June 2026 Reading Wrap Up
Hey hi hello friends, and welcome back to my blog!
We made it through June, folks! June was a very hectic month for me, but everything is good now because I am currently typing this from my new home in Michigan! The move was a complete success! I can't tell you how happy I am about that. The weeks leading up to it were so chaotic and stressful. I'm still getting used to the new timezone, everything is 3 hours earlier than I'm used to, but I don't think it will take me too long to adjust.
Now because June was such a busy month, I didn't get to read much, which I knew was going to happen anyway so I'm not that mad about it. In June I read a total of 3 books: 2 novels, and 1 poetry/novel in verse. 1 was a reread as well. I did start a fourth book early in the month, but never managed to finish it, so that will carry over into July.
Okay, let's get into the wrap up!
==========
Novels
1. House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig (REREAD)
Age range: YA
Format: E-book
Star rating: 4 stars
Page count: 403 pages
Day(s) read: 6.06 - 6.08
Final thoughts: This reread came about because I was watching the Barbie 12 Dancing Princesses movie. I will hear no Barbie slander! Those movies are gold.
Anyway, I've read this book I think four times now, and I love it every time. My Storygraph and Fable reviews will still say 5 stars because that is the review of my first time reading, but I say 4 stars now just because I'm older and have pickier tastes in books nowadays. Yes, this is still an excellent book, but over the course of this reread I did notice a couple of things here and there that pulled me out of the story enough for me to lower my rating, just a little bit. My favorite part of this book will always be the atmosphere, it's second to none. Erin A. Craig does atmosphere right.
2. Beasts of the Sea by Iida Turpeinen
Translated from the Finnish by David Hackston
.jpg)
Age range: Adult
Format: Physical
Star rating: 4.25 stars
Page count: 288 pages
Day(s) read: 6.19 - 6.23
Final thoughts: I'm glad I pushed myself to read this before my move, because it was fantastic. I had gotten a copy from the library at least 2 months ago and kept putting it off in favor of other books, but I told myself that I needed to read at least this one because I haven't seen bookstores carry it. It was devastating and beautiful. While it was listed as historical fiction, the people and places mentioned are very real, like Georg Wilhelm Steller, Captain Bering, and Bering Island. The facts are very much real as well, like how it only took 27 years after Steller "discovered" the sea cow for it to be hunted to extinction. Like how the Steller sea cow is one of (if not the) first animal species to be pushed to extinction by manmade forces, joining ranks with the passenger pigeon and the spectacled cormorant, who came after. Remember how I said this book was devastating? It frustrates me to no end that whole species are lost to history because of Man.
Poetry
1. Hekate: The Witch by Nikita Gill
.jpg)
Age range: Adult
Format: E-book
Star rating: 2.75 stars
Page count: 364 pages
Day(s) read: 6.04 - 6.07
Final thoughts: This was a bit of a disappointment, I'm not gonna lie. I wasn't expecting a masterpiece, but evidently my expectations should have been even lower. I'll keep that in mind for next time, because I am still going to continue on with the series (book two, Styx, is coming out later this year), I just don't think I'm going to purchase the books. I will be unhauling my physical copy, but it's currently in a moving pod 1,000 miles away. I liked the exploration of Hecate as a character, I just think that it felt rather juvenile, which in my mind just doesn't work with Greek mythology.
---
Total page count: 1,055 pages
Favorite book of June: Beasts of the Sea by Iida Turpeinen
Unfinished books this month: The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden
No DNFs this month
==========
And that's it for June! We are officially halfway through 2026. How is that possible?
What was your favorite book this month? Leave a comment below!
Until next time, friends!
Comments
Post a Comment