July wasn't too shabby

I did pretty well this month. 5 books at 2,566 pages. Admittedly, one of the books spanned last month AND this month. But still. I read the bulk of this month. So there. 

After You by Jojo Moyes (352 pages). The sequel to Me Before You. Want to know what happens to Lou AFTER Will?  Well, it's not that pretty for a while. Lou is completely lost without him. But one day, after an accident, her world begins to open up again. And she remembers that Will wanted her to live, something she hasn't been doing since she lost him. I liked this one just as much as the first one (but definitely wasn't in tears again!). It took me 2 days to to read it. Yep, 2 days. It was that good

The Isle of the Lost by Melissa de la Cruz (311 pages). Disney out out an original movie in 2015 call typed The Descendants. This was the prequel to that movie. Mal (daughter of Maleficent), Jay (son of Jafar), Carlos (son of Cruella de Vil) and Evie (daughter of the Evil Queen) live with their parents on the magic-free Isle of the Lost, where King Beast banished all villains. These four join forces on a quest that actually begins to establish a bond between them, something that villains don't do. It was a cute, super easy read. I finished it in one day. 

A Storm of Swords by George RR Martin (1128 pages). Book 3 in the series. I actually started this book in June, but decided to take a little break to read other books. If you've seen season 3 of the show, you remember what happened. Joffrey dies, the Red Wedding happens. And oh yeah, Robb's wife isn't there. Or pregnant. And Lady Stoneheart makes her first appearance. Don't recognize that name. Oh, it's just the reanimated Catelyn Stark. What?!  The craziness of the show is not even the same level as the craziness of the books. It took me 48 days (but only 10 days of actual reading time).  

The Land of Stories: An Author's Odyssey by Chris Colfer (438 pages). The fifth book in the series. The Land of Stories is still in grave danger, thanks to the Masked Man's evil plot. So Connor hatches a plot of his own- he and Alex will use their grandmother's potion to go into Connor's short stories and recruit the heroes to their cause. Alex is in awe of her brother's writing talent- she finds herself both literally and figuratively enthralled by his stories. But can they recruit all the heroes they need?  And will they be in time to save their beloved Land of Stories?  It took me one day to read it (yay for pool time!)

The Singles Game by Lauren Weisberger (337 pages). Instead of the world of fashion, the author of The Devil Wears Prada delves into the competitive world of tennis. Charlie Silver is ranked in the twenties when she plays Wimbledon. But an accident in her match makes her reevaluate her approach to her life. A new coach and a new image take her from girl next door to Warrior Princess, the number two ranked female player in the world. But is it really what she wants?  And how much of her new image is image instead of who she is?  Weisberger loves to show the other side of "glamorous" careers- the loneliness, the partying, the determination, the ruthlessness. I really liked this one. It only took me one day to read. That's right, two books in one weekend. Man, I love a pool weekend!

June was a bust all over (only true theatre people will get this one)

I did an AWFUL job reading in June. Literally, just the one book. I am half way through a 1000 page book though. Does that count for anything?  So here we go.

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes (369 pages). I decided to give this a read now that the movie has come out. I knew it was going to be a tearjerker. But holy smokes!  Louisa Clark is 27 and has never been outside of her small town. When she gets a job as a companion for Will Traynor, she's not sure what she's signed on for. He's 35 and a quadrapoligic.  And he's given himself 6 months before he travels to Switzerland to take his own life via assisted suicide. Louisa decides to give him a reason to live. In doing so, she actually rediscovers her own will to live. The ending was what I expected, but not what I wanted. And all I could do was bawl!  It took me 9 days to read it (but only 4 actual reading days).