July is the month of the beach vacation, which means it's hands down the month I do the most reading. There's nothing quite like sitting on the beach with a book and the sound of the waves crashing in the background.



This year, I not only had my family's week long trip, but I also had a long weekend at the beach with friends, so the books I read really piled up this month.

In total, I read 11 books in July.

Most were good. One or two were meh.



One Less Problem Without You by Beth Harbison
Based on the light-hearted description and the fun cover design, I didn't expect this book to take on such dark topics as domestic violence and rape. I thought the author handled both topics well, while managing to work them into a story about three different women just trying to get by. I read this book in approximately four hours one day at the beach. It was a little wonky, but I couldn't put it down.

One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding by Rebecca Mead
I read this based on the recommendation of a friend's book agent to get a sense of the style and structure of the book my friend might be writing. I'm happy to report that I actually found the subject matter pretty fascinating too. As someone who has watched friends plan weddings, I know they are stressful, expensive and sometimes kind of bananas. This book took a look at the wedding industry as a whole and examined how the American wedding came to be the thing it is today. Definitely a quick and interesting read.

Love Letters (Rose Harbor #3) by Debbie Macomber
Debbie Macomber just has a way with her words. She writes beautiful and moving stories about characters that instantly feel real and make you want to spend time in their world. This book about the owner of an inn and some of her guests was no different. I found myself cheering for each of the characters as they struggled to face their own challenges that brought them to the small town of Cedar Cove.

Silver Linings (Rose Harbor #4) by Debbie Macomber
I ended up on a major Debbie Macomber kick after my beach vacation and wanted to finish up the books in the Rose Harbor series. This book continues the story of Jo Marie and the guests at the inn she owns. It's another beautifully told story of friendships and relationships.

Island Girls by Nancy Thayer
This was a light-hearted book about what happens after a set of half sisters and their step sister inherit their father's beach house on Nantucket. It's a lovely story about friendships and family and of course wrapped up with a happy ending. Couldn't have picked a more perfect book to read at the beach.

Killer Look (Alexandra Cooper #18) by Linda Fairstein
The characters in Linda Fairstein's books are some of my favorite to come back to as she releases new stories. The latest in the Alexandra Cooper series wasn't as great as some of the earlier books (I especially didn't like that the main character seems to have developed an alcohol dependency as a result of being kidnapped in the previous book), but it was still good to come back to my favorite characters after more than a year.

Everything You Want Me to Be by Mindy Mejia
This book starts with the body of a high school girl being found and then jumps back and forth in time to tell the events leading up to the murder as well as the ongoing investigation into who killed her. I thought it started a little slow, but then definitely picked up later on.

Unseen (Will Trent #7) by Karin Slaughter
Another great book in the Will Trent series. I love Slaughter's books for their suspense and twists and turns that I never see coming. This one certainly didn't disappoint on that front.

The Admissions by Meg Mitchell Moore
This book had such promise -- a seemingly interesting plot and largely likable characters -- but it was so slow moving and bogged down by too much unnecessary description.

Maestra by L.S. Hilton
This book was strange and really dark, and at times I felt like it really dragged or tried to cram too much story in one book. There was a point where I still had about 100 pages left to read, and I thought the book should have wrapped up. The character had basically seemed to accomplish what she had wanted to and was ready to move on, but then the book picked up on a thread from much earlier and revived it for the last 100 pages. I felt meh about everything about this book.

The Singles Game by Lauren Weisberger
I read this book in one day while sitting by the pool. I loved all the characters -- especially tennis star Charlie, and enjoyed watching her try to claw her way to tennis championships, while dealing with being thrust into the limelight for the first time ever and coping with all the challenges that come along with that. While this was a lighter read, I enjoyed that it wasn't too fluffy and focused more on Charlie's tennis game than on her love life.

The theme of my July reads was clearly super light-hearted beachy stuff. I've noticed that trend continuing a bit this month, and honestly I'm not complaining too much about it. I mainly read for entertainment and enjoyment, and sometimes that means light-hearted beach reads are just what the doctor ordered.