June was another great reading month - I finished 8 books, which is a lot for me:
- Projekt 1065 by Alan Gratz (Germany), teen/YA audiobook
- The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater, teen/YA novel & a Big Book
- The Atlas of Forgotten Places by Jenny D. Williams (Uganda), adult novel reviewed for Shelf Awareness
- Scar Island by Dan Gemeinhart, middle-grade audiobook
- Shift by Hugh Howey (GA), adult novel & a Big Book
- The Goldfish Boy by Lisa Thompson (UK), middle-grade audiobook
- Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf (CO), adult novel
- The World to Come by Kim Shephard (variety), short stories
It was an all-fiction month for me (which is not unusual), with a nice mix of adult, middle-grade, and teen/YA novels. I listened to three audiobooks and read the other five books on paper, including one book of short stories which is rare for me. Wow, it is really hard to choose a favorite from June. All of these books were very good, and I enjoyed them all, but the three adult novels were especially good. As much as I loved Shift and Our Souls at Night, I think The Atlas of Forgotten Places wins - it is a novel by a new author that really blew me away. It was just released on July 11. My review has not yet been published on Shelf Awareness, but I will link to it from my blog when it's available.
Progress on 2017 Reading Challenges:
This is my favorite part of my monthly summary - updating my Reading Challenges! Once again, only 2 of my 8 books were from my own shelves for my Read Your Own Damn Books Challenge - bringing my 6-month total up to only 12. That's dismal, and my shelves are getting buried! For the Monthly Motif Reading Challenge, June was Destination Unknown month and The Atlas of Forgotten Places by Jenny D. Williams involved a significant journey. No more classics for the 2017 Back to the Classics Challenge, but I am working on one now. I slotted most of my books into categories for my Well-Rounded Challenge, but the categories are almost filled up now. For my Travel the World in Books Reading Challenge, I added Germany and Uganda. For my 2017 Literary Escapes Challenge, I added two more states: Colorado and Georgia. Best of all, for my own Big Book Summer Challenge, I read two Big Books (over 400 pages) in June: The Scorpio Races and Shift.
Finally, Bookish Bingo hosted by Chapter Break - not really a challenge per se, but a fun game that I play each month! Here is my Bingo card for June, with 18 squares filled in:
Books on the Bingo Card:
Projekt 1065 - white on the cover, father/fathur-figure, audio book
The Scorpio Races - mythical creatures
The Atlas of Forgotten Places - map, free book
Scar Island - bully, exile
Shift - shelf-love book, one-word title, in a series, special/super powers
The Goldfish Boy - summer vacation, private investigator
Our Souls at Night - library book
The World to Come - accident, sassy/sarcastic
Free Space
What was your favorite book read in June?
How was The Atlas of Forgotten Places? A book set in Uganda sounds good.
ReplyDeleteAmazing!! It's a wonderful novel that blends adventure, suspense, a recent historical setting (that was very informative for me), and family drama, too. I will share mt review here as soon as Shelf Awareness publishes it - I liked it so much, I suggested it for their 10 Best list at the end of the year!
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