Welcome to Litsy!

Since we are halfway through the year here are some #2024 book stats...

P.S.. total pages include audiobooks converted to pages.

June #BookSpin List 🌈 📚

I did well for #ReadYourEbooks in May, reading 3 of the picked numbers and one additional book! Here‘s my June list. I keep recycling the same graphic but using a different color for the numbers for each of the new picks. The blue numbers are the only ones left of the original 20.

With a moment to breathe today, let‘s get the #bookspin for June set up!

This is a re-telling of Romeo and Juliet with beautiful magical realism elements and writing. I loved the best friend relationship between June and Hannah and the banter between June and Saul (a lá Dawson‘s Creek - I‘m a sucker for it). The story lost me a little in the second half, but the themes of grief, healing, truth, and letting go are strong. Henry manages to create a sweet coming of age story without leaning on the saccharine. 3⭐️

Doing some #bookspin catch-up at Silent Book Club today!

Another great read from Emily Henry, I just love wrapping myself up in her books, a cup of tea a scented candle and my day is perfect. The way Emily writes her story lines, her characters is just pure writing magic. This book was from her earlier writings and contains magical elements along with contemporary writing and it was a perfect blend for me. I couldn't get enough of all the Junes.⭐⭐⭐⭐ #amillionjunes #emilyhenry #tea_sipping_bookworm

Here is my #JuneTBR A couple holdovers from May but my main goal is to continue series I have been reading and continuing to check off my physical TBR. As always I will be participating in #bookspin #doublespin & #bookspinbingo
School is out Friday so I look forward to lots more reading time!

Thank you Lisa for this book!! I can‘t wait to read it!

#TemptingTitles
#Withamonth

🖤💫💛

Finally read this book that has been on my TBR list since it was published. Fantastic prose and I loved the characters of June and Saul. A Romeo and Juliet retelling with a side of magic is just the type of story I enjoy. 4.5⭐️
#LitsyLoveReads @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
#BOTMBacklog

This my favorite line so far in A Million Junes by Emily Henry, my current read. So romantic and elegantly written! It just makes my heart skip a bit. Henry has this gift/way with words than I love. She has become one of my favorite authors.

This book is not my cup of tea... I really wanted to like this novel because it was written by Emily Henry, but I‘m just not a fan of magic realism. Sad, weird, very repetitive...

definitely prefer Emily‘s newer books to this one but this one is still really good. A Romeo & Juliet retelling with magical aspects. Saul & June meet after years of being kept apart by their rival families & once they do, it sets off a chain reaction of magical moments that lead to them uncovering the truth of their families tangled & tragic history. Can they break the curse together? Or are they destined to lose each other?

Book 105

I listened to A Million Junes, a rom-com-esque, coming-of-age, realistic fantasy story about June, an 18 year-old living in her magical, ancestral home. Being raised on stories about how her neighbors have ruined the lives of generations of her family, she has been forbidden to interact with them.

This was borderline Pan/So-So. The first half was lighter on the magical realism and focused a bit more on the relationships June had with her BFF Hannah, who I loved, and her crush, Saul, who also happens to be the son of her family's arch-nemesis family. Did I mention this is a Romeo & Juliet retelling? Admittedly, I am not a huge fan of magical realism & this was a glaring example of why. A few details/reasonings didn't come full circle ⬇️

June turned out to be a better reading month than expected. I read 16 books and 5358 pages (several of which were on the go previously), including eight nonfiction. Only got one author of color, though. And despite what seemed to be an attempt not to get any bingos, I did end up with two! #BookSpinBingo

#JuneWrapUp

I‘m happy with my June Stats! I think the #readathons & #buddyreads this month helped push me along to completing 13 books (some finished/others started & finished) with 3 books still in process at about 40% complete.

I read 2 audio or part audio books, 6 e-books & 5-print. 4 were library books, 1 for book tour review, 1 NetGalley #ARC 4 #buddyreads with #PemberLittens #SundayBuddyRead & #SummerHeat

I also completed my ⬇️

Here are my #Junewrapup
I finished 23 books, 1 DNF
15 physical books off my tbr
8 Audiobooks (some of my physical tbr I listened to also)
4 kindle books
5⭐️reads- The Shadow of the Gods, The Poison Song, Nettle & Bone, Reel, The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, The Nice House on the Lake, Senlin Ascends, Nightwork
Least favorite- Afterlife With Archie
A great reading month, yay summer break #litsyteachers

I enjoyed the first half of this book. I thought the characters and story line were fine, and the magical bits added interest. Then the whole thing derailed. The magic became totally weird, and the plot (such as it was) was impossible to follow. I honestly wondered if it had been written under the influence of something! 🤣

However, reading it with @TheBookHippie and the #SundayBuddyRead crew still made it a fun experience!

#BigJuneReadathon #20in4Readathon

I wanted to like this book but it seemed to go off in so many directions that the beauty of the words on loss & grief got buried in pink feathers & black clouds. I like YA & like magical realism, I‘m not a fan of Romeo & Juliet & apparently II don‘t like it when the three are mashed together.🤷🏻‍♀️

Thanks to #SundayBuddyRead I was able to finish & get it off of my #BOTM TBR at last & the discussions were fun.

Yikes. This was a convoluted mess. There was very little about the story that resembled Romeo & Juliet. It read like a young adult novel with a few “edgy“ terms thrown in to make it seem less PG, I guess? I had fun reading it along with the group. Misery loves company. 😉

#sundaybuddyread

This just wasn‘t the book for me. I felt like there were so many characters and events that were completely unnecessary.
I‘ve heard good things about the author so I‘m going to give another of her books a try.
This background really made me think of this book.
#SUNDAYBUDDYREAD

I'm just glad this is over. It makes me wary of her adult books but I'm going to try one anyway.

#SundayBuddyRead @TheBookHippie

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

⭐️⭐️ I‘m just not into Emily Henry‘s books. This one had too much YA romance for my liking and the family mystery just didn‘t make a lot of sense to me. I wish this book went full on fantasy but instead stayed too much in the real world. Thank you @TheBookHippie and #sundaybuddyread as always!

Loved the books I read last week. 💙

This week:
AutoBOYography: #MomSamiRead
Glory in Death: #ReadMyRoom
A Million Junes: #SUNDAYBUDDYREAD, #Roll100, #BookSpin
Love, Life & the List: #Roll100 #MomSamiRead
Father‘s Day Murder: #BookedByHoliday

#BigJuneReadathon #JoysOfJune #BFC2022