Our July Favorites!

Another month, another two books that stood above the rest. A lot happened throughout July and it was fun to see how my reading transitioned throughout the month. There are a lot of arcs I'm ready to dig into for August!

What were some of your favorite reads in July?

Anywhere With You by Ellie Palmer - Maggie

4 / 5 stars

Anywhere With You is the sophomore novel by Minnesota writer Ellie Palmer. The book follows Charley, who's divorce finally went through and now she is trying to figure out who she is on her own. And Ethan, Charley's best friend from childhood, who spends most of his time traveling and checking in on Charley.

When her sister announces that she is marrying their other best friend, Petey in the woods of northern Minnesota, Charley is convinced she needs to stop her. So Charley and Ethan set off in his van on an adventure Charley isn't prepared for.

I loved the van life story in this book as well as the best friends to lovers arc between Charley and Ethan as they navigate who they are now and what it means for their future. There is also a good narrative on how kid's respond to how their parents lived, and how children try to make things 'perfect' even if it's not exactly what they want. I really liked this book, and if you need a good end of summer romance, this is it!

Cult Following by J.W. Ocker - Maggie

4 / 5 Stars

I spend a lot of time listening to Youtube videos about cults and some true crime, so this book was a no brainer for me (thanks Allison for finding it while visiting).

Cult Following breaks down different cults and the way they worked, discussing ones at just faded into obscurity instead of having a more aggressive ending. It also has different sections for different types of cults, the ones who believed in UFOs, or a 'savior' or other's that were just started because someone had an opinion in a trying time.

I really liked how this book was framed out and the writing was really easy to get through for non-fiction. I also like how it talks about some well known cults as well as some smaller ones that you may not have heard of. Overall, a really interesting book with a lot of details in a short amount of space. I found it really intriguing and interesting.