July Wrap-Up

My July Reading

Aug 01, 2025

Okay, I must concede. My 2025 reading is really NOT THAT BAD. 😯

In July, I had two 5-stars, four 4.5-stars, and five 4-star books.

FINISHED

🎧 The Book That Broke the World by Mark Lawrence (2024) — ★4
Lovely second installment, but missing some of the charm and emotional core of the first.

📱 Joy Moody Is Out of Time by Kerryn Mayne (US Release Aug 19, 2025) — ★4.5
Unique balance of quirky and dark, cozy and slightly twisted.

🎧 The Town House by Norah Lofts (1959) — ★4.5
With steady character development from Lofts, I was pleasantly surprised by this deep backlist title.

📖 The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty (2023) — ★4.5
A delightful tale with top-notch humor and well-developed characters.

📖 The Undertaking by Audrey Magee (2014) — ★4.5
Magee avoids any glossing over her story with a challenging narrative focusing on complicity.

📖 Water by John Boyne (2023) — ★4
Decent story and character development, but not a lot of freshness.

🎧 Enlightenment by Sarah Perry (2024) — ★4
Steady narrative, a hint of spec-fic.

📱 Dusk by Robbie Arnott (US release August 5, 2025) — ★4
Lovely Australian Western — not quite as enthralling as The Rain Heron but damn close.

🎧 The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi (2023) — ★4
Really odd but really well done slightly sci-fi.

📖 Earth by John Boyne (2024) — ★3
Predictable, lacked character development and nuance. Trauma as spectacle, doled out with the precision of someone sticking pins in a doll.

📖 Misbehaving at the Crossroads by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers (2025) — ★5
Powerful, thoughtful, and fantastic collection of essays and writings.

🎧 Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood (2023) — ★5
Gorgeously quiet novel where the power of what is not said reverberates through the entire work.