July Reading Recap - Roads to Everywhere

Summer reading challenges filled my TBR list throughout July, and I had several fun book hauls.

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Summer Reading at the Library

Rebecca had the whole family participating in the summer reading program at the library (which is for all ages these days). We turned in challenge sheets for every 10 hours of reading and were entered in a drawing for various prizes. There were several winners (plus we got a candy bar or a coupon for an ice cream cone for every entry).

Rebecca, Mother, and I all won a prize! Mine was this art journal and fleece throw. Rebecca won a backpack, and Mother’s prize was a nice flashlight. How fun is that?

I was reminded of the very first summer reading program I participated in at this very same library fifty-some years ago. I had just finished first grade and was already such an avid reader that I finished the entire Little House on the Prairie series that summer. My prize?

This lovely certificate with a gold star! That gold star means I read more than 10 books. (I think they gave us a star for every 10 books the next year. Needless to say, I had a whole row of them.)

Summer Book Bingo

I’m also working on completing this bingo board from Beautiful Minutiae. I have until the end of August to turn it in. I think I’ve already got a bingo, but I’m working on a blackout.

Highlighted books are the ones I read in July. (Other titles listed were in June, while categories without a title are yet to be read in August.)

Place You’d Like to Visit: The Key to Everything by Valerie Fraser Luesse
Classic
Wilderness/Survival: Into the Rapids by Ann Braden
Book in a Series: The Rules of Matrimony by Anneka Walker
Brain Candy
Debut Novel
One Word Title: Venetia by Georgette Heyer
Nonfiction: Practicing God’s Presence: Brother Lawrence for Today’s Reader by Robert Elmer
Ocean
Library Book: The Hiding Place: A Graphic Novel by Corrie ten Boom
Over 500 Pages: Heaven by Randy Alcorn
Short Story or Novella
Friend Rec: Re-making the World by Andrew Wilson
Reread a Favorite: Jane of Lantern Hill by L. M. Montgomery
Shortest Book on Your TBR: Mystery of the Vanishing Horses by Betty Swinford
Yellow on the Cover: Meet Me in the Margins by Melissa Ferguson
Vacation or Travel
Flowers in Title/on Cover: Under the Hibiscus by Chautona Havig
Outside Your Comfort Zone: Death in the Jungle by Candace Fleming
Sci-Fi or Fantasy: Wild Jack by John Christopher
A Popular Book: The Women by Kristin Hannah
Refreshing: The Perfect Rom-Com by Melissa Ferguson
New to You Author: Shadowed Witness by Angela Carlisle
Set in Summer

2025 Challenges

I made some progress on the reading challenge goals I set back in January.

Bible Reading. I finished 6 books in July.
- Psalms
- Proverbs
- Ecclesiastes
- Song of Solomon
- I Corinthians
- II Corinthians
Biblical Studies Challenge. July topic: Archaeology
- Copper Scroll by Joel C. Rosenberg (not exactly a study book, but it did fit the topic)
Book Journal Challenge.
- The Women by Kristin Hannah (A book set in wartime.)
- The Hiding Place: A Graphic Novel by Corrie ten Boom (A graphic novel.)
What the Dickens Book Club
- Venetia by Georgette Heyer