Third Quarter Reading (and a Link Up!)
I’ve been sharing my quarterly reading lists for several years now, and it’s one of my favorite things. It’s so fun to have a record of what I’ve read (and sometimes to look at books I’ve recorded on Goodreads and think “That was only 9 weeks ago, and I’d already completely forgotten that I read it”).
Dana from Something Good and I joined forces to share our reading lists this quarter, and if you’d like to write about what you’ve read in July, August, and September, share your post in the link-up below! You can also grab a button to include in your post at the bottom of this post too.
Whether you read one magazine or a hundred Great American Novels or even if you just want to share what you want to read, you’re welcome to participate. We are low-key.
Anyway! On to the important things like YA romance novels. Also, I felt like I read a fair amount this quarter, but apparently I did not. Compared to the 34 books I read in each of the last two quarters, I only did 27 books this quarter.
books this quarter
- Zac and Mia by A.J. Betts – Another book heralded as “John Green meets Rainbow Rowell.” It felt more John Green-ish to me based solely on the fact that there were two teens with cancer. It wasn’t bad, but it didn’t quite grab it for me and by the end I was losing interest.
- The Promise of Amazing by Robin Constantine – I truly can remember nothing about this book except that in the first chapter the main girl gives a hot teenage guy the Heimlich at a wedding reception when he chokes on a mini hot dog and then I believe he throws up on her shoes. It was probably uphill from there, but . . . I can’t remember.
- You Should Have Known by Jean Hanff Korelitz – I waited for this book for a long time (a successful marriage therapist discovers that her personal life might not be as perfect as she’s long thought). It was pretty interesting and pretty long.
- Catch a Falling Star by Kim Culbertson – What do you know? Another teen romance that I can remember virtually nothing about. Except that there were a lot of blog posts about stargazing between each chapter.
- Wildflower by Alecia Whitaker – I didn’t love her first book a couple of years ago, but this one was significantly better. Made me want to go listen to some Taylor Swift.
- To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han – I super duper loved this book. Definitely one of the best things I read this quarter.
- Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor – It took me checking out the audio three times to finally make it through this book. It’s a solid end to the series, but it’s also my least favorite of the three.
- The One and Only by Emily Giffin – This did not really feel like an Emily Giffin novel to me. More like Friday Night Lights. But less Tim Riggins (if you have zero clue what I’m talking about, do yourself a favor and go watch the whole series).
- Toy Dance Party by Emily Jenkins – Ella totally loved these books and they were a fun series to read over the summer.
- Not Becoming My Mother: And Other Things She Taught Me Along the Way by Ruth Reichl – This was fairly depressing. I much preferred Garlic and Sapphires.
- Toys come Home by Emily Jenkins – I’ll admit, by the third book, I was glad it was the end of the series. It was fun, but it didn’t need to drag out indefinitely.
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl – This was probably my favorite book we’ve read together so far. And I totally got choked up in multiple parts.
- The Things You Kiss Goodbye by Leslie Connor – I can’t remember now how I heard about this book, but it was surprisingly good. Definitely a quality YA book. I risked car sickness to read it during our long drive to Switzerland.
- The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion – This was just so quirky, which is not my usual thing, but it totally engaged me.
- On the Fence by Kasie West – I liked her other YA romance book, The Distance Between Us, better, but this was a fun airplane read.
- The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce – I liked it and read it in about two days, but I feel like it was kind of overhyped for me and it dragged on a bit toward the end.
- Facing the Music by Andrea Laurence – Fun premise, too much sex.
- How We Deal with Gravity by Ginger Scott – I felt like the main girl was a little too martyr-ish for my tastes.
- The Chance You Won’t Return by Annie Cardi – Well, now my greatest fear is that I’ll lose my mind and become convinced I’m Amelia Earhart and use an old toaster and some cooking utensils to build a cockpit in my bathtub.
- The Sweet Life in Paris: Delicious Adventures in the World’s Most Glorious – and Perplexing – City by David Lebovitz – I read this right after we left Paris, and it made me laugh quite a bit. Also, it made me hungry.
- Save the Date by Mary Kay Andrews – Years ago, my family started watching The Money Pit and we finally turned it off part-way through, partially because my dad finds it incredibly painful to watch one thing after another go hideously, horribly wrong. This book was kind of like that.
- Better than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives by Gretchen Rubin – It’s really nice to end the quarter on a mega-high note. Seriously, I love Gretchen Rubin so much. You should just go ahead and pre-order yourself a copy.
And if you’d like a printable copy of this list that you can take to your library or screenshot on your phone for easy access, just pop in your email address below and it’ll come right to your inbox!
Go ahead and link up your posts below with your quarterly reading! I promise to come check them out! And the button is below the link-up if you’re inclined to add it to your post!
I loved "You Should Have Known", but it was the suspense leading up to the reveal that was so good; I was completely broadsided — but you just gave the whole thing away in your synopsis!
I'm so sorry! I've gone back and changed it so as not to ruin it for anyone else, although I felt like I didn't share anything that I didn't know going into the book (just from reading the book jacket).
Ah, you're probably right. I read on a kindle so I never saw a synopsis. No wonder I was shocked! Thanks
I added the Jenny Han book to my request list at the library when you reviewed it and I am STILL waiting for it. 🙂 I'm going to link up, but I do my reading lists by the month so I'll link up three times? 🙂 I've read all of Ruth Reichl's books, and Garlic and Sapphires was my favorite – it was much more fun. Comfort Me With Apples was good too. She has such a complicated relationship with her mother.
Also, I accidentally added September twice – I don't know if there's a way to remove that … sorry!
I was glad to see that you enjoyed The Rosie Project, too–I loved that one, and if I remember right, I think I read it in a single day (definitely not something I get to do often!). I also loved the Smoke and Bone series, and agree with you that the last book was really good . . . but probably not the strongest of the three. I just can't ever get over how creative and imaginative Laini Taylor is–that's what blew me away the most about the series, just how unbelievably original and imaginative it is. Have you read her other series (sadly, unfinished)–Silksinger / Darkbringer (I may have gotten the Darkbringer title wrong . . . it doesn't feel right but I'm too lazy to google it). Aimed at a younger audience, but also very very good.
I just started reading the Underground Girls of Kabul and I need to find time to read more/faster because I am super interested in it. It's about girls who are raised as boys in Afghanistan so they can go to school, play, speak up (essentially have a childhood), until puberty when they have to go back to being female again.
Very glad to have discovered this link up – motivation to get back to cozy nights with a good book this month! So many good suggestions though, I might never resurface to the real world 🙂
I linked up but I can't get the link-up button to work. User fail. (I might not be all that great at html.)
I read the first chapter of The One and Only months ago, then set it aside to read other stuff. I haven't picked it up since. I wasn't hooked from the get go. I wouldn't go back to it, but I'm supposed to review it.
Love this! I should post and link up, but i'm SO behind on family posts on my blog…but this quarter I finished the Call the Midwives series and Marie Lu's Legend series. Loved them both! I also loved Dorothy Must Die and will NEVER look at The Wizard of Oz the same way again! It's a creepy, but fun twist on the original story. Also read Wool by Hugh Howey and WOAH, that was unreal and mindblowing!
My link up falls into the "cheat and share what you want to read instead" category 😉
I only started trying out link-ups this year with MMD's twitterature, but I love that it forces me to finish up my languishing book post drafts. (For instance, I have 3 monthly posts I could have just picked from, but this got me to finish up my autumn reading post!)
I'm late to the party – sorry! Just added my post to the link up. I admit, I wasn't all that interested in reading To All The Boys I've Loved Before when I first heard of it, but I've read so many positive reviews (including yours!) that I'm now thinking I should give it a shot. You Should Have Known also intrigues me. Looks like I'll be adding those to me fourth quarter TBR list. 🙂
I think I was too slow to link up, but here's my link, anyway: http://booksaremything.blogspot.com/2014/10/quarterly-wrap-up.html
I recently got a hold of an advanced copy of Ruth Reichl's first novel Delicious and highly recommend it.