Hello friends, we’re half-way through the year – where has the time gone?!

June has been the slowest reading month for me. Life has been so busy, I’ve barely had any time to read but shoutout to audiobooks for at least helping me get through three books this month.

June Reads

‘The Perfect Marriage’ by Jeneva Rose – A man is accused of killing his mistress. Now he has no choice to confess to his wife that he has been unfaithful but maintains his innocence. In a shocking twist, his wife – a big shot lawyer- chooses to defend him in trial. This was an entertaining story, kept me on toes, so many moving parts, crazy plot, overall a really well done mystery thriller. Rating: 4.75/5 stars

‘Sunshine Nails’ by Mai Nguyen – One thing about me, I’m going to read a book that’s set in Toronto! And as someone who absolutely loves getting my nails done on a monthly basis without fail, I was always going to pick this one up. This fictional story focuses on a Vietnamese Canadian family who own a nail salon shop. After decades of pouring their heart and soul into this business, their livelihood is threatened when a chic new nail salon opens up across the street. This is a story about the lengths you are willing to go for family and the sacrifices made along the way. I love the concept and the meaning behind this story but I felt it took too long for anything interesting to happen. Regrettably, I had to rate this 2.75/5 stars.

‘How to End a Love Story’ by Yulin Kuang – This is a sort of enemies-to-lovers type of romance. Two writers with a complicated history that began in high school find themselves working on the development of the same movie many years later. Their complicated past involves dealing with loss, guilt, and much needed closure. The character growth in this story is amazing though I do think the circumstances under which they fall in love is a bit…jarring. This one was a 3.5/5 stars for me!

I couldn’t have gotten through these books if I wasn’t able to listen to them on audio. I’m currently loving spotify’s new audiobook feature and forever grateful to libro.fm for giving me access to the Influencer Advanced Listening Copy program.

Ontario Creates’ 37th Trillium Book Awards

I was so honoured to have been invited to the Ontario Creates’ 37th Trillium Book Awards. It was a fun night of celebrating the diverse literature in Ontario’s creative industry. I got to meet some fellow book bloggers, chat with authors and even leave with some of the books from this year’s nominees! Congratulations to all the winners!

Update on my TBR list

Earlier this year, I made a blog post about being more intentional with my reading. I’m a huge mood reader and will naturally gravitate towards whatever type of story I’m itching for. This year, I set myself a challenge, to read 24 out of the 59 unread books currently sitting on my shelf. Unfortunately, I still continue to acquire books faster than I can read them. So far, I’ve read 40 books this year – let’s see how many of those were actually from my already exciting unread list. I’m re-sharing my original TBR list below and crossing out those that I’ve read:

Contemporary Fiction
– Sunshine Nails by Mai Nguyen

Fantasy
– The War of Two Queens by Jennifer L. Armentrout
– River Mumma by Zalika Reid-Benta

Fiction
– The Adult by Bronwyn Fischer
– Caul Baby by Morgan Fiction
– Pride and Joy by Louisa Onome
– Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
– Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor
– Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead
– Good Material by Dolly Alderton

Historical Fiction
– Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward
– One Blood by Denene Miller
– The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson

Memoir
– How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair
– Everyone But Myself by Julie Chavez

Romance
– Holiday Country by Inci Atrek
– Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin

Thriller/Mystery
– The Husbands by Chandler Baker
– Darling Rose Gold by Stephani Wrobel
– The Other Side of Night by Adam Hamdy
– A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

Non-fiction
– Sexual Justice: Supporting Victims, Ensuring Due Process, and Resisting the Conservative Backlash by Alexandra Brodsky
– The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler-Colonial Conquest and Resistance, 1917-2017 by Rashid Khalidi
– Black Boys Like Me: Confrontations with Race, Identity, and Belonging by Matthew R. Morris

*drum roll please* – a total of 8 books!

I honestly thought I had read more TBR books than that – I’m just as shocked as you all….okay, not really. On the bright side, there’s still six months to go before 2024 is over, so don’t give up on me just yet! I’ll give you a final update at the end of the year.

That’s all for June! I’m hoping to get a lot more reading done in July and excited to continue sharing my recommendations and ramblings with you all 🙂

June Poll