June 2024 Wrap-Up 🐻

Happy Sunday, bibliophiles!

Halfway through 2024…no! No we aren’t 😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀

Let’s begin, shall we?

GENERAL THOUGHTS:

After how busy and hectic my sophomore year of college was, June has been a time to recharge in more ways than one. I went on a quiet vacation at the beginning of the month (Ouray and Black Canyon of the Gunnison—the latter is a very underrated national park, I highly recommend it!), and I’ve taken the rest of the month to…well, rest. I’ve tried to be on social media less and focus on art, writing, and generally nourishing my creativity. In preparation for Camp NaNoWriMo (I only ever do the July camp these days because November and April are both abysmally busy times for me now that I’m in college), I’ve decided to round out my sci-fi trilogy and write the first draft of book three; at this point, I’ve beefed up the outline like a grizzly bear before hibernation, so at least I’ll have some sense of direction…wish me luck!

My reading month started out slower, and it’s had some dips, as always, but I ended up reading loads of fantastic queer books for pride month! Predictably, one of my vacation souvenirs wasn’t something related to where we went…no, I bought a copy of The Familiar at a local bookstore (support ’em!) knowing that it would take eons for my hold to arrive at the library. Worth it. I also figured it was as good a time as any to re-read my favorite series from when I was a kid—the WondLa trilogy. My verdict? It healed my soul and reinvigorated my creativity. Some kid’s books don’t age well, but WondLa never gets old.

Other than that, I’ve just been making art, playing guitar, going to pride (so much fun!), watching Hacks, Succession (nearly finished with season 1, and all it’s done is made me fear business majors even more than I already do), and…morbidly, Apple TV+’s new show that they decided to call WondLa. I’m three episodes in, and it’s like watching a train wreck. Expect a retrospective on the WondLa trilogy and possibly a review of…whatever that show is that definitely isn’t WondLa.

On a lighter note, photos from my vacation and pride:

(The bear on the title of the post is in honor of a bear we saw crossing the road in Black Canyon. Could also represent bears in general? Happy pride.)

READING AND BLOGGING:

I read 18 books this month! It’s been another relaxed reading month, and although I had a slump towards the end of the month, I read several incredible books for pride month!

1 – 1.75 stars:

• Wild Massive – Scotto Moore (DNF – ⭐️.75)

2 – 2.75 stars:

• The Terraformers – Annalee Newitz (⭐️⭐️)
• The Buried and the Bound (The Buried and the Bound, #1) – Rochelle Hassan (⭐️⭐️)

3 – 3.75 stars:

• Flawless Girls – Anna-Marie McLemore (⭐️⭐️⭐️.25)
• Junker Seven (Twin Suns, #1) – Olive J. Kelley (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
• Under Fortunate Stars – Ren Hutchings (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
• All Boys Aren’t Blue – George M. Johnson (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
• The Feeling of Falling in Love – Mason Deaver (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

4 – 4.75 stars:

• The Unbroken (Magic of the Lost, #1) – C.L. Clark (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• The Faithless (Magic of the Lost, #2) – C.L. Clark (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• Floating Hotel – Grace Curtis (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• Sunbringer (Fallen Gods, #2) – Hannah Kaner (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• The Familiar – Leigh Bardugo (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25)
• The Spirit Bares Its Teeth – Andrew Joseph White (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25)
• Freshwater – Akwaeke Emezi (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

5 stars:

• The Search for WondLa (The Search for WondLa, #1) – Tony DiTerlizzi (re-read) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• A Hero for WondLa (The Search for WondLa, #2) – Tony DiTerlizzi (re-read) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• The Battle for WondLa (The Search for WondLa, #3) – Tony DiTerlizzi (re-read) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

FAVORITE BOOK OF THE MONTH (NOT COUNTING RE-READS) – Freshwater – 4.5 stars

POSTS I’M PROUD OF:

• I had fun reviewing Junker Seven, Floating Hotel, and Flawless Girls!
• Here’s my yearly Pride Month recommendations!
• I also did the Read the Rainbow Book Tag for pride!
• Music rambling! Here are my Sunday Songs from 6/2, 6/16, 6/23, and 6/30.

POSTS FROM OTHER WONDERFUL PEOPLE THAT I ENJOYED:

• Ellie @ AceReader had a great Pride Month TBR!
• Mybookworld24 had a fantastic list of queer graphic novels they wanted to read!
• The Corner of Laura had a great take on the Pride Recommendations Book Tag!

SONGS/ALBUMS I’VE BEEN ENJOYING:

Today’s song:

That’s it for this month in blogging! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!