TOP 10 FAVORITES - January through June
June in a Nutshell - I read and reviewed (16) books in June and had (1) DNF - Golden Girl; Elin Hilderbrand
(4) Childrens
(2) NF
(10) Fiction
(6) audios (4) publisher downloads (2) library downloads
(3) eGalleys
(8) print (6) from my shelves sent by publishers and (2) Library loans
(14) female authors (YTD) (76)
(2) male authors (YTD) ( 26)
YTD Total (102) (YTD - DNF - (8)
Countries traveled to through the books I've read: Japan, Canada, England and Italy.
US States: NY (2X), MD (2X) MA (2X), NH, TN and SC.
JUNE READS
- Heaven, Mieko Kawakami - 4/5 Setting: Japan (June)
- Six Weeks to Live; Catherine McKenzie - 4/5 Setting: Canada?
- The Photographer; Mary Dixie Carter - 3.5/5 Setting: New York
- Three Martini Afternoons at the Ritz: The Rebellion of Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton; Gail Crowther - NF - 4/5
- Count the Ways; Joyce Maynard - 5/5 Setting: NH and MA
- Annie Lumsden: Girl From the Sea; David Almond - 5/5
- Sweet Pea Summer; Hazel Mitchell - 4.5/5
- Atticus Caticus; Kara Kramer - 4/5
- The Maidens; Alex Michaelides - 4/5 Setting: Cambridge, England
- Blush; Jamie Brenner - 3/5 Setting: Long Island, NY
- A Midsummer Night's Dream; retold by Georghia Ellinas - 5/5 stars
- Before We Were Yours; Lisa Wingate - 4/5 Setting: TN and SC
- Chair Yoga: Accessible Sequences to Build Strength, Flexibility, and Inner Calm; Christina D'Arrigo - (NF) 5/5 stars
- Palace of the Drowned; Christine Mangan - 3.5/5 stars Setting: London and Venice
- Mary Jane; Jessica Anya Blau - 5/5 Setting: Maryland
- Dream Girl; Laura Lippman - 4/5 Setting: Maryland
JUNE FAVORITES
JULY PLANS (one month at a time)
Last month I picked (10) books I wanted to read in June and only read (5) from that list.
- The Personal Librarian; Marie Benedict - Victoria Christopher Murray
- When the Stars Go Dark; Paula McLain
- Northern Spy; Flynn Berry
- The Temple House Vanishing; Rachel Donohue
- That Summer; Jennifer Weiner
- The Therapist; B.A. Paris
- Shoulder Season; Christina Clancy
- Malibu Rising; Taylor Jenkins Reid
- Dead By Dawn; Paul Dorian
- Haven Point; Virgina Hume
Did you set any reading goals? Have any favorites thus far?
Other than my GR goal I don't set any.
ReplyDeleteAt some point I want to read the Thayer book. I hope July is a great month for you. I'm going to look for the chair yoga book!
The Chair Yoga group is quite good Mary. I hope you find the poses easy.
DeleteI don't set many reading goals any longer. I rarely choose books in advance, but I keep a long lists of books that interest me. :)
ReplyDeleteI like to at least partially work from a list and wing the rest of my choices, as holds come in from the library.
DeleteSome excellent favorites in there! I don't think I've read of the books in the June or July list but I see some in there that I'm hoping to get to.
ReplyDeleteIt was a good month overall. I never following my plans as intended though LOL
DeleteJuly looks like a good reading month for you. I share some of your favorites from earlier in the year and I've got that Thayer book on my radar.
ReplyDeleteI hope you will love the Thayer book, the setting is a favorite location.
DeleteYou have a wonderful June reading and a list for July that looks really good. I also have Northern Spy on my TBR shelf and am looking forward to reading it.
ReplyDeleteNorthern Spy was iffy on my list but, so many have seemed to like it, I will give it a try.
DeleteThat much reading amazes me, I tend to doze off when I read so I limit the times.
ReplyDeleteI like listening to an audio book at night, it helps me doze off and then I just rewind it the following day LOL
DeleteYou're keeping quite a quick pace...I'm jealous, but I suppose that no matter how fast you read, there are always going to be great books you just never have time for. I've heard good things about the Laura Lippman book, and I pretty much always enjoy her books, so I'll be reading that one at some point, I suspect. And now I'm curious about Mary Jane...looks like you really liked that one.
ReplyDeleteSo true Sam, there are always more titles I want to read that I'll never get to as the years seem to pass so quickly.
DeleteYou did really well. Lots of 4/5 reads in that list. Of your July reads, I will be reading Shoulder Season for review.
ReplyDeleteThe reviews seem mixed on Shoulder Season, but I wanted to read it as I've been to that former Lake Geneva, WI Playboy Club just after it was turned into a resort and spa in 1994 or 1995 as part of a company retreat.
DeleteI must've missed your review of The Maidens. And also glad you enjoyed Mary Jane. I have these books on the back burner. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat month, Diane!
I liked Mary Jane more than The Maidens but then totally different kinds of atories.
DeleteI'm copying you and taking note of where I travel each month and it's astonishing sometimes where you've ended up. You had such a good reading month!
ReplyDeleteIt's fun to see where we have traveled for free each month LOL.
DeleteLooks like you had a great reading month! I love keeping track of my bookish "travels". It's fun to see where all I go and since I read a lot of books in the same genre to see which areas are the most popular.
ReplyDeleteIt is fun especially since we do far less travel on airplanes these days.
DeleteI made a rough plan for summer reading, but it remains to be seen if I'll stick to it! Reading something by Joyce Maynard is part that plan and I recently purchased A Girl Returned. My favorite books of June were That Summer by Jennifer Wiener and Last Best Hope by George Packer.
ReplyDeleteI hope you will read Maynard's Count the Ways and, A Girl Returned was really a good one as well. I hope to read That Summer as well.
DeleteI really like doing mid-year wrap-ups. It's an easy way to keep track of what I've read and see how my reading stats are going :)
ReplyDelete-Megan | Bookstacks & Golden Moms
I agree and I never get too upset by numbers or plans not going as originally intended.
DeleteI'm really looking forward to Joyce Maynard's new book and am so glad you enjoyed it. I've also added Mary Jane to my audio list. We'll see when I get to these. I need to get on the ball and start reading Migrations for my book discussion in August. I'm such a slow reader in the summer, so I better start as soon as we get home from our trip. 6 weeks should be enough time, right? ;)
ReplyDeleteI hope you like Maynard's new book. It felt partially autobiographical as I know she had 3 children, and her life in some ways followed a similar path as this story.
DeleteDid you read her column (Domestic Affairs), which was published in the late 80s? Once she stopped writing for the newspaper, she sent (via snail mail!) a newsletter, which I happily subscribed to. I loved her writing and thoughts on motherhood. I remember when she moved from New Hampshire to California and then her newsletters became a thing of the past. I think I followed her blog for a while, but haven't in many years.
DeleteJune was a great reading month for you! Glad to see you enjoyed The Maidens. Hope to read that soon. Happy July!
ReplyDeleteI liked Silent Patient more but, The Maidens was good as well.
DeleteMary Jane sounds so good. I am glad to see you enjoyed it. Of course I am also interested in Joyce Maynard's book as well. It looks like you had a great reading month, Diane. I hope you have a great July--you have some good books ahead of you from the looks of it.
ReplyDeleteMary Jane was a delight and please don't miss Joyce Maynard's new book.
DeleteYeah Malibu Rising and When the Stars Go Dark are on my Summer List. But now I'm slightly wondering if I'll like them? I'll see what you think if you get to them first. I'm glad you liked the Maynard novel .... that bodes well.
ReplyDeleteNo review yet but I was slightly disappointed with When the Stars Go Dark after all the hype. I play to start Malibu Rising this week.
ReplyDeleteWow, look at all those books already read this year! I was really happy to see Convenience Store Woman on your list. I really liked that one. I've read some great reads so far this year and I do have a couple of stacks of books I'd like to read this summer for various reading challenges but I tend to stray and read at whim too so let's see what I end up reading this month.
ReplyDelete