A Bookish Wrap-Up / June 2020 / a surprisingly good reading month

A bookish Wrap-Up

Goodbye to a not so exciting month,

at least when it comes to REAL LIFE!! I like my life boring, boring usually means no drama, but on the other hand I’m still very much stuck at home. In the overall sense my life hasn’t changed much since the lockdown happened in March. Besides going to the grocery store once a week, and a trip to the curb side pickup at the library, I’m staying put.

Now let’s get to the bookish news:

Very similar to last month I’m favoring more audiobooks than regular books. Which suits me fine, I can workout, do chores, and be online and listen to wonderful books. And that’s exactly what I did this month, I listened to some excellent books. I’m also continuing to diversify my tbr, and I’m quite delighted with the outcome.

June was also the month where I added two more challenges to my already full reading schedule – apparently I go by the “you can’t never have enough reading challenges” philosophy. One of them is a summer challenge, only three months long, where I pledged to read 20 books which is totally doable. The other is a harder one, my very first AtoZ challenge and already I have a couple letters that are quite challenging to fill. I’m still looking for K, Q, U, X and Z.

I read one 5 star book this month, LONG WAY DOWN by Jason Reynolds it was incredibly powerful, and the audiobook was fabulous – a must read, and it was pretty short too, so put it on your tbr if you haven’t yet. A THUMBS UP recommendation!!

I re-read two favorite books this month.

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman, it’s one of my most favorite books, and Ove is still one of my most favorite grumpy heroes. And predictably when I got to the end, like the first time, tears came rolling down.

Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid was the other book I re-read this month. I was in this MM phase, and downloaded 15 mm books (KU and library). Sadly I DNFed almost all of them, and felt so depressed afterwards that all I could do was re-read a favorite MM novel to get over all these meh books.

But besides all the DNFs I read some great books this month. Many were almost 5 stars, and even more were new to me authors (yay).

I read 19 books in June

A bookish Wrap-Up

FAVORITE BOOKS OF JUNE

As I mentioned above, I’m doing well with my diverse reading challenge, and have read some amazing books from BIPOC authors this month, that also means I added to my diverse book list of 2020.

The few books that stood out were Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson and Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

I also had the pleasure of reading Emerald Blaze and In Holidaze, one was better than the other, but both were great and were highlights this month.

A surprise hit for me this month was Rich Prick by Tijan. It was right up my alley. One of Tijan’s books that I can see myself reading again.

I enjoyed The Jane Austen Society way more than expected. And loved the characters, and the overall nostalgic vibe.

And Felix Ever After was delightfully adorable, but also so very educational. Anyone interested in a book with a transgender character, and a very diverse cast, give this one a chance, because you WON’T REGRET IT!!!

A bookish Wrap-Up

Out of the 19 books I read in June, 10 were audiobooks

A bookish Wrap-Up

Congrats! You have read 110 books of your goal of 100!

I actually reached my yearly goal this month! Mostly thanks to having tons of time to read, and because I set my goal rather low, at least for me. The last two years, I’ve intentionally left it at 100 knowing I would reach it easily. I don’t actually NEED a reading challenge, I need a challenge to be more social.

I think my other reading challenges have become more interesting than the Goodreads challenge. At the moment I have five challenges going for this year.

POPSUGAR reading challenge

2020 reading challenge

Diverse Reading Challenge

2020 AtoZ reading challenge

20 Books of Summer ’20 tbr

A bookish Wrap-Up

Diverse Reading Challenge

I read five books for my diverse reading list (books written by authors of color and LGBTQ authors). And I’m pretty happy with the progress. Also, I think I added the most ever books to my tbr this month. So many suggestions and recommendations in regards to BIPOC authors. I’ll have enough books to read for at least this year.

A to Z Reading Challenge

I added my first three letters to my AtoZ challenge this month.

A – Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz ✓ 🎧

B – Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall ✓

J – Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson ✓ 🎧

20 Books of Summer ’20

I read 5 books for my 20 Books of Summer challenge. Not bad since I only have two more months to finish it – lol. Just realized that.

Current titles (11)  |  Older than 3 months (4)

I must admit I haven’t made any progress in regards to my Netgalley shelf. I actually added two books but didn’t review anything at all – I hope next month will be better.

A bookish Wrap-Up

These are the new releases I’m looking forward to.

My most anticipated book is the new Colleen Hoover, ever since I read Regretting You and LOVED it I wanted to see if it was a fluke or if I love her next book as much as I loved Regretting You.

Fans of the Dresden Files series have been waiting for a new book for more than two years, I’m ready!!!! And it’s getting even better we are getting a second book later this year.

Engagement and Espionage is a highly anticipated book too. I LOVE Cletus with all my heart and I can’t wait to get a second book about him.

The new books by Alex North, TJ Klune, and Linda Castillo will be read as soon as I can get my fingers on it. Dear Emmie Blue and Gimme Everything You Got are both written by new to me authors, and I’m looking forward to both of them.

A bookish Wrap-Up

How was your reading month? Did you read any amazing books? What are you looking forward to in July?