June 2021 Wrap-Up

I’ve tried writing this post about three times and feel less and less motivated each time since June wasn’t the most exciting reading month for me. There were lots of non-book related changes life last month and I couldn’t sit down and concentrate on a book for too long…which isn’t a bad thing.

I’m slowing down on reading a bit in general (in a good way). After three years of reading a lot of books every month, I think that the pressure I placed on myself to stuff as many stories into my mind as possible is waning. I’ll still be reading, but I think I’m finally getting out of book escapism as a form of dealing with loneliness and all that. I’ll still be reading as much as my brain can concentrate on, which may be 2 books or 10 books, but the self-induced pressure has slackened a bit. I’m also turning 25 tomorrow, so that also might be why I’m feeling like I want to Change My Life™. Maybe I’ll be back to normal in a few days, who knows. ANYWAY…

Beautiful Darkness by Fabien Vehlmann, Illustrated by Kerascoët

This graphic novel was so wild that I had to call my mom and explain to her everything that was happening as I read it. It was disturbing and weird and I really loved it. If you haven’t heard of this one, here’s my pitch: Cute little creatures emerge from the dead body of a young girl and must survive the wilderness and one another. If you aren’t into blood and gore and generally morbid things, maybe steer clear of this one.

Romancing Mister Bridgerton (Bridgertons, #4) by Julia Quinn

And my award for one of my most disappointing reads of 2021 goes to this installment of the Bridgerton series! I was super excited to read more about Penelope, as she is my favorite character from the series. But alas, I ended up extremely bored by her and her entire relationship with Colin. Oh, Colin! He had so much potential as a character and a love interest, and it was all completely squandered. What a dull couple…what a boring story. What a drag. I’m still going to continue the series, but it continues to disappoint me in new and infuriating ways.

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho

I was having a fun time reading the first third of this book, but as the story got more and more convoluted, I became less and less invested. I wish we would have been given a lot more information about many of the characters, including the main character, Jess. They didn’t seem as real as they could have been and there were so many little threads left hanging and unresolved by the end of the story. I’m glad I read it, but it was a somewhat disappointing.

The Overnight (Fear Street #3) by R.L. Stine

Not much to say about this one. Ridiculous, campy, trashy, amazing. All the things I like in a short slasher kinda book.

Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang

I absolutely loved loved loved the first story in this collection, Tower of Babylon, but the rest didn’t do much for me. Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood.

All the time I spent not reading, I was listening to music while doing nothing in particular. Here are some of the songs I had on repeat last month.

This song is Ryan Gosling…Ryan. Gosling. That man. Unmatched.

I watched one of my favorite movies, Me Without You, this month once again (because I required cinematic guidance) and this song was stuck in my head for many days after.

I’ve been listening to this album nonstop. Always a sucker for some melancholy, ghostly music about doomed love!

That’s about it for now! I’m currently gearing up for whatever my actual quarter life crisis has in store for me…we’ll see but I think it’s going to be a good year.