We have now reached my least favorite time of year, and it will continue to be my least favorite time of year until September. Heat is bad enough. Add high humidity into the mix, and it’s even worse. Hooray for air conditioning, fans, and iced beverages.
Anyway.
I didn’t finish as many books in June as I usually do, but I was getting through a couple of long, dense texts. You don’t want to rush through a detailed biography or an event-filled work of historical fiction lest you miss something important.
What I Finished Reading in June:
- The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps by Kai Ashante Wilson, audiobook narrated by Kevin Free
- Thomas Cromwell: A Revolutionary Life by Diarmaid MacCulloch
- Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, ARC provided by NetGalley
- The Changeling by Victor LaValle, audiobook narrated by Victor LaValle
- Amberlough (The Amberlough Dossier #1) by Lara Elena Donnelly
- The Game of Kings (The Lymond Chronicles #1) by Dorothy Dunnett
- Kindred by Octavia E. Butler, audiobook narrated by Kim Staunton
- The Bloodprint (The Khorasan Archive #1) by Ausma Zehanat Khan
- Bring up the Bodies (Thomas Cromwell trilogy #2) by Hilary Mantel, audiobook read by Simon Vance
Statistically Speaking:
- 66.7% of the books I read were written by women, 33.3% were written by men
- 44.4% were by American authors, 22.2% each were by Canadian and English authors, and 11.1% were written by Scottish authors
- 44.4% were physical books, 44.4% were audiobooks, and 11.1% were ebooks
- 55.6% were fantasy, 22.2% were historical fiction, and 11.1% each were gothic or biography
- 55.6% were from my own shelves, 33.3% were from the library, and 11.1% were from NetGalley
- The years of publication ranged from 1961 to 2020
Favorites of the month included Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, The Changeling by Victor LaValle, Amberlough by Lara Elena Donnelly, and Kindred by Octavia E. Butler. Thomas Cromwell: A Revolutionary Life by Diarmaid McCulloch and The Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett were excellent, too, but not at the top of the list.
I didn’t actively dislike anything I read in June, but The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps by Kai Ashante Wilson and The Bloodprint by Ausma Zehanat Khan ended up being so-so for me. Not bad, but not great.
I need to read more works in translation. I have a bunch of them on my shelves, and I plan to read a few in July.
What I Plant to Read in July:
- The Gradual Disappearance of Jane Ashland by Nicolai Houm, translated from the Norwegian by Anna Paterson
- The Midnight Sun by Cecelia Ekbäck (also titled In the Month of the Midnight Sun)
- Samarkand by Amin Maalouf, translated from the French by Russell Harris
- Armistice (The Amberlough Dossier #2) by Lara Elena Donnelly
- Giving up the Ghost by Hilary Mantel
- The Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison
- Last Song Before Night (The Harp and Ring Saga #1) by Ilana C. Myer
Not pictured are a couple of audiobooks holds that should be arriving soon:
- Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Brittney Cooper
- The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth trilogy #1) by N.K. Jemisin
I also want to read some of the nonfiction books I own, but I have no idea which ones. I have two shelves full, so I’ll let mood guide me in that.
What are you reading this month? Do yo have any tips to help me make it through the summer’s heat?
Traveling in Books 
I hate the humidity. I want light stuff to get me through the summer. I read Sex and Vanity in practically one sitting. Totally a beach read, but his wit and sarcasm makes me laugh. The material in a less skilled writer would be dreadful. Though, I wonder if his new goal will be to write movies that are easy to turn into movies…
I’m okay with reading heavier stuff in the summer, but I tend to gravitate toward wintry settings, like Scandinavia. I’ve never read anything by Kevin Kwan, but contemporaries aren’t really my thing.
I know you like different stuff. I read outside a lot, and I end up staring at something so I like something I don’t have to think about. Though I am reading a fascinating non fiction about a women resistance worker in WWII, but it’s not overly heavy
I wish I had effective tips for getting through the heat! Today when I left work it was getting hot, reminded me of just what we have to look forward to this summer… Sometimes, though, even in the heat and humidity I have gone out hiking and photographing. Just needed to wear very light clothing that covers the skin and wicks well, a good light hat, plenty of bug spray, and lots of water, and be ready to sweat light crazy regardless of what you wear or do. 🙂 The biggest tip if going out, though, is to pay close attention to yourself, pack up and go home if you start running out of water or feeling off. I had heat exhaustion once, felt very close to heat stroke, fever and all, it wasn’t a good feeling.
Looking at what you plan to read this month I was caught by The Midnight Sun. I checked my shelves and found I have unread copies of both that and Wolf Winter, so I’m very much looking forward to your thoughts when you read it.
Humidity isna killer! Since becoming ill, I really dislike Summers. Give my Fall or Winter any day. Symptoms are so much easier to manage.
I am really enjoying the reading statistics. It is a great reminder for myself to strive to branch out a bit more. My copy of Methican Gothic arrived. I may start it this evening.
Hugs!
P.S. blaming those typos on the post-op meds lol.
Glad you like the statistics! They’re an eye-opener sometimes– like, I knew I read mostly women authors, but I didn’t realize what a high percentage it was!
I hope you love Mexican Gothic! I thought it was so good!
I took all the precautions against heat to go for a hike last week, and ended up being eaten alive by mosquitoes! The heat wasn’t the problem that day. The bugs were. I can’t win! I’ve head heat exhaustion before, too. It was awful.
Neat! If I go by the order my TBR is on the shelf right now, Midnight Sun is third on the list, so I’m hoping to get to it this weekend. I’ll let you know my thoughts on it!
I have been dying to try The Fifth Season for a while now. I do hope you have a good time with that TBR of yours. It looks like it contains a lot of excellent stories for you to indulge! 😀
Thanks! I’m still waiting for the The Fifth Season to arrive. Looking forward to it!
ICE CREAM!! Lol! 😀
Sorry, I don’t have any suggestions for how to survive summer. It’s one of my favorite seasons because we can wear shorts and less clothes in general, but I hate the humidity. Love the warm weather though, just not when it’s unbearably hot.
I really want to read Mexican Gothic, but I don’t have any specific book I want to read anytime soon. I just want to finish what I have going right now.
I would happily move far, far north if I could. Northern Canada, Iceland. That sort of thing. I just don’t acclimate to heat the way I do to cold. Read Mexican Gothic soon! It’s so good!
There is something about that photo of your TBR pile which I find *so* satisfying. It’s such an aesthetically pleasing photo. ❤
Pumped to read (have read?) Armistice with you. I don’t know what I expected when we started reading these books, but they are completely different from my expectations. In the best way. I am also excited to read The Starless Sea this month. Morgenstern’s other novel, The Night Circus is one of my all-time favorite novels. I’ve been waiting until this month as a book club selected to read it for July and I knew I wouldn’t remember all the details. So excited.
How to stay cool? Well, we don’t have AC in our 1880’s farmhouse. We eat a lot of fruit-based popsicles (because dairy based would make us GIANT at the rate we consume them…) and take cool showers. It’s not our favorite, either.
Thanks! Bookstacks are oddly satisfying, regardless of their colors..
I almost don’t have AC in my little apartment. Just a window unit which, right now with a heat index of 105, isn’t doing a whole lot. Ugh. Iced lemon water and Diet Coke seems to be my go-to for the summer….
We have window units for our bedroom and the guest bedroom. Our heat index is 101 today, and for the first time all Summer we’ve left the AC on in the bedrooms all day long. Typically it’s just an evening thing. But I can only handle the heat for so long before I feel yucky. #PregnancyProblems At least, I assume…
You’re so much healthier than we are! Iced lemon water and diet coke. Wow. 😉
I just have my little window unit for the whole apartment. It’s in the living room, and right now just isn’t keeping up. Ugh. Looking forward to when the sun goes down, when I can open the windows and hopefully catch a breeze.
I’m trying to be healthier! *lol* I started off the summer with lemonade, then decided that was an awful lot of sugar, so I switched to lemon water, which I’ve like much better. And regular Coke is too sweet for me.