June was a pretty wild ride, eh?
I had big plans for June — namely, to read at least 100 pages per day and to complete 30 books in 30 days — but neither of those things happened, and that’s okay. June was a hard month on a lot of people and I spent a lot of time on social media, sharing things and doing my best to educate myself.
If you follow me on Twitter, you may also have seen that June was a pretty big month for self-growth for me. I called myself out for a couple of different things (like not prioritizing diverse ARCs highly enough and keeping people in this community at a distance), and all that reflection wasn’t always easy. ? So, I guess I’m on this little ramble to say that it’s okay if we don’t always meet our goals. ♥
That said, I got into a pretty good reading streak at the end of the month and still ended up with some numbers I’m really pleased with, so let’s just jump right into those!
I also wanted to start doing monthly reading statistics again, so those have made their reappearance in this wrap-up post!
books completed: 19
average rating: 4.05/5
pages read: 5,021
EMOJI KEY:
✨ = review copy | ? = reread | ? = buddy read
? = audiobook | ? = Kindle Unlimited
? = graphic novel/manga/comics | ? = poetry
? = POC rep | ? = LGBTQ+ rep | ? = disability and/or MI rep | ? = fat rep
? graphic novels, manga, etc. ?
- The Tea Dragon Tapestry
✨???? | ★★★★☆ - Venus in the Blind Spot
✨?? | ★★★★☆
? adult & new adult ?
- The Whites of Their Eyes
??? | ★★★★★ | review - Take a Hint, Dani Brown
✨???? | ★★★★★ | review - Just Like That
✨??? | ★★★★★ | review - The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water
✨??? | ★★★★☆ (3.5 stars) - The Mime Order
?? | ★★★★★ - The Worst Best Man
?? | ★★★☆☆
- Camp Carnage
?? | ★★☆☆☆ - Benny Rose, the Cannibal King
??? | ★★★★★ - Upright Women Wanted
✨?? | ★★★★★ - The Monsters of Elendhaven
✨? | ★★★★★ - A Collection of Dreamscapes
✨? | ★★★★★ (4.5 stars) - Finding Faeries
✨ | (no rating) | review
? young adult ?
- Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You
✨?? | ★★★★★ | review - You Should See Me in a Crown
✨???? | ★★★★★ | review - What Unbreakable Looks Like
✨?? | ★☆☆☆☆ | review
? middle grade ?
- Sea of Monsters
?????? | ★★★★☆ - The Titan’s Curse
?????? | ★★★★☆
? left unfinished ?
- No rating-less DNFs this month! What a shock ?
- 365 Days (2020; Netflix) ★★☆☆☆
I… what did I even watch. - ? The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016; Netflix) ★★★★☆
This was a rewatch for me, and I actually liked it better the second time. - ? Event Horizon (1997) ★★★★☆
This is ALWAYS worth rewatching. - ? Underworld (2003) ★★★★☆ (3.5 stars)
I hadn’t seen this in ages and I had totally forgotten how bad most of the acting is. Whoops. - ? Jaws (1975) ★★★★☆
Funny enough, I rewatched this a few days before the 45th anniversary of its release, without even realizing the anniversary was coming up. It was pretty solid timing, and the sociopolitical commentary held up REALLY well. *side eyes entire current administration* - Scare Package (2019; Shudder) ★★★☆☆
This was an okay horror-comedy anthology — funny, but definitely took some cheap shots in the last segment.
- another month of mainly just listening to audiobooks, aside from our “bedtime” playlist, which I’ve never thought to mention before — it plays all night because I can’t sleep in a quiet room, and it’s mostly Gregory Alan Isakov, Flora Cash, Hozier, Joshua Radin, Birdy…
- More ACNH. Who’s surprised? Not me. AND THE NEW UPDATE DROPPED THIS MORNING AND I AM LIVING FOR DIVING COMING BACK!!
- Sea of Thieves — I’ve been playing this most evenings with my spouse and my dad, and it’s so fun.
- REVIEWS:
- OTHER POSTS:
(click the thumbnails to see the videos!)
- Kaleena @ Reader Voracious posted a list of Black Lives Matter resources & reading recs
- Misty @ Misty’s Book Space reviewed one of my favorite horror anthologies, Slasher Girls & Monster Boys
- Fadwa @ Word Wonders posted a list of books with pansexual main characters
- Shanah @ Bionic Bookworm announced the next Off the Grid Readathon dates
- May @ Forever and Everly shared 9 tropes she’ll always love (and I agreed with basically all of them)
- Sofii @ A Book. A Thought. posted a list of 30+ upcoming queer releases
- Leelynn @ Sometimes Leelynn Reads reviewed What Unbreakable Looks Like and gave some much-needed own-voices perspective on the treatment of Black culture in the writing
— destiny ♥
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18 Comments
I also watched 365 DNI and rolled my eyes and cringed a lot! But did rewind the boat scene a couple of times ??
LMAO. That boat scene was… a lot ???
I saw a gif with a blowhole of water describing it and I laughed and laughed ???
my fave posts ever… i loved this. and i hope you have even happier reading for the last half of the year, beautiful. (also, screaming at 365… bc the only mood with that) ??
Thank you, love, I hope you do, too! and lmao, yeah, that film was something else ?
I’m so happy to see you liked You Should See Me In a Crown!! My Bookshop order for that one JUST came in and I’m so stoked to read it. Seeing you gush about Dani Brown has also made me want to try reading Chloe Brown again just so I can read book 2 because it sounds awesome.
Ooooh yay, enjoy! My Bookshop order for Crown supposedly shipped a week ago but still hasn’t updated in USPS so I’m getting a little concerned. ?
Oh no! I hope it comes soon. I know a few places I’ve ordered from lately have said that even when your item ships it might take a few days to update in tracking because of Covid precautions.
[…] is yet another buddy read and this one is with Destiny. I kept falling behind on everything so everything was piling up. Can you see why I was stressing […]
Gosh, Underworld is The Worst, but, by that, I mean that I rewatch it every once in a while, realize how bad it is, and get completely sucked into watching the whole thing anyway. Awakening was on the other day, and I really just lost so much of my day not even realizing I was committing to the whole thing despite the mediocre everything. I have such fond memories of it from when I was younger, though, and I’ll always love Kate Beckinsale, so it’s always fun to go back.
LMAO that’s basically the best description of Underworld I’ve ever heard. Kate is a gem, and honestly it lives in a disturbingly long list of movies that I objectively think are mediocre at best and garbage at worst, but adore anyways. ?
Holy lord you read a lot in June! My June was the worst lol Hoping to make up for it this month. I just finished Crown and it was so stink’ cute! I hope your mental health gets so much better this month, you truly deserve it!
Awww, I’m sorry June was bad for you! I hope July is way better ♥ I’m so glad you loved Crown so much. And thank you, I hope yours does, too ?
Sweetie!! Thank you SO much for mentioning my post, it makes me so happy that you liked it & I will put You Should See Me In A Crow on my priority list ???✨❤️
You’re so welcome! ♥♥ Ahhh yay, I hope you love it!
I love Underworld ?? I need to devote more time to booktube so I definitely need to catch up on your videos. I am loving the short hair and the colours!
You’ve been listening to Percy Jackson? I do need to reread the series – is the audiobook a good one? I’m hoping to do that and read the graphic novel too ?
Aww thank you! <3 and yes, I do like the Percy audiobooks! The narrator is a little goofy sometimes but he's really fun and feels super fitting for the story. ?
Goofy sounds good for Percy!