Monthly Recap | June 2024

Books

In June, I read 9 books. My favorite was Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera and my least favorite was Detransition, Baby. Some other stats:

• 100% fiction
• 4 print, 2 e-books, 3 audiobooks
• 4.1 average star rating
• 33% diverse
• Abandoned books: 2 (Everyone On This Train is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson and Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton)

Love Irresistibly by Julie James (e-book, owned)  ★★★★☆ | Go as a River by Shelley Read (print, library) ★★★★★ | Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera (audiobook, library) ★★★★★ | The Rose Code by Kate Quinn (audiobook, library) ★★★★★ | Finley Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano (print, library) ★★★★☆ | Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez (print, owned) ★★★★★ | Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson (print, owned) ★★★☆☆ | The Queer Principles of Kit Webb (e-book, library) ★★★☆☆ | Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters (audiobook, library) ★★★☆☆

Media

• The Traitors UK, season 2 (Peacock) – I am obsessed with The Traitors, a reality TV show that combines social skills, strategy, and straight-up psychopathy at times. Peacock just released season 2 of their international versions, so I watched the UK version in June. It was so good! Highly recommend diving into this show if you haven’t yet.
• Brooklyn 99, season 7 (Peacock) – I’m in my Brooklyn 99 rewatch phase right now, and enjoying it immensely.
• Suits, season 1 (Netflix) – I finished season 1 of Suits while on the plane from Chicago, and I can’t wait to keep going. It’s a great show!
• Lemme Say This (podcast) – When Hunter Harris announced she was doing a podcast, I couldn’t download it fast enough. Did we need yet another pop culture podcast? I don’t know, but I find this one pretty enjoyable and an easy listen.
• Slow Burn, season 9: Gays Against Briggs (podcast) – Ugh, this podcast is a heavy listen at times. It’s about the Briggs Initiative that sought to remove gay and lesbian teachers from the school system. It was sponsored by John Briggs, a California state legislator, who was such an awful, hateful man. It’s also hard to listen to this and realize that we’re still dealing with the same issues today, nearly 50 years later.

Purchases

• Replacement ear tips ($13) – This is a boring purchase, but such a necessary one. If you also have issues with Airpods staying in your ears, may I suggest replacing the ear tips? These are my favorite. They are made with memory foam to better conform to the structure of the ear, and I love them. I bought a new set in June because one of the ear tips kept popping off whenever I would pull the Airpod out of my ear.
• All in Motion skort ($25) – I found this adorable skort in the workout section of Target, and I love it! I wore it on Saturday in Chicago when Kim and I went to the Pride festival and then the Popcast live show, and I think I’ll get a lot of use out of it.
• Pool lounger ($17) – I had a fun pool day with my mom and the dogs last weekend, and bought a pool lounger at Target right beforehand. I like this one because the bottom half sits right under the pool water to keep you cool. (Chip did not love this lounger because he does not appreciate getting wet when he’s sitting on a lounger in the pool!)
• Purride tee ($20) – I bought this tee for Pride and it did not disappoint! I got a lot of compliments on it, too.

Moments

Our book club meeting in June was a fun one! We did a flower arrangement night. One of our friends bought a whole bunch of flowers from a wholesaler and we brought a few vases to make our own unique bouquets. We had a really good time and we may make this an annual thing.

Bri and I were back in our “studio” (aka, Bri’s home office) this month to record an episode of The Friendship Paradox. We took the month of June off because Bri was out of the country for almost two weeks on an amazing European vacation. It was fun to get back on the mics!

I spent one Sunday morning driving around town, dropping books in Little Free Libraries around me. We have so many cute spots! I was glad to give these books away to new homes, and I hope my neighbors enjoy their new reads.

My friend Amber and I got together on a Monday evening for a reading date! We packed a picnic, appropriately went to a park called Picnic Island, and chatted for a bit before we opened our books and read for about 45 minutes. It was such a great evening!

Kiiiiiiiiim! I had such a fun weekend with Kim in mid-June. I got to see her beautiful home, fall in love with all of her cats, and explore Milwaukee/Kenosha. It was a great time!

Of course, the whole reason I was in Chicago was to go to The Popcast live show! It was such a fun time and it was great to be surrounded by other people who love Knox, Jamie, and Erin as much as we do! (I also like how we were properly attired in cat-themed shirts. We are nothing if not on brand.)

I went to a really fun book event with Bri in June! I was amazed at how many people attended this event and really happy for all of the vendors and authors who were there and enjoyed a record night of profits! I left with two books and a bookmark.