Monthly Wrap-Up: June 2023

Who hit fast-forward on 2023, and how are we 6 months through the year already? Lol. Anyway, I read 5 books, 1 novella, and 2 graphic novels in June. That's a total of 8 books and 1847 pages (that's about 320 pages more than last month!)

• 7 were part of a series, 1 was a standalone
• I started 3 series, but finished 1!
• 5 were 4-star reads, and 3-star reads
• 2 were adult, 6 were YA
• 1 sci-fi, 3 horrors, 1 historical fantasy, and 3 mythology retellings
• 6 were from authors I've previously read, and to were new to me

Books read this month:

I started off the month by finally finishing Paradise-1. It was SO long but it was also really good! It's a sci-fi horror, and it really delivered in both aspects!

Then I was randomly in the mood for The Keeper of Night, which is a historical fantasy with Japanese mythology, and it's about a half-reaper, half-shinigami just trying to find her place in the world. I really enjoyed this one too! I loved the Japanese mythology aspect and just the general mythos of this world. It was very interesting and it even had some creepiness throughout it that I really enjoyed.

And then because I was still in the mood for historical fantasy/mythology books, I read Madeline Miller's short story, Galatea. I read The Song of Achilles a couple of summers ago, but I remember it being one of my favorite books, and I have really been looking forward to reading more from this author. And I really enjoyed Galatea! It was beautifully written and just a good retelling of a myth that I feel doesn't get a lot of attention.

And then I took a small detour back onto Fear Street.

I read the New Fear Street series last month and ended up enjoying it more than I thought I would. Fear Street Nights though, didn't quite love it. It wasn't bad, but I didn't love it as much as I was hoping I would. That's the problem with these books: they can be very hit or miss. But I did like that the Fear family and curse were a major part of the overall trilogy, which I really appreciated. I always love when the Fear family makes an appearance!

And then I went back to more Greek mythology. But while I waited for my copy of Circe to arrive from the library (it just got here yesterday! Yay!), I read two books in the Olympians series. These are solid Greek mythology retellings in the form of graphic novels. I really enjoy them. Plus, they're super short and really help me out in my reading challenge (which I have fallen terribly behind in 😆)

Favorite books of the month:

I really liked these two! Paradise-1 had a very intriguing premise, and even though it was long as hell, it didn't feel that way because there was always something happening. It was tense all the way through and I loved it! And The Keeper of Night, I liked the mythos and the world and the relationship between the siblings that got more and more complicated as the book went on.

Least favorite book of the month:

Some of the books weren't great, but they were also not bad enough to make onto this list. Lol.

Books reviewed this month:

My Lady Jane (The Lady Janies #1) by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, & Jodi Meadows | ★★★★☆ My Plain Jane (The Lady Janies #2) by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, & Jodi Meadows | ★★★★★ Chain of Thorns (The Last Hours #3) by Cassandra Clare | ★★★★★ Supernova (Renegades #3) by Marissa Meyer | ★★★★★

The Stepbrother (New Fear Street #1) by R.L. Stine | ★★★★☆ Camp Out (New Fear Street #2) by R.L. Stine | ★★★★☆ Only Good Enemies (Galactic Bonds #2) by Jennifer Estep | ★★★★★

Christmas Cookie Crumbs (Tales of a Former Space Janitor #3.5) by Julia Huni | ★★★★☆ The Earth Concurrence (Colonial Explorer Corps #1) by Julia Huni | ★★★☆☆ The Grissom Contention (Colonial Explorer Corps #2) by Julia Huni | ★★★★☆ The Saha Declination (Colonial Explorer Corps #3) by Julia Huni | ★★★★☆

Other posts:

#24: Visiting Fear Street Once Again

#25: Another Fear Street Series Finished!

Reading Challenge Catch-Up

#5: There's a Reason Why I'm Doing This...

Let me know what your favorite read this month was and what you are looking forward to reading next month!