June 2020

I’m always a proud Canadian but these last few months have shown me how great this country truly is. The acts of kindness and compassion I’ve witnessed just warms my heart. And while we may not be celebrating the way we usually do, I know it will be a great day.

My reading for June was pretty great! Between my Scribd free trial and my second “sequel only” month of the year, having a purpose when it came to my reading seemed to motivate me to get some books in!

July is somewhat bittersweet for me. As I write this, I should be abroad right now on my summer vacation. Obviously, my plans for the summer have changed like many other people’s. I’m disappointed but trying to make the best of it. I have quite the backlog of reviews to write, some library books I took out in March that I haven’t gotten to and the last month of my Scribd trial so I am hoping to shift my focus!

Total for June 2020: 16 Books Read + 3 Novellas Read

DNF’d: 0 Books

Last June: 13 Books Read + 4 Novellas Read + 2 DNFs

Standout Read (★★★★★)

Christina Lauren’s writing talents have come a long way from their Beautiful Bastard debut. I’m so glad that I saw the potential in this series and stuck with it! I loved this finale! It’s exactly what a romance series finale should be!

Biggest Let Down (★)

I felt like that last two books in this series built up for our hero’s here so maybe I put too much pressure on it to be something else? I’m not sure. All I know is that this is the second 1-star review in a row for Abbi’s work and I’m not sure if I’ve outgrown her or her work has just shifted into something I’m not a fan of.

While I’ve been meaning to sign up for Scribd for a little while (it’s one of the last subscription services I haven’t tried), I finally got around to it this month!

Want to try Scribd for FREE for 60 days? Click Here! (*referral link)

Like I always do when I sign up for subscriptions, I wanted to see if I got my money’s worth and so I will be keeping track of all the books I read via the service.

• Appealed by Emma Chase (audio)
• Sidebarred by Emma Chase (audio)
• The Wallflower Wager by Tessa Dare (audio)
• Best I’ve Ever Had by Abbi Glines (eBook)
• The Empress by S J Kincaid (audio)
• Beautiful Boss by Christina Lauren (audio)
• House of Kings by Keary Taylor (eBook)
• Beautiful by Christina Lauren (audio)
• Man Card by Sarina Bowen and Tanya Eby (eBook)
• Boy Toy by Sarina Bowen and Tanya Eby (eBook)
• Big Shot by Kim Karr (audio)

A monthly subscription to Scribd costs $8.99 USD. Basically, if you read one audiobook title a month, you’ve doubled the value of your payment. Even reading one bestseller eBook covers your payment. For example, The Wallflower wager costs $9.99 CAD for the eBook and $26.99 for the audio. So I definitely got my money’s worth this month! Some titles I could get from my library but I didn’t have to wait or they had my preferred format on Scribd.

Previously posted series reviews that got updates:

You can always get the full details on all my challenges on my dedicated page but here is a quick update:

5 Year 5 Book Challenge: 3 books added | 15 of 31 Titles Read – On Track!
Goodreads Challenge: 19 books added | 107/155 Books – 31 books Ahead!
Tackling the TBR Challenge: 1 books added | 12/24 Books – On Track!

View my Challenge Progress Here!

Sequel Month #2!

Like I did last year, I’ve decided to dedicate 4 months of 2020 to sequels! That means–with the exception of audiobooks and ARCs–every title I must read in that month needs to be a sequel for a previously started series! Approximately 84% of the books I read this month were sequels! You can see the breakdown of what I read below:

• # of Sequels Read: 16 + 0 DNF + 1 in Progress
  1. Rainbows Ever After by J J McAvoy (Rainbows #2)
  2. Appealed by Emma Chase (The Legal Briefs #3)
  3. Sidebarred by Emma Chase (The Legal Briefs #3.5)
  4. The Wallflower Wager by Tessa Dare (Girl Meets Duke #3)
  5. Best I’ve Ever Had by Abbi Glines (Sea Breeze Meets Rosemary Beach #3)
  6. The Empress by S J Kincaid (The Diabolic #2)
  7. Beautiful Boss by Christina Lauren (Beautiful Bastard #4.5)
  8. House of Kings by Keary Taylor (House of Royals #3)
  9. Beautiful by Christina Lauren (Beautiful Bastard #5)
  10. Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake (Anna #2)
  11. Reckless by Stella Rhys (Irresistible #6)
  12. Man Card by Sarina Bowen and Tanya Eby (Man Hands #2)
  13. My Calamity Jane by Hand, Meadows & Ashton (The Ladies Janies #3)
  14. Boy Toy by Sarina Bowen and Tanya Eby (Man Hands #3)
  15. Big Shot by Kim Karr (Sexy Jerk World #2)
  16. A Love Song for Dreamers by Piper Lawson — In Progress
• # of Series Finished: 6
  1. Rainbows
  2. The Legal Briefs
  3. Beautiful Bastard
  4. Anna
  5. Irresistible
  6. The Ladies Janies

What a great reading month for sequels! All but three books I read this month were sequels which is pretty impressive! I got quite a few outstanding series finished up and added some long overdue sequels for others so I consider this one a success!

Cleaning Up My Goodreads Shelves:

My main mission for 2019 was bringing my “Want to Read” shelf (new to me books) on Goodreads to a number close to 400—and I was pretty darn close (422!)! I also set my “Sequel” shelf to be below 250 titles and I did do that (238)!

So this year, I’m aiming for a “Want to Read” shelf that is less than 400 titles. I’ve also set a goal to get my “Sequel” shelf below 200 titles.

	Currently	December 31, 2019
Want to Read (New)	391	422
To Read (Sequels)	215	238

I used to do a big Goodreads Purge twice a year but I like the idea of doing a little bit at a time and had great success last year doing this on a monthly basis. The idea is to go through 5-10 books on your Goodreads TBR list chronologically and decide if they should stay or go. My 10 titles consist of 7 “new to me” titles and 3 “previously started series” titles.

This month:

Pass: 4 | Keep: 6

Grand Total YTD: Pass: 27 | Keep: 33

Did I give up on any too soon? Let me know in the comments below!

While this is a monthly meme hosted by Avalinah’s Books, I usually only update every quarter.

My Progress for January to June, 2020:

ARCs Read: 18 | ARCs Overdue: 2* | Upcoming: 5

(March State: ARCs Read: 8 | ARCs Overdue: 2+1* | Upcoming: 1

*Titles given to me as a member of an author’s street team to read ASAP.

Going Forward:

I’ve put a hold on taking requests for the rest of the summer to concentrate on titles I already have committed too and some upcoming releases for the street teams I’m a part of of.

The focus for July is to finish up some ARCs and enjoy the last month of my Scribd trial!

What were your biggest reading or personal accomplishments of the past month?
Leave a comment below!

Disclaimer | Request a Review | Contact