The Terror of Knowing

Welcome one, welcome all, to my June Wrap Up. Let us all ignore the fact that we’re 6 days into the month and I’m only just posting my Wrap Up, ok? Cool cool cool cool no doubt cool cool. (Can you tell I’ve been watching Brooklyn 99 lately?)

In terms of life, June was pretty damn ok. Work’s being a little bit busy and generally stress inducing, a fact I only realised when my eczema flared up on my hands). For some reason, the UK at the moment is enjoying actual summer, as in it’s summery and sunny and not just a sun peeking out from behind grey cloud every once in a while. It is properly summer which is… novel. And kind of teasing when you’re mostly stuck in work 9-5 Monday-Friday. It turns out that this is what being an adult is like – watching university students outside your office window enjoying themselves chilling out with a nice cold pint outside a pub whilst you’re squinting at data at your job. I used to be on the other side of that equation (mostly, anyway), so now I’m getting major envy of anyone able to enjoy the sunshine. Yes, I am actually enjoying it being warm – it’s something of a revelation this year and I have to say I’m glad for it, after being a winter person for so many years of my life. Turns out summer isn’t as unbearable as I thought it was!

Aside from the weather, I have very little to report in June. Liz and I went to Chester Zoo finally and it was a very nice day and a fun day out for all involved. We also went for a walk at Croxteth Hall which, again, was very nice and I should have visited it sooner considering I’ve lived here for almost 2 years now and I’m quite the sucker for period houses. I also visited Wagamama’s for the first time ever and discovered I probably quite like it and ought to go back soon and explore more of their menu. We went there for tea before going to the cinema to see Ocean’s 8 and I have to say I thought it was a bloody great film. I don’t think it deserves anything like the criticism it’s getting, it was a completely necessary film, and fucking refreshing, let me tell you. It helps that Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett are some of my favourite people ever and seeing them concoct a heist plan whilst dressed in leather pants and/or in suits is (apparently) my jam. I’m not mad about it.

But, enough about my rather mundane life, how was my reading during the month? Once I discovered it existed, most of my reading month was wholly dedicated to Jami’s Marvel-A-Thon so my reading was dictated by the challenges there. Let me tell you, it worked, I’ve read the most I’ve ever read in a month (I think?), and I had a great time doing it too. I think I like longer readathons like this that have a lot of prompts/challenges, because it’s super challenging, but also very rewarding. And, let’s face it, the fact it was MCU themed really helped keep up my motivation. The downside was that the TBR I wrote for June was concocted before I knew about the readathon so I only managed to complete 2 out of the 8 books on there – I still don’t think that’s too bad though?

So without further ado, let’s take a look at the books I read in the month of June:

In June, I read a total of 13 books – 12 fiction and 1 non-fiction – and 5 were re-reads (marked by *). This amounted to 4303 pages in total.

In terms of format: 4 were paperback, 5 were hardback, 1 was an eARC, and 3 were audiobooks (marked by ^).

And as for genre, very broadly speaking, 4 were YA fantasy, 2 were children’s fantasy; 1 was YA mystery, 2 were fantasy, 2 were graphic novels, 1 was non-fiction, and 1 was YA contemporary.

Onto the books themselves…

Genuine Fraud by e. lockhart

Rating: 5/5
Genre: young-adult; mystery
Pages: 267
Read: 1st – 2nd June
Challenges fulfilled: Around the Year #15: A book with a unique format/writing structure
Review: “Although The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks will probably always remain my favourite of her books because of its campus setting, Genuine Fraud certainly gives it a run for its money with its twists and turns, Patricia Highsmith-esque tone, and its interrogation of performing identity and reinvention of the self.” (full review here)

The Witches by Roald Dahl

Rating: 3/5
Genre: children’s; fantasy
Pages: 201
Read: 2nd June
Challenges fulfilled: Around the Year #30: A short book
Review: To follow

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo *

Rating: 5/5
Genre: young-adult; fantasy
Pages: 465
Read: 2nd – 6th June
Challenges fulfilled: Around the Year #25: A book with an antagonist/villain POV
Review: To follow

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman * ^

Rating: 4/5
Genre: fantasy; retellings
Pages: 281
Read: 1st – 7th June
Review: Previously reviewed in 2017

Artemis Fowl and the Arctic Incident by Eoin Colfer *

Rating: 3.5/5
Genre: children’s; adventure; fantasy
Pages: 288
Read: 7th – 9th June
Review: “Artemis Fowl and the Arctic Incident is a perfectly serviceable Artemis Fowl book, it builds nicely on the relationships (and, more aptly, the tensions) developed in the first book, and takes the story to more complicated and political areas. Likewise, we also see Artemis have to step out from behind his computers and gadgets and actually go “into the field”, a la James Bond, in order to try to track down and rescue his missing father. ” (full review here)

The Sandman: Vol. 1 by Neil Gaiman

Rating: 3/5
Genre: graphic novel; fantasy; horror
Pages: 240
Read: 10th June
Review: To follow

The Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton ^

Rating: 4.5/5
Genre: fantasy; retellings
Pages: 568
Read: 7th – 17th June
Challenges fulfilled: Around the Year #46: 4 books linked by the 4 elements: Book #4 Air (book focuses on skies and star prophecies)
Review: “Marketed as a King Lear retelling, it’s easy to write off this book as just another Shakespeare retelling but to do so would be doing a disservice to Tessa Gratton’s canny dissection of the heart of the narrative of King Lear and his three daughters in order to create her own unique-feeling fantasy world which very much stands on its own merit.” (full review here)

Eat Up! by Ruby Tandoh

Rating: 3.5/5
Genre: non-fiction; cookbooks
Pages: 248
Read: 10th – 19th June
Challenges fulfilled: Around the Year #39: A book with a form of punctuation in the title
Review: “There’s no pretension to Ruby’s book, it’s very much the personality which I expect from her – honest and uncaring about the accepted “rules” or “norms”, I mean she calls eating a Creme Egg eating seasonally, for goodness sake, and the book’s epigraph is from Common. This isn’t your Delia Smith or Nigella Lawson.” (full review here)

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

Rating: 3/5
Genre: young-adult; fantasy
Pages: 370
Read: 19th – 22nd June 2018
Challenges fulfilled: Around the Year #35: A book featuring a murder
Review: “Holly Black’s faeries may be seductive and alluring, sure, but they’re never for one second not dangerous, and outwardly so. Seeing the faerie court through the eyes of Jude, a partial outsider, helps to situate the reader in this precarious and risky position along with her, learning to trust/distrust those around her, and navigate the difficult socio-political environment in which she finds herself growing up.” (full review here)

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir * ^

Rating: 5/5
Genre: young-adult; fantasy
Pages: 450
Read: 22nd – 24th June
Review: “What I like most about An Ember in the Ashes may make me sound slightly sadistic – I love the visceral brutality of it all. Sabaa Tahir doesn’t just tell you that Blackcliff forces its soldiers-in-training to do despicable things, she allows her narrative to show you, unequivocally, that the Martials are capable of very despicable things because they truly believe that they are the rightful rulers of the Empire.” (full review here)

A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir

Rating: 4/5
Genre: young-adult; fantasy
Pages: 454
Read: 24th – 30th June
Review: “As well as expanding the physical world and exploring the cultures of the different factions in society, A Torch Against the Night also skilfully teases out the supernatural and fantasy elements that were only hinted at during An Ember in the Ashes. The presence of ghuls, as well as djinn, becomes a major plot point in this second instalment, as the supernatural elements become more tangible and explained rather than mystical and unknowable as they felt during the opening book. ” (full review here)

The Summer of Us by Cecilia Vinesse

Rating: 3/5
Genre: young-adult; contemporary
Pages: 311
Read: 30th June
Challenges fulfilled: Around the Year #31: A book set in a country you’d like to visit but have never been to (set in France, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Italy)
Review: “there were admittedly moments of Aubrey’s thought process in particular which I deeply related to, especially her tendency to over-think what could happen, and so not really “live” in what was happening. That is me, I do this, and to see it happening to Aubrey to her detriment really did actually emotionally hit me. Her anxiety about change and people moving on from her and being alone was also deeply relatable, and I think it likely would immediately be recognisable to anyone in their teens or twenties.” (full review here)

Saga: Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples *

Rating: 5/5
Genre: graphic novel; sci-fi
Pages: 160
Read: 30th June
Review: To follow

How did your June reading go?
What was your favourite book you read this month?
Please do share in the comments below and let’s chat books!

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