Life

June was moving along quite smoothly until we got to the last week of the month, then things went a little sideways. On Thursday we received word that my aunt (by marriage) had passed away. Then on Friday we found out that one of my cousins (on the other side of the family) had been seriously injured and has been in the hospital for months. Not sure why no one told us when it happened, but that’s a whole other story. So, yeah, lots of family stuff to start the summer.

I live in the Pacific Northwest, so didn’t get the crazy heatwave when the rest of the country did, but we are expecting a hot, dry summer (following a dry spring). I am not looking forward to it since our house and car don’t have air conditioning. I’ve already started freezing bottles of water for cooling down when things get really bad. If I could have the combination of summer daylight hours and winter temperatures, I would be a happy crab.

Anyway, reading continues to be good, though I did have a couple of off-days mid-month. My eye-strain was worse than normal which led to a monster headache. It was worse than some of my migraines, maybe because it was so different from what I normally experience. Regardless, it was brutal, so I didn’t do much of anything until it passed. I already know that my first major expenditure when I finally find a job will be an eye appointment and new glasses.

But now it’s my birthday month, so I’m going to try to be happy and find small ways to celebrate turning 54. I’m continuing on my Summer Reading Project and kicking off my own Happiness Project, so it should be a busy month.

Books

Read:

I finished 19 books this month:

To Woo and to Wed by Martha Waters ****
The Autistic Brain by Temple Grandin ***
Frenemies to Lovers by Synithia Williams ****
Queen of Volts by Amanda Foody ****
To Love a Wolf by Paige Tyler ****

The Girl Most Likely To by Julie Tieu ****
Beach Vibes by Susan Mallery ***
A Tropical Rebel Gets the Duke by Adriana Herrera ****
Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (re-read *****)
The Gravity of Us: After the Launch by Phil Stamper ****

The Blackbird Oracle by Deborah Harkness ****
Snowed in with Summer by Tiana Warner ****
The Choice by Nora Roberts *****
Escape from Mr Lemoncello’s Library by Chris Grabenstein (re-read ****)
Ten Big Ones by Janet Evanovich ****

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews ****
Conspiracy in Death by J.D. Robb ****
With You Forever by Chloe Liese *****
Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon ****

Series:

Completed: 5

Progress: 5

Started: 2

Added to Shelves:

I was approved for 2 eARCs through Net Galley

To the Moon and Back by Eliana Ramage
You’ve Found Oliver by Dustin Thao

And was invited to read 7  eARCs by the publishers

A Mannequin for Christmas by Timothy Janovsky (St. Martin’s)
Game On by Ki Stephens (St. Martin’s)
Only Lovers in the Building by Nadine Gonzalez (Harlequin)
Lady Like by Mackenzi Lee (Penguin Random House)
Alice Rue Evades the Truth by Emily Zipps (Penguin Random House)

Kitty St. Clair’s Last Dance by Kate Robb (Penguin Random House)
Yours for the Season by Kate Cochrane (Harlequin)

Blog

Reviews:

Sleeping with the Frenemy
To Woo and to Wed
Queen of Volts
The Girl Most Likely To
Beach Vibes
A Tropical Rebel Gets the Duke
Snowed in With Summer

Spotlights:

Writing Mr. Write
Seven Year Itch

Discussions:

This is Pride
Favorite LGBTQIA+ Main Characters
LGBTQIA+ Books on My 2025 TBR
Favorite LGBTQIA+ Side Characters
Favorite LGBTQIA+ Books
Summer Reading Kickoff
54 is Coming
Favorite LGBTQIA+ Relationships

Uplifting Voices:

Kacen Callender
Timothy Janovsky

Features:

May Wrap Up
May Challenge Update
June Currently Reading
June TBR Stats
Mental Health Check-in~ June
State of the Resistance~ June
Recommended Reading June
July Calendar

I’ll be linking up to The Sunday Post with The Caffeinated Reader and the Monthly Wrap Up Round Up with Feed Your Fiction Addiction and It Starts at Midnight.

Covers link to Bookshop.org (affiliate*)