Monthly Wrap-Up: June 2021

June ended up being a pretty good month. I read most of the books on my planned TBR, and managed to get in eight more for a grand total of 16 books this month. Most of them were pretty good, only one this month that wasn’t worth my time, but because it was an ARC I felt obligated to finish it. There are a few that I am still planning on writing reviews for, so keep an eye out for those.

The books are listed in the order that I read them. If I wrote a review, I have linked it to the title.

I hope to have a series review written for the Paper Magician series and will post it tomorrow. I enjoyed the series a lot, although the last book, The Master Magician was not my favorite. The Glass Magician was fun though and I enjoyed learning about that type of magic.

Time Villains was a middle grade book that was a lot of fun. It was all about that old question: “if you could invite any three people to dinner, alive, dead or fictional, who would they be.”

A friend recommend the Veronica Speedwell books to me a long time ago, and I finally got around to starting them. Once I started I could not stop! They are delightfully fun, with lots of witty banter, good mysteries and a slow burn romance! A Curious Beginning is the first book, and really should be read first, but the others could be read out of order, although you would miss the build up of the romance.

The Nature of Witches was better than I expected but was a bit slow moving. I liked the magical system, but got a little tired of the main character’s constant whining.

A Royal Guide to Monster Slaying was a fun middle grade novel that I really enjoyed. I like the fact that there was an emphasis on not killing the monsters unless it was absolutely necessary.

What We Devour was my biggest disappointment this month. The premise sounded so good, but I spent most of the book confused and thinking that I was missing big chunks of the story. It was also very violent with characters self harming. Just ended up not being my thing.

After finishing What We Devour I need a bit of a fun back in my reading so I decided to read the short story collection, Tales From the Folly. A couple of them I had read already, but most were new ones and I enjoyed them all.

All These Warriors was the sequel to All These Monsters and was quite good. I did like it but wanted a bit more about how the scrabs came to be. The group finds out but it was totally glossed over. Could have given the story a bit more meat if that had been developed more.

The Wingfeather Saga was book recommended by a student and I quite enjoyed it! Lots of adventure and creepy goings on. Some great characters as well.

A Perilous UnderTaking is the second book in the Veronica Speedwell series and was just as delightful as the first one. The mystery in this one was also a good one that had me guessing until the end.

East of Hounslow was also quite good and I ended up liking it more than I thought I would. It has been out in the UK for a few years, but is now making its way here to the states. The second book, Homegrown Hero, just came out and I’m hoping my library copy will arrive soon.

We Were Liars was a book that I have had on my TBR for over five years now, and it was finally time to get it read. It was a bit slow moving, but wow that ending certainly made up for that. I ended up like it more than I thought I would when I started it.

Once I started the Veronica Speedwell books I just can’t seem to make myself stop. A Treacherous Curse is number three and had one of the best stories yet!

Small Favors was my favorite ARC from this month. It was very dark, and a bit of horror story towards the end, but absolutely a delightful read from beginning to end.

I finally got a copy of Ready Player Two and even though I enjoyed it, I found it a bit of a slower read than the first one. Still I liked it and I am glad I finally got to read it. It made me want to go and watch the movie of the first book, which I just might do.