Books Read
- Love & Other Disasters by Anita Kelly (★★★★★ – print, owned, Book of the Month) – A really sweet, heartwarming sapphic romance set on a cooking reality show
- Things That Make White People Uncomfortable by Michael Bennett (★★★★☆ – e-book, owned, Amazon) – A book of essays about the NFL, racial justice, and Black liberty written by a former NFL player
- The Odds of Loving Grover Cleveland by Rebekah Crane (★★★★☆ – print, owned, Thriftbooks) – I loved this YA book set at a summer camp for troubled youths. Lots of trigger warnings!
- Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn (★★★☆☆ – e-book, library) – With every new Bridgerton book I read, I wonder why Shonda Rhimes chose this series for the show. There are just so many better historical romance series to choose from! It was fine, but not outstanding like I wanted it.
- The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz (★★☆☆☆ – e-book, library) – A book I most certainly should have abandoned, involving a MFA professor whose literary career is off track until he finds a great story plot from one of his students.
- Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier (★★★☆☆ – print, library) – A thriller that wasn’t as page-turning as I wanted it to be, although the author did a great job crafting a satisfying, realistic ending.
- Almost Just Friends by Jill Shalvis (★★★★☆ – e-book, library) – A contemporary romance that hit the spot when I needed it.
- Pony by RJ Palacio (★★★★☆ – audiobook, library) – A beautifully written middle-grade fiction book involving a young boy who goes on an adventure to find his father who was taken in the middle of the night.
- The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows by Olivia Waite (★★★☆☆ – e-book, library) – Another sapphic romance! Two in one month. 🙂 This was a slow-burn romance, which typically aren’t my favorite but I loved that one of the female characters was a beekeeper!
- Outlawed by Anna North (★★★☆☆ – print, owned, Book of the Month) – A Western book that was fairly gripping but in the end, left a bad taste in my mouth.
- Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon (★★★★★ – audiobook, library) – A heartfelt YA romance about a girl who is going through the turmoil of her parents’ divorce, her father’s new relationship, and her own new relationship.
- The Lost for Words Bookshop by Stephanie Butland (★★★★☆ – e-book, library) – I loved this contemporary novel set in a bookstore, mostly because I think the way the author slowly revealed the main character’s past and her present motivations was completely genius.
Book Challenges
- Book Club: Our June book pick was Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier, and it was surprising to a lot of us that my friend Mikaela (who has three kids, including a baby!) suggested it since it was about a child being kidnapped. But she said that after watching her daughter go through cancer, not much can faze her these days. Touche! Most everyone liked or loved the book. I was the one who was the most “meh” about it, ha.
- Unread Shelf Project: The June challenge for the Unread Shelf Project was “a book about a journey.” I had a hard time choosing a book for this category because I don’t have too many books that are about journeys. I guess I could have interpreted in many different ways, like an internal personal journey rather than an external one. I chose Outlawed, which was definitely about both an external journey of joining an outlaw gang and the internal journey of the main character coming to terms with her barrenness.
- Goodreads Challenge: I read one book for my goal of reading all the books added to my Goodreads TBR before 2018 and that was The Odds of Loving Grover Cleveland. I am so glad I finally plucked this one off my shelf!
Book Stats
- # of books read: 12
- # of pages read: 3,886 pages
- Genre breakdown: Romance (33%), Fiction (25%), YA (25%), Nonfiction (8%), and Mystery/Thriller (8%)
- Format breakdown: e-book (49%), print (33%), and audiobook (18%)
- Fastest read: The Odds of Loving Grover Cleveland (3 days)
- Slowest read: The Plot and Romancing Mister Bridgerton (10 days)
- Star average: 3.6
- % of books by or about BIPOC or the LGBT community: 33%
- Abandoned books: 1 (The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams—I really want to try this book again. I just wasn’t in the mood for something sad.)
- Goodreads goal check-in: I set a goal of 135 books this year and currently, I am 4 books behind schedule.
Superlatives of June
- Favorite book of the month: Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon
- Favorite romance of the month: Love & Other Disasters by Anita Kelly
- Least favorite book of the month: The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz
- The book that surprised me the most: The Lost for Words Bookshop by Stephanie Butland
- The most problematic book I read this month: Outlawed by Anna North
What was the best book you read in June?
Of these, I have only read The Plot and Little Secrets. I listened to both on audio, and I always wonder if/how the medium one chooses affects the experience of the book. I really liked both, despite feeling that both were incredibly predictable, almost from the instant you meet the villains for the first time.
That’s a good point – I definitely think that the medium can affect the reading experience. I wonder if I would have enjoyed The Plot more if I had listened to it; it may have given me a deeper appreciation of the main character.
I read two five star books in June, but they are both parts of series, so maybe not the best recs. I read Lessons in Chemistry, which I gave 4.5 stars, so I thought that was an excellent book, too.
I have mixed reactions to Nicola Yoon books. I LOVED The Sun Is Also a Star, but thought Everything, Everything was a bit lackluster. Maybe I’ll add Instructions for Dancing to my TBR and see if it can be tiebreaker.
I’ll be interested to hear your thoughts on Instructions for Dancing, especially with the way Yoon plays with the romance genre.
You had a really strong month of reading – in the midst of going on vacation and getting covid! Impressive!
My best book of June was probably How the Word is Passed. It’s something I still think about!
Covid was actually pretty good for my reading life, surprisingly! I couldn’t sleep much while I had it so it allowed for a lot more reading time than usual.
I rated two books five stars in June – How To Pronounce Knife, and The Maid, which I know you’ve already read! I don’t think I’ve read any of the books you listed, I’ll have to look into those!
The Maid was sooo good. I’m glad you loved that one, too!
Oh, I am so glad to hear that you loved the Lost for Words Bookshop! It’s on my (long) TBR and this makes me want to read it even more. Looks like a pretty decent month of reading for you. As always! 🙂