Weekly Mews: My June and Mid-Year Wrap Up

I am linking up to the Sunday Post hosted by Kim of Caffeinated Book Reviewer and The Sunday Salon (TSS) hosted by Deb Nance of Readerbuzz  where participants recap our week, talk about what we are reading, share any new books that have come our way, and whatever else we want to talk about. I am also linking It's Monday! What Are you Reading? hosted by Kathryn of Book Date where readers talk about what they have been, are and will be reading.

Mouse is off to an open mic event with friends, and I am spending part of my evening with you. The days have been warm and unfortunately the nights too (makes it hard to sleep). Work has been mostly calm, which is a nice change. I cannot believe June is coming to an end! It feels like the summer is slipping by too fast, and yet it's just begun. 

Books Read in June

I considered waiting until next weekend to post my mid-June and mid-year wrap ups, but I do not think I will be finishing my current two reads before the month is out. I read many good books in June. I started off the month with Etta Easton's The Kiss Countdown which I adored.

My daughter asked me to read one of her favorites, a middle grade thriller/horror novel, The Keeper, which was a fun read. I can see why she liked it! One of my favorite anime series is Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun, which Mouse got me hooked on a couple or so years ago, and I finally convinced her to let me read the manga the series it is based on. The books are just as good, if not better.

I am all caught up with one of my favorite historical mystery series by Jennifer Ashley, and I was finally able to read something by Daphne du Mauier; both books I enjoyed. I am continuing to enjoy Kim Harrison's The Hollows series. I finished American Demon this month. 

I was one virtual bookmark away from earning the entire set for Spring on the Kindle Insights feature, and so I read Iris Beaglehole's Accidental Magic, a fun cozy paranormal mystery which I had been wanting to read for awhile now, to earn that last one. Thank you again to everyone who voted in my June TBR List poll! If it hadn't been for work and needing sleep, I would have finished it in one sitting.

• Accidental Magic (Myrtlewood Mysteries #1) by Iris Beaglehole
• Don't Look Now and Other Stories by Daphne du Mauier
• The Kiss Countdown by Etta Easton
• American Demon (The Hollows #14) by Kim Harrison
• The Keeper by Guadalupe Garcia McCall
• Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun, Vol. 1 by Osamu Nishi
• Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun, Vol. 2 by Osamu Nishi
• Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun, Vol. 3 by Osamu Nishi
• Murder Road by Simone St. James
• Locked in Pursuit (Electra McDonnell #4) by Ashley Weaver

It was yet another month of not reading a book I did not like in the bunch. I just can't pick a least favorite this month, try as I might. I struggled choosing a favorite too. It came down to Murder Road and The Kiss Countdown, two very different books, both of which I loved for different reasons. In the end, I decided to go with the book that left me smiling for days after. It hit the right spot for me at the exact moment. So, my June favorite is The Kiss Countdown by Etta Easton. 

 

What was your favorite book read in June? Did you have a good reading month?

Mid-Year Check-In

Although I did not sign up for any reading challenges this year (the Goodreads and Storygraph ones don't count because I purposefully set that bar low), I am making a point of reading more. I am not aiming for a particular number goal, but I am making a concerted effort to choose reading over some of my less productive activities (I'm talking about you, phone games and social media). Unfortunately, it may have cut into my blogging time too. I am a work in progress. All that to say, I have read 52 books so far this year, which to some may not seem like a lot, but for me, it is the total number of books I read last year. Of course, there are novellas, short stories, graphic novels, and manga in that mix, but I am still averaging more reading per month than I have in a while. 

Of the books I read so far this year, I have yet to DNF a book and none rated below three paws (meaning good) on my rating scale. Only four books have earned my top rating of 5 paws. This year I set out to select a favorite book each month and these were the ones that have come out on top so far: 

January ~ Legends & Lattes (#1) by Travis Baldree

February ~ Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands (#2) by Heather Fawcett

March ~ Speculations in Sin (Below the Stairs Mystery #7) by Jennifer Ashley

April ~ Dune by Frank Herbert

May ~ The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo & Kindred by Octavia Butler 

June ~ The Kiss Countdown by Etta Easton

One of my favorite Storygraph features is their moods graph. Admittedly, it is dependent on the moods the majority of users of the app apply to the books, but I find it fun to see which direction my reading is going mood-wise based on their findings. 

I set a few personal reading goals for myself for the year and have been steadily making progress on, and even completing several of them. Of the ones for which I have made progress:

• Read one classic this year and I have read two: David Copperfield by Charles Dickens and Kindred by Octavia Butler (three if you count the short story collection, Don't Look Now and Other Stories by Daphne du Maurier). 
• Listen to six audio books, which I managed to do in the first half of this year. 
• Read at least one fiction/nonfiction pairing, and I accomplished that: Women of the Post by Joshunda Sanders and One Woman's Army: A Black Officer Remembers the WAC by Charity Adams Earley.  
• Read a book over 700 pages and I ended up reading David Copperfield, 768 pages. I also read Legacy (Keeper of the Lost Cities #8) by Shannon Messenger, 780 pages.
• Read three books recommended by my daughter, which I did do--not counting the recent manga volumes I had to twist her arm to get her to let me read. She recommended I read Misfit Mansion by Kay Davault, Legacy by Shannon Messenger, and The Keeper by Guadalupe Garcia McCall. 
• Read all my TBR List Poll winners, which I have--and all but one in the month they won (I was so close to finishing it in its appointed month, but I went over by a day or two). 

How did the first half of 2024 go for you reading wise? What is your favorite book of the year so far? How are you doing on your reading goals? 

I am about half way through Barbara Kingsolver's Demon Copperhead. Having recently read David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, I am very conscious of the similarities in the story and characters. From what I have read so far, Kingsolver's modern adaptation of the classic is very well done. I cannot help but wonder if she wrote Demon Copperhead with David Copperfield open by her side to make sure she kept true to the original story. 

Someone on Threads mentioned reading and enjoying the Shades of Magic trilogy recently, and so last night I started reading A Conjuring of Light (Shades of Magic #3) by V.E. Schwab. I am kicking myself for waiting so long to jump back into the series. It feels like I never left--and it's so intense!

What are you reading right now?

My mom, Mouse and I went to see Inside Out 2 the week before last. We loved the first movie and have seen it multiple times. The second was wonderful too--and with the main character turning 13, just like my daughter did this year, it made the movie even more poignant for all of us. 

Have you seen Inside Out 2? If so, what did you think? 

I hope you have a great week! Let me know what you have been reading!

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