June Reading Wrap Up
Howdy gang! I’m so excited to share my wrap up with you this month. 18 books & nearly 7,000 pages ahhhhh! Let’s get right down to it:
My books took me across Europe & into the Middle East, into the past as far as Ancient Rome & as present as a decade ago! This was unintentional but most of the books I read this month tackled some branch of mental health that is either under or unfairly represented in traditional literature. I’ll dive more into one of them below. I guess my reading schedule is a month behind, because I read ZERO books featuring an LGBTQIA+ couple as the main couple, so stay tuned for next month I guess? Anyway, I digress. The summer show I’m a part of encourages this conversation too, so it was special to come to this realization as I’m writing this blog post. I am ahead of schedule for my 150 book goal. I still have some of those library books I talked about in my May wrap up (😅) so I’ve already got some good books lined up for July!
I’ve also got some fun ideas for blog posts coming up but would still love suggestions! Please reach out via my contact page… it’s lonely in there. To my east coasters, make sure you stay hydrated and eloctrolit (technical term) as we prepare for this god awful heat wave, & keep us in your tots & pears because our AC on the upper floor just broke 🥹. See you in July!
Best Book: Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross. They really say “save the best for last”! I devoured that audiobook in two days. Iris & Roman’s love for each other made me weep multiple times. I can’t believe it took me this long to read this. I’m already halfway through book 2, Ruthless Vows. HIGHLY recommend!
Honorable Mention: We Could be Rats by Emily Austin. This is the book I referenced above & it should be required reading in school because of how well it talks about mental health. I usually despise epistolary novels but this one couldn’t have been told any other way. The writing style is raw & just real, & the more I listened to the audiobook the more I understood myself & my depression. This book encourages me to normalize this conversation around mental health & suicide. If you have read or want to read this, even if you don’t, let’s have this conversation! Mental health IS health.
Worst Book: War Storm by Victoria Aveyard (SPOILER AHEAD). I really listened to 19 hours of audiobook just for all the characters to say “nah screw it let’s just go home” & have literally nothing change. That’s 19 hours of my life I could’ve spent on my Nintendo Switch. No thanks!
Quote of the month: “I wondered, if I were a Barbie, would I pick myself up?” from We Could Be Rats by Emily Austin. I can’t stop thinking about this. There are definitely days I wouldn’t & I’m trying to have as few of those as I can.
