# of Books Read: 12 books, 1 graphic novel
# of Pages Read: 4,030 pages
Favourite Book(s) of the Month: Tin Man, A Song of Achilles, Lab Girl
Tin Man by Sarah Winman
There’s something about first love, isn’t there? she said. It’s untouchable to those who played no part in it. But it’s the measure of all that follows.
I absolutely fell in love with Tin Man and can almost guarantee that it will be on my favourites list at the end of the year! I keep saying that it is a book that is quietly beautiful because in my mind it is the perfect way to describe it. If you want to hear more of my thoughts you can find my review here.
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
We were like gods at the dawning of the world, & our joy was so bright we could see nothing else but the other.
Madeline Miller is a genius! The Song of Achilles was fantastic. There are so many beautiful quotes, and she managed to bring these characters to life. I have a review with more of my thoughts which you can read here if you are interested!
She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb
Accept what people offer. Drink their milkshakes. Take their love.
I read She’s Come Undone for Peter Likes Books’ book club and I was captivated by Dolores’ story. There were many moments that were painful to read but I am happy that I stuck with it. It was a joy to follow Dolores throughout her life, and she is a flawed character that will stay with me. I would never have read it if it were not for the book club!
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
The world is almost peaceful when you stop trying to understand it.
If you are interested in The Poet X I highly recommend listening to the audiobook. The author herself narrates the story and she truly brings her characters to life. I found the story to be very raw and honest. I felt like I was listening to a friend tell me her struggles and following her journey. This is one of those books that I recommend to everyone.
Love, Life, and the List by Kasie West
We’re good for each other, I think. You bring me down to earth and I make you dream big.
Love, Life, and the List was my first Kasie West book and I thought it was cute. It is just a fun, adorable YA contemporary and I crave books like that this time of year. There was not a lot of depth to the characters and I wasn’t sold on the love interest but I still had a good time reading it. I think I am going to read P.S. I Like You by her next!
The Ensemble by Aja Gabel
His compulsive precision made him an exceptional lover and a disastrous mate, an outstanding musician and an exhausting friend.
How stunning is the cover for The Ensemble? The story inside is beautiful as well. This is a book that starts off slow but you eventually find yourself completely invested in this musical quartet. If you are like me and prefer character-driven stories than I think you will enjoy this one. You follow the quartets journey over many years and it was interesting to see the grow and change over time, and how they navigate being both friends and colleagues.
The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
Books were, and always would be, something a little magic and something to respect.
The Hating Game is as charming and romantic as everyone says that it is! If you enjoy the ‘hate to love’ trope as much as I do than YOU NEED to read The Hating Game. I absolutely loved their banter and reading the story from Lucy’s perspective. It is the ideal book to read this summer!
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
No mourners. No funerals. Among them, it passed for ‘good luck.
I did it!! I finally read Six of Crows and really enjoyed it! I had been reluctant to pick it up because of all the hype and I am not usually a fan of heist stories, but this one really worked for me! There was a lot of great action, but what really shined were the characters! I loved them all! I appreciated that we were given their back stories. I will say that I did not completely fall in love with Kaz and was more of a Jesper fan, but who knows, that could change in Crooked Kingdom!
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
I don’t know. I don’t know at all. And that’s what’s frightening the life out of me. To have no idea….
And Then There Were None has one of the best and most bizarre endings that I have ever read. I have only read two books by Agatha Christie, but I have a feeling that she is a master at twist endings. The entire book was completely atmospheric and eerie. I LOVED IT! Also, I highly recommend listening to the audiobook narrated by Dan Stevens (the actor who plays Matthew on Downton Abbey, and The Beast in Beauty and the Beast) because he did an amazing job and his voice is perfect.
Saga (Volumes 3) by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
There are only three forms of high art: the symphony, the illustrated children’s book and the board game.
I think this is my favourite volume so far! There was so much that I loved about how the story progressed in this one, and the art work is simply stunning. I am try to savour this series and not just binge read all of the volumes but it is hard to resist!
Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
Love and learning are similar in that they can never be wasted.
Lab Girl is not the kind of book that I would normally be drawn to, but I have been really enjoying memoirs this year and this seemed like a unique one. I was curious to see how Hope Jahren weaved together the story of her life and her research. She did this beautifully! I told think I will ever look at a tree the same way after reading this book. While all of the science was interesting and informative, it was her friendship with her lab partner Bill that really made the book special. They form such a special bond and it was a joy to follow their journey and their successes!
Chasing the Wind by C.C. Humphreys
You should never fall in love with a flyer. You should only fall in love with flight.
Chasing the Wind was a wild ride! It is so action-packed and fast-paced with a lot of twist and turns. I really enjoyed our main character, Roxy, who is a fierce and vivacious female pilot. I never knew where the story was going to go and it was really a fun book. I am not someone who is a huge fan of heist books with a lot of sabotage and intrigue, but Chasing the Wind worked for me. I think it is because while yes there is a lot of action, there is also a lot of great character depth.
All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells
“They were all so nice and it was just excruciating. I was never taking off the helmet again. I can’t do even the half-assed version of this stupid job if I have to talk to humans.”
All Systems Red was such a fun and fast read and I enjoyed every single second of it! There is a lot of action and hilarious moments! The plot is pretty simple but it works for this story. I was not expecting to connect so much to a robot! All Systems Red is a great introduction in to Science Fiction, and it is a novella that I would recommend to everyone.
I am really happy with my reading this month! I read a lot of amazing books from a variety of genres and even discovered a new all time favourite book, Tin Man. I also listened to a lot of amazing audiobooks this month as well and I really am falling in love with audiobooks! It has been amazing!
What was the best book that you read in June?
I saw Six of Crows and hating Game, I forgot everything else on your list, lol.. have a happy July.
Haha those two books are definitely the most widely loved books I read this month and I totally see why!
hehe. They’re on my ‘favorites’ list… 🙂
Tin Man was my favourite read of the month as well. 🙂 Such a beautiful, moving book. I immediately texted Rachel (pace amore libri) after I finished with all of my feelings! It looks like you had a fabulous month of reading.
I am glad you loved Tin Man as much as I did! I was so moved by it!
Hope you enjoy Crooked Kingdom!
Thank you! I have a feeling I will!
What a lovely round-up of a wide variety of books. Thank you!
Thank you! I have really been trying to broaden my reading lately and it has been wonderful!
I am excited for you to begin Crooked Kingdom! Happy July 💕
I am excited too! Thank you!
I love All Systems Red!! It such a great sci-fi novella, I’m currently reading the sequel! + After seeing what you said about The Poet X audio book by narrated by Elizabeth, I think I may wanna have a re-read and check it out! ^_^
I am happy to have found someone else who read All Systems Red! I am planning to read the sequel soon. I hope you are enjoying it! You really need to listen to the Poet X on audio. It is beautiful!
I definitely will! ^_^ + yes!! All Systems Red is amazing <3 <3 I haven't seen many reviews of it, I wish more people would read it! If your looking for more novellas, I also recommend Every Heart A Doorway! ^_^
I’m reading Lab Girl right now, and loving it so far! I love how relatable she makes science, it’s not a super complex entity when she breaks it down. I’m glad you liked Six of Crows, I’ve tried reading it a couple of time because I really loved the Shadow and Bone series, but I just wasn’t able to get into it. I think I’ll have to give it another go one of these days. The Hating Game is at the top of my TBR right now, I haven’t heard anything bad and it looks like such a cute story 🙂 Happy July!
I am so happy you are enjoying Lab Girl! It’s amazing how she was able to relate her work to her life. So good! I would definitely recommend giving Six of Crows another try. I think it will be worth it! Ah the Hating Game!! So good!!
So many interesting books! Glad you had such a good reading month!!! 💕💕
Thank you so much!
Awesome wrap up! I’m so happy that you love Six of Crows!!! ❤️
Thank you! It was so good!!😍
I’ve been wanting to read And Then There Were None, and now that I know that Dan Stevens narrates it, I’m definitely listening to it!
It was an amazing listening experience! I think you will really love it!
So glad you loved And Then There Were None – it’s one of my absolute favorite books! It’s so genius.
It was genius! The ending caught me off guard!
Me too!!
I’m actually really excited to read The Song Of Achilles, The Poet X and Love, Life and the List. Great post!
Thank you! I definitely loved all three of those books!!
Great wrap up! You really had an amazing month! I’m glad you loved The hating game and six of crows. They’re my favorite reads.
Hope you have a wonderful July! ❤️
Thank you! Both of those books definitely lived up to the hype!
I recently read Song of Achilles and I’m so exited to start Circe! I feel like the Kasie West books just aren’t the best, but I always enjoy them so much. The Hating Game is on my TBR and I’m glad you enjoyed Six of Crows.
PS I Like You is probably my favorite Kasie West book so I hope you enjoy! And so glad that you read and enjoyed Six of Crows!! Wonderful wrap-up, Kristin! 🙂
I have heard great things about PS I Like You! Thank you!😊
I must read Tin Man. 😊 I enjoyed Circe and am looking forward to reading Songs of Achilles as well. 😊
Looks like you had a brilliant Birthday month full of excellent reads. 😊👌
Yes! Tin Man is a must read! I really did have a great birthday month! Thank you! ♥
Such an interesting mix of books (pray for my ever-expanding TBR list). Congrats on such a full book reading month. Enjoyed reading your post, love discovering and chatting books – so, since you asked….Wish I had better news but reading time continues to be elusive. I did try audio books but I lose the plot (get distracted) and miss things, or fall asleep. So lots of starting and no finishing on the audio book front for me. Of my active reads I finished and blogged the Rogue & Gambit mini-series, Marlon James’ A Brief History of Seven Killings, and Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers (feel free to stop by jhohadli.wordpress.com and check out my Blogger on Books series for reviews). Of the several short stories I read this month, the ones that have stuck are The Good Husband by Nathan Balingrud – originally in North American Lake Monsters: stories and reprinted in The Best Horror of the Year, Volume 6; and in The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2014, and The Reformatory by Tananarive Due in the Boston Review (the companion interview is a great read as well). Read from my picture book With Grace at two events in May; at one of these events I also read for the first time publicly from my first book The Boy from Willow Bend. New writing this month as well; so happy about that.
Thank you so much for this comment!! I can completely understand how audiobooks are not for everyone. It took me many attempts to finally get in to them. I have been meaning to read Outliers for years. I’m definitely going to check out your blog to see your thoughts on that one! I do not read a lot of short stories but I am intrigued by a lot of the titles you mentioned. Hope you have an amazing July!😊
I’m so glad to hear you had such a great reading month – and yay for enjoying Six of Crows so much! I’m currently reading it and enjoying it 🙂 I’m glad you liked The Hating Game and The Poet, both books sounds really good 😀 <3
I hope you'll have an amazing July 🙂
Thank you Marie! I am happy to hear you’re enjoying Six of Crows!!
Looks like you had a pretty awesome month, Kristin! I ADORED And Then There Were None miniseries, so I should really pick up the book to see how it compares. 😀 And All Systems Red was so much fun! A socially awkward murderbot who just wants to be left alone to watch his dramas is just so ridiculously relatable. 😀
Here’s to a great July!
I really did have a great reading month! I have never seen the And Then There Were None miniseries but I am curious about it now!
I know! I never thought I would relate to a robot!
Nice job on reading 13 books! That’s amazing. 😀 PS I Like You was my first Kasie West book and I loved it so much. I sat on my couch the entire day and read the entire thing in one sitting. It was so good and hard to put down. I now want to read all of her books. I have a few on my Kindle and can’t wait to get to them. I need to read The Hating Game and Six of Crows ASAP! High on my TBR for so long now, so I need to finally get to them haha. Yay Saga! I was able to read a few volumes in June and it’s so great.
Thank you so much!! I am really excited for PS I Like You!! Yes I definitely recommend The Hating Game and Six of Crows!! Yes Saga is really good and strange but so good!
You seem to have had a great month! I am a big fan of Six of Crows but haven’t actually read any of the others on your list! I found SoC refreshing because none of the characters were super good or super evil, they were very well written
I really did! I completely agree about SoC!! The characters were all morally grey and I loved that!
Looks like you had some great reads 🙂
I really did!