Books Read in July 2022!

Posted On July 30, 2022

Hi Readers! How was your July? Did you get a lot of reading done? Did you get time to spend with your family & friends? Did you get time to spend with yourself? I really hope you did! 😊

My July did not start off well. In fact, I had read only 4 books (3 of which were graphic novels) by third week of August. But, I really picked it up in this last week when I read 2 more! So, I read 6 BOOKS ACROSS 1348 PAGES. Probably the lowest of the year, but that’s okay. There are always months like these. I was anxious & worried but then I realized that it’s okay if I read a couple of fewer books a month with a valid reason or without! And after this realization I felt lighter & was able to enjoy reading as well as every other aspect of life. Anyway, here are the 6 books I read!

~~GRAPHIC NOVELS~~

~~THE TEA DRAGON SOCIETY, THE TEA DRAGON FESTIVAL, THE TEA DRAGON TAPESTRY by KAY O’NEILL~~

This was the first time that I read graphic novels in colour & I absolutely loved it. The expressions, feelings of people, sky, nature; all of it is just so unbelievably beautiful! The story in all the three books was simplistic but with life lessons. These were kind of for middle grade audience as per Storygraph. But, you know the books for children are the books everyone should read.

I rated The Tea Dragon Society at 3/5 stars, The Tea Dragon Festival at 4/5 stars & The Tea Dragon Tapestry at 5/5 stars! Here are a few snippets from the books:

~~FICTION NOVELS~~

~~PROJECT HAIL MARY by ANDY WEIR~~

I was completely fascinated by this book. Page after page, it is one amazing incident after another. This was the first time I read space science fiction, and I was obsessed with it! The first thing that I loved about this novel is how fast-paced it was. It had me at the edge of my seat the entire time. And, the book has only two characters & they carry the book so swiftly. You will never feel that there should have been more characters. All of it was just perfect! I have rated Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir at 4.5/5 stars!

You can read the full review here!

~~HOMEGOING by YAA GYASI~~

I have a lot to write about this novel & it’s coming in a book review soon. I had predicted this book to be a 5 star read, but I was quite disappointed. I did not enjoy the writing style. I did not have enough time to connect with any of the characters. The 351-page book spans across 250 years, which is nearly not enough to uncover everything or even touch the tip of the iceberg of a story. I did learn about colonialism & history of slavery in Ghana & America. But, it wasn’t covered as well as I would have wanted. I have rated Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi at 2.5/5 stars!

~~SPUTNIK SWEETHEART by HARUKI MURAKAMI~~

This book was the highlight of the month. I have read 6 to 7 Murakami fiction books so far. I have loved some, liked some & hated some. But this one was at another level. Yes, it had its quota of magical realism but it also had mature themes of grief, loneliness, mortality & probably much more. On the surface, it seems like a simple story, but there are so many layers underneath to uncover, so much to read between the lines! I was happily surprised. This book gave me a lot of think about. I have rated Sputnik Sweetheart at 4/5 stars!

~~JULY READING STATS~~

So, that is all, folks! I have read 55 books in 7 months. I am only 20 books away from achieving my 75 books target. August is Women in Translation month, so I am definitely reading some books written by women & translated to English. I also plan on reading the bigger books (500 pages+) on my TBR because it has been a while since I read a big book! What are you looking forward to in August?

Until next time,