers, Age gap, Forbidden love, One bed, He falls first and Road trip. Completed!
6. Thriller challenge: Nothing changed here since last month. This is one of the two challenges that I doubt I will be able to complete, but I have got the Psychological thriller box ticked. What is left is: Domestic thriller, Serial killer, Winter thriller, Revenge, Cold case, Kidnapping, Isolated location, Small town, Legal thriller. Blackmail and FBI.
7. Mystery challenge: Here it is going much better than I thought. I have ticked: Missing person, Amateur sleuthing, Cosy mystery, Family secrets, Secret society and Detective. The ones I still need are: YA mystery, Murder, Heist, Historical, Paranormal and Crime-solving duo.
8. Fantasy challenge Magic Path: I have ticked: Witches/Wizards, Mermaids, YA fantasy, Cosy fantasy, Elemental magic, Urban fantasy, Found family, Magical Realism, Historical fantasy and Elemental Magic and Magical school/academy. What I have left: Mythology and Chosen One.
9. 50 States of America: This is a new addition, and I have collected 13 of the 50 states needed!

Just a quick note: some of the books have changed, and some of the challenges too due to the Uncover app. Every now and then, they will remove a book from a challenge and put it under another more fitting one, I suppose. Hence the difference from the previous months.

BOOKS I LOVED:

1. Beartown by Fredrik Backman: As usual, Backman does not disappoint! I can’t wait to read the other books and see what happens in the town. Engrossed by the story.
2. The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower (all 5 volumes so far): This was the biggest surprise of the month, and I am so glad I stumbled upon this treasure of literature! This is just amazing slice-of-life, and the writing is just great. I love Emma.

BOOKS I DNFED:

1. Icebreaker by Hannah Grace: nope, this was just not for me. As soon as the first sex scene came, I was simply appalled and knew I would not like it.
2. An Academic Affair by Jodi McAlister: I DNFed this one around the 40% mark, so I included it in the read titles because I did read enough of it. Despite my efforts to push through, I could not

BOOKS THAT DISAPPOINTED ME:

1. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
2. City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
3. Storm and Fury by Jennifer L. Armentrout

As for The Mortal Instruments series, I am baffled that some of the themes tackled in the first couple of books have been approved to be published for kids and young adults to read. _{^{(Definitely talking about the incest thing going on and the pedo agenda…)}}. Not going to continue with this series, although I loved The Infernal Devices trilogy; I read it back in 2016.
Storm and Fury just did not do it for me, nothing else to add.

I did change the format of this post; hope you enjoy it and let me know what your July wrap-up is!