Books I Read This Summer

Hey guys! Today I’m going to be reviewing my Summer TBR and sharing all the books I read this summer. I read some good ones, so let’s get started.

Let’s start with the books I said I wanted to get to but didn’t. I did have 40 books on this TBR, so I knew I wasn’t going to get to all of them. But I did read more than I thought I would have!

I did not read:

• Return of the King
• The Prince and the Sea Witch
• Carabosse and the Spindle Spell
• Wundersmith
• Straight On Till Morning
• A Tale of Two Cities
• Peter Pan
• The Great Gatsby
• Instructions for Dancing
• The Fountains of Silence
• Porch Swing Girl
• Kingdom of Beauty
• Pirouette

Books that I started but haven’t finished yet:

• Seeds of Glory and Ruin
• Evalene’s Number
• An Ember in the Ashes
• Mara, Daughter of the Nile

I’m honestly impressed that I read all the other books off my list.

Moving on, let’s talk about the books I did read! I read quite a bit, seeing as I had a lot of time to spend on reading. Fun fact, I traveled in the car for over 60 hours this summer!

June Reads

I read 11 books in June. I had a variety of different ratings, but overall a decent reading month.

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy

This was a really cute book that my mom got me as a gift. I didn’t rate it for some reason, but it feels kind of like a modern-day Winnie-the-Pooh.

The Bear of Rosenthorn Ring by Kirsten Fichter

Kirsten Fichter writes good little short books that I can normally read in a day, so this one was fun. I want to say that this book is probably my favorite of hers-the characters are starting to show more depth. 3/5 stars.

Hansel and the Gingerbread Queen by Lea Doué 

I really like the Villain’s Ever After series because it’s introduced me to a few new authors and each of the books can be read in a few hours. This one had a really fun setting, but otherwise didn’t stand out. 3/5 stars.

Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson

I really liked the first AGGGTM book and this one was no different. I couldn’t put it down! 4/5 stars.

The Dark King and the Eternal Dance by Alesha Adamson

This one is another installment in the Villain’s Ever After, it had a cool plot. 3/5 stars.

Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch

I buddy read this one with Evin. I quite enjoyed it! I really liked the setting of Italy. 3/5 stars.

The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

I found this audiobook for free on Audible, and it served me well during a couple car rides. It was a very engaging book, though I found it cliche at times. 3/5 stars.

So This Is Love by Elizabeth Lim

This is my first book by Elizabeth Lim and I’m so excited to read more from her! I really liked this story and feel like it added more depth than the original Cinderella movie. I liked the twist too. 3/5 stars.

All of This Is True by Lygia Day Penaflor

This one…I didn’t like so much. It’s a mystery, yet I literally never wondered what the mystery was. It was very boring to me. 2/5 stars.

Gilded In Ice by Sarah Pennington

I have similar feelings toward this one, which makes me kind of sad because the writing was really lovely. But retelling fairytales with a mystery aspect just doesn’t work so well for me. I felt like the mystery was obvious. I didn’t end up finishing this book, but I would still recommend this if you’re interested.

The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson

I really liked this one! But I mean, it is Brandon Sanderson, so that’s pretty much a given. I thought the world and magic system were really cool. And the plot kept me hooked. 4/5 stars.

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

This is another audiobook that I listened to on Audible, it’s fairly short and nice! The plot definitely keeps you guessing, and I can see why Agatha Christie is the queen of mystery. 3/5 stars.

July Reads

July was a really good reading month! I read 14 books and even had a few 5 star reads!

The Runaway King by Jennifer A. Nielsen

This is the sequel to The False Prince, and I thought it was a great continuation. I really don’t know where this story is going next, but I can’t wait to continue. 4/5 stars.

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

I LOVED this one! It felt very real and it really made me fall in love with historical fiction. I honestly felt like I was reading a memoir of someone who’d lived through WWII. Also, this taught me about Lithuanian history. 5/5 stars.

Gothel and the Maiden Prince by W.R. Gingell

This one was a little boring for me, but it did have a nice twist. 3/5 stars.

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

This one is an adult book that I read before seeing the movie. I didn’t really connect to any of the characters, but it wasn’t a bad book. 2.5/5 stars.

Between Shades of Gray(Graphic Novel) by Ruta Sepetys

This one is the same story as Between Shades of Gray, but it also had beautiful art! 5/5 stars.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

This one’s basically a classic, right? I really loved the way it was narrated, and the characters were also great.5/5 stars.

The Sorcerer and the Swan Princess by Lucy Tempest

The characters were fun in this book, but I feel like everything was just a little bit more convenient. 3/5 stars.

Meet Me at the Summit by Mandi Lynn

This one was really good and it dealt with some deep themes. I didn’t like some parts of it, but overall it was pretty good. I loved the setting. 3/5 stars.

The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan

I finally decided to continue the Percy Jackson series! This was a very good continuation and I can’t wait to read more from this series. 4/5 stars.

The Mystery Princess by Melanie Cellier

Oh my goodness, I loved this book! It was so good and I literally couldn’t put it down. I think I read it all one evening. I highly recommend it if you’re interested in fairytale retellings! 5/5 stars.

The Baker and the Wolf by J.M. Stengl

This was a pretty typical installment of the Villains Ever After series. Due to the length of these, they aren’t always the most fleshed out, but they’re also pretty quick reads, so who can complain? I did really like the magical aspect of this one though. 3/5 stars.

Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

This was a fun little road-trip book. It was kind of cheesy and trope-y, so it wasn’t my favorite. But I don’t regret reading it. 3/5 stars.

The Summer of Lost Letters by Hannah Reynolds

I liked this book a lot more than I thought I would have! It’s kind of a mix between historical fiction and contemporary, and I liked that part of it. I also liked the main character…usually I think YA contemporary main characters are kind of annoying but this one was relatable. She cared a lot for her family, especially her grandmother, and a large plot point was about her learning about her grandmother’s past. Also, the setting was really cool. 4/5 stars.

Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill by Maud Hart Lovelace

This was fun and quick. It’s a children’s book series, but the characters are starting to grow up and I can’t wait to get to when the characters are a bit closer to my age. 3/5 stars.

August Reads

I read 9 books in August and most of them were in the first half of the month. I wished I could’ve read some more, but oh well. I still read some great books and 9 is a lot still.

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

This was the first book I read in August. I’m glad I finished this series, and the plot was really interesting. I did think that sometimes the POVs weren’t the most distinguishable and there were some parts of this that I didn’t like. 3/5 stars.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

I started reading this book in May, and it took me until August to finish it. It was a bit dense at times and difficult to get through, but it was worth it. The writing was very beautiful and Jane’s character was interesting. 3.5/5 stars.

Legend by Marie Lu

Guys, why did I wait so long to read this book? I’ve been meaning to for a while now, and it was so good! I flew through it. I think that it made a lot of sense and I thought the characters were cool too. 4/5 stars.

The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

This was a nice little dark fairytale sort of book. It did have a lot of strong language which I didn’t enjoy, but otherwise, it was okay. I did think the ending was a bit too happy for the tone of the book? 3/5 stars.

Reflection by Elizabeth Lim

This was my second book by Elizabeth Lim and like I said earlier, I can’t wait to read more by her. The writing was really good, and while Mulan isn’t necessarily my favorite Disney movie, this added a fun, adventurous twist. 3/5 stars.

The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson

This one was also really, really good! It kept me turning pages and I think I read this one in about a day. The plot was good, the characters were good, and so was the setting. 4/5 stars.

The Seven Years Princess by Brittany Fichter

This one had an interesting plot. I wasn’t a big fan of the character relationships or the fact that so much time was skipped in this book, but otherwise 3/5 stars.

Better Than The Movies by Lynn Painter

I wasn’t expecting to like this one, but since it was free on Kindle Unlimited, I decided to give it a try. I actually thought that the characters were interesting and the plot was cool. This wasn’t as cheesy as most YA romances, so I actually enjoyed it. 4/5 stars.

Tales Along the King’s Highway by Blanche W. Floyd

This one was fun to read while I was at Myrtle Beach. It had various legends and stories about Myrtle Beach. I didn’t rate it because it was more of a non-fiction book.

Alright! Those are all the books I read this summer. I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the books I read.

Tell me about a book you read this summer in the comments!