We’re halfway through the year for our reading challenges. How are we doing? Are you still on track to hit your reading goals for the year? I think I’m doing pretty well since I stuck to the same reading goal as last year, even though I surpassed it pretty well by the end of 2022. However, I do feel like I’m normally further along in the amount of books read by now. I’m trying to not focus too much on the numbers and instead just how I’m feeling when reading a book.
I think learning that I’m a mood reader has really helped me not go into a book slump yet (*knocks on wood*), but this month was definitely a slower month for me, especially at the beginning of the month. Part of it could be because I read and listened to two pretty lengthy books at the same time and so it definitely took me longer to get through them than normal.
This month I finished six books with half of them being in the last week of the month. Two of them are books that have either already been turned into a TV show or is an upcoming movie. The last book I read in June was definitely one of my favorite books and I can’t wait to tell you more about it further down in this blog post. I also read two new books from my favorite Contemporary Romance authors this month and they were both five star reads for me.
Here are the six books I read in June:
Practice Makes Perfect – Sarah Adams
The second book in the When In Rome series, Practice Makes Perfect follows Annie Walker, who is on a quest to find her perfect match. After overhearing her date call her boring to his friend, she’s on a mission to transform herself into the flirtatious and fun woman like the leading ladies of her favorite romance movies. Will Griffin is Amelia’s bodyguard and somehow gets tricked into becoming her coach in all things dating and relationships. Amid the flirting and steamy practice dates, Annie begins to learn there’s more layers to Will than he shows.
I loved getting to go back to Rome, Kentucky and to the characters I had just left in the previous book. Like the first book in the series, this book was based off an Audrey Hepburn movie, Funny Face. Annie is such a lovable character and getting to have her as the lead of her story was perfection. Annie and Will are definitely one of my top couples for 2023 reads. I listened to this one on audiobook and highly recommend doing the same because the way the actors read the story really portrayed all the feelings and emotions Adams was trying to portray in the book. Rating: 5/5
“But the thing about quiet people is, we’re only quiet because our brains are so busy overthinking everything.”
Meet Me At The Lake – Carley Fortune
Fern has spent too much time in her adult years thinking of Will Baxter after spending 24 hours with him in her early twenties. A great connection with the wrong timing, Will doesn’t show up when he said he would a year later. Now at 32, Fern has to decide what to do with her family resort after her mother’s death. She’s surprised when not only does Will show up, but that he’s there to help the resort out. Can Fern still trust him, especially since he’s hiding something from her?
Second books for authors are always hard because they’re following up a hit debut novel and they have deadlines for the first time. That said, I enjoyed this one, but it didn’t capture me the way that her first novel did. I wasn’t invested in the relationship between Will and Fern, and I found the book to be dragging. I did enjoy learning more about the relationship between her and her mom. If it was the main focus instead of the romance, I probably would’ve enjoyed it more. Rating: 4/5
“My headphones were both my therapist and my invisibility cloak.”
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes – Suzanne Collins
In the capital, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Hunger Games. The odds are against him. He’s been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12. Their fates are completely intertwined – every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, he starts to feel for his doomed tribute and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive.
This was a great backstory of the original Hunger Games series. The story follows Coriolanus Snow and more of his background as a teenage boy and the path that led him to be a tyranical President. It also follows Lucy Grey Bird as the only other victor from District 12 outside of the original series. It was a little hard to keep up with the characters at first, but eventually became easier to follow once you realize who the important characters are for the story. It was also interesting to see how much the games had changed over time and to learn more about how the games were created. The audiobook is narrated by Santino Fontana, who is one of my favorite Broadway actors and the voice of Prince Hans in Frozen. Rating: 5/5
“Nothing you can take from me was ever worth keeping.”
Love, Theoretically – Ali Hazelwood
The many lives of theoretical physicist Elsie Hannaway have finally caught up to her. Jack Smith, the annoyingly attractive and older brother of her favorite client, turns out to be the cold-hearted experimental physicist who ruined her mentor’s career and undermined the reputation of theorists everywhere. And that same Jack who now sits on the hiring committee at MIT, right between Elsie and her dream job.
Ali Hazelwood is back! I loved this one so much. The tropes for this book is enemies-to-lovers with a mix of academic rivalry and fake dating (kind of), and this book and me hooked from the start. I loved really getting to explore the academic STEM world in this book and Elsie was so relatable. There was also a guide at the back of the book matching every chapter to a Taylor Swift song, but that may be only available in the Barnes & Noble special edition. Rating: 5/5
“Have you considered that maybe you’re already the way I want you to be? That maybe there are no signals because nothing needs to be changed.”
Queen Charlotte – Julia Quinn & Shonda Rhimes
Born a German Princess, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was beautiful, headstrong, and fiercely intelligent… not precisely the attributes the British Court had been seeking in a spouse for the young King George III. But her fire and independence were exactly what she, and her King, needed. Because George has secrets… secrets with the potential to shake the very foundations of the monarchy. Thrust into her new role, Charlotte must navigate the intricate politics of the court all the while guarding her heart, because she is falling in love with the King…even as he pushes her away. Now, Charlotte must learn to rule, and to understand that she has been given the power to remake society, fulfilling her destiny as Queen. But she also has to fight for the love growing between her and George as people first, royals second.
I love the Bridgerton series on Netflix and have been wanting to read the series for a while. I’m not sure if this was the right place to start, but either way I’m still glad I read it. Because it was written around the same time as the Miniseries, it’s basically just an expansion of the series while diving into the thoughts of Charlotte, George, and even Lady Danbury. The ending had me almost crying the same way that the TV Series did and I will definitely be reading the full series in the near future. Rating: 4/5
“I love you, Charlotte.” He took her face in his hands. “My heart calls your name.”
The Spectacular – Fiona Davis
19-year-old Marion Brooks decides to go against her family’s expectations and wishes and audition for The Rockettes in 1956. Feeling trapped in her life, she only feels happy when she is dancing and now she gets the chance to dance at Radio City Music Hall. At the same time, New York City is suffering from numerous bombings by a person nicknamed “Big Apple Bomber” for the past sixteen years. The police turn in desperation to Peter Griggs, a young doctor at a local mental hospital who espouses a radical new technique: psychological profiling. As both Marion and Peter find themselves unexpectedly pulled in to the police search for the bomber, Marion realizes that as much as she’s been training herself to blend in—performing in perfect unison with all the other identical Rockettes—if she hopes to catch the bomber, she’ll need to stand out and take a terrifying risk. In doing so, she may be forced to sacrifice everything she’s worked for, as well as the people she loves the most.
I loved this book so much and Fiona Davis is definitely one of my top five historical fiction authors after reading three of her books. This book had so much in it – history, romance, and thriller mystery. Getting to learn more about The Rockettes, especially from over 60 years ago and then also learning more about a historical event that not many people know about, including me, was fantastic. I flew through this book trying to figure out how everything was connected. Marion Brooks also gave me major Nancy Drew vibes or at least Fiona Davis seemed to be inspired by the Nancy Drew series, and I loved it. Another bonus is that the book cover is gorgeous! Fiona Davis is definitely an author I want to keep reading thier backlog. Rating: 5/5
What books did you read this month? Did you get a chance to read any of these books yet? Let’s chat about all things books in the comments!
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