Oh June, what a whirlwind of a month you were. How have we journeyed through half a year already? If there was any doubt about whether we’ve reached “Summer,” the weather this week is taking care of that misunderstanding. They’re forecasting upper90s {and did have 100+ as a high, but thankfully they’ve backed those down}, with heat indexes well into the triple digits. Oof. The only things happy about this level of heat are the peppers, the zinnias, and the basil!
On the whole, June was a good month of reading. In addition to the books I read, I also DNFed a handful of books in June for various reasons. Mostly because I felt like they were going in circles and I wasn’t feeling that vibe. Life is too short, and there are so many books to read … If the heat sticks around, I’m likely to make some real progress on the TBR! But first, let’s look back at June.
🎧 The Shippers | Katherine Center | ⭐⭐⭐⭐
📖 Death at High Tide | Hannah Dennison | ⭐⭐⭐1/2
🎧 Remarkably Bright Creatures | Shelby Van Pelt | ⭐⭐⭐⭐
📖 People We Meet on Vacation | Emily Henry | ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2
📖 The Assassin’s Blade | Sarah J Maas | ⭐⭐⭐1/2
📖 Heir of Fire | Sarah J Maas | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
It’s interesting how many print books made the cut in June. The Throne of Glass reread continues to be amazing, and I love seeing my friends reading it for the first time and loving it as much as I do. I have a feeling I’ll continue rereading through the Maasverse after this, which means the page count for the year will be huge – even if the number of books is a bit behind schedule.
I am now officially caught up reading Emily Henry, and can update my ranking:
1: Funny Story
2: Book Lovers
3: People We Meet on Vacation
4: Great Big Beautiful Life
5: Beach Read
6: Happy Place
Listening:
You can see the audiobook evidence above, and there’s been a little of the Bridgerton playlist on Spotify. Also chicken sounds. A lot of chicken sounds. This batch of chickies somehow sound like a litter of puppies at times, ha! There will be a series of thumps and bumps and then a squeal when someone’s feathers get pulled. They are hilarious, and have grown so much.
Watching:
I haven’t managed to watch much: hot days mean we are doing a lot of our garden work after dinner, and it doesn’t get dark until 9pm … I don’t know about you, but by that time of night I’m not ready to start anything. There are Netflix adaptations for 2 of my June reads however, and I am looking forward to watching and sharing thoughts!
On the Blog:
Summer has officially arrived, and the garden is loving the heat. I am very excited about seasonal feasting, especially this amazingly easy pesto. And there is something truly special about Summer Reading, and I’ve got a lengthy wish list of titles I’d like to read. The TBR is forever growing however, and with these Upcoming Austenesque Releases, I will never catch up. With all the books I want to read, I should be able to add more books to the shelves in this year’s bookish crochet blanket! With so much going on, it’s extra important to stop and savor the beautiful moments, which include quite a few sunsets and flowers.
July promises to be busy as I transition the little chickens outside, and it won’t be long before the tomatoes turn and it’ll be time to get canning!
What was your favorite read/listen/watch of June?
What are you looking forward to in July? It’s my birthday month, so that’s always exciting!
May your books be fabulous and your drinks cool! Stay safe in the heat, friends.
I loved Remarkably Bright Creatures so much that I’m afraid to watch the Netflix adaptation! I’m listening to The Fatal Unpleasantness at Netherfield, and it’s perfectly lovely! Happy birthday month to you! I hope you get plenty of reading time to help you stay cool.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m very curious how they’ll do the adaptation! I wanted more from the octopus POV, so I’m extra curious how he translates on screen.
Yay! I’m so glad that Fatal Unpleasantness at Netherfield is good – I’ll be picking up a copy early next week 😀
Thank you ❤ I've already been spending more time with my book than puttering around getting hot. Whew.
LikeLike
Sorry to hear that you’ve been struggling with the heat recently too. It hit 36°C here the other week and thats pretty much unheard of for us…especially when my phone app, and a news report I read about heat domes, confirmed that it felt even hotter than it was 🥵🥵 Im glad you’re enjoying the TOG reread and getting to experience it with some friends too. I feel bad that you’ve read every Emily Henry title and I’ve got to none 🙈 although at least I now have recommendations of where its best to start. Ive heard a lot of good things about Remarkably Bright Creatures too. Hope you enjoy the adaptations and that the garden thrives in the heat. I hope you have a wonderful birthday and a fantastic month all round.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think, maybe, hopefully, the worst of the heat has broken? But like, it’s totally still HOT, just not *as* hot. We’re also currently getting some much needed rain 😀
Don’t feel too bad: it’s taken me this long to finally get around to finishing the EmHen backlist, and I’ve literally had them on my shelf for years! 😂
Thank you, thank you ❤ I hope you have a fabulous July as well!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yay glad to hear its broken and that you’ve gotten some rain at last 🥰 hopefully that will help it feel cooler too.
Ah well I don’t own any at least 😅 but I have been meaning to try something by her for years now 🙈
Thank you 🥰
LikeLiked by 1 person
Only finished one read in June- Death on the Nile; started Once Upon a Wardrobe
Remarkably Bright Creatures- that was my finished read in May and loved it (even the movie)
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve seen the movie version of Death on the Nile, but I need to read the book! 🙂 Once Upon a Wardrobe was a good read.
Yay, I’m glad to hear you loved the book and movie for Remarkably Bright Creatures! 😀 So often people like one or the other, so that’s very promising. I’m hoping to watch it soon 🙂
LikeLike
I only read Death on the Nile. Loving Once Upon a Wardrobe- its great for Narnia fans
LikeLiked by 1 person
The Shippers was a good one indeed! July is your birthday month, how fun! What will you do to celebrate?
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve just “discovered” Katherine Center {as in, finally picked up a book, despite tagging them as TBR for years}, and she is so much fun to read! 🙂
Mr and I actually have birthdays 8 days apart {his was the end of June}, so we celebrate for a couple weeks! 😀 haha … We indulge in delicious meals, and fancy coffee treats. And I also get a trip to the B&N 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wishing you a happy bday in advance in case I haven’t missed it already! My husband also has his bday in July and he says, all the best people have bdays in July lol!
I have to finish the throne of glass series somehow.. I had left it read half way since Heir of Fire but I really wanted to read Manon and Dorian’s stories which probably come after Tower of Dawn right?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! You’re a smidge late, but since my husband is the end of June/I’m early July, we just celebrate for weeks 😀 hehe
I am falling more in love with this story during the reread 😀 Have you read Heir of Fire, or just up to it? Manon is introduced in Heir of Fire, and Dorian starts getting more page-time as well. Then both their stories get very woven into the narrative in the next books. Tower of Dawn is mostly Chaol’s story, but also brings in a lot of important information before it all goes wild in Kingdom of Ash to end things. {Tower of Dawn gets a lot of hate, but I really enjoyed seeing Chaol get his story arc + there was SO MUCH information for the bigger story. So much.}.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think I’ve read till Heir of fire.. that’s when Aelin meets Rowan right?
I guess I’ll really enjoy finishing the series☺️
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yep, Aelin meets Rowan in Heir of Fire 🙂 From there, the series takes off and it’s the wildest ride! I hope you are able to finish it and love it ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yesss! Trying to squeeze it in my wormhole of a to read book stack lol
LikeLiked by 1 person