Reading Wrap Up: July 2021

Welcome to the July edition of, My Reading Wrap Up! 

In June, I struggled with my reading and I was really beating myself up about it. In July, I didn’t read many more books, but I enjoyed reading them a lot more. I let myself off the hook and ended up reading some of my favourite books of the year.

I love having a goal for the number of books I’ll read each year. This year, I conservatively chose 60, but assumed I would surpass it since I read 71 books in 2020. But I’m learning that the quality of my reading is much more important than the quantity. I’d rather enjoy reading 30 books than struggle through 60.

So while I only read three books in July (making this my shortest monthly reading wrap up ever!), I really loved reading them. I spent my birthday in Whistler, reading in different cozy spots around the village, read at English Bay and Pender Harbour with Colin and Ellie, and read on a bench in Coal Harbour watching the seaplanes take off. It was a really fun and scenic month of reading!

All right, let’s get to the books!

The Road Trip by Beth O’Leary

Contemporary romance, 414 pages, published 2021

“But that’s the thing about almost: you can be ninety-nine per cent there, you can be an inch away from doing it, but if you stop yourself from stepping over that line, nobody will ever know how close you were.”

This is my third Beth O’Leary book and like the other two, I really enjoyed it! Beth writes stories that are light and fun, but still have realistic characters and emotional depth. In The Road Trip we’re introduced to Addie and Dylan, exes who end up road tripping to the same wedding together. The story is told in alternating chapters by both Addie and Dylan, but also in flashback chapters to when Addie and Dylan first met.

I was worried that this book would get confusing with dual narrators and dual timelines, but it was actually pretty easy to follow. The characters are consistent in each timeline/perspective and there aren’t too many characters to keep track of. At points, some of the characters (mostly the male lead, Dylan) seemed a bit hyperbolically neurotic and I had to roll my eyes. But for the most part, I really enjoyed this one. Will definitely be picking up Beth O’Leary’s next novel!

TW: substance abuse, sexual assault

Rating: 4/5

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In The Heights: Finding Home by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Quiara Alegría Hudes & Jeremy McCarter

History/musical/pop culture, 288 pages, published 2021

“I found my island. I been on it this whole time. I’m home!”

I first listened to the soundtrack of In The Heights in my second or third year of university and absolutely fell in love with this story of a Latinx community in New York’s Washington Heights trying to find their place in the world. I watched everything I could find on YouTube and sang “Breathe” in the shower. I never got a chance to see it on Broadway, but I watched a local production in Vancouver 2015 and saw the incredible London production in 2014. So when I heard an In The Heights movie was finally coming out, suffice to say I was excited.

The movie totally held up. Colin and I watched it on our couch, crying and grinning throughout, and vowed right away that we had to go see it in theatres. The next week, we walked into a very socially distanced theatre and spent 2.5 hours crying and smiling all over again.

In The Heights: Finding Home is the story of In The Heights from its first inception at Wesleyan University, written by a young Lin-Manuel Miranda who had just gotten his heart broken for the first time, to workshops at the The Drama Book Shop, to finally making it to Broadway and winning the Tony for best musical, to three failed attempts to turn it into a movie, to finally getting it to the big screen. I squealed when this book came through from the library and couldn’t wait to start listening to it.

The book is narrated by America Ferrera with parts read my Lin, Quiara (who wrote the script/screenplay) and Jeremy. It tells the story of In The Heights with musical annotations by Lin and essays on specific topics by Quiara and other cast and crew members of the musical and the movie. If you’re a fan of In The Heights or Lin-Manuel Miranda, you are going to want to read this book. It was so cool to track the history of this show and learn all the behind the scene details. I was blown away by the insight and emotion in this book. I also loved how far-reaching the story went, including quotes from directors in Denmark and Egypt who mounted productions of Heights and even the local building manager who plays himself in the movie.

I really loved listening to this book on audio. America Ferrera is an amazing narrator and it was awesome to hear from Lin and Quiara. Lin also sings along to his song annotations, which is a lot of fun. This was my highest rated book of the year so far and not because it’s an incredible piece of literature. It’s because I enjoyed reading it so much. I’m a huge fan of the subject matter and listening/reading this book was a huge pleasure. It’s been a while since I’ve been this excited to pick up a book!

Rating: 4.5/5

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The Rural Diaries by Hilarie Burton Morgan

Memoir, 224 pages, published 2020

“For every death, there is a birth. For every winter, there is a summer. And as things bloom and grow and live here, we are constantly reminded what a gift it is to put our hands in the dirt and connect with the land and each other, through Mischief Farm.”

I picked up this book because I recently started listening to Drama Queens, a One Tree Hill rewatch podcast hosted by Hilarie Burton, Sophia Bush and Joy Lenz. I was hesitant to try Hilarie’s book as I thought I’d be more interested in her Hollywood stories than her life on the farm. But I was wrong.

This book was one of my favourites of the year. Hilarie is an amazing storyteller – and it was awesome hearing her read her own words for the audiobook. She painted a great picture of the rural lifestyle and really made me feel like I was a part of her life. The pacing was great and there was a lot of action and narrative, which you don’t always get in a memoir. I find a lot of celebrities feel the need to retell their entire life story in their memoir, boring me with their childhood years. I loved that Hilarie didn’t do that in this one. The Rural Diaries focuses on a specific part of her life with callbacks to her childhood and Hollywood days, but a focus on the farm.

I enjoyed hearing Hilarie’s takes on her acting career, motherhood and tough subjects like dealing with death, infertility and the Me Too movement. But my favourite parts of this book were hearing about the community that she found in Rhinebeck, New York. Whether they were saving the community candy store, fundraising through a night of ghost stories or welcoming new animals onto the farm, it was such a pleasure to get a peek into this community and lifestyle. This book was cozy, complete with recipes and heartwarming stories, as well as action-packed and emotional. I found myself smiling, laughing out loud and crying along the way.

I am so glad I read this book and highly recommend it! Even if you’re not a One Tree Hill fan, this is just a really beautiful story about building an intentional life and the power of community.

TW: infertility and miscarriages, Me Too movement, sexual assault, grooming in Hollywood, death (human and animal)

Rating: 4.5/5

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Best book of the month

Overall, my favourite book this month was The Rural Diaries by Hilarie Burton Morgan. I was so charmed by this book – the story and the writing – and it has really stayed with me. It was exactly the book I was looking for.

Annual reading stats update

Here is a quick update on my 2021 reading stats!

• Total number of books read: 40 books
• Total number of pages read: 12,420 pages
• Fiction vs non-fiction: 9 fiction & 31 non-fiction
• Male vs female authors: 12 male & 33 female (some books had 2+ authors)
• Diversifying my reading: Of the 45 authors I’ve read this year, 20 are BIPOC and 2 are LGBTQ+

 

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