Sunday Book Club: July 2020 Reading List

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Sometimes I have really months where I have no time and my life is not my own. Sometimes I have months like this last one where I would sit and finish books in a day. Or I would have an audiobook that was so good that I couldn’t stop listening. And that’s why my July 2020 reading list is so, ridiculously long.

July 2020 Reading List

A Happy Catastrophe by Maddie Dawson

Note: I received this book as an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon

When I read the description of this book, I had zero interest. I’m sorry, but the description was not great and whoever wrote it did this book zero justice. Why? BECAUSE THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING. It’s about Samiah, a tech genius, who is also focused on helping other black women in her industry succeed. After her dating life becomes the focus of a viral tweet, she decides to pause her dating life to focus on work and building the app she’s been dreaming of. But then this new guy shows up her office and throws all of her plans off. Except he has a secret too.

Honestly, run, don’t walk to read this book.

Perfect Tunes by Emily Gould

I almost quit this book at the beginning. Why? Well the main character was one of my least favorite themes in a book: angsty young adults/adults. Luckily though, I went back to read the description to remember why I wanted to read it in the first place. The novel quickly moves to the main character’s adult life and from there, I found it more interesting. Would I recommend it? Eh, it wouldn’t be my top choice.

Love Her or Lose Her by Tessa Bailey

The sequel to Fix Her Up! Much like the first one, I really enjoyed it, but could have done without the nickname. However, this one was definitely not as bad as “baby girl.” I think it was “honey girl”? Honestly, the fact that I can’t really remember it, just that it was there, should say something. The book a good read though, maybe better than the first, and definitely R rated.

The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis

Note: I received this book as an advanced copy in exchanged for an honest review.

Like a fine wine, Fiona Davis’s writing gets better with age…or with each book. Too much? Too cheesy? It’s too true though.

The Lions of Fifth Avenue centers around The New York Library (and the apartment deep inside it!) in the early 1910s during the rise of the women’s rights movement and eighty years later in 1993, when the Library is putting together a show to commemorate their famous Berg Collection. Both times feature a compelling mystery though as valuable and rare books from the collection keep disappearing.

Davis does an incredible job of creating a plot that quickly draws the reader in and keeps them glued to the plot through the last page. Similar to her previous novels, the chapters go seamlessly back and forth between the past and present. Finally, it was fascinating to watch Sadie (the main character from 1993), trying to learn more about Laura (from 1913), as the reader watches Laura’s life unfold in tandem. It gives a deeper look into Laura’s life that the reader might have not gotten otherwise.

Similar to Davis’s other novels, this book is a must-add to your TBR list (and move it to the top)!

The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory

I mentioned in my June 2020 post that I was going to make my way through Gregory’s Cousins Wars series. The Red Queen covers is the third book and covers the same time period as the first two, but from the point of view of Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII of England. Margaret’s life obviously intertwines with the first two books, but what I really enjoyed about this one was that Margaret did not spend as much of her time at court. Therefore, while the book covered the same events, we were seeing from the view of an outsider, significantly more religious woman.

Conspiracy In The Capitol by B. Ivy Woods

Sometimes I like diving into the self-published section of Amazon, sometimes it’s iffy. But how can I resist a mystery-romance novel that takes place in DC? The novel was a little more light on DC and heavy on Arlington, but any DC natives will love all of the local references. The conspiracy also felt a lot more built up than it ended up being revealed to be in the end. I think this will definitely be a fun read if you live or have lived in DC.

Dangerous Alliance by Jennieke Cohen

As someone who loves a good play on a classic novel, I love this novel even more for having the main character being a big Jane Austen fan. Dangerous Alliance actually takes place around the time period when Austen would be first publishing her novels. The main character, Victoria, is an Austen fan and now that she has to find a husband to marry (and in a hurry because of family problems), she’s on the hunt for her Mr. Darcy.

I devoured the book and then went out to buy it because I knew I was going to go back and re-read it.

Intercepted by Alexa Martin

Go over to this post and to read about my extreme love for this series. The first book focuses on Marlee, long time girlfriend to one of the player’s from Denver’s football team. Everything is going okay, until her one night stand from four years ago joins the team, Marlee finds out her boyfriend has been cheating on her, they break up, and her life is thrown into chaos.

Fumbled by Alexa Martin

Fumbled is the second book in the series that picks up in Denver, close in time to where the last book left off. Here we meet Poppy, a mom of a 9 year old, who’s dad was her high school sweetheart back when she lived in Connecticut. Except now, he’s one of the stars of the Mustangs, Denver’s football team. Oh, and he has no idea that he has a son or that Poppy even lives in Denver.

Blitzed by Alexa Martin

Blitzed picks up the same exact night and location that Fumbled ends: in a bar with glass shattering all over the place and a pissed off bar owner, Brynn. By the time you get to Blitzed, you’ll be in love with Brynn and dying for her to have a book. And trust me when I tell you that you’re going to love this one.

The Library of Fates by Aditi Khorana

Now this is the fairy tale that you never got as a kid. Maybe because it would have been a little too scary at the beginning? Though I guess parents die at the beginning in a lot of fairy tales? Anyways, it has a girl being sent on a journey, her learning to trust herself, and a best friend sidekick character. It’s beautifully written and I highly recommend.

The Sweeney Sisters by Lian Dolan

I knew nothing going into this book. I forgot what the description of it was, I just remember that the description sounded good at the time. But it ended up being a good ensemble fiction novel of sisters learning to trust one another and finally growing up themselves (even though they all thought they already had).

The Matchmaker’s List by Sonya Lalli

I had mixed feelings about this book. On one had, I enjoyed it and thought parts of it were very witty. On the other had, I felt like it could have used a bit of editing and leaned too into the awkward moments. There was also a key plot point in the novel that I felt fairly uncomfortable with and I just couldn’t decided if I was okay with it or not. I won’t post it here because, spoilers, but when you read it, you’ll know what I’m talking about.

The White Queen by Philippa Gregory

As I mentioned earlier, I’m reading through the Cousins Wars and this is the 2nd book in the series. Since it focuses on Elizabeth Woodville, the daughter of the main character in book 1, there’s a handful of overlap in events. Not a lot, but enough that parts felt repetitive. Also, since during those years, all people did was go to war, it was a lot of sitting and waiting. But Elizabeth Woodville, along with her mother, were very fascinating. The history books have not treated her well and she’s been said to use witchcraft. This book leans into that idea, but is still kinder to Elizabeth.

A Dream So Dark by L.L. McKinney

A Dream so Dark is actually a sequel to the Novel, A Blade So Black, a darker, more modern version of Alice in Wonderland. In this sequel, essentially everything has gone wrong. Alice’s friend who was on the verge of death has disappeared from their hands, Wonderland might be going into war again, and Alice is grounded for at least 3 years. If you’re a fan of Wonderland in anymore (except for maybe the Disney movies), you’ll completely enjoy this series.

Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld

What if Hilary Rodham had never said yes to Bill Clinton’s second proposal. What if when she said no the second time, she stuck with it and walked away? Sittenfeld plays with that idea in Rodham. I really liked this book, but I had the same problem with it that I’ve had with previous Sittenfeld novels. It feels like it’s dragging at points or could have been edited down, but those parts that felt like the could have been edited end up coming around to play a part later in the novel. It’s an interesting tactic, but it can be frustrating while you’re actually reading it. However, that should not hold you back from reading it. I really enjoyed Rodham and this take on how history might have been was really fascination.

The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo

Be warned, when this novel says it covers a family history, it covers the whole family history. I felt like not one detailed was spared when hearing about this family, from when the parents met to present day, when all family secrets start to come out. That all said, it’s great. It’s like getting to hear all the gossip you were never let in on, good and bad. It’s tough to get through at times, because not all parts of being a family are easy, but other points of this book you’ll speed through because it’s so good.

Phew, my July 2020 reading list is done! And long! Hopefully there are only more books coming my way this next month. What have you read any good books that I should check out?