June is always a crazy month in the life of a teacher. You’re exhausted and ready for summer, and so are the kids. Then it becomes time for report cards and you go a little crazy trying to get all the marks in so you can finalize the grades, and then you have to write comments. To top all of that off, I also came down with a cold in June, so it probably wasn’t my best reading month ever. That being said, I still read a fair few things and I really enjoyed a lot of them! Without further ado, please check out my wrap up below the cut! 🙂
1. Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson
Rating: 5 stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: This book was so so good. I picked it up on a whim because I really liked Speak, and the idea of reading Laurie Halse Anderson’s memoir was really interesting to me. I was extra interested because it was in verse. The poetry that she wrote was beautiful. I know that modern poetry is not everyone’s favourite kind, but I really, really loved Anderson’s poetry. I liked reading about her growing up and her journey. Her poems on the #metoo movement and the censorship of Speak were some of my favourites. She had some really excellent word play, and I highly recommend this book.
2. Beauty and the Billionaire by Jessica Clare
Rating: 3 stars
Format: eBook
Review: Kari and I buddy read this one, and it was just okay. We mostly picked it up for funsies, and while I enjoyed some of it, some of it made me cringe and want to face palm, so I went with a neutral kind of score. I liked Gretchen, but I didn’t really like Hunter. I somewhat predicted what was going to happen, but then when everything blew up, I didn’t really like how certain things were what caused the drama when I felt that it should have been something else. Either way, I didn’t have high expectations going into it, so I wasn’t really disappointed. It was just meh.
3. Aurora Rising by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman
Rating: 5 stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: My goodness was this book so good! I kind of mostly pre-ordered it because I wanted to get Memento, the Illuminae novella, and then I picked it up because I didn’t know what to read and I loved it! It was so so good. I loved the different points of views, and all of the characters really quickly became my babies. I loved how unique each character was. I super recommend this one.
4. Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Rating: 4 stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: My friend Alison has been telling me for eons to read this one, and my hold on the audiobook finally came in this month. I was really interested and I quite enjoyed it. I didn’t love it as much as other things I have read, but I definitely really enjoyed it. The magic system was really unique and I’m definitely continuing with the series.
5. Feed by Mira Grant
Rating: 4 stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: This was a really interesting book. I am not super into the zombie genre, but this was a really interesting depiction of the zombie apocalypse. I liked the characters, and there were some really interesting twists. I don’t know if I really liked the ending though.
6. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Rating: 3 stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: I have a post that goes more in depth about my thoughts on this book. I picked it up because I loved the show, and the book was just okay.
7. Baker’s Magic by Diane Zahler
Rating: 3 stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: Last year I downloaded a bunch of free audiobooks from Audiosync, and never really listened to them. I decided I should probably get into listening to them since I have a whole bunch of them on my computer. This was one of those. It was an interesting story, with an interesting system of magic, but I didn’t love it.
8. Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson
Rating: 5 stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: Truly Devious was my TBR jar pick this month, and I had been putting it off for so long. I’m so so glad I picked it up. I am obsessed with this story. It was so good. I love the main character and the setting and the plot. On the whole, it’s just such an interesting story. I loved it so much that when I finished it, I needed to go to the bookstore and pick up the next one.
9. The Weight of Blood by Laura McHugh
Rating: 4 stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: This thriller/mystery was so freaking twisty and disturbing. The synopsis was really intriguing, and I liked how they had different perspectives that unveiled information. It kept me guessing and it really made me cringe in a spot or two. I recommend this one, but trigger warning for rape, and sex trafficking.
10. Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese
Rating: 4 stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: I have been putting off reading this one for awhile, but I’m glad I finally picked it up. This is one of the better First Nations stories that I have read this year. It was really well written, and the story was really interesting. I highly recommend this.
11. The Vanishing Stair by Maureen Johnson
Rating: 5 stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: I told you I had to go pick it up right away! I also had to read it right away. I needed to know what was going to happen and I was thoroughly satisfied. The worst part of this is that the sequel doesn’t come out until January. I genuinely can’t wait.
12. What Happened That Night by Deanna Cameron
Rating: 4 stars
Format: eBook
Review: I went on a bit of a NetGalley binge recently and now I have a ton of eARCs to read. This is the first one I got through. I have a full review of this one up on the blog. Check it out here for more of my thoughts.
13. People Kill People by Ellen Hopkins
Rating: 5 stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: I picked People Kill People up because I had heard about it from a booktuber I watch. They raved about it and I got really excited about the idea of it. So when I saw it in the store this month, I picked myself up a copy. It’s a novel written partially in verse and partially in second person prose and it’s beautiful and intricate and disturbing. Hopkins is an amazing writer, and I highly recommend this book.
14. The Healer’s Apprentice by Melanie Dickerson
Rating: 3 stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: I picked up this audiobook on a whim, because I was interested in the plot. It was seemingly a historical fiction based retelling of Sleeping Beauty and that kind of intrigued me. The story was interesting, but it was heavily religion based and that’s not really my cup of tea. However, I did enjoy certain aspects of it. The story was definitely interesting.
15. The Art of Taxidermy by Sharon Kernot
Rating: 4 stars
Format: eBook
Review: I have a full review of this going up in early July, so keep your eyes peeled for that. It was definitely enjoyable. This is part of my NetGalley binge this month.
16. Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen by Jazz Jennings
Rating: 4 stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: This audiobook is really cool because it’s read by the author, and it’s kind of like sitting in the room with her and she’s just telling you her story. It talks a lot about her journey and I found that really interesting. Not the best thing I’ve ever listened to writing wise, but I feel weird about giving a memoir a low score.
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