Bookish Thoughts for July
What a July I’ve had! True to my promise, I am still working through the Harry Potter series. I’m currently over halfway through book five. Two more to go! Because we’ve been on the road a lot in July, our family has been listening to the audiobooks as we travel. However, we have gone from listening to parts of six to most of seven then back to six and then back to one and a bit of two! We’ve been jumping all over the timeline depending on what listener wants their current book to be played. We’ve also introduced the boys to movies four-six (with a few skipped scenes). While the boys were with Nana and Papa at the beach, Jeremy and I re-watched movies four-seven as a refresher before we decided to let the kids move forward. We are now paused in our movie viewing for the time being. When you add all the time spent reading the books, listening to the books, and watching the movies… July has been dedicated to Harry Potter. I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite series ever, but it’s been fun to experience this all as a family. Jeremy even joined in and started listening to the audiobooks in his free time. We’ve all been camped out in the wizarding world together. It’s been a bonding experience this summer.
When I haven’t been reading Harry Potter, I’ve been doing my best to keep up on library books. I own the Harry Potters books and I have access to them on Kindle Unlimited, so there is no rush or deadline with them. Library books take top priority since I only have them for three weeks. I enjoyed Robin Jones Gunn’s new release, Shortbread in the Highlands. It took place in autumn (my favorite season) and definitely had me pining for the fall. I mentioned Seeking Persephone last month. I was able to complete the series about her siblings this month. I very much enjoyed my time with the Lancasters. Every time a new library hold became available, I would abandon Harry (sorry, Harry). I’ve had a ping-pong feeling with my reading vibes this month. Also, you’ll see my book list is shorter than usual. Summer travels and summer hosting have claimed a majority of my time, but I’ve found pockets of time to read here and there. My favorite place to read in the summer is poolside. I’ve gotten quite a bit of my reading done with kids happily splashing in the background this month. Good times!
The Book List for July
1 Star = I did not like it. 2 stars = It was okay. 3 stars = I liked it. 4 stars = I really liked it. 5 stars = It was amazing.
Fiction:
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling – 3 stars
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling – 3 stars
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling – 3 stars
- Only in Your Dreams by Madison Wright – 3 stars
- Shortbread in the Highlands by Robin Jones Gunn – 4 stars
- Romancing Daphne by Sarah M. Eden – 4 stars
- Loving Lieutenant Lancaster by Sarah M. Eden- 4 stars
- Charming Artemis by Sarah M. Eden- 4 stars
Amy Scott's Thoughts 
We’ve been working through the HP books on family trips as well! It’s great to enjoy them together and discuss the plot so the kids understand what is happening.
The audiobooks are very well done and make the long drives breeze by. Half of our collection is the Jim Dale narration and the other half are the full cast edition. It’s been fun to compare them. Now I ask Jim Dale or full cast when someone tells me they enjoy the audiobooks. Do you read them aloud on the road or use an audiobook?