June 2021 Wrap Up and TBR

Hello fellow readers! I can’t believe June has come and gone already. I feel like I’ve been stuck indoors more than not this month at my laptop for my new job. Where has the time gone? I feel like I’m missing out on the sunny days and the relaxing afternoons to read on a picnic blanket. Does anyone ever feel that or is that just me?

I hope either way you’ve been able to go out and enjoy even the littlest of things wherever you are. I know it’s been nice balancing my free time outside of work with friends and books this month and I hope the rest of my summer will continue to be the same.

I thought initially that I would not be able to get much reading in this month because I’ve been training hard and working longer hours at the new job, but I’m quite satisfied with the amount I did get through. Let’s dig into it, shall we?

---

What did I read this month?

I mostly read through my ARCs that came out this month and that was a nice feeling to be on top of those. I had a good month of reading with most books rated fairly high, including some top ratings of the year. Did you enjoy any of these below?

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

5 Drink Me Potions

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn

• A historical fiction based on WWII events surrounding the top secret code breaking group that helped decode enemy messages
• Alternating POVs between 3 women who became best friends while serving in this code breaking facility – but present day time suggests something big caused a rift in their friendship
• Oh, there is also a traitor amidst them at their top secret facility they need to weed out

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

• An amateur investigator tackles a closed case in her small town that occurred 5 years ago for her senior project – but secretly, she hopes to find enough to reopen the case because something smells fishy
• Written in different formats including case log entries and transcripted interviews

4 Drink Me Potions

Love & Olives by Jenna Evans Welch

• A journey to the island of Santorini to go on a hunt for the lost city of Atlantis (yes, really) with her estranged father who had abandoned her many years ago
• Balancing a lighthearted travel story with the underlying familial relations between father and daughter (did I mention there are a lot of complex emotions here?)

The Box in the Woods by Maureen Johnson

• A companion/standalone novel to the original Truly Devious trilogy, amateur sleuth Stevie and her gang of friends take on another cold case, this time from the ‘70s, at a summer camp
• Written with POVs from the ‘70s and present day to depict what happened to the camp counsellors who were murdered in a gruesome way

3 Drink Me Potions

The Girl Least Likely by Katy Loutzenhiser

• A true ode to rom-coms, this contemporary follows an amateur stand-up comedian as she figures out her own voice, identity and where she belongs in the world all through the lens of various common rom-com tropes

1-2 Drink Me Potions

My Contrary Mary by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows

• The (real) story of Mary, Queen of Scots, in the world of magical beings who could turn into animals at will (aka Edians) and her fight to keep her throne(s)
• Spoiler: this one aims to avoid the tragic ending we all supposedly know was her destiny

---

Current reading list

I’m oscillating between these two and I have yet to decide what I feel about either of them. I hope they turn out good, but if you’ve read these, let me know your thoughts!

• 

• 

• If You, Then Me by Yvonne Woon
• Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco

---

TBR list

I am not being too overly ambitious with my TBR at the moment so I hope at least I will get through these ones in July!

• 

• 

• Last Chance Books by Kelsey Rodkey
• The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

---