July was an absolute bust. Like, I’m almost embarrassed to post, it was so bad. I only read 4 books. A total of 1,988 pages. That’s an average of 64 pages a day (although considering I only read for 19 days this month, that’s an average of 105 pages per day of reading). Let’s get to it
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry (858 pages). Captain Augustus McCrae and Captain Woodrow Call are former Texas Rangers and the owners of the Hat Creek Cattle Company. When their old friend Jake Spoon gets the idea of a cattle ranch in Montana in Call’s mind, they take their ragtag group of cowboys (including Deets, a black man who served in the Rangers with them; Pea Eye, another former Ranger; Newt, a young orphan who Call refuses to claim as his son; and Lorena, a local whore who is in love with Jake) from the small Texas town of Lonesome Dove all the way to Montana. Along the way, they experience adventure, tragedy and loss. The love of Gus’s life, Clara, who is a horse trader in Nebraska. Evil Indian Blue Duck who Gus and Call were never able to capture. Sheriff July Johnson, who is first searching for Jake, then his wife and finally himself. I did not like this book when I started it. But by the end, I did not want to put it down. I found myself so invested in the characters. I then promptly decided to watch the miniseries from 1989. Which I really enjoyed. All star cast. And they did an exceptional job turning 800+ pages of an epic story into 6 hours of an epic miniseries. I also found myself singing the chorus to Garth Brooks’ song a lot. I finished in 10 days.
The Call of the Wild by Jack London (120 pages). Buck is a St Bernard-Scotch Shepard mix who is happily living a pampered life in California. Until he is stolen from his home by the gardener (who has gambling debts). Buck soon finds himself as a sled dog in Alaska. As he becomes more accustomed to the wilderness, his true nature begins to come out. He is sold from owner to owner and finally ends up with John Thornton. While with Thornton, Buck is torn between wolf and human. But eventually the call beckons and Buck sheds all connections to domesticity. I finished in 2 days.
The Graham Effect by Elle Kennedy (492 pages). Gigi Graham is a hockey star at Briar University. And the daughter of future Hall of Fame hockey player Garrett Graham. When Briar and Eastwood College are merged into one school, the people truly affected are the guys’ hockey team. Both teams are consistently in the Frozen Four. But not every player will make the combined team roster. Luke Ryder was one of the best players at Eastwood. He’s also on Gigi’s list thanks to an incident at her father’s hockey camp when they were 15. Ryder has a lot of baggage from a tough childhood; Gigi lived a charmed existence. But when these two decide to join forces to help each other out on the ice, they can’t deny the heat between them. This was a super cute college rom com. I finished in 4 days.
The Reason I Married Him by Meghan Quinn (518 pages). The second in the Almond Bay series that I started in April. Aubree Rowley (older sister to Hattie from the prior book) has been running the family farm since older sister Cassidy and brother in law Clarke’s deaths. But the family farm was left half to the Rowleys and half to Clarke’s brother Wyatt, a popular author. And Wyatt surprises the family by showing up. Aubree is convinced he wants the land. Turns out he wants to make a trade. If she will marry him, he will give her the farm. Because he will inherit his grandfather’s mountain cabin by being the first grandchild to wed. Gotta love a good marriage of convenience that turns to true love trope! I finished in 3 days.
This month’s favorite is……Lonesome Dove. I know, I’m as shocked as y’all!
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