I read about 18 books this summer. I didn’t want to put all of the reviews on my blog because that would be a bit of an overkill. Plus, I have a September TBR list that will surely take up the normal review spots on my blog. But! I did read a few amazing books that I will mention today.

Elantris by Brandon Sanderson. It seems like if you spend any time among fantasy book readers, you will hear about this author. I have wanted to read his books, but they are all thick and intimidating. And I didn’t know where to begin. So I began at the beginning. Since, apparently, all of his books are written in the same world, I figured I would begin with the first book he wrote. It was amazing. The characters were great. The world building was great. The plot flowed. Just amazing. I can see why so many love it. And apparently, this isn’t his strongest work, so that just excites me more. (For those of you wondering: No profanity, a little sexual content, a good bit of violence)

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I don’t know if I was a closet introvert or my extroversion is something that disappeared, but I have begun to realize through this book and other conversations that I am a full blown introverted adult. And this book was so helpful in exploring all of the facets of being an introvert. I would recommend it to anyone – other introverts, people who don’t know what they are, and extroverts who are simply trying to understand the other end of the spectrum.

The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab. I’m going to be completely upfront and say that this is one of my top favorite authors. This was the first book she published that shockingly didn’t do well the first go round, so since she has been uber-successful since then, they re-published it. It’s about a town who has a legend about a witch that lived in their town. All the kids loved her until one of them showed up dead in her garden. That’s when she was killed. A new stranger has come to town, and children have mysteriously been disappearing. Is it the witch come back to haunt them or is it the stranger in their midst? Great story, reads like a fairy tale. (Profanity – not significant amounts, Sexual Content – only kissing, and Violent Content – one character gets shot, and other gets punched)

What to Say Next by Julie Buxbaum. This is one of the last reads of this summer. Story of David and Kit. David is on the spectrum, and Kit lost her dad in a car accident. It cover grief, autism, love, loss, relationships, and accepting others despite their flaws. It’s absolutely beautiful and I cried. (There is profanity, sexual content, and violent content, but it’s all fairly mild. Most of the sexual content entails some logical observations from David (that he can picture what people look like naked without having to remove their clothes, things that are inappropriate usually, but this is David processing things in his head). There is also some kissing and one of the characters cheats on another character which is processed throughout the book. The violent content involves one school fight (which is kind of awesome but I don’t want to give anything away) and of course, the car accident which has given Kit nightmares.)

I’m pretty happy with the amount of five star reads that I had this summer. I also like how varied they are (one’s a nonfiction, another a fantasy, one is more paranormal, and one is a contemporary). There are YAs and Adult fiction on the list which surprised me because I thought I would forever be magnetized to the YA section, but I’m slowly broadening my tastes and loving it.

So now that I’ve shared mine, what books have you loved this summer? Or if it’s been a slow summer or disappointing one, what was the last great book or movie that you consumed?