Wrap Up & Haul | June 2017

I really can't believe we're in July already! I know I say this every month but I this year is completely flying in. June was the last month of my summer break so I tried to get a fair bit of reading in and ended up having a pretty good reading month. I read 7 books, which is quite good for me, and even gave out a 5 star, something I seem to rarely do these days. I don't think July will be a great reading month now that I am back on placement so it could be a good job I managed to get 6 books ahead of my Goodreads goal in June.

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness -

With the release of the movie late last year/early this year, this book has been everywhere recently. I decided to hop on the bandwagon and see what all the fuss was about. This is about a boy who is visited by a monster to help him through his mother's cancer. I really enjoyed this book, though not as much as I expected. It was emotional but I expected it to have more of an impact on me, specifically as I have a parent with cancer, though thankfully not at the stage of Conor's mother. I think I may have distanced myself from the story a bit for that reason, which is perhaps why it didn't have as much of an impact on me. It is definitely a book I think everyone should read.

Rating: 4/5 |  ATY Challenge: #33 A magical realism novel

Harry Potter And The Cursed Child by JK Rowling, John Tiffany and Jack Thorne -

I'm a bit behind the times with this one but I finally picked up what is considered (to some) the eight Harry Potter book, the play that takes place eighteen years after the final book. A lot of people dislike this book and have various problems with it. I, however, loved it! I had so much fun reading this and never wanted to put it down. I even said in my review that I preferred it to the original Harry Potter books, which I am not a hardcore fan of. I completely fell in love with Scorpius and Albus and wanted to reread it as soon as I put it down.

Rating: 5/5 | Review | ATY Challenge: #47 A past suggestion - script

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon -

This book is everywhere! Everyone seems to have been anticipating this book, myself included, and I was able to receive a copy via Netgalley. This book follows two Indian-American teens who have a kind of arranged marriage set-up, however only one knows about it, and meet at a summer coding camp. I went into this with great expectations due to the hype surrounding it but ended up being disappointed. I enjoyed it but it wasn't anything special. There were some really great aspects, but at the same time a lot of the things I was excited about fell flat.

Rating: 3/5 | Review | ATY Challenge: #14 Book with a strong female character

The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson -

This was the last of Morgan Matson's published works (under this name) that I had to read and I finally got around to it after running out of time last summer. This follows Andie who's plans for the summer change due to a scandal surrounding her politician father and she ends up walking dogs for the summer. This book took me forever to read but I really enjoyed it. It isn't my favourite of her books but it was a fun slice-of-life story that made me feel very summery. I especially loved the dog walking aspect but wasn't in love with the romance.

Rating: 4/5 | Review | ATY Challenge: #7 Animal on the cover

Bridget Jones' Baby by Helen Fielding -

I had no intention of continuing with this series after not loving the first book but having loved this movie I decided to give the book a go. This follows Bridget as she finds out she is pregnant but doesn't know who the father is. I believe this book was written based on the movie rather than the other way around, which was interesting, and there were a lot of differences between the two. I ended up enjoying it much more than I expected to and a lot more than the first book in the series. It was great fun, with a lot of laugh out loud moments, and I flew through it in one day.

Rating: 4/5 | Review To Come | ATY Challenge: #39 An epistolary fiction

Trust by Kylie Scott -

I received this book via Netgalley having heard nothing about it but being intrigued by the synopsis. I have been interested in Kylie Scott's Stage Dive series but haven't read anything from her before. This book follows a girl who is almost killed in a robbery at a store where she meets a boy who basically saves her life. I liked this book but I had a few issues with it meaning I didn't love it. The story was good, if a bit predictable, and the characters and friendships are great. I didn't love the way the relationship developed and also had some issues with the way mental health was discussed, which I will talk about more in my review.

Rating: 3/5 | Review To Come | ATY Challenge: #29 Published outside major publishing houses

Frostbite by Richelle Mead -

Two years after reading the first book in the series I finally continued! This is the second book in the Vampire Academy series, the first book in which I liked but didn't love. I feel pretty much the same about the second book, although I think I liked this one slightly more. I liked the storyline in this book as well as the new characters that were introduced. I liked this setting but did miss the school setting and wanted to see more of that. My biggest issue, though, was the lack of Rose and Dimitri scenes, I need more!

Rating: 3.5/5 | Review To Come | ATY Challenge: #21 Continuation of a book already read

In terms of book buying in June, I think I did pretty well. I bought 2 physical books, after reading my 5 books of course, and one ebook. I also received 3 books via Netgalley, one of which I read in June.

My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows - I'm planning to read this for one of my Around The Year In 52 Books challenges but really hate the UK cover so I made my first Book Outlet order (and paid a fortune in shipping) to get the much nicer US cover.

Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch - Well if I was going to spend that much on shipping I might as well get two books, right? I'm not a fan of the UK cover for this one either and since I have been hearing good things about it I decided to add this one to my order.

Autumn Unlocked by Amy Sparling - This is the second book in the Summer Unplugged series. I bought this to read for an under 100 pages challenge in a readathon and then didn't end up taking part. I do want to continue with this series at some point though.

Welcome Home edited by Eric Smith - This is an anthology of short stories about adoption. I got this via Netgalley and I can't wait to read it as it is one of my highly anticipated books of the year.

Behind The Song edited by KM Walton - Another anthology from Netgalley, this time about music. I requested this on a whim but I am definitely really interested in it as a music lover.

Trust by Kylie Scott - I've already mentioned this one as I read it not long after my Netgalley request was accepted. Another one I didn't know anything about but was intrigued by the synopsis.

I'm quite happy with that reading month. I read some really great books and got some books that I am excited about. How did your reading go in June? Any 5 star books?

Sophie :)