I had a great time reading this month — 8 books, including 3 completely during one week for The Reading Rush!

• Children of Blood & Bone by Tomi Adeyemi – I knew this was a super popular YA fantasy novel and I wanted to see what the hype was about! There was lots of magic, a little romance, and some badass female characters. However, I found the world a little difficult to get into and it was a little too long for me. Looking forward to the sequel coming out this fall! 4/5 stars
• With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo – blog post here! I think this was my favorite book of July! 5/5 stars
• The Escape Room by Megan Goldin – blog post here! I loved this thriller and think it’s a perfect escape read to bring on vacation with you! 4.5/5 stars
• The Gifted School by Bruce Holsinger – While I had to make a little post-it family tree at the beginning (lots of characters!) I found this novel FASCINATING. It touched on issues of race, class, privilege and educational inequality. My education-minded self was fascinated by how this all played out between the families and all of the many little strings all wove together beautifully at the end. 4.5/5 stars
• Arcadia by Lauren Groff – anything by Lauren Groff is bound to be beautifully written, which this ABSOLUTELY was. The story is about Bit, born and raised in a commune in the 1970s, and his life after leaving the commune. There was an odd subplot at the end, but otherwise this novel was a dream. 4.5/5 stars
• Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate – This was a really readable novel that was fast-paced and well-written. The author clearly did TONS of research on the real-life monster Georgia Tann and wove it wonderfully with a cast of fictional characters during the Great Depression & present day. 4.5/5 stars
• The Last Book Party by Karen Dukess – This was a beautifully written book about books & Cape Cod in the summer of 1987. The story follows Eve works in publishing, but is passed over for a promotion so she decides to assist a famous writer on Cape Cod for the summer. She is a fun character, and the setting is described beautifully. A very quick, but fun, read! 4.5/5 stars
• One of Us Is Lying by Karen McManus – I saw a poster for this book and the tagline said something about The Breakfast Club + murder. This was a fast-paced fun read about a group of high schoolers that need to solve a murder after 5 kids walk into detention and 4 walk out. So many secrets are revealed & it was a quick and fun read! 4/5 stars