June Reads and Reviews

This summer I have been committed to getting back to myself and purging all the things that live in my soul that shouldn't. It's been a really interesting journey to walk through, and I am really excited to see the outcome of this intense work. There's so many things that are interconnected to each other, and it's been interesting to untangle the cords.

While I have been sorting through those parts of myself, I have been trying to listen to myself and my inner desires more lately. That started off with spending a lot of time alone in June. Decompressing from the school year and recalibrating to a normal baseline again. As a result, I have been leaning in to my old habits to let them reform a routine for myself.

Every day, I go to the gym, and I go on a walk. Those have been pretty consistent priorities in my days. While I walk, I listen to my podcast Beautiful Stories from Anonymous People (Beautiful/Anonymous for short). I am merely a year behind on episodes! (This is a huge victory for me because I pretty much stopped listening when I moved in August 2024, so I was nearly two years behind.)

In addition to moving my body and finding joy in a beloved podcast, I have committed to reading again. Since moving, I predominantly have only read the things for my book club, and even then, I have missed numerous meetings for not having the time or attention span to devote to the designated books. Even then, it's mostly been audiobooks that I binge when I walk or find tasks to complete around my house. It's hardly been physical books.

Once the school year ended, I decided to take my Barnes and Nobel gift cards that had been sitting in my wallet and put them to use, and I browsed through the bookstore, scouring for things that could ease me back into reading. When I am in a rut, I tend to lean towards rom-com novels that are light and fluffy because I know that there is some happily-ever after. They are feel good and easy to consume, and it helps me to take the time to give my attention to the plot because it's never that serious!

As a result of allowing myself to take it easy and read what feels fun, I have finished SIX books for the month of June. These are the majority of the books I have read this year. The other books I read this year consisted of one in March for book club and another three in January because I was sick and wanted to read something light.

Up until this point, it's been like the recipe back stories about how people developed the idea, but I think I am going to do a mini review for the six books I read this month because I miss talking about books.

The first one I read was Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood. I saw the cover and read the back, and I found myself intrigued. The main female character was 15 years younger than the main male lead, and he was her brother's best friend. The entire time I read the book, I was kicking my feet with giddiness because Conor Harkness is adorable, and I can understand why Maya was interested. I stayed up until three in the morning reading the book, but my eyes went glossy, so I had to go to bed. It's the first book in a really long time that I was obsessed with and had to finish. I lent it to my friend, but once I get it back, I think I might read it again because it was such a fun summer read, and I want to live in the world again. (There was spice, so if that's not for you, you should skip.)

My second read was Happiness for Beginners by Katherine Center. This is Genna's favorite author. Typically, she is a romance writer, but this one was located in the fiction section of the book store. I was intrigued by the premise of a 32 year old woman trying to reclaim her identity after a divorce by signing up for a three week backpacking trip. In the story, her brother's best friend, who is ten years younger than her, is also on the trip. They forge a friendship and feelings develop. It's very PG and the focus is on the character growth rather than the relationship. It was also turned into a Netflix movie. When it comes to the movie, it was very well done and is a really good stand alone film. They made some changes that I was upset at in the beginning, but I think it made the story simpler for the adaptation and worked well. Both are really good, however, I would choose the book over the movie all day, every day. If you're not a reader or want a good movie, you should check it out.

The third read was this month's book club pick. It was The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. I listened to the audio, and I don't think I gave it enough attention, so I wasn't a huge fan. I tried to watch the movie to supplement anything I missed in the listening, and I was also not blown away by that. The acting line-up was phenomenal, but I just couldn't pay attention. Our book club discussion had a lot of us feeling similarly. I was sad because I do love a fun mystery, but this one didn't do it for me.

My next book was Any Trope But You by Victoria Lavine. Once I finished Hazelwood's story, I wanted to find something similar. The internet said this was in the same vein. I mean, it is, but it isn't. A woman heads to Alaska to recover from an embarrassing incident where her readers discover that she writes alternative endings to her Happily Ever Afters that are more cynical and realistic. On the trip, she has to complete a weekly challenge to receive a letter from her sister. The main male character is a cancer researcher who is in Alaska helping his dad who suffered an injury. It is light and fluffy, and it is totally predictable because it includes all the romance tropes within it. As a result, I was chuckling with the cheesiness but appreciating the story anyways.

The fifth book was Till Summer Do Us Part by Meghan Quinn. I have to say that this was one of my favorites I read this month. I was CACKLING as I read it. The main female character tries to fit in at work by pretending to be married, and her friend's brother helps her by going to marriage counseling and acting as if they are married. They had never met prior to the first counseling session, and he ends up signing them up for a week-long marriage boot camp with her colleagues. It is such a fun read because it is absolutely absurd. Their fake fights were so ridiculous and over the top, and it was unhinged in the best possible way. It was quite spicy. I had so much fun reading this novel that I am considering looking into her other works to see if this was an outlier or if she is consistently this amazing.

The final book of June was Attached at the Hip by Christine Riccio. As a Survivor fan, I was intrigued by the premise. A woman signs up for a Survivor spin-off that's like the Bachelor (per the book), however, I think it's more like Are You the One? because there are specific people meant to be your matches, and you have to partner with them to see if you're their perfect pair. This is another story of a woman trying to find herself instead of going along with what people expect from her. There are betrayals along the way, but there are also really deep connections made on the island. I loved that this paid homage to Survivor. I felt like Osprey was a nod to Woo. The challenges were nods to some of the classics from the show. I know that not everyone loves Survivor, so this book probably has a more niche audience than the others, but I have told my Survivor loving friends to check it out because I think they would enjoy it.

I am going to try to keep up my reading throughout July, and I currently have two books checked out from the library. The one I started yesterday is Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood because it comes before Problematic Summer Romance, and I want to see the origins of the characters. The other one is First-Time Caller by B.K. Borison.

I am going along with what I want to read at this moment because I don't have to do things because I should or because someone else thinks there's merit to it. I find enjoyment in these light-hearted stories, so it is enough of a reason to read them. As I continue to reclaim my enjoyment for reading, I can branch out to more "prestigious" ones and to other genres, but I am not going to force it unless it feels right.

This year and this season are about listening to myself again, and it's been so much fun reconnecting with myself and my favorite things.