Even though the header says “Monthly Rewind,” this installment will cover June, July, and August’s reading! I want to get in the habit of writing more than just review posts to add some variety and hopefully keep me out of a blogging slump. Now that I’m settled in my new place, I have plans in place to organize myself better, and I already have a Monthly Rewind for September in the drafts! I’ll be adding to it throughout the month so I don’t feel like I have to catch up at everything in the last minute.

Over the summer, I read thirty books! I read nine books in June, and in July, I didn’t read for the first half of the month, but I managed to read and finish twelve books. I read nine in August. Ten books is a month is my average, and I do try to shoot for at least that many. However, if I’m busy or just not feeling reading, I’ve been letting myself not read. I’ve been doing the same with social media over the summer as I realized it’s hard to read, want to read, post, and want to post when there’s a lot going on IRL. I needed to give myself space to adjust to the changes. I’m still adjusting, but I’m finding myself in a better frame of mind to get back in the swing of things with my blog and Instagram!

In June, I read:

• The Very Best of Caitlin R. Kiernan – Caitlin R. Kiernan 3.5/5
• The Earl Next Door – Amelia Grey 3/5
• Rouge – Richard Kirshenbaum 3/5
• Sky in the Deep – Adrienne Young 4/5
• The Templars – Dan Jones 3.5/5
• Jane, Unlimited – Kristin Cashore 3/5
• Not One of Us: Stories of Aliens on Earth – Neil Clarke 4/5
• The Mere Wife – Maria Dahvana Headley 5/5
• Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck 4/5

In July, I read:

• Off the Grid – Robert B. McCaw 3/5
• Chaucer’s Tale: 1386 and the Road to Canterbury – Paul Strohm 4/5
• The Beast’s Heart – Leife Shallcross 4/5
• Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky 4.5/5
• The Dragon Lady – Louisa Treger 4/5
• The Flatshare – Beth O’Leary 4/5
• Neuromancer – William Gibson 4/5
• Cold-Hearted Rake – Lisa Kleypas 3.5/5
• A Memory Called Empire – Arkady Martine 5/5
• Annihilation – Jeff VanderMeer 5/5
• A Conspiracy of Truths – Alexandra Rowland 4.5/5
• Seafire – Natalie C. Parker 4/5

In August, I read:

• The Duke is But a Dream – Anna Bennett 3/5
• We Are All Good People Here – Susan Rebecca White 4/5
• Love at First Like – Hannah Orenstein 4/5
• To Kill a Kingdom – Alexandra Christo 4/5
• Authority – Jeff VanderMeer 5/5
• Meet Me in the Future: Stories – Kameron Hurley 5/5
• An Enchantment of Ravens – Margaret Rogerson 5/5
• Savage Appetites – Rachel Monroe 3/5
• Rogue Most Wanted – Janna MacGregor 3/5

Overall, I’m really pleased with what I read and the variety of what I read. I’ve been really into medieval history lately and I’ve been picking at a few history books over the summer. Reading historical romance has been one of my personal challenges this year because I dismissed the romance genre as a whole without really understanding what it was about, so I’m learning a lot about the history of the genre and what place it has, and honestly, I’m enjoying it! This year I challenged myself to read more classic SF, which I’m failing at because I had a whole challenge set up and then my life kind of did a whole whirlwind change and that fell to the wayside, and more YA because I keep buying it but not reading enough even to marginally keep up with what I’m buying.

What were some of your favorite books you read this summer?