The Rest Of My July Reading

My July reading was interesting because I was on vacation for part of it (which means my reading is fairly random) and then I had a couple of books with deadlines to read.

I'd read Klune's book The Extraordinaries a few years ago so was happy to finish this series. I spent much of the second book (Flash Fire) trying to remember what had happened in the first book and who the characters were. Once I had a handle on things though, I really enjoyed book two. I did not enjoy Heat Wave as much because there was one thing which happened in the novel which seemed really unbelievable. That particular detail (which was a significant portion of the first half of the book) did not hang together for me. What I really love about these books is that Nick, the main character, is neurodivergent and that adds so much depth to the series for me.

I thought this book was okay but one of the main thoughts is that Laurie, the main character, isn't looking for a relationship. I feel like there is too much of a focus on "she doesn't want a boyfriend" and it gets in the way of the rest of the storytelling. I get it -- Laurie doesn't want a relationship. Laurie is spending a few months cleaning out the house of her great-aunt Dot and discovers some mysteries about Dot's life. I did enjoy the details of how the stories of Dot's life are discovered.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a lovely look at both a mother and a daughter's perspective on their relationship as they travel together. I read this novel really quickly although it wasn't as quirky as Waxman's other novel, The Bookish Life of Nina Hill.

  

 

I've read the Redemption series before and I think it was another blogger who reminded me about these books. Although I'm not as conservative in my faith as I think Kingsbury is, I do enjoy these novels and flew through this entire series in about three days.

Well, if you follow me on Instagram, you already know that not only did Rachel and I go to New York City, but we saw the musical "Wicked." So I read this book in anticipation. A few things to note: While I (mostly) enjoyed the book, the musical is very different. I felt like the novel did a good job of introducing me to the characters and the settings but not to the story line of the musical. I found that the novel was a little long so that impeded my enjoyment of it.

So that's what I read for the rest of July. Since it's the end of another month of reading, here are some stats.

Total books read in July: 18

Total books read in 2023: 104

Have you read Wicked and seen the musical? How did you think the two compared?