2026 Popsugar Reading Challenge - July Update

 

Happy Wednesday everyone!  We're already to the end of July, can you believe it?  Today I'm sharing my my seventh update for my progress for the year long reading challenge called the 2026 Popsugar Reading Challenge.  In July, I completed 3 books for a total of 41 read so far out of 50 total books on my tbr.  Only 9 to go!  You can see my original tbr here.  Keep reading to see my thoughts on the books I read in July for this challenge:

50. A book about Afrofuturism

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Parable of the Talents (Earthseed #2) by Octavia E. Butler is a book I'd had left on my tbr for far too long.  I'm glad I finally completed this series.  It's quite the thought-provoking follow-up to <i>Parable of the Sower</i>, and depressing at that.  Flabbergasted to see that political slogan pop up.  Just think, there are only 6 years until 2032!

My review is also on Goodreads and The StoryGraph.

47. A book told entirely through letters

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I love the idea of A Letter to the Luminous Deep (The Sunken Archive #1) by Sylvie Cathrall, but for the most part it doesn't live up to its potential. It's far too slow paced, there isn't much plot for 352 pages, and I would have preferred more world-building. We get a taste of interesting stuff, but the epistolary format restricts it too much. The characters are fine but I felt too removed from them to become very invested. I also had to double check who was sending which letters because the format of each made them tough to distinguish from one another.

My review is also on Goodreads and The StoryGraph.

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Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane is a book I've really been looking forward to reading every since I found out one of my favorite movies was based on a book.  I'm glad I listened to the audiobook production because Tom Stechschulte did a fantastic job as the narrator.  The story was excellent too and I'm pleased to learn how well it was adapted as a movie.  The only reason I'm giving this four instead of five stars is because I think I personally prefer the movie production, if I hadn't already seen the movie I might have given this five.  The bar is very high with this one.  I need to do a rewatch asap! 

My review is also on Goodreads and The StoryGraph.

Have you read any of these books?  Are you participating in this challenge?  As always, thanks for visiting my blog and perhaps even commenting down below!