Another month, another wrap up! You guys seemed to be a fan of the new layout last month, so I think I’m going to stick with that (or some variation of it) going forward.

June Recap

Alas, I did not make it through the five most popular books on my TBR like I was planning to. Book Con definitely threw off my reading plans, plus I’m having a hard time getting into Rebecca. But I am about a third of the way through John Adams and am planning to make more progress during Tome Topple, and I’m planning to do a separate recap (hopefully in July, but maybe August) of what I thought of those five most popular books. I also didn’t quite make it to my planned reread, but that’s also on my Tome Topple TBR!

Below is a short take on my thoughts on each book I read; click on the hyperlinked title to see a more thorough review on my Goodreads account. And of course, feel free to ask any questions about what I read in the comments.

The Displaced edited by Viet Thanh Nguyen: This book was amazing and everyone needs to read it. It’s a collection of stories by refugee writers writing about refugee lives, and I think it’s something we can all be more educated on. Plus it was a fascinating essay collection. Read this book!!

The Duke I Tempted by Scarlett Peckham: This was an impressive debut! I didn’t know what to expect going in and wound up being pleasantly surprised. Personally, I could have done without the BDSM angle, but it’s definitely something different from what we usually see in historicals.

Unmasked by the Marquess by Cat Sebastian: This is another unique historical that I thoroughly enjoyed! A play on the girl-disguised-as-a-boy trope, this one actually features a transgender protagonist, and it was delightful. Definitely check this out if you’re looking for a solid historical romance, especially if you want one with LGBTQ+ characters.

Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse: I’m low-key obsessed with this book. It’s different from anything I’ve ever read and was so well done. I highly, highly recommend this to fans of good post-apocalyptic novels or anyone interested in Navajo mythology. I’m already counting down the days for book two!

Across the Wall by Garth Nix: I made it about three quarters of the way through this one before I DNFed it. I bought it for the Old Kingdom novella that gave this short story collection its name, and I loved that story. The rest of the stories didn’t do much for me, though, and I decided not to continue with the rest of them.

Obsidio by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff: FINALLY!! My loan on this finally came in, and I read it in pretty much a day. While I wish we’d gotten to know the new main couple better, this was still an excellent read and a great conclusion to what is now one of my new favorite series.

Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick: I thought this would just be a fun, funny comedic memoir, but Kendrick packed a lot of depth into this book! I was really impressed, and I probably laughed more listening to this memoir than any other memoir. I liked it so much, I bought a physical copy of the book for my bookshelf!

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi: I thought I was going to be blown away by this memoir, but it really wasn’t for me. It’s unfinished and pretty literary, and he dwells on a lot of topics that I didn’t connect with.

Slow Burn Cowboy by Maisey Yates: Possibly my least favorite Copper Ridge book so far. Idk if I’ve just read too many of them or what, but I really disliked the friends-to-lovers aspect and was frustrated by some of the narrative styles, and overall was just not a fan.

Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi: This book didn’t quite live up to my expectations, but I still had a fun time and loved seeing Chokshi bring the Hindu myths to life. I’m excited to see where the rest of this series goes.

Hold Me, Cowboy by Maisey Yates: This was surprisingly good considering I haven’t liked a single Maisey Yates short story or novella (I had to read Madison’s story or I would have skipped this). Yates is still much better at full length novels, but I enjoyed getting Madison’s story.

Love Will Always Remember by Tracey Livesay: Amnesia romances can either go really well or really badly, but I think Livesay did a good job with this one! I wish the truth had all come out a bit sooner, but overall this was a fun contemporary romance.

The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui: I’ve read some good memoirs this year, and this one is definitely up there! It’s such a powerful and raw look at what it’s like to be the child of refugee parents. And it definitely made me aware of how little I know about Vietnam and the Vietnam War, and I definitely plan to learn more.

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi: I’ve heard nothing but amazing things about this book…but I didn’t like it. It’s just sooo depressing, and because each chapter changes perspectives and moves to a new generation, there wasn’t a single character for me to get invested in.

The Serpent Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt: The banter between the hero and heroine at the beginning of this book was amazing, but it faltered a bit once they got to London. I also didn’t like the revenge plot that took over the second half of the book. But overall, it was an enjoyable read.

Book News

I’m not much of one for TV or film adaptations, but we have trailers now for To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and The Hate U Give, and I’m sooooo excited!!

I also somehow missed the cover reveal in May for the latest book in the Wayward Children series, In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire. It looks super cool, and I can’t wait to read it.

Honestly, though, I was pretty busy this past month and didn’t do the best job staying on top of all the book news, so I don’t have anything else I want to shout out in this recap. But seriously, those trailers? What more do I need?! Besides the movies themselves, of course!

Favorite Links

I think one of my favorite videos or blog posts I saw this past month was definitely Kendra Winchester’s video recommending books featuring women with chronic illness. Fortunately we’re starting to see a lot more diverse books, whether it involves race or sexuality or mental health, but I think chronic illness is definitely something that’s overlooked, so I really appreciated this list of recommendations.

I’ve mentioned before how much I love Mackenzie Lee’s recommendations videos on the Epic Reads channel, and she did it again with a great two-part video of LGBTQIA+ recommendations for Pride Month highlighting all of the letters in the acronym. You can check out part one here and part two here.

I also really appreciated Sam at Thoughts on Tome’s video recommending non-cis m/m LGBTQ+ books, since m/m relationships get a disproportionate amount of attention when it comes to LGBTQ+ books. She also had a great video giving recommendations for her favorite audiobooks if you’re looking for something new to listen to!

I read lots of great blog posts this month and had a chance to catch up a bunch of awesome book blogs and booktube channels, but those are some of my favorite recommendations posts from this past month that I wanted to share!

Blogging Recap

As you might have noticed, this month’s posts were very Book Expo/Book Con heavy! I had so much fun that I just had to share my thoughts about them with a bunch of posts.

• Book Expo/Book Con Haul
• Book Expo Recap
• Book Con Recap: Day One
• Book Con Recap: Day Two
• Read Harder Challenge Check In (Plus Some New Favorite Books!)
• Favorite Short Reads
• Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag

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There’s the June recap! It was actually a really busy month, so I’m surprised I got as much reading in as I did. I hope to keep it up in July and also get back to posting three days a week, plus I’m hoping there will be lots of book news and favorite links to feature next month!

What’s your favorite book that you read in the month of June? Let me know in the comments!