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6/1: The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean (library ebook, 1998) - What a snoozefest. 2/5 stars
6/2: Dog Show: Poems by Billy Collins (library, 2026) - Perfection. No notes. 5/5 stars
6/7: The Wonder State by Sara Flannery Murphy (library, 2023) - I sped through this book in a day. Lovely. 4/5 stars
6/10: Alex & Me: How a Scientist and a Parrot Uncovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence - and Formed a Deep Bond in the Process by Irene M. Pepperberg (library, 2008) - Super interesting look at the life of an animal biologist. I think this would be an interesting book for some of our STEM students to read because there's a lot about trying to get funding for work with animals. 4/5 stars
6/13: Into the Blue by Emma Brodie (library, 2026) - Sometimes you just need a romance novel. 3.5/5 stars
6/14: Sweep of the Heart (Innkeeper Chronicles #5) by Ilona Andrews (library ebook, 2022) - This series is so good. There were a lot of characters to keep track of in this book, but the author kept us paying attention to the main plot. I really am enjoying this series. 4/5 stars
6/19: How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin (library, 2024) - The middle third of this book was such a bore. And the main character was an idiot. And I do not think I understood the ending. The premise was actually pretty good, but the execution was not. 2.5/5 stars
6/20: Picking Up: On the Streets and Behind the Trucks with the Sanitation Workers of New York City by Robin Nagle (university library, 2013) - I love shit like this. The more niche an anthologist embeds themself, the more I love it. 5/5 stars
6/24: In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware (library ebook, 2015) - Look, thrillers are not for me. I was annoyed that so many pagers were the main character just going through possible scenarios. I KNOW THE SCENARIOS. I want action to happen. Also, I sort of knew what was going on from the beginning - like the bad person was clear? Ugh. Not my jam. I know this about myself, but I still can't help but want to read thrillers like the other cool kids. 2.5/5 stars
6/27: Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove (library, 2025) - In 2026, I am not a fan of anthropomorphizing AI. This book was batshit insane (werewolves, aliens, vampires, mummies!), but I just felt sort of dirty reading it. 3/5 stars
Average star rating: 3.45/5 stars
Did not finish:
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese - I listened to 2.5 hours of this book before giving it up as a bad job. It's 31 hours long, so I was at about 8% when I gave up. Maybe I need to read it with my eyes.
The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl - This was far too cozy for me. Maybe a winter read? DNF at 15%.
The Summer of Broken Rules by K.L. Walther - I am not a lady who can read instalove YA romance. There. I said it. I dropped this book like a hot potato as soon as another book became available on my Libby app for me to borrow. DNF at 36%.
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I read three non-fiction books this month and a poetry collection. Who am I? What sort of middle-aged person have I become?
Have you read any of these books? Which one would you like to read?
I have not read a single one of them! I would like to read Picking Up but the library doesn't have it.
ReplyDeleteYes, Picking Up isn't a popular press, so I had to order it through my university library privileges. I am so lucky I have access to a wider selection than the public library.
DeleteI read In a Dark, Dark Wood a long time ago and liked it, but that was back when I was in my thriller era. I don't remember anything about it now.
ReplyDeleteI got Picking Up on Libby, but I've been in a road trip haze so that's as far as I've gotten. Stay tuned.
Best read of June was Whistler.
Road trip! I can't wait for the update.
DeleteI don't know if I'm a Whistler kind of girl. I might read it in 2029 and talk about how great it is then.
I've only read Into the Blue and I wish I had DNF"d it. The space opera parts were so boring for me. I wanted to see how it would turn out. Also, she gave that guy way way way too many chances.
ReplyDeleteI also read 10 books in June! I had 1 miss (Into the Blue), 6 4-star books, and 3 5-star books!
That guy got WAY TOO MANY CHANCES. Why are these people holding on to their crushes from high school for so long? WHY?
DeleteLook at your reading! Three five stars! That's amazing.
The Orchid Thief--zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. I think this was my second DNF in my history of reading. (I used to NEVER quit a book; I always felt compelled to finish, no matter what.) This book was just so awful. I found I didn't care a bit about anything in it.
ReplyDeleteI can't read thrillers or mysteries anymore. I got saturated with those early on. I love how you read so widely all the time.
To be fair, I DO care about some of what Orlean was saying in The Orchid Thief. I just didn't care about the main dude she was so interested in.
DeleteYou know what, Nance? I've never thought of myself as particularly widely read, but I feel like I should put that on my resume. I can be interested in anything if the writing is strong enough, you know?
I haven't read any of these, but I did just finish another book by Ruth Ware. This type of thriller really isn't for me either, but I kind of enjoyed the book. I mean, it was a page-turner and I did NOT guess the bad guy early on. I think there are better ways to spend my reading time though.
ReplyDeleteI've seen How To Solve Your Own Murder and have thought about reading it, but I'll trust your review. I don't like books where the main character is an idiot.
I think Stephany really liked How To Solve Your Own Murder, so don't just take my word for it. Smart people like it!
DeleteI bought Wonder State in physical form because our library didn’t have it, I’m looking forward to reading it, though I will wait until I finish re-reading Whistler, which I ADORED. I read The Covenant of Water and it wasn’t as boring as Cutting for Stone but it just went on for too long. I tried to read the physical book, but it was too huge. I listened to it and liked it better in that format.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I want to comment on the content of your comment, but mostly I want to know how you italicize in comments. TELL ME YOUR SECRET.
DeleteI used html, because I saw Nance was doing it somewhere and thought, hmmm…could I do that? The html is then the word(s) then (Will that show? Or will it just be italicized? I suspect the latter. I’ll take a picture and text it to you if this doesn’t work. Until I saw Nance doing it, I had no idea you could use html in a comment.
DeleteOkay, I messed it up on my first experiment. Let's see if I can do it this time. The Covenant of Water is a book everyone talks about and I feel like I should probably give it another chance.
DeleteLOL, now your blog won’t let me log in. Whatever. Anyway, YOU DID IT! (The code for bold is the same as italics, but you replace the i with a b.)
DeleteOh, now I can log in again, blogger is being weird today. And apparently, underline is not allowed, I just tried to do that and got an error message. But you can do italics or bold at least!
DeleteI haven't read any of these, although I thought for a second I'd read the Perrin. (I think I am mixing it up with a book called My Murder which was QUITE good.) So I guess I want to read the Perrin.
ReplyDeleteMy kid should read Alex and Me! I feel like a career in animal biology would totally be her jam. Maybe I will check it out from the library and read it to her after we finish Heidi.
Hmmm...Alex & Me starts with the bird's death, so BEWARE. It might be tough for a sensitive child.
DeleteI tried to listen to How to Solve Your Own Murder, and I couldn't do it. I barely remember it now, but I think I spent about an hour on it and gave up. I had to laugh at your assessment of the main character being an idiot! I think Dog Show sounds wonderful.
ReplyDeleteDog Show is wonderful! And short, if that matters to you. Plus it's fun to read out loud to your (very patient) spouse.
Delete