My summer is about to be over, y'all. My principal sent out our schedule for pre-planning earlier this week, and the superintendent sent her welcome back email today. I even went to my new classroom for the first time this week. I still have a week and a half before our school year officially starts, but the countdown is definitely on.

This past month has been a big one for reading. I finished 15 books, including two from my Summer Reading List. A majority of the books come from the two series I've been devouring. I'm actually in a bit of a post-book slump after finishing the last one. So let's get to the books!

Cocktails in Hell series (books 1-6)

Author: S.E. Babin

I love this series so much that it made it onto my Best Books of 2024 So Far list. It’s technically incomplete, and I can’t wait until book seven drops in later this month. Violet is a talented Brewer who's hiding her real identity. When a fallen archangel shows up to convince her to become the next Potions Master and Guardian of the New Orleans portal, she initially refuses, but one thing leads to another until she eventually has no choice but to accept the post, and the adventure begins.

Author: Alison Goodman

This book took me longer to read than expected, but that's not a reflection on the book itself. It's just been awhile since I've read a period book like this. This book was included in my Summer Reading List. Lady Augusta "Gus" Colebrook and her twin sister, Julia, are 42 years old and unmarried, but that hasn't kept them from society. When one of their oldest friends asks for their help in a delicate manner, they agree and soon begin taking on other cases. One of those cases leads to a run-in with a highwayman, the exiled Lord Evan Belford, and the sisters have no choice but to include him in their scheme, which leads Gus to believe that Lord Belford was wrongfully convicted. This book focuses on three cases the ladies take on and solve, all with Lord Belford's assistance, but they do not solve his, which means there will be another book.

Author: Emilia Finn

I got an email about this book and clicked download so dang fast, y'all. Emilia Finn is one of my favorite authors, and I love this world she's created. There are six interconnected series in all, and I've loved every single one of them. Through it all there's been one couple just kind of lingering in the background. Luc and Kari have been involved in almost every story but until now haven't gotten their own book. If you've read all the other books, it makes a sort of sense to save them for so much later considering so much of their relationship was spent in secret. I especially liked that my favorite male character, Kane, was such a big part of this book, too. Fair warning: this book made me cry more than once.

Author: Madeline Miller

My book club pick for July was not what I expected, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It was not told from Achilles' point of view, which was surprising, but rather from Patroclus's view and focused on their relationship and all the obstacles it faced due to Achilles's foretold fate. Of course, a huge portion of the book took place during the years-long siege of Troy in which the Greeks banded together to retrieve Menelaus's wife, Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world, after she was stolen by Prince Paris. There are so many Greek legends that make an appearance in this book: Odysseus, Agamemnon, and Ajax just to name a few. 

Author: Jane Washington

I attempted to read this series a few years ago and for reasons I cannot remember stopped about halfway through the first book. Maybe because the series wasn't complete? It doesn't really matter. The series is now complete, and I enjoyed it immensely. Jane Washington is one of my favorite authors. Her world-building is so amazing as is her character development, and this series is no exception. When Lavenia "Ven" Lihl accidentally activates her fate, earning a mark from the infamous Weaver, her mother resorts to drastic measures to try to stop it. When the man she hires takes things too far, Ven's magic explodes out of her, killing both her mother and the man. At her trial, the Weaver and other four masters (King, Inquisitor, Warmaster, and Scholar) claim her sentence for themselves. As she carries out her punishment, Ven unlocks the pieces of her destiny.