Summer is definitely here, and June has been an absolute scorcher. The heat here in Louisiana has been unbearable. Within seconds of stepping outside, I am drenched in sweat. So, I’ve been staying inside with my books and my pets with the AC and fans blasting. My rare ventures outside have been dominated by doctor’s appointments, CT scans, and bloodwork. Luckily, all of the tests have come back relatively normal, which means no new cancer. Yay for continued remission! Reading, doctor’s visits, and housework have dominated my June, along with anxiously waiting to see where my wife ends up getting a new job. Without further ado, here is my monthly wrap-up for June 2024!

What I’ve Read

Books & Audiobooks

June was a pretty good reading month for me. I finished 14 books for a total of 5,261 pages. I managed to finish reading three series last month and found some new favorite books that will definitely be on my lists at the end of the year. My average rating came in a little lower in June at 3.95 out of 5, mostly because of a few disappointments that weighed it down. You’ve got to admire the power of outliers… The books I finished in June are listed below (ratings link to my review, if available):

• Twelfth Knight by Alexene Farol Follmuth (🎧 / 4⭐)
• Running Close to the Wind by Alexandra Rowland (📱 / 4.5⭐)
• Death in the Spires by KJ Charles (🎧 / 4.5⭐)
• The Honey Witch by Sydney J. Shields (🎧 / 3⭐)
• Defy the Storm by Tessa Gratton & Justina Ireland (📖 / 3.75⭐)
• Subtle Blood by KJ Charles (🎧 / 5⭐)
• We Shall Be Monsters by Tara Sim (📱 / 5⭐)
• Abhorsen by Garth Nix (🎧 / 4⭐)
• A Darker Mischief by Derek Milman (📱 / 2.5⭐)
• Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse (🎧 / 3.75⭐)
• The Darkness Before Them by Matthew Ward (📖 / 3⭐)
• The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley (🎧 / 4.5⭐)
• The Mirror of Simple Souls by Aline Kiner (📱 / 3.75⭐)
• Leather & Lark by Brynne Weaver (🎧 / 4⭐)

Comic Books

One of my goals for the year is to read more comic books. Specifically, I set the arbitrary number at 100 floppies, but I’d love to read way more than that this year because I am years behind on issues at this point. I read 8 issues in June, all of them from Star Wars titles. I focused on catching up with some of The High Republic Titles and finished both Shadows of Starlight and The Blade. These were both great runs, and Shadows of Starlight, in particular, gave a lot of context to things happening in the most recent phase three books of The High Republic. So, I’m glad I finally read them. 🙂

Progress On My 2024 Reading Goals

This year I am keeping things much simpler. I don’t have as many specific goals to track and am just trying to go with the flow. I do want to keep some sort of record of the trackable ones, though. So, here’s a quick peek at how my year is going so far.

• Goodreads Challenge: 92/100 books (+14 in June)
• Storygraph Pages Challenge: COMPLETED!!
• Read from My Shelves: 29 books [23 physical, 6 audio] (+2 in June)
• Books Unhauled: 18 sold on Pango (+1 in June)
• Read Comic Books: 48/100 floppies (+8 in June)
• Read Pre-2024 ARCs: 2/14 ARCs (+0 in June)

Final Thoughts

I did manage to be pretty consistent about blogging this month. Yay! You can find all of the stuff I wrote this month in my blog archives if you are interested in checking it out. I also added a prodigious number of books to my shelves in June, which you can see in my book haul post.

Overall, I had a pretty good month of reading. There were a few disappointments, such as A Darker Mischief, but I also found some new favorites. My average rating was 3.95 in June. My favorite book in June was We Shall Be Monsters. What was your favorite book from June? Let me know down in the comments!

Thank you to everyone who has visited the blog and engaged with comments and/or likes! I appreciate all of you and always enjoy reading your input in the comments. I hope everyone is having a great July!