I never know how to start these posts, other than with ‘wow, I can’t believe how fast this year is flying by!’. So, here we are again. This time, facing the fact that summer is practically over! I’m not quite ready to accept the end of back garden season, but hopefully a mild fall is coming our way, allowing for plenty of evenings sipping white wine outside with a good book. Until then, here’s my July reading roundup:
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Books I Finished
I read the following 4 books in July. I have linked to my review of each of them:
- The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand ★★★★
- The Wives (US: When Life Gives You Lululemons) by Lauren Weisberger (Audiobook) ★★★★★
- A Short History of Drunkenness by Mark Forsyth (Audiobook) ★★★★
- A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza ★★★★
ARC = I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a review. You can read my review by clicking the link above.
Book of the Month
The Wives is up there on my list of the best summer reads (alongside the Crazy Rich Asians series and a few token thrillers). However, for this Book of the Month section, I’m only going to refer to the book by its American name because I love it so much – When Life Gives You Lululemons.
When Life Gives You Lululemons is the third instalment of the Devil Wears Prada series, but it can be read as a standalone (that’s how I read it). It’s also a great listen on Audible (also how I read it) if you’re looking for something to play while you’re commuting or running errands. The book follows Emily Charlton (everyone’s favorite ex Miranda Priestley assistant) and two other women as they deal with life and scandal in Greenwich, Connecticut and beyond. The descriptions of the suburbs and suburban moms made me LOL and I thoroughly enjoyed the plot. It’s the perfect book to pickup and enjoy by the pool this summer!
It can essentially be summed up with ‘an ex-lawyer turned housewife, a politician’s wife, and a PR genius walk into a bar…’ but it’s 100x juicier than that!
Click here to purchase The Wives/When Life Gives You Lululemons
Books I’m Currently Reading
I abandoned a couple of books that I hope to get back into in August (Auntie Poldi and The Lido), but at the moment I’m trying to work through Us Against You and a recently library pick.
Us Against You by Fredrik Backman
The End We Start From by Megan Hunter
Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions by Mario Giordano
The Lido by Libby Page
Books I Purchased/Downloaded/Borrowed
In July, I spent £6.97 on four books, and also picked up two from the library. Here’s what I downloaded/borrowed in July:
- Beautiful Exiles by Meg Waite Clayton (Kindle First)
- All We Ever Wanted by Emily Giffin
- Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
- The Summer of Impossible Things by Rowan Coleman
- A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza (Library)
- The End We Start From by Megan Hunter (Library)
I’ve had my eye on Before We Were Yours for awhile and am happy that I managed to snag it for £0.99 on a deal day this month. At the moment, I’m most excited about All We Ever Wanted, though. It’s Emily Giffin’s latest release and it sounds like a captivating one! I’m planning to start it (and likely finish it) on an upcoming 10 hour flight. 
Reading Challenge Progress
- Popsugar Reading Challenge: Progress This Month: 0 – Overall Progress: 16/40
- Popsugar Advanced Prompts: Progress This Month: 1 – Overall Progress: 2/10
- Reading Goal: Progress This Month: 4 – Overall Progress: 34/60
For those of you following along with my PopSugar Reading Challenge progress, I ticked off the following prompts this month:
- A microhistory (A Short History of Drunkenness)
