Reading Challenge Update: July

At the end of 2015, I decided that I was going to challenge myself to read more. That meant that I was going to try to read in more genres and participate in more reading challenges. To keep track of the reading challenges, I came up with a way to keep track of the books I was reading for the challenges, and it is the very generically named Reading Challenge Update.

It's officially the first day of August, and hey... I actually have my Reading Challenge Update posted on time! Yay! I hope that means that I'm feeling a little better about blogging and getting things done for The Hardcover Lover, even if I'm not reading up to my expectations. 

Okay... Are you ready? Here goes the Reading Challenge Update for July 2016!

Note: Some of these challenges allow readers to cross-read, which means you can read the same books for multiple challenges, and they count for all of them. Throughout these monthly updates, including today's update, you may notice this trend.

Debut Author Challenge

The 2016 Debut Author Challenge is hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. The goal of the challenge is to read as many middle grade, YA, and NA debuts that you can during the year.

Books Read

 

I went a little light on debuts in July, but I was impressed with the two books I read for this challenge. I really enjoyed The Princess Saves Herself in This One for its brutal honesty and inspiring nature. Katie Kennedy's Learning to Swear in America was an interesting read, too.

Contemporary Romance Reading Challenge

The Contemporary Romance Reading Challenge is hosted by Jess of Gone with the Words and Danielle of Love at First Page. It's all about reading those swoony contemporary romance novels. Each month, participants link up their reviews for the contemporary romances that they've read.

Books Read

 

Both The Memory Book by Lara Avery and Forever... by Judy Blume have romance in common (and another thing that I won't spoil). I really enjoyed both of these books, and I'm glad to say that I'm no longer a Judy Blume virgin!

Non-Challenge Books

Some of the books I read this month don't fit into any of the challenges I'm participating in this year (Debut, Contemporary Romance, Backlist, Flights of Fantasy), so I leave a little space at the bottom of my monthly update so they are included, too.

Books Read

July's lonely non-challenge book for my was The Book of Shhh by Lauren Oliver. While I probably could have placed it in Flights of Fantasy, I didn't feel like it belonged there, especially because it's a companion book to a dystopian trilogy. However, it was interesting to be back in Lena's world for a few more minutes.

Okay... Looking back, July was definitely not a great reading month for me, but I did read a few good books, so that's all that matters to me. I'm hoping that August brings lots of fun books, especially with ARC August and my birthday.

How are your reading challenges going now that seven months of 2016 are gone? Are you on track? Behind? Given up? Feel free to let me know in the comments so we can chat about them!