My Goings On in June:
- I paused a lot of my regularly scheduled reading near the beginning of this month to read more LGBTQ+ books for Pride Month. Even though I didn’t get reviews up for most of them yet, I was pretty successful at that. I ended up reading 8 LGBTQ+ books in June (and 5 non). Considering I didn’t make the decision until June 6th and I’d already read three books at that point, I don’t think that’s too bad.
- I finished my first pass on that new editing project.
- I continued volunteering at Bernie’s Book Bank. I signed up for their 50-Hour Club, which basically means you pledge to volunteer at least 50 hours in a year. I’m really enjoying it, so I don’t think it will be an issue.
- Things I watched:
- I continued watching Game of Thrones, I’m still on season 5.
- I’ve been watching the new season of The 100!
- I started watching Good Omens. We’re only a couple of episodes in, but we’re really liking this show!
- I watched the Democratic debates. Yep, both of them. Ever since Trump got elected, I’ve felt a little more of an impetus to stay abreast of politics.
Features & Discussions:
June 2019 Discussion Challenge Link-Up & Giveaway
May 2019 Wrap-Up & Best of the Bunch
Fun with SPAM! #7
My Top Ten Unpopular Bookish Opinions
How Often Do You “Randomly” Visit New Blogs? Let’s Discuss.
Why I’m Weird Tag
June 2019 Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up & Make Me Read It Giveaway
4th of July Picture Book Spotlight & Author Interview: Blue Sky White Stars by Sarvinder Naberhaus
My 2019 Reading Progress:
I’ve read 95 books so far this year, which puts me 21 books ahead of schedule.
(Actually, I’ve read 96 if you count “Memento” by Kristoff and Kaufman, which I did since it’s 82 pages long—but apparently it’s mystappeared from Goodreads since I marked it read. I don’t get it!)
June 2019 Reviews
- I Love You So Mochi by Sarah Kuhn | Review | Rating: Devoured It
- Girl Against the Universe by Paula Stokes | Review | Rating: Absolutely Addicted!
- Midsummer’s Mayhem by Rajani LaRocca | Review | Rating: Devoured It
- Nikki Tesla and the Ferret-Proof Death Ray by Jess Keating | Review | Rating: Fed My Addiction
- Alistair Grim’s Odditorium by Gregory Funaro* | Review | Rating: Fed My Addiction
- Finale by Stephanie Garber | Review | Rating: Devoured It
- Autoboyography by Christina Lauren | Review | Rating: Devoured It
- Virtually Yours by Sarvenaz Tash | Review | Rating: Fed My Addiction
- Secrets of a Fangirl by Erin Dionne | Review | Rating: Fed My Addiction
- Something Like Gravity by Amber Smith | Review | Rating: Fed My Addiction
*Dual Review with Danielle Hammelef
June Best of the Bunch:
(Best of the Bunch is hosted over at Cocoon of Books. We link up our favorite reads of the month!)
My MG favorite was easily Midsummer’s Mayhem. This was such a fun (and delicious!) book.
For YA, I chose Girl Against the Universe, though Finale was right behind it!
2019 Reading Challenges/Goals Progress:
Progress: 13/21-30 Discussions (Chatty Kathy)
I’m counting my tag as a discussion, which brings me to two for the month.
How Often Do You “Randomly” Visit New Blogs?
Why I’m Weird Tag
All the Little Checkboxes Confuse Me!!
Have Books Ruined Me for Movies?
“Other Stuff” I Like Reading About on Your Book Blog.
I Want to Post It NOW! (AKA One Reason I Almost Never Blog Ahead.)
I’m Addicted to Exclamation Points!!
The Challenge of Running a Successful Meme (or Challenge!)
How Much Is Too Much? Sometimes Life Is Stranger Than Fiction.
Why Audiobooks Are Important.
Bookworm Confession: Swag Isn’t My Thing.
Why I Love the Book Blog Discussion Challenge (Even When I Fail)
Things I Learned About Fairy Tales By Reading the Grimm’s Versions
HOST/SIGN-UP LINK – Feed Your Fiction Addiction & It Starts at Midnight
Progress: 2/12 Classics Read
Nope. None this month.
19th Century Classic
20th Century Classic – Catcher in the Rye
Classic by a Woman Author
Classic in Translation – Grimm’s Fairy Tales
Classic Comic Novel
Classic Tragic Novel
Very Long Classic
Classic Novella
Classic From the Americas (includes the Caribbean)
Classic From Africa, Asia, or Oceania (includes Australia)
Classic From a Place You’ve Lived
Classic Play
HOST/SIGN-UP LINK – Books and Chocolate
Progress: 37/48 Library Books Read
Only three books from the library this month:
Finale by Stephanie Garber
Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
George by Alex Gino
Earlier books for this challenge:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Twilight by Joss Whedon, Brad Meltzer, & Georges Jeanty (reread)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Retreat by Joss Whedon, Jane Espenson & Georges Jeanty (reread)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Last Gleaming by Joss Whedon, Scott Allie & Georges Jeanty
Peasprout Chen, Future Legend of Skate and Sword by Henry Lien
The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: No Future for You by Joss Whedon, Brian K. Vaughan, & Georges Jeanty (reread)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Wolves at the Gate by Joss Whedon, Drew Goddard, & Georges Jeanty (reread)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Time of Your Life by Joss Whedon, Jeph Loeb, & Georges Jeanty (reread)
Winter by Marissa Meyer (audio)
Stars Above by Marissa Meyer (audio)
Far From You by Lisa Schroeder
Rebound by Kwame Alexander
The Color of Lies by CJ Lyons (audio)
A Friendly Town That’s Almost Always by the Ocean! by Kir Fox
Hey, Kiddo by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
Cinder by Marissa Meyer (audio, reread)
Scarlet by Marissa Meyer (audio, reread)
Cress by Marissa Meyer (audio, reread)
Fairest by Marissa Meyer (audio)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Long Way Home by Joss Whedon & Georges Jeanty (reread)
The Life-Changing Manga of Tidying Up: A Magical Story by Marie Kondō & Yuko Uramoto
We Come Apart by Sarah Crossan & Brian Conaghan
The Lonely Ones by Kelsey Sutton
The Language Inside by Holly Thompson
Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels by J. Warner Wallace
Slayer by Kiersten White
Oblivion by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Release by Patrick Ness
The Whispers by Greg Howard
Grim Lovelies by Megan Shepherd
Solo by Kwame Alexander & Mary Rand Hess
Educated by Tara Westover
City of Ghosts by Victoria Schw
HOST/SIGN-UP LINK – Angel’s Guilty Pleasures
Progress: 5 (~1 Connect 5 per month)
My June Theme: LGBTQ+ Books in Interesting Genres/Formats
Firestarter – The main characters in this amazing steampunk series are a clock spirit and a clock mechanic, and their romance is everything!!
The Whispers – This is one of the few MG LGBT books I’ve read, so it’s notable for that reason alone.
Autoboyography – Loved the book within a book and the fact that it features a nuanced discussion of faith and sexuality.
We Contain Multitudes – This one is notable because of the epistolary format. It’s written completely in letters between Jo and Kurl.
Breath of Flowers – This manga features a f/f relationship. I had complicated feelings about this manga–the link goes to my GR review, but I’ll probably post it here on the blog too.
(NOTE: I haven’t reviewed any of these except Firestarter on the blog yet, but they’re all 2019 reads!)
HOST/SIGN-UP LINK – Book Date
Progress: 5/12 Books Read
Well, I finished Truthwitch, as promised, and then I also read Carry On. Of course, I’m still one behind for this challenge, but I think I can catch up.
- Truthwitch by Susan Dennard (2016)
- The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner (2016)
- Our Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab (2017)
- Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (2015)
- Winter by Marissa Meyer (2015)
- Carry On by Rainbow Rowell (2015)
- UnBound by Neal Shusterman (2015)
- Girl Against the Universe by Paula Stokes (2016)
- Geekerella by Ashley Poston (2017)
- History Is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera (2017)
- Every Last Breath by Jennifer Armentrout (2015)
- Alienated by Melissa Landers (2014)
Alternates:
- The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis (2016)
- The Princess Bride by William Goldman (1973)
HOST/SIGN-UP LINK – Roof Beam Reader
My bookish resolutions for 2019:
- Write the first draft of new MG. I failed at this in June. Barely wrote at all. I’d love to say it’s because I was busy editing, but it’s really procrastination.
- Read 1 review book for every 1 that I receive. Still moving in the wrong direction. I got fourteen books for review this month!! (Again, three of them were surprise bookmail—not my fault.) Which means, so far in 2019 I’ve received 51 books for review. I’ve read/reviewed 44, so now I’m 7 behind!!
- Read at least 6 books on the craft of writing. Um, no. I’ve still only read 1.
- Read at least 12 books written in verse. (Since I’m writing my next book in verse.) None this month, but 7 so far!
Query 50 agents. Or get an agent. ? (I was a wimp and I only queried 12 agents in 2018. At that rate, I might get an agent in like 2050.)Crossed this one off in February when I signed with East/West Literary!! Will I leave it here, crossed-off, for the rest of the year? I just might.
Non-bookish resolution for 2019:
(This one doesn’t count for the challenge, but I’m putting it here so it’s with my other stuff and I’ll hopefully pay attention to it.)
- Work out 3 times per week. Actually doing decent at this, believe it or not.
HOST/SIGN-UP LINK – Because Challenges Make Reading More Fun
Wrap-Up Round-Up!
Don’t forget to link your June wrap-up posts up to the Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up. And enter the giveaway!
Looks like you had a great reading month overall
I loved Autoboyography too.
Karen @ For What It’s Worth
So many people recommended that one. Glad I finally jumped in and read it!
That is so cool that you are able to volunteer there! It does sound fun! Also, I feel you- I would never in my life have thought I’d be glued to the freaking primary debates, but here we are! Honestly I can’t wait until we have a candidate to throw ALL the support behind- I find this in-house fighting exhausting. Important obviously, but I am really looking forward to the unified part! Also YAY to The 100! You have a week off now to catch up if you haven’t gotten to The Old Man and the Anomaly! Also awesome job with the Pride Month reading! That is seriously impressive, even more with the late start!
Yeah, I kind of wish like 90% of these people would drop out so we could get closer to knowing who to invest our hope in. 🙂
We’ve read the same amount of books 🙂 A whole month of books went missing from my Goodreads Read list, though if you search them individually they show up as Read. It’s annoying.
Wishing you a joyful July
Did they maybe lose their read dates? I’ve had that happen with a book before (but never a whole month)—I marked it read, but it doesn’t show at the top of my list because somehow it ends up with no actual read date and I have to add it so it will show up properly.
96! That’s amazing! I’m only around 54, I think. I have tried joining challenges and I just can never stick to them so I stopped joining. I only do the GR challenge. Kudos to you for joining so many!
I used to join even more challenges, but I found I couldn’t keep up with them. Even now, I’m not doing great on the Classics challenge, but I figure even if it gets me to read a few classics this year, it’s a win. 🙂
I thought about doing a Pride Month readathon, but I’ve been working so many hours that I’ve barely been reading, so it seemed pointless. I kind of want to rewatch GoT. I’m still irritated about the final season, though. Happy July!
Sorry you haven’t been able to read much. I didn’t have a specific readathon planned for Pride Month, but I figured why not focus on some LGBTQ+ books I’ve been meaning to read?
Where you volunteer sounds fantastic. I wish there was something like that near me – I’d totally volunteer! I’m almost always reading LGBT+ books, though I wish I’d read more in June. Oh well, I’m still hoping to get some books in this summer that have been on my shelves for awhile like Chainbreaker and Autoboyography. I also really want to read We Contain Multitudes.
-Lauren
Bernie’s is a great place to volunteer! I seriously love just being near so many books. 🙂
Lookes like you had a great month in books and editing 🙂 It’s wonderful that you’re still volunteering at Bernie’s Book Bank; it sounds like a super cool place! Congrats on your progress with challenges and bookish and non-bookish resolutions!
I hope you have a wonderful July.
Thanks, Crystal! I’m definitely happy to be volunteering at Bernie’s Book Bank—it’s been a great experience!
That’s a great amount of books so far this year. I’m at 63 so far. I want to read at least 100 this year.
Yes, I’m definitely happy with my reading for the year!
Hooray for being ahead of schedule with your challenge. I wanted to read more LGBTQIA books last month, but I had over 20 review books for the month, because I am a sick, sick woman. I did get to read Like a Love Story, How to Make a Wish, and Let’s Talk About Love. I need to read GATU. I have had that book for so long. I’m such a slacker.
I’ll confess that I put off some review books. Now I have to catch up!
Oh I love the idea behind Bernie’s Book Bank. That is so awesome, I bet its really rewarding to put time in there. I love the Connect 5 for this month, and the books themselves sound very inviting.
Yes, I’ve really enjoyed volunteering at Bernie’s!!
I really need to read Girl Against the Universe. Maybe someday. You have a lot of great challenges going!
I hope you get to it!!
Apparently Memento got booted because you can’t buy it. Goodreads and its rueles.
Ah, okay. That’s frustrating in terms of my reading tracking. At least I also have a spreadsheet, so it’s in there.
I loved Autoboyography! I listened to the audio and it was fantastic! I’ve been wanting to re-read it and They Both Die at the End. Have you read that one?
Lindsi @ Do You Dog-ear? ?
Yes! I really loved They Both Die at the End! Adam Silvera is just such a fantastic person, too, and it makes me love his books even more. I really need to read History Is All You Left Me. That’s the only one of his I haven’t read yet.
WOW! You have a lot going on. All of those awesome challenges!
How do you plan all of this?
Ha! That implies there’s planning involved. It’s usually more like last-minute scrambling. 🙂
You accomplished so much this month it’s amazing!! I’m really looking forward to reading We Contain Multitudes, the unique way it’s written makes the book so intriguing! I’m also in middle of Good Omens right now (episode 4) and I’m also really enjoying it! The book is a favorite of mine, and I’m just completely in love with how they adapted it and all their casting decisions.
I never read the book, but now I want to!
I love the volunteering you’re doing. I put all my $$ into my classroom library so my students have access to great books, and lately I’ve taken to picking up books at Goodwill to put in the little free library that’s at an apartment complex near my home. Book access is so important.
I hope you liked Carry On! I’m looking forward to the sequel.
I love that this is a way I can help get books into the hands of kids who wouldn’t otherwise have them!
I’ve got a copy of Autoboyography that I need to read. I know I will love it! I’m so behind on blogging and writing with moving last month. I’d hoped July would be better, but so far it’s not looking good! So much unpacking that needs to be done. Oh well. I’m here in my new house and hope to be able to get back to blogging and checking other people’s blogs out!
Moving takes up LOTS of time and energy! Hope you’re getting it all organized.
Midsummer’s Mayhem looks so good!! ❤️ I have so many middle grade books I want to read. I love that you can do book volunteering!! I wish we had something like that around here.
It’s a fantastic book!! And Bernie’s is a wonderful place to volunteer!
Sounds like a great reading month! I need to get into Game of Thrones. Happy July 🙂
I’m watching it slowly but surely!
Oh, I see Autoboyography, that is one I’ve been wanting to read for a while. I’ve had some issues with Goodreads taking off my read dates. I get so annoyed when I’m organizing my shelves. I hope you have a wonderful July!
Apparently, Memento doesn’t meet Goodreads’ rules because it’s not a book that you can buy (or access from free anywhere), so it keeps getting taken off of the site. Oh well—I know I read it, and I added it to my own personal spreadsheet.
OH MY GOSH YOU WATCH THE 100?!?!?! I started watching it while on the elliptical this month and I’m already up to the beginning of Episode 9 in Season 1. I. Am. OBSESSED. Plus it’s emotional, I was crying on the elliptical the other night, that was fun lol! I ♥ Clark, Belamy, Octavia, Finn and Jasper. I hope they all survive because the deaths keep mounting up *covers face*. I’m so scared!
You should go to Shannon’s blog (It Starts at Midnight) because she writes a recap with thoughts on every single episode of The 100—I think she’s got them all the way back to the first season!
Eeks, thank you for the recommendation, I definitely will!
🙂
I knew you’d love Girl Against the Universe! I have a copy of Midsummer’s Mayhem coming to me soon that I can’t wait to read even more now that it was your favorite MG of the month. I just bought Legendary and Finale and will be reading these books in between ARCs I have for review.
You know me so well. 🙂
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