June Wrap-Up and July TBR

 The month of June sped past this year – helped along I’m sure by the week long read-your-bookshelf-a-thon. I read some great books this June, many of which I’ve got in a pile to-be-reviewed, but I’ll give a brief gloss over of my thoughts here.

Johnathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach – a poetic fable about accepting your dreams and ignoring others who try to stop you from living them. A short a sweet read, it took me around half an hour to read.

White Teeth by Zadie Smith – Not as good as NW, which will forever be my favourite Smith book, but a good read none the less. The voice of her characters are always so engaging, and I love the identity conflicts in this book.

Mr Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan – I read this book in practically one sitting. Fantastical, a little bit magical, wonderful. I highly recommend it.

On Beauty by Zadie Smith – I’ll be reviewing this in tandem with White Teeth as I feel they largely express the same kinds of issues, and for me were pretty much on a par as a reading experience (although I think I prefer White Teeth, the jury is still out).

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak – What a book. If you haven’t, read it. Just, read it. Okay?

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce – It took me a while to get into this book, but it does become quite a sweet read (which is what I wanted from it). Think it could have done with a bit of an edit either end and a bolster in the middle, but that might just be me.

Tigers in Red Weather by Liza Klaussmann – I could see what this book was trying to do, but I’m not convinced it ever really got there. It was a decent read, but didn’t fill me with vigour.

The Misinterpretation of Tara Jupp by Eva Rice – I enjoyed reading this book, set predominantly in the early sixties it’s a sweet coming of age story. Tara was a very well written character, but I feel there were a couple of things which ended up largely unanswered towards the end of the book. But it was a sweet way to finish the months reading.

So that is it for June! 7 books read, I’m more than pleased with that!

It’s already a week and a half into July, so Ill jot down the books I’ve already read as well as the ones I’d like to read.

Chaos Walking Trilogy by Patrick Ness – I read these books almost one a day. Fantastically gripping trilogy.

More Than This by Patrick Ness ­– Another wonderful book, although I felt in places it was too much of a parody of itself that it started to get slightly ridiculous.

I’ve started reading Northern Lights by Phillip Pullman. I’ve read this book before and it didn’t do anything for me, but the fella loves the series so I figure I better give it another shot. It’s slightly the wrong time of year for this kind of book, but we’ll see where it takes me.

I’d like to read 1984 by George Orwell if I can this month. I got it for Dad for his birthday and he enjoyed it. Besides, it’s a classic, so I should probably give it a read.

Trouble by Non Pratt is also on my TBR pile this month. Hopefully I’ll get round to it, as by August I want to be reading books from my Uni required reading list.

I’ll leave it there for now. Have you read any of the books I’m planning on reading this month? What did you think of them? Tweet me @VickiMaitland or let me know in the comments what you thought!