What I Read in July

 

In September 2019, Mr H and I started our own book blog; those posts are now merged with this blog, and in December 2019, I posted my very first quarterly reading round-up. I have continued to post quarterly summaries until this year, when I decided to switch to monthly posts.

Here is what I read in July 2026.

Tree Thing by Piers Torday 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
I finished this book in one sitting. Trees are something I feel so connected to so when I get to read pieces by people who also see and appreciate trees for the magical beings they are it just talks to my soul. Emotional, beautiful, thought provoking. 
I'm someone that always reads to the very last page, the acknowledgements are part of the story for me, and this one mentioned the Sycamore Gap tree. Need I say more?


Night Life: Exploring Britain’s Wild Landscapes after Dark by John Lewis-Stempel 🌟🌟
Ah it feels horrible to give any book less than three stars, especially a nature non-fiction, however this felt more like a Christian book than a Nature book. To me Mother Nature is God and while I genuinely believe that we are all free to believe in whatever brings us most comfort, I do not think religion should be so freely preached...especially in unexpected places. That inclusion so often, really took away from the whole point of the book for me.


Evenfall: The Golden Linnet by Alexander Armstrong 🌟🌟🌟🌟
It's a purposeful choice of mine to avoid reading books by celebrities or any other public figure, in an effort to seek out those true writers who don't get the same level of publicity (and tend to write better books in general, in my opinion). However, when Evenfall first came out I pre-ordered it purely from the inclusion of 'Linnet' in the title and a quick skim of the blurb without realising who Alexander Armstrong was. I did eventually click, but I won't hold it against him! 
This was a story reminiscent of fantastical series' from my childhood, with a mild level of threat that keeps you turning the page. The second book is on my shelves waiting its turn and I'm very much looking forward to it.

Lost Wonders: 10 Tales of Extinction from the 21st Century by Tom Lathan 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟[Audio]
My audio choice for July was a book that has been physically on my shelves for quite a while too. It was a beautiful and heartbreaking listen to which made me cry multiple times and I will go back and read the physical book again in the future. 


Turtle Moon by Hannah Gold 🌟🌟🌟🌟
So this feels a bit of a weird one because with Hannah Gold's previous three books I pre-ordered, read upon their release and loved. Then for some reason Turtle Moon sat on my bookcase right up until book five was announced. I personally highly disagree with the use and abuse of Huskies so it was disappointing to see someone who used their voice to stand up for animals suffering promoting dog sledding and that left me with a sour taste. I obviously did not buy The Lone Husky and ended up putting off Turtle Moon until now which really just spited myself. It was another heartfelt story that highlighted an animal in need of the spotlight and I really enjoyed it.


DragonBorn by Struan Murray 🌟🌟🌟🌟
When people say they like Dragons they mean Forth Wing and such. When I say I like Dragons I mean Eragon, The Last Dragon Chronicles and now DragonBorn! What a refreshing new fantasy series! I feel like for a first in a series it is so well fleshed out, with twists I didn't see coming and is a pretty original concept (at least as far as I can tell from my reading backlog). Again, this is another which I have the sequel to ready and waiting on the shelf!

Last year, I also had a stack of books that were laid out as daily, weekly or even monthly 'chapters'. This year, the stack is taller. I started six of those books in January, another three were added in February and I will rate and review them at the end of the year.

Year-Long Reads
Nature Writing for Every Day of the Year by Jane McMorland Hunter
Black History for Every Day of the Year by David Olusoga, Yinka Olusoga
Words for Life: To Boost Every Day of the Year by Susie Dent
Telling the Seasons: Stories, Celebrations and Folklore around the Year by Martin Maudsley
Urban Nature Every Day: Discover the Natural World on Your Doorstep Jane McMorland Hunter, Sally Hughes
Hettie Nettle's Handbook for Hedgewitches by Claire Barker
The Hidden Seasons: A Calendar of Nature's Clues and Signs by Tristan Gooley
The Wildlife Gardener's Almanac by Jackie Bennett

July Stats
July Pages - 1,360
Year-Long Reads Pages -  174
Total Pages - 1,534
Audio Listening Time - 10 hours 49 minutes 
Average Rating - 4