June Wrap-Up

June was quite an eventful month for me! And most of that centered on one thing - I finished high school! Graduation was in the middle of the month, and organization and rehearsals took a surprisingly long time. I still managed to get a lot of reading in, although I didn't do as much on the blog. In fact, I was supposed to be writing a post that was an update to my May blogging goals, but then I looked back at them and figured out that I'd accomplished exactly one of those. So I'm going to keep those goals and write an update post later.

Speaking of my goals, however...I have a bookstagram! I'm @lostinmylibrary, and I've been having a lot of fun so far!

THE BOOKS: 

Thud! by Terry Pratchett (Discworld #34): The Watch subseries of Discworld is quickly becoming one of my favorites, and this book was no exception. It was so wonderfully crafted, with all of the little sub-plots coming together. That's kind of what I've come to expect from Watch books, but it's always fun to see how it ends up. ★★★★★

Problèmes au Paradis by Carol Gaab: I was required to read this book for French class, and as with pretty much all required foreign language books, it was pretty awful. It managed to fit clueless characters, a love triangle, and instalove into fewer than 80 pages. I learned a lot of vocabulary, but I'm pretty sure that I could have learned it a lot more quickly and pleasantly without the book. ★★

Eragon by Christopher Paolini (Inheritance Cycle #1): This book took me over two weeks to finish. I just couldn't bring myself to care about what was happening. It didn't help that I didn't care about Eragon at all. He was so stupid sometimes! And the writing had this weird combination of being formal and sometimes disjointed. The best parts of this were Saphira and Solembum. ★★

The Steep & Thorny Way by Cat Winters: This was one of my most anticipated 2016 releases, and it didn't disappoint. Definitely my favorite Cat Winters book so far! I loved the nods to Hamlet, but the story definitely stood on its own. See my full review here.
★★★★★

Stars Above by Marissa Meyer (Lunar Chronicles): This was not the greatest part of the Lunar Chronicles, but it was still pretty great. All of the stories were good, but I especially liked The Princess and the Guard, The Little Android, and Something Old, Something New. ★★★★

Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton (Rebel of the Sands #1): This was so fun! I heard a lot of amazing things about this book, and everyone was right - I could barely put it down! I was on the edge of my seat, holding my breath because I NEEDED to know what happened next. And it was funny in all the right places, too! ★★★★

Infinite in Between by Carolyn Mackler: I was very underwhelmed by this. I was prepared to be emotional - reading a book about going through high school towards graduation the week before my graduation - but I just didn't care very much about the characters or what was going on. ★★

Where's My Cow? by Terry Pratchett (Discworld): A nice little extra for the Discworld series, and it will probably only make sense if you've read Thud! (and possibly a few other Discworld books). ★★★★

Black Widow: Forever Red by Margaret Stohl (Black Widow #1): I love Black Widow, but this book just didn't do anything for me. I think I'll stick to the comics. ★★½

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi (Persepolis #1): A short, powerful look at a part of history that I didn't know much about before reading this. I now definitely understand why this book gets so much praise - it's so beautifully put together, and it has that perfect balance of educational and personal. ★★★★

The Land of 10,000 Madonnas by Kate Hattemer: I have very mixed feelings about this one. There were certain things I loved, but also certain things that really got on my nerves. ★★★½

Front Lines by Michael Grant (Soldier Girl #1): This book definitely wasn't what I thought it would be. Some parts were better, and some parts I didn't like as much. My favorite of the three narrators, Rainy, didn't get very many chapters at all, but I'm definitely looking forward to seeing where all three of the girls go in the rest of the series! ★★★½

Star Wars: Chewbacca by Gerry Duggan: I never seem to like mini-series in comics, and yet I keep reading them and hoping that I'll love them. This was another one of those. It was a nice enough way to spend half an hour or so, but nothing special at all. ★★

The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson: So this was my favorite book of the month, no contest. And one of my favorite books of the year. And one of my favorite contemporaries of all time. If you're looking for a summer contemporary, READ THIS ONE. It has friends and family and a great love interest and dogs and it's just so wonderful. ★★★★★

Graceling by Kristin Cashore (Graceling Realm #1): Sky @ Sky's Reading Corner has been trying to get me to read this one for AGES, and I finally did. I don't know why I put it off for so long! It was AMAZING. It had a bit of a slow start, but pretty soon, I couldn't get enough of it. ★★★★★

The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson: This book started out pretty slowly, but it got better as it went along. There were a few things that bothered me, but it was a nice, fairly quick read, and I'm glad I picked it up. ★★★★

Shouldn't You Be In School? by Lemony Snicket (All the Wrong Questions #3): I think this is my favorite book in the All the Wrong Questions series. I wasn't always entirely sure what was going on, but that was okay, because neither did anybody. I loved all the plotting and trying to put things together, and I loved how almost everything resolved. ★★★★

Why Is This Night Different From All Other Nights? by Lemony Snicket (All the Wrong Questions #4): I did like this, but it felt like such a shift from the rest of the series that it didn't really seem to fit. And I understand why it ended the way it did, more or less, but it still felt very unsatisfying. All the Wrong Questions became All the Unanswered Questions. ★★★

Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science by Charles Wheelan: This was "required" reading for my AP Econ class last semester. We were all supposed to have finished it by the end of April. I don't think that happened for anyone, but I was interested enough (and far enough in already) to finish it. It took me until now, but I did it! This is a very good introduction to basic economics, and it makes things relevant, but it's definitely not unbiased. Read with that in mind. ★★★★

Making Money by Terry Pratchett (Discworld #36): Another book in my (very long) quest to read ALL the Discworld books! This is another one about Moist Von Lipwig, and while I didn't like it quite as much as Going Postal, it was very fun to read after having taken an economics class. Because Moist is taking over the Royal Bank, a job that makes lots of money. Literally. I did a chunk of this with the audiobook while coloring, which was a very fun way to spend time. ★★★★

Reread this month:

• Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett (Discworld #35): I knew it had been a long time since I'd last read this, but it turned out that I remembered almost none of the details. It was really fun to go back to! Still not my favorite Tiffany Aching book, but pretty great. And even better now that I understand the references to other Discworld books! Previous rating: ★★★★; new rating: ★★★★

READING STATS:

• Total books: 20 new, 1 reread
• Longest book: Front Lines, 576 pages
• Shortest book: Where's My Cow?, 32 pages
• Favorite book: The Unexpected Everything
• Least favorite book: Problèmes au Paradis
• Diverse reads: 9 (The Steep & Thorny Way, Stars Above, Rebel of the Sands, Infinite in Between, Persepolis, The Land of 10,000 Madonnas, Front Lines, Star Wars: Chewbacca, The Art of Being Normal)
• Nonfiction: 2 (Persepolis, Naked Economics)
• Comics/Graphic Novels/Picture Books: 3 (Where's My Cow?, Persepolis, Star Wars: Chewbacca)

How was your month? Did we read any of the same books? Do you have a bookstagram? Tell me in the comments!