Ceelee's Sparklingt July Reads

[Ceelee]

Greetings to all! I hope you had a lovely National Book Lover's Day yesterday! by hugging a Book and taking it to lunch! :)
Me, I spent most of the afternoon in the French court, hanging out with Catherine 'de' Medici, but that is a story for next month's post!

We finally had our first 100 degrees July 30 so the summer heat is isreaaallllyyyyy on!

I had some terrific reads in July. Three were excellent an one I really detested with all my being!

First, I finished the ARC of EVVIE DRAKE STARTS OVER by Linda Holmes.



The book got a lot of buzz in the beginning but fizzled out. I don't know why as I thought it was really a good spring/summer read. I read it because the guy is a baseball pitcher who had lost his magic and was hiding away in a small town in Maine renting an apartment that is owned by a recent widow. I thought it was funny, sweet, sad and real even though it was predictable, in some ways. it was full of baseball although not enough to be to much of a distraction for those not into the sport. Not a huge romance reader but I am liking some of the Rom Coms that have been appearing lately.

Next, I read THE LADY OF THE RIVERS by the wonderful Philippa Gregory. I loved
"The White Queen" and "The White Princess" on STARZ (originally BBC) and decided it was time to start The Cousins' War series. I was also inspired by the SRC Summer Challenge task "Game of Books" where we had to read two books from six characters' from GAME OF THRONES reading lists! I chose Sansa Stark because her book list resembled what mine looks like. All six lists had one book in common: ALL MY FRIENDS ARE DEAD! I absolutely loved the book! Gregory's writing kept me interested throughout and I think she does a better job adding historical details than some authors in the historical fiction genre.



One of my favorite books this year, among many I have read in 2019, is ONE HUNDRED NAMES by Cecelia Ahern.



I have never read any of her books but I did see the movie :P S I Love You" and I watched and loved the TV show "Samantha Who?" but had no idea until I read the author's note at the end that she wrote that show! I ADORED this book! It is a perfect summer read and it was my outside book of choice in July. The story is about a journalist whose friend and editor of the magazine she writes for has an idea for a story but before she can find out the details, the editor dies so the journalist takes on the task of figuring out what the list of 100 names is about and write the story in her memory. The book was so funny and touching and had terrific characters. Another "real' book that I declare as HUGGABLE!

And now from the sublime to the ridiculous, at least to me:
SOMETHING WICKED by Lisa Jackson and Nancy Bush.



I actually started evading the book in February. I got turned off pretty
quickly with the dialogue when a guy asked Catherine "What did you behold?" and Catherine decided to tell him "what she beheld." AAUGH! I decided to take it up again this summer, just to get it read and out of my life. I admit it was a struggle. I mainly wanted to see if my theory of the ending would happen but dang it, it is part of a series! I didn't know that because I got the book from BookLender and they don't always send series books in order. I didn't like the baby thing at all. I think it could have been as good a book without it. They could have taken about 100-150 pages out too and it would have improved it. A lot of it was repetition because they spent a lot of time hammering it into our heads just what a sicko the crazed psycho killer was. Yeh, we get it, move on Lisa and Nancy. . I didn't like any of the characters, the only really interesting one is Ravinia. The rebels are always the best! Normally I really like Lisa Jackson's books but maybe writing with her sister is not the best idea she ever had. I will most likely read more of Lisa Jackson books but the Siren Song is off my list.

A personal Book Note: I have been named TOP FAN on Facebook group "Friday Reads" for most of July and into August. Pretty cool to see that title with a diamond on all my posts on that page now!

So until next time, stay cool with cool books!

[Ann]

Good to see you’ve been busily and (mostly) happily reading Ceelee!
You deserve a medal for finishing the book you hated. I’ve given up on books I liked better than your first impression. 😀 I’ve also mainly given up on reading books that tie in to recent tv shows / movies.
Stay cool - we are entering the really hot phase here too and it is steamy.