Friday, August 1, 2025

July 2025 Reading Wrap-Up

 In July I read ten books, and one short story. 

 

 

Dragons of the Hourglass Mage (Dragonlance: The Lost Chronicles #3) by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman 

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre:  Fantasy
Content: Clean

 

This was the first Dragonlance book that I buddy read that wasn't a reread. I read the first two books in this trilogy and for whatever reason never got around to reading this one. I wish I had read this years ago. I ended up liking it better than the other two. It gave some nice insight into Raislin's character and his thoughts on things.




 

Run Time by Catherine Ryan Howard 

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre:  Mystery, Psychological Suspense, Thriller
Content: Strong Language

 

At this point I've read six books by this author and it's really weird how it started with the best one and has gone down to the one I've liked the least in order. This wasn't bad, but it wasn't really good either. There was a Main character that was too stupid to live and an absurd plot, but it kept me turning the pages despite the flaws. One more to go! Will it be worse than this one? I'm hoping it surprises me.

 

 

 

 

Long Past Dues (The Unorthodox Chronicles #2) by James J. Butcher

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre:  Urban Fantasy, Fantasy
Content: Strong Language

 

I liked this one less that the first book. Mainly because I got frustrated with Grimsby. As a main character he is still rather weak. In this book he spent too much time feeling guilty for things that weren't his fault, something that annoys to me no end in a book. I'm hoping he will continue to grow in confidence and ability, and quickly.

This one was easy to predict, but things didn't get resolved in the way I thought they would by the end of the book, so that was a nice surprise.

 

 

 

 

A Drop of Corruption (Shadow of the Leviathan #2) by Robert Jackson Bennett 

See my review here.

 

 

 

 

Way Station by Clifford D. Simak 

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre:  Sci-fi
Content: Clean


Review to come. 

 

 

 

 

Rage (Kate Burkholder #17) by Linda Castillo 

See my review here

 

 

 

 

A Thousand Words (Unfailing Love #0.5) by Mandi Blake 

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult, Christian Fiction
Genre:  Romance, Clean Romance, Christian Romance
Content: Clean

 

Tyler’s last year of residency is all work and no play, just the way he likes it. His life would be smooth sailing into his medical career if he could improve his bedside manner. He agrees to a blind date but only to practice communication skills. Then, he’s speechless when he sees who is across the table.

Sissy isn’t one to turn down an adventure, especially not a blind date with a reportedly handsome doctor. When the blind date turns out to be her brother’s friend, Tyler, she’s not at all disappointed. Can she convince him to go with the flow for once?

He’s cautious, and she throws caution to the wind. When Tyler’s loyalty is torn between his friend and the woman he’s falling for, one unspoken word could be enough to change everything.
 

 

This started out really rocky for me, in fact I almost abandoned it after the first three chapters. The main male character seemed like such a jerk at first. I'm glad I stuck it out because after a little more insight into his character, I ended up liking him, and really enjoying this sweet romance. This is a prequel novel to a series and I haven't decided if I want to continue on with the series yet. The Christian themes in this were more heavy handed than I generally like in these sort of books, but it didn't get preachy.


 

 

 

Beyond Reasonable Doubt (Keera Dougan #2) by Robert Dugoni

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre:  Mystery
Content: Strong Language

 

I didn't like this one quite as much as the first book in the series but it was still good. I'm interested in seeing how this series progresses with the characters relationships. Will there be a love interest? What will happen with the family drama and the tension amongst them? 

 

 

 

 

A River Enchanted (Elements of Cadence Novel #1) by Rebecca Ross 

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre:  Fantasy, Romance
Content: a couple of mostly non-de-script love scenes between married couples.

 

I loved this so much! I've wanted to read this book for a very long time, so I picked this up for my monthly reading challenge, which was to read physical books on my shelf.  

Review to come.

 

 


  

No Exit by Taylor Adams 

My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre:  Suspense Thriller 
Content: Strong language, A couple of rather gory deaths

 

This was a big disappointment. 

Review to come.

 

 

 

 

Trap Line by Timothy Zahn 

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre:  Sci-fi, Space Opera
Content: Clean

 

En route to far-off stars, Toby’s consciousness has a crucial mission: inhabit his clone long enough to repair a spaceship, then zip back to Earth. He’s done it a million times, more or less. OK, twelve times. It should only take a few hours.

Until he wakes up in jail. And he’s not alone.

His fellow prisoners: a cadre of alien soldiers. His prison: an ethereal boundary that will imprison their spirits until their bodies die. His jailers can’t even see him. But their pet cat (er, iguana cat?) can—and it’s got a serious case of the zoomies.

With humanity’s place in the odd and ever-widening universe riding on Toby’s choices, it’s time to saddle up for a ghostly game of cat and mouse.
 

 

 I enjoyed this little short story. I listened to it and liked the narrator and the characters.

 

 

 



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