Although mother nature let me down most of the spring (note a COMPLETE lack of posts all spring long), June brought with it the lazy, hazy summer days that make me want to curl up on the swing chair and RELAX with a good book.
June reading was mostly a few “romance” themed series, some good, some bad, and only one off-genre read, which turned out to be the best of the bunch. I’m hoping to do a comparison of the romance series for my next installment, so today’s reviews will be pretty basic.
June Statistics
By the numbers, June was a GREAT month.
Total Books Read: 10
Total Books Finished: 9
DNF: 1
To Be Continued in July: 0
Total Pages Read: 4,406
Average Pages/Day: 147
Hard Copy Books: 1
E-Books: 8
Audio Books: 0
June was a month of highs and lows in the reading world. I had two 5-Star reads, three 4-Star reads and then five completely disappointing books. The only consistent thing was all my book ratings were a surprise. The same thing happened with the volume of my reading. I would either plow through an entire book in a day or barely turn a page.
The difference this month for me, was that when I was binge-reading, it was because i couldn’t wait to get through the content, not because I was trying to increase my stats or improve chances at making my Goodreads Goal.
Review-Worthy Books Read in June
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
This book is my TOP READ for June. It came recommended by my mother, which is usually not the most reliable source of an endorsement, but man, she hit the nail on the head with this one. Opened this book on a Saturday afternoon when my husband was away fishing and didn’t put it down until the last page was turned on Sunday evening.
The story is about a girl, basically abandoned by her family in the deep south, who learns to fend for herself, is deeply connected with her natural surroundings and tries to connect with the outside world, to mostly disastrous ends. On the surface, it didn’t seem like my cup of tea, but Delia Owens gets you so caught up with this girl’s life and very invested in her well-being and the underlying relationships / romances that you just can’t turn away.
I know this book was highly acclaimed and well-received in the book community, but if you’re going to bypass it because it’s not in your wheel-house, I encourage you to at least give it a few chapters.
July TBR (where do I go from here)
I know that I need to finish the Lux Series so that I can complete my romance series comparison post, but from there I’m a little adrift for real goals. The Lux Series is the most complicated series I’ve ever tried to read (and as a fan of the Shadowhunters Universe, that’s saying a lot). But I think I want to stick to the main storylines and then I’ll consider if any of the sub-books (i.e. books from another perspective, prequel books) are of interest to me.
- Opal (Lux #3) – Jennifer L. Armentrout
- Origin (Lux #4) – Jennifer L. Armentrout
- Opposition (Lux #5) – Jennifer L. Armentrout
I also have The Happy Ever After Playlist from Abby Jimenez that should be coming off hold from the Library this month.
Closing Thoughts
As life and business starts to come back on-line this month, I hope that that the slower, easier pace of life continues and that i get a nice summer of hanging out with my girls, swinging in the breeze and reading / dozing through many lazy afternoons. Take care and stay safe everyone!
Book Nook 