What I Read in June + July TBR

Yes, I know we are already over a week into July and I am just now getting this post up.

Somehow, June flew by with much less reading achievement than I expected, but more than I realized I was attaining along the way! There was so much going on at the library, plus I participated in the Louisa May Alcott Reading Challenge while trying to stay on schedule with other books, so by the end of the day (week, month) I did not have much energy or time for much else! Such is life. Every month has its busyness, surprises, and goals. Here is what I did manage to read in June.

Total Books Completed: 5                             Average Rating: 4.5⭐s

📚 The Nothing Within by Andy Giesler; my review here; Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction; ⭐⭐⭐.5

📚 Flower Fables by Louisa May Alcott; Collection of short moralistic fairy tales; ⭐⭐⭐⭐

📚 Find Momo Across Europe by Andrew Knapp; Photography; ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

📚 Strength by Lauren Salisbury; my review here; Biblical/Science Fiction; ⭐⭐⭐⭐

📚 Godology by Christian George; Nonfiction/Christianity, ⭐⭐⭐

📚 Rose In Bloom by Louisa May Alcott; Historical Fiction;  ⭐⭐⭐

I also worked on Cloud Atlas. I have not finished it yet, but I am at least closer to the end than the beginning now. The middle section, like the first, was difficult to get through. A large part of the reason for this is the dialect and unconventional spelling the section is written with. It is a relief to know that I have passed the halfway mark, which I was told to anticipate as the height of the action. I am again enjoying most of this, but I will be so glad to finish it!

July TBR

Because of the way things have gone since I started working full time at the library, I am not setting lofty goals this month. Mostly, I want to get through Cloud Atlas more than anything.

📚 Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell – I have talked about this so many other places, I don’t think it needs much of an intro here.

📚 The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne – I am reading this classic Gothic novel over lunch most days, in anticipation of talking about it a lot in October.

📚 Finding the Edge by Karen Chen – My commute is a bit longer now. Rather than eat up all of my data listening to Spotify or being discontent with what is on the radio, I am giving audio books a try! My library has a kind that comes preloaded on a player, and I just plug it in to my car speakers with an aux cord. Finding the Edge is the first book I am listening to this way! I have a moderately-sized obsession with figure skating, so it should be no surprise that this autobiography of one of Team USA’s 2018 Olympic competitors caught my attention.

📚 Hearing God’s Voice by Henry Blackaby – My Grandma gave me this nonfiction book a while ago (Possibly more than a year ago? I don’t remember for sure.), and I think it is time I finally read it.

📚 Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen – Several BookTubers are doing something called Jane Austen July, and while I do not have the time to invest in taking on the whole challenge, I really like the idea! So I am hoping to tackle Austen’s shortest novel, which I have not yet read. However, this must wait until I finish either Cloud Atlas or The House of the Seven Gables so we’ll see whether I actually get to it. I am not going to press for this one if time just doesn’t work out.

How is your summer going so far? If you’ve read any good new-to-you books recently, I would love to hear about them!

Until the next chapter,

Jana