This Week's Topic is: What was the best book you read in July?
A quick check of Goodreads shows that I had a whopping THREE five-star reads this month, all right in a row! That's especially unusual for me; usually a five-star read is followed by a three-star read because I'm still so blown away by what I just read that nothing seems to measure up. (One of the many reasons that all Goodreads ratings should be taken with a grain of salt; I try to be as fair as I can, but I've noticed that pattern over time.)
Anyway, my three five-star reads were:
Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley: This book is just so strange that it grabbed my brain in a different sort of way and really wormed its way in. I went in expecting strange, and I got it; what I didn't expect was how real it felt at the same time.
Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins: Somehow, even better and sweeter than Anna and the French Kiss. Lola Nolan is my hero; Cricket Bell is my high school dream guy (even though he's in college!) This is my winner for book of the month because of Lola's outsized personality, screw-ups, sweetness (it's under there!), awesome family, outrageous costumes, and just overall excellence.
Goodness... I love Stephanie Perkins's writing SO much. Glad you enjoyed her books. And I've heard nothing but excellent things about WHERE THINGS COME BACK. That's one I'll definitely have to check out soon. Thanks for the rec!
ReplyDeleteI've learned to trust that big gold "P" and it hasn't let me down yet!
DeleteI still haven't read Anna and the French Kiss so you're not the last person in the world. Great post. :D
ReplyDeleteYay! Then there's someone left for me to recommend it to! (It's impossible to keep up with all the amazing books being written! I had no idea until I started blogging how many amazing books I was missing out on EVERY DAY!)
DeleteYou have TWO of my all-time favorites - ANNA and LOLA. :) Excellent reads, I can't wait for ISLA to make her appearance next year!
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for the reco on WHERE THINGS COME BACK! Strange? I can do strange. :) It's now on my TBR list!
I KNOW, I am so looking forward to Isla! (Although I can't help but picture Isla Fisher...and I totally have Anna Kendrick in my head for Anna, actually. Oops!)
DeleteI have been meaning to pick up Corey's book since I saw him at ALA. It's a must read in the very near future! Glad you liked Anna! And I LOVE Cricket!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I saw your comment on my blog, and there's actually a Banned Book Hop I participate in with this blog http://iamareadernotawriter.blogspot.com/p/hops.html
and this one http://www.jenbigheart.com/
Oh, that's awesome! I'll have to sign up this year! Thanks for the tip!
DeleteOh Anna and Lola. I want to reread those soooo bad but I've got so many other books on my TBR list.
ReplyDeleteTry to find time this summer--while they're not set at the beach or anything, they're great summer reads! Light (well, mostly) and fun, but well-written enough to be un-embarrassing.
DeleteThis post just makes me want to read ANNA and LOLA again! Must do that soon. :D
ReplyDeleteI'll definitely plan for that next year, right before Isla comes out (can't wait!)
DeleteI cannot wait for Isla to come out :D I LOVED Anna and Lola. While my heart leans more toward Etienne, I still had little happy butterflies when reading Lola :D
ReplyDeleteAnd I have to check out Where Things Come Back :D
Psh, Etienne and his...hair. And that accent. And his always being adorable. (Dang. That sounds pretty good actually.)
DeleteIt just occurred to me that if you crossed Etienne's hair and accent and Cricket's nice pants and general nerdery, I think you get David Tennant's Doctor Who--perhaps my all-time greatest fictional crush (or at least in the top five.) No wonder I loved these books!
Thanks for the rec on 'Where Things Come Back'. I started reading the preview available on Amazon (that's my book screening mechanism), and it is weird in all of the right ways. I'm requesting that from the library for sure!
ReplyDeleteI have to credit Maggie Stiefvater for convincing me to pick it up--she wrote about it (on Goodreads? Or her blog?) and something in what she wrote made me think, "yeah, ok." It's interesting to me that it seems to be taking a while to really catch on, even after winning the Printz Award; then again, it's sort of hard to describe/recommend, I guess.
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