June 2019 – A Month in Review

Is it just me, or did June just kind of happen? Flash in a pan and then it was gone. I have no idea where this month went or what the hell I was able to get done during that time, but here we are. As you will see, not a lot went on reading wise for me. I am practicing a informal buying-ban so nothing was hauled this month. I am also thinking about including movie reviews(?) from now on in my wrap-up. My brothers and a few friends and I have decided to start a Friday movie night to catch both of my friends up (and myself) in the world of movies. Is that something you’d want to see each month?

General Updates:

Books Read this Month: 6

Book Reviews: 1

Books I Really Enjoyed

 Red White and Royal Blue by Casey Mcquiston

The hype for this book is real guys. It was super cute and steamy, and just an overall fun read. I thought that with the size of it, and the political background it wouldn’t be quite right for me but I was pleasantly wrong. Prince Henry and Alex are just adorable. Their relationship and it’s development was absolutely wonderful. I loved how it really analyzed the political ramifications of their actions, and how even when it seems socially acceptable, some things are still so very taboo among “the elite.” One of the best queer romances I have ever read. If you are thinking about it, let me be the person who convinces you to pick it up. Its worth it, I promise.

 Guts by Raina Telgemeier

I have grown a lot since reading her first books (Smile, Sisters, Drama, etc.). I have even convinced myself that their are authors/illustrators who do it better than her, but I can’t deny how much I liked, and related to this one. In her signature bright illustrations, Raina tells the true story of her stomach troubles in middle school. Raina didn’t know what was wrong with her, but she did know that her stomach hurt all the time. She missed a lot of school and eventually started seeing a therapist after finding out that doctors could not find anything physically wrong with her. It was a story I think a lot of kids can relate to today. Many kids suffer from anxiety and depression, and have therapists so seeing that depicted in a book could be really helpful for them. It was another home-run for Telgemeier.

 More to the Story by Hena Khan

I got this at Book Expo actually and I had no idea what it was about or anything at the time. After reading the synopsis, it quickly moved to the top of my TBR. More to the Story is described as a modern Little Women told from the perspective of a young Muslim American. I hadn’t read Khan’s earlier book, but you may be familiar with it? It’s called Amina’s Voice. So I knew her writing to be (at least reviewed) great. There was just something about this cover, and the story that instantly drew me in, and made me feel like I needed to read it immediately. I loved all the sisters, and Ali, and really enjoyed the flow of the story. I only wish that it had been a little longer, with a bit more…to the story? That is basically the only thing I had to complain about. It left me desperate for more.

 Hurricane Season by Nicole Melleby

Wow this book. For some reason I have trouble getting into middle grade stories. It isn’t that I don’t enjoy them, or that the writing is bad (actually most of the time it is the exact opposite for both) but I just have trouble starting and getting through them. This book was sadly not an exception. It was slow moving for me in the beginning but once I found a rhythm and was able to keep picking it up, I really really fell in love with the story. It is about a 6th grade girl named Fig and her mentally ill father. Fig knows almost nothing about her mother, other than she left right after Fig was born, so it has always just been her and her dad. He was once a really well known/respected musician (piano) but now he struggles to write any kind of music let alone finish a song or perform. The reason for that is because he is “sick” though neither of them know what is wrong with him. After an embarrassing outbreak at school where her father bursts into the classroom and insists that he needs Fig, a teacher calls social services and now the small family is under surveillance. They have until November to convince the social worker that her dad is fit to have Fig in his custody. And in a mysterious new neighbor, and a connection to Van Gogh’s life and you have a truly unique story. There were a lot of elements but I really thought they were beautifully woven together. If you read middle grade, I highly recommend picking up this book.

Meh Books

 Maybe In Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid

I have enjoyed both books I’ve read by her so far so why not give the backlist a try? This seems to be the one everyone talks about aside from the obvious so I hit this one first. While I gave the book overall 4 stars, throughout the reading experience I was just “meh” about it. I found I didn’t really want to pick it up, the story line(s) were interesting but nothing really blew me away. Now, that being said, I do find myself continuously returning to this book’s themes. The conversations about fate, soul mates and what we are supposed to be doing have given me pause, and I find myself really contemplating them. I also found the format super unique and interesting. Not her best, but certainly worth a try.

 To Night Owl from Dogfish by Holly Goldberg Sloan & Meg Wolitzer

Generally speaking, I kind of liked this book! I read it as an ebook from my library because I like to stay up to date on the features of my library’s digital collection and found this familiar title available. I had seen a few booktubers get it from the publisher a ways back but since not a lot of booktubers that I follow read middle grade, it didn’t really get mentioned again. It was cute though! I would have definitely enjoyed it at that age because I was really into diary-like books back then. It is told in a series of emails and letters between two 12 year old strangers who at first

Yikes/DNFs

 

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Community Highlights:

Pages Unbound Reviews:

Fighting the Summer Slide with the Library Summer Reading Program

Eight Ways Book Blogging Has Changed in the Last Eight Years

Never Not Reading: How Reading More Books Has Changed How I Remember Them

The Comic Vault: The Mental Health Benefits of Reading Comics

MNBernard Books: Rewarding a Stalker, WTF

Book of the Month Club:

I ended up skipping the month of June. There were a couple that grabbed my attention but not enough to NEED the book, you know? I AM trying to cut down after all…

If you are interested in trying out this subscription box for free, let me know! I have a code for you :]

Books Hauled/Pre-Ordered:

Stories Watched:

 

 

Yikes! I told you I watched a lot of movies this month. I was sick at the beginning and did nothing but watch movies for two days. Then I went on a little 90s movie binge at the end of the month. I actually still have three I want to see before returning them to the library…

For those curious though, the first few movies we watched as part of our Friday Movie Nights were Edge of Tomorrow, Remember the Titans & Pop Star.

Nothing in theaters this month though. Which is actually the first month this year I didn’t see at least one movie in theaters!

How was your month of reading?

What do you think of the new format? Feedback is always welcome :]