June was another great reading month for me. I finished fourteen books, and listened to a few hours of a fifteenth-that I ended up DNFing because I hated the narration. I loved almost everything else that I read, though, and nine of them scored four stars or above, so that helps me feel better about not finishing one I loathed.
Let's have a closer look at how I got on in June, and then I'll recommend a few books I loved- and one or two I hated that you might want to avoid.
June Reading Stats:
📖 14 books completed.
📖 1 DNF.
📖 3 hardbacks.
📖 1 paperback.
🎧 11 audiobooks
📖 1734 pages (3804 pages including audiobooks).
🎧 59.18 hours listened at 1.1x or 1.2x speed.
📖 6 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ reads!
📖 3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ reads!
📖 Average rating: 4.05 stars.
📖 Average book length: 281 pages.
📖 Average time to finish: 4 days.
I Read:
📖Divergent by Veronica Roth. 5⭐ (Reread).
📖The House in the Cerulean Sea by T. J. Klune. 5⭐
📖Somewhere Beyond the Sea by T. J. Klune. 5⭐
📖A Dance of Lies by Brittney Arena. 2⭐
🎧The Swimmer of Auschwitz by Renaud LeBlond. 3 ⭐
🎧Shield of Sparrows Graphic Audio Part One by Devney Penney. 5⭐
🎧Shield of Sparrows Graphic Audio Part Two by Devney Penney. 5⭐
🎧Avalon Tower Graphic Audio by C.N. Crawford and Alex Rivers. DNF⭐
🎧Down Amongst the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire. 3.75⭐
🎧Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire. 4⭐
🎧In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire. 4⭐
🎧Come Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire. 3⭐
🎧Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire. 4⭐
🎧Where the Drowned Girls Go by Seanan McGuire. 3⭐
🎧A Soul of Ash and Blood Graphic Audio Part Two by Jennifer L. Armentrout. 5⭐ (Reread).
Favourite Reads: The answer is easy this month: The Cerulean Chronicles duology- The House in the Cerulean Sea and Somewhere Beyond the Sea. I finally got around to reading the books that my sister gave me for Christmas a year and a half ago, and my only regret is that I didn't start them sooner. I. Adored. Them! I loved every last thing about them, from the diverse characters and the slow-burn middle-aged gay romance, to the daft, slightly-dark humour and magical world-building. In fact, I'd say these are two of my favourite reads ever! They have the most wonderful (and wonderfully weird) characters, and they're just so funny and cosy.
The Cerulean Chronicles is about a man called Linus who is sent to a secluded island to investigate an orphanage where six dangerous magical children reside with their master. One of them is the Anti-Christ in the body of a six-year-old boy, there's a sort of sea-slug/ octopus hybrid who longs to be a bellhop (he's my favourite!), and a female gnome who likes to threaten to lamp people with her spade and then dig their graves. But are they really as dangerous as Linus has been led to believe by Extremely Upper Management? Or are they just like any other children? Linus vows to find out by remaining impartial and following the rules he loves so much, but as he gets to know the gaggle of remarkable kids, and the man who cares for them, he begins to see everything in a whole new light. He not only needs to decide if the children should remain at the orphanage, but where his place in the world is, too. Is it behind a desk where everything is black and white and well-ordered, or is it somewhere filled with colour and chaos? Who knows, but I promise you'll have the most enjoyable time finding out! This book was so much fun, and I was addicted to it within a few pages. It's one of the best things I've ever read!
Somewhere Beyond the Sea was just as fun, heartwarming, and hilarious as The House in the Cerulean Sea, just with more threats, and a couple of villains- one who could rival Umbridge for most loathsome character ever written. God, I hated her so much! The orphans are also joined by a new child- a theatrical yeti, who loves to act and scare people for fun. He joins the troop at the worst time, though, as the orphanage's future once again comes under threat from the government following the fallout of Linus' report. When a prejudiced new caseworker is sent to investigate them, Arthur and Linus learn just what they will do to keep the children safe- but the kids have their own tricks up their sleeves, and aren't about to let anybody split their family up, either. It was such a great sequel that made me laugh out loud, and bawl like a baby, while teaching the true meaning of family, and how important it is to keep challenging other people's prejudice. I can't wait until the author writes another book in the series. I'm having withdrawals!
Favourite Listens: The best audiobooks I listened to last month were A Soul of Ash and Blood (Graphic Audio Part Two) by Jennifer L. Armentrout, and Shield of Sparrows (Graphic Audio Parts One and Two) by Devney Penney.
I'd been waiting for the final instalment of A Soul of Ash and Blood for ages, and even though I've read the story before, it was so good to hear the story as a Graphic Audio- especially the part when somebody shifted for the first time, and wanted to eat Emil. It was hilarious! And there were plenty of emotional moments that made me cry again, too.
Shield of Sparrows was a new one for me, and another enjoyable romantasy Graphic Audio with brilliant enemies-to-lovers and forced proximity storylines. I can't remember everything that happened, so I definitely need to read the book in print at some point, but I loved the relationship between the two main characters, and couldn't get enough of them.
Least Favourites: My least favourite was definitely the Graphic Audio version of a fantasy book called Avalon Tower by C. N. Crawford and Alex Rivers. I enjoyed the first hour or two, but then came characters with the most irritating exaggerated posh English accents, and I just couldn't take it seriously after that. It only grew worse with they kept repeating British swear words for the fun of it, and were pronouncing the word twat in haughty voices so it sounded like twhat. I sense the narrator hasn't met a real English person in their life. I had to DNF it after that- and I rarely DNF books! It's been a few years since I last gave up on a book! That's how bad it was. I'm not against trying it in print in the future, but I wouldn't listen to it again if you paid me.
Well, that's what I read in June...
Have you read any good books lately?
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