the best books I read this month – august 2018

The summer is coming to an end and with it another month of reading. I read quite a few books in a variety of genres; from horror, to YA, to short stories, and a whole bunch of non-fiction. While I am looking forward to the cooler weather and pumpkin spice things, I enjoyed looking back at the books I read in the heat of summer.

For the full list of books and my Goodreads account click HERE

1. The Last Time I Lied  by Riley Sager
   Last summer I read and loved Sagers, “Final Girls” so I was so excited when I saw that he was coming out with another novel. While I didn’t like his second book as much as the first this was still a very intriguing thriller. I felt like he was really good at knowing when to reveal certain mysteries and I loved that it took place at a summer camp, especially one that also had cabins named after trees.
2. The Poisoned City: Flint’s Water and the American Urban Tragedy by Anna Clark
   
   Like many people, I have been very intrigued by the story coming out of Flint, Michigan and their water crisis, but never really knew how everything came to be. This book did a great job of sharing all the circumstances that led to the tragedy that the city is still dealing with today, years later.
3. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
   Oh my, this book was absolutely amazing. Evelyn Hugo, old time movie star is now old and mainly a recluse. She decides to grant an interview to a young, novice reporter and is going to tell her entire life story, including why and how she had seven husbands. Her whole life story was so fascinating and it was hard for me to turn away from the story.
4. Not If I Save You First by Ally Carter
   Boy and Girl grow up together. One the son of the president, the other the daughter of his head secret service agent. Then tragedy strikes and Maddie ends up whisked away to middle of nowhere Alaska, where there is no pink, sparkles, or girly things whatsoever. Years pass without contact and then she wakes up one day to him on her porch, yet things are different, and oh yeah, there are a bunch of people trying to kill them. Fun, but also a much different YA contemporary than I have ever read before.
5. The Little Book of Feminist Saints by Julia Pierpont
   I have read quite a few anthologies about women, but this one is something special. It included some of the famous women that are in every one of these, but it also included quite a few I didn’t know about before this. I also liked that they each were the “Patron Saint of” something with a specific date for each one.
6. Boy Erased: A Memoir by Garrard Conley
   I heard about this book from my friend Katie, and as soon as I did I knew I needed to read it. This book was painful to read, hearing the true story of a young man who voluntarily sends himself to a conversion centre, because he can’t stand disappointing his parents. This was hard, but I think it is a story that a lot of people need to read.
7. This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor by Adam Kay
   I read a lot of great non-fiction this month and this was definitely up there. This book is a selection of the journals of Adam Kay while he was working his way through the UK medical system. There are funny stories, sad stories, and mostly a lot of truth. It is hard to read about the hardships of the system, but heartwarming to hear about the many people who do care.
8. Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
   I don’t really know much about Norse myths, only what I knew from watching the Thor movies. These fun, short stories was interesting to read and cool to learn about a different culture and their legends. This is a very easy book to read and broken up in a way to read little bits at a time.

What have you been reading and loving lately?

Reading Roundup:

• Books Read in 2018: 226
• Canadian Books: 9/12
• Diverse Books: 8/12
• Goodreads Challenge: 17/20