Happy July! June was a crazy busy month for me with social engagements, and July is looking to be a crazy month with moving, but somehow I always make time for reading. I find it helps to commit to reading at least one chapter before I go to bed, and it also helps me sleep better since I’m taking myself away from the computer screen before getting some shut-eye. Let’s get started with my June reading wrap up!
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1. Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Taylor Jenkins Reid is back again after The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, and Daisy Jones & The Six is just as good as her prior work. Daisy Jones & the Six is an oral history of how the fictional band came to be, and how it came to end. Daisy joins The Six after years of drugs, sex, and rock & roll on their own, and together the band is better than it’s ever been before. There’s forbidden love, living out a dream, and too much trouble for one person to imagine. It’s a moving story of what could have been. It’s about what almost happens instead of what actually happens. It’s about hope and heartbreak, lust and love, friendship and romance. It’s about everything that makes life worth living. But it’s really about a girl and a band and how they changed the world. The magic in the story is how it’s told as an oral history — everyone has their story, and it might be slightly different person-to-person, but it’s theirs to tell. I gave this book 5/5 stars.
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2. Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han
Always and Forever, Lara Jean was the final book in the To All the Boys I Loved Before series. It was a cute book without much actual tension until the last few chapters. Lara Jean and Peter are in love, but they are going to college next year, and who knows what could happen? Personally, I don’t think I needed these books to be a series. I was very content with how the first book ended, and I felt like the last two were just kind of there. But, I also understand that I am not the key demographic for this book. Take it or leave it, it’s a cute love story between two teenagers figuring it out together. I gave this book 3/5 stars.
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3. So Here’s the Thing…: Notes on Growing Up, Getting Older, and Trusting Your Gut by Alyssa Mastromonaco with Lauren Oliver
This was a fun, easy read. It’s the second book from Mastromonaco, Obama’s deputy chief of staff of operations. She’s incredibly impressive, and very funny. It’s some life and career advice sprinkled with anecdotes tossed with personal tidbits. It’s not a life-changing read, but if you want to learn more about how to succeed, put yourself out there, and own your shit, it’s a good one to pick up. I gave this book 4/5 stars.
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4. Circe by Madeline Miller
What a beautiful book! Circe has been on my list for a few years, and it didn’t disappoint. It’s the story of the Titan Helios’s discarded daughter, Circe. She is not like typical Titans and must live her life in exile after performing witchcraft in her father’s halls. She inhabits the island of Aiaia with the animals she brings into existence. Sometimes gods visit her, sometimes men stumble upon her island, but the story really starts when Odysseus lands in her path and impregnates her. Circe is a powerful witch that has strength beyond her powers. The reader watches her grow, learn, and wield her influence with poise. Miller brings humanity to one of the strongest myths in existence, and the reader can’t help but keep turning the pages. I gave this book 5/5 stars.
What books did you read in June? Let me know in the comments below.
Happy reading,
Kimberly
