This month I read a total of 11 books! I have been consistently reading around 11 or 12 books a month the past couple of months, and I think this is a pretty respectable number. It is nowhere near what I was reading at the beginning of the year, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep up that crazy pace!  

While I am aiming for 150 books this year, I am also aiming to diversify my reading. I am trying to break into genres I don’t typically gravitate toward. I am hoping to read more non-fiction and classics. And, as always, I am taking part in several reading challenges.

Let’s get into it!

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Books I Read:

Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out and Lonely by Lysa TerKeurst (4 Stars) ~ print

~Reading Challenges: A to Z Challenge (U)

Notes From a Young Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachi (3.5 Stars) ~ audio

~Reading Challenges: Read Harder Challenge (Read a food memoir by an author of color)

A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver (4 Stars) ~ print

~Reading Challenges: Read Harder Challenge (Read a book of nature poems)

Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh (4 Stars) ~ print

~Reading Challenges: PopSugar Challenge (A book by a blogger, vlogger, YouTube video creator, or other online personality)

Girls of Paper and Fire (Girls of Paper and Fire #1) by Natasha Ngan (4.5 Stars) ~ print

~Reading Challenges: PopSugar Challenge (The book on your TBR list with the prettiest cover); The Unread Shelf Project Reading Challenge (A book bought in a spending spree)

My Contrary Mary (Mary #1) by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows (4 Stars) (REVIEW) ~ audio

~Reading Challenges: none

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston (5 Stars) ~ print

~Reading Challenges: Read Harder Challenge (Read a romance by a trans or nonbinary author)

The Project by Courtney Summers (3.5 Stars) ~ audio

~Reading Challenges: none

Call Me Maybe (Love Lines #1) by Cara Bastone (4 Stars) ~ audio

~Reading Challenges: none

The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor (3.5 Stars) ~ print

~Reading Challenges: none

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami (3 Stars) ~ audio

~Reading Challenges: PopSugar Challenge (A book you think your best friend would like); Read Harder Challenge (Read a non-European novel in translation (I’m aware this isn’t a novel, but I’m counting it anyway, DEAL WITH IT! 😉) )

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Format: ……………………………………………..Reading Challenges:

Physical Books: 6                                    PopSugar Challenge: 42/50

E-Books: 0                                                Read Harder Challenge: 19/24

Audiobooks: 5                                         The Unread Shelf Challenge: 6/12

Non-fiction: 5                                          Little Inklings Challenge: 24/26

.                                                                  On the Cover: 9/10

.                                                                  Reading Rainbow: 9/10

.                                                                  A to Z Challenge: 21/26

.                                                                  Goodreads Challenge: 83/150 

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Star Ratings:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: One (One Last Stop)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2: One (Girls of Paper and Fire)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: Five (Uninvited, A Thousand Mornings, Solutions and Other Problems, My Contrary Mary, Call Me Maybe)

⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2: Three (Notes From a Young Black Chef, The Project, The Women of Brewster Place)

⭐️⭐️⭐️: One (What I Talk About When I Talk About Running)

⭐️⭐️1/2: Zero

⭐️⭐️: Zero

⭐️1/2: Zero

⭐️: Zero

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Things I Posted:

Book Review: My Contrary Mary

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Getting Personal:

I was MIA last month. Sorry about that. For some reason, every time I thought about sitting down to write my May wrap-up I just really didn’t want to. So, I decided to listen to myself and give myself a break. I’m hopeful for getting back on the blogging train here pretty soon. I’ve just been in a bit of a blogging funk…

Some things that happened in May and June:

*My daughter had several doctor’s appointments. She has a few different medical issues, so doctor’s visits are pretty typical around here. The biggest thing that we did was get new ear tubes put in. This will help to prevent ear infections, as well as drain the fluid behind her eardrums so that she can hear better (with the help of her hearing aids as well).

*We also had a few playdates with some new friends. Little bit was a little shy at first, but by the end of these playdates she was getting excited about playing with someone new. Hopefully these playdates will become more frequent and can turn into real friendships (both for her and for me!)

*I have pretty much officially been diagnosed with fibromyalgia. It is such a relief to finally have a name to put to all of the pain I have been suffering through for the past ten years. I am on medication that is significantly helping my pain levels. Hopefully this will continue to be the trend with this medicine and I can start becoming more active again soon.

*School ended, and my daughter started going to daycare for the first time. It was a bit rough at the beginning, but now she seems to like it! I have transitioned to working every weekday, so daycare has been super helpful.

*June 17th was our Family Day! We met our daughter for the first time in person in China two years ago. It seems like yesterday, and also like she has always been with us. ❤️ We also got to have a big Family Day party with my parents, my sister and her family, aunts and uncles. It was so heartwarming to get to have everyone in the same place for the first time since we adopted her!

*We have begun the incredibly thrilling journey of potty training…please keep us in your thoughts and prayers 😉 💩

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My July TBR Pile:

The River Has Teeth by Erica Waters

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw

Hmm…somehow I’ve ended up with a bunch of spooky books for my TBR this month haha!

This was not intentional. The River Has Teeth comes out later this month, so I’m reading the ARC in preparation for a book review and interview with the author (stay tuned for that! It’s going to be great!). The Haunting of Hill House is our book club pick for July. And The Wicked Deep fits my prompt for July in The Unread Shelf Reading Challenge.

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How many books did you read this month? Have you read any of the books I read? Are you participating in any reading challenges? What about the books on my TBR for July? Let me know down in the comments! 

Love and happy reading,

Whitney