6/1: Redsight by Meredith Mooring (library ebook, 2024) - I was really looking forward to this, but it started as preachy and then ended up violent AND preachy and I'm sure some people will love the world, but I couldn't wait to finish this. 2.5/5 stars
6/3: Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn (library, 2022) - Slow to start, but I really got into it by the end. 4/5 stars
6/7: How to Train Your Dragon (How to Train Your Dragon #1) by Cressida Cowell (library audiobook narrated by David Tennant, 2003) - Hmmm. I found Tennant's narration distracting. Maybe I should stop listening to audiobooks read by famous people? 3.5/5 stars
6/9: Hang the Moon by Jeannette Walls (library, 2023) - The most "meh" of books I've probably ever read. Book club pick that we deeply regretted because it sparked very little conversation. 3/5 stars
6/9: The Change by Kirsten Miller (library ebook, 2022) - I don't know if I liked this book or not, but it sparked a lot of questions and I keep thinking about it. 3/5 stars
6/14: Cat Brushing by Jane Campbell (library, 2022) - Lovely collection of short stories centered around older women. Debut from an eighty-year-old author and doesn't that just give you a little ray of light in your life? 4/5 stars
6/15: Fall of Giants (Century Trilogy #1) by Ken Follett (library audiobook narrated by John Lee, 2010) - Look, I can tell you everything that's technically wrong with Ken Follett books, but I don't care because I love them. 5/5 stars
6/16: The Work of Art: How Something Comes from Nothing by Adam Moss (library, 2024) - Beautiful book of interviews with artists about how they do their work, complete with lovely photographs of notes, scribbles, and works in progress. 4.5/5 stars
6/18: My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh (library ebook, 2018) - Why did I read this? Why? 2.5/5 stars
6/22: Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo, translated by Jamie Chang (library, 2016) - Raging look at the treatment of women in Korean society. 4/5 stars
6/23: Winter of the World (Century Trilogy #2) by Ken Follett (library audiobook narrated by John Lee, 2012) - I'm only sort of embarrassed at how quickly I'm making my way through these audiobooks. I'm learning a lot about the World Wars, particularly on the Soviet Union side of things. 5/5 stars
6/23: Idol Burning by Rin Usami (library, 2020) - I was really excited about this little novella about what happens to a fan when a K-Pop idol flames out in a spectacular way, but it left me sort of cold. 3/5 stars
6/24: Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher (library audiobook narrated by Amara Jasper, 2022) - This was like a weird combo of Daughter of the Forest and A Knight in Shining Armor with a magical dog. I should have adored it, but I was really just waiting for the ending. Not Kingfisher's finest. 3.5/5 stars
6/28: The Dishwasher by Stéphane Larue, translated from the French by Pablo Strauss (university library, 2019) - Autobiographical novel about a college dropout working as a dishwasher while dealing with his gambling addiction. It was delicious in a "I can't believe people live like this" kind of way. 4/5 stars
6/28: The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera (library ebook, 2021) - I wanted to love this book about a young girl who loves stories, but instead I just thought it was derivative and boring? Eh. Lots of people love it based on the number of awards it has garnered. 3/5 stars
Average Star Rating: 3.63/5 stars
Did Not Finish:
Y/N by Esther Yi - I literally had no idea what I was reading. I was so confused and it sort of felt like I was on psychotropic drugs. DNF at 15%.
Little White King by Marguerite Steen - I tried reading this several times, but I just could not figure out the voice. It was an elevated style of writing that made me want to reach through time and ask the author what she was really trying to say. Not my jam. DNF at page 26 (of 64, so 41%).
A Pho Love Story by Loan Le - No meet cute by 10% in. I was bored.
Brotherless Night by VV Ganeshananthan - Winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction this year. I tried reading it on an ebook, but I need to read a paper version because I was fifteen pages in and realized I needed to take notes to keep track of the characters. So far I don't care for the writing style (very much of the X begat Y begat Z school of prose), but I'll order a physical copy soonish and try again.
Ascendance of a Bookworm (Light Novel, Book 1, Part 1) by Miya Kazuki, translated by Quof - Maybe it was the translation? Maybe it was the story? I don't know. This book was super dull. 17.6%.
Oathblood (Valdemar: Vows & Honor #3) by Mercedes Lackey - This was a prequel to the other two books in the trilogy and I just didn't care about the story that much to want to go back to the beginning. DNF at page 15.
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What's the best book you read in June?
I've been enjoying all my books lately, but I think the best book I read in June was Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera. Even though you told me not to be impressed, I AM impressed that you read 15 books last month!
ReplyDeleteIt's so good to know Listen for the Lie is good if you have a physical copy, as well as an audiobook. I loved it, too!
DeleteOkay...Hang the Moon is going to be a skip. I loved The Glass Castle and I've always been curious about Hang the Moon but have never gotten around to it...now I feel good about never having gotten around to it.
ReplyDeleteIt's very skippable. The main character was very "not like other women" and it was generally very boring. Read something better!
DeleteI had three five-stars in June, Open Secrets by Alice Munro which was a reread, the Menopause Manifesto by Jen Gunter, which technically I didn't read in June but I put it on my blog and have been referring to it so it counts, and Sandwich by Catherine Newman.
ReplyDeleteSandwich has been so polarizing - some people love it and some people hate it. I don't know if it's a good book for me, but maaaaybe I'll consider it.
DeleteOf the books you read in June, I have only read the Ken Follett books both of which I loved! I had a very strong reading month in June. My favorites were Real Americans (fiction) and The Wives (non-fiction).
ReplyDeleteKen Follett 4 LYFE!! I'm obsessed with those books - they're so good and better than any textbook I've ever read.
DeleteI'm taking note of your recommendations for when my TBR is low.
We love the How To Train Your Dragon series. It's one of the only kids' audiobooks the Husband likes. I feel like I really lean into the celebrity read audiobooks. My favorite read in June was Landslide by Susan Conley - a great book set in Maine, read while I was in Maine.
ReplyDeleteHuh. We audiobook opposites. I find the celebrity voices really distracting - I prefer to just have it be someone I don't know anything about - this is true for me in animated films, too.
DeleteI love reading a book set in a place where I'm vacationing! So fun!
_Sandwich_ (on Nicole's rec) was my favorite read, but it went so quick--just one afternoon.
ReplyDelete_Brotherless Night_ is dark and difficult but worth it, IMO. (And I'm not saying that just because I know the author--I remember not being very into their first novel _Love Marriage_.)
I am going to give Brotherless Night another chance at some point. It just wasn't right to read on my Kindle. My DNF list was out of control in June. *sigh*
DeleteWelp, I AM impressed! That is a lot of books. None that I've read. I think I'm still working on the same two (or 3?) books since you did your last recap. I'm slooooowwwww.
ReplyDeleteI am a compulsive reader, though. You probably do other things in your life, like watch television and movies and listen to music. I just walk my dog and read. Ha!
DeleteAs always so impressed with your reading list, Engie. I am on a little bit of a reading kick myself right now again (yay).
ReplyDeleteYay! I always think of you when Libby suggest an Outlander book for me to read.
DeleteI haven't read any of these books! The Ken Follett books intrigue me but they're sooo looooong.
ReplyDeleteThe best book I read in June was the same as Jenny: Listen for the Lie. The one time I abandoned all podcasts in favor of listening to as much as that audiobook as possible!
Listen for the Lie was the best audiobook I've ever listened to. It was so good and made such good use of the format!
DeleteI've heard that Follett series is fantastic. I love his cathedral series, but I have not read the last 2 but I did read the Prequel. I think I need to read this series. It sounds like it would be a good summer series. Thanks for stopping by my blog.
ReplyDeleteOh, it's just as good as Kingsbridge, which I also read super quickly a few years ago. It turns out I'm a Follett fangirl and have no defense.
DeleteIt's such a drag when a book club book doesn't spark discussion. Even if it's good and everyone agrees it's good, it's like... oh, good?
ReplyDeleteIt's good to have some books that you know have things that are technically wrong but you still love, I always think.
I sort of feel about Killers of a Certain Age the way you did about Nettle and Bone (which I loved). But on My Year of Rest and Relaxation, we are in full agreement, except I think I rated it even lower.
Best book I read in June.... The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley is my one five-star, even though I have an unattractive knee-jerk response against being on a bandwagon (oh dear god I typed 'bangwagon' and almost missed it'. I also loved The Gathering by C.J. Tudor - Alaskan vampires.