Alright folks, I’m going to be honest with you. Maybe I’ve been too honest lately with how I’ve been doing, but if you don’t follow me on Instagram then I can tell you now that June wasn’t kind to me. June hit me with a wave of emotions and I’ve been out of sorts for a few weeks.
That means, my reading struggled. When I say struggled, I mean I read six books out of the usual eight I finish in a month. While I was able to finish my #tamingthetbr challenge, I feel like I didn’t get to read a lot for myself. I’m definitely changing this for July, but I still feel bad that my June wasn’t the best. Don’t sign up for too many bookish projects! I think that’s the best thing I’ve learned from this whole process.
But, looking back at the books I read this month, I did come across some amazing books that I want to share with you. Some of these weren’t my favorite and others will always have a place in my heart. Without further ado, here’s what I read in June:
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
During the summer, I’m a huge fan of reading romance novels. Maybe it has something to do with the warmer season, but I find myself gravitating to less serious novels and more fun ones. THE KISS QUOTIENT definitely delivers if you’re a summer romance reader. It’s the story of a young woman named Stella who is living with autism. On a night that seemed like any other, she decides to hire a male escort for the evening. What was supposed to be one night of romance turns into an experiment for Stella on learning what a real relationship feels like. As you can tell even from the premise, these love lessons are going to turn into something more.
Find The Kiss Quotient on Amazon
Number One Chinese Restaurant by Lillian Li
While I wasn’t a big fan of this book, I thought that the story itself was interesting. It’s about a family who grew up around a Chinese restaurant. When one day that restaurant is burned down, the family tries to pick up their own pieces. The story itself has a lot of point of views that trade off throughout the novel. You can see how everyone’s lives are intricately woven around this restaurant. It’s an interesting novel if you’re a fan of food books and it definitely made me hungry.
Find Number One Chinese Restaurant on Amazon
A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza
If I could give this book more stars than allotted, I would. This story wrecked me this month and it’s the first book written under Sarah Jessica Parker’s new imprint with Hogarth. It’s the story of a Muslim American family growing up in California. At first, I thought this story would be about being Muslim in America, but it’s not. It’s a family story and the struggles to maintain your traditions in an ever changing society. Beautifully written characters with tons of personality and an ending that will leave you in tears, I read this book slowly and then talked to my Muslim friends about it. Great if you’re in a book club and it will incite so many good conversations.
Save the Date by Morgan Matson
I’m a huge Morgan Matson fan, so when her latest novel SAVE THE DATE came out, I had to pick up a copy. Like many of Morgan Matson’s novels, this book is about a young teenager who needs to make a big decision, has something go wrong in her life, and she meets a cute boy while she’s fixing everything. It starts off with her family coming together for the weekend of her sister’s wedding. Charlie is your protagonist for this journey, the youngest daughter and the most outwardly available character in the novel. She’ll take you across town to get her soon-to-be-brother-in-law’s suit to decorating a kid’s birthday party with an Australian theme. I love Morgan Matson because despite all the issues that pop up unexpectedly for our main character, it always gets resolved by the end. It’s just a fun way to see things sometimes.
They Both Die At the End by Adam Silvera
I didn’t want this book in particular to be my Pride read for the month, but my reading habits have been so off lately that I’m just picking up whatever is lucky enough to be read that day. I was doing some research on Adam Silvera for a post I wanted to write earlier this month and I thought I should read this book to get a sense of his writing style. This book was an existential bomb. Two boys who are about to die on the same day meet each other on an app called Last Friend. They spend the whole day together and even though we know that they both die at the end, it’s still jarring to see it happen. Adam Silvera’s writing style is also pretty versatile being able to write both characters with varying degrees of personality. You really feel for each one and understand where they each come from and how they help each other even at the very end.
Find They Both Die at the End on Amazon
London Belongs to Me by Jacquelyn Middleton
This book was my official last book of June. I’m currently reading another, but I don’t think it’ll make it to the list before the end of the month. However, I’m so happy to finally have read this one. I’ve been sitting on it for a few months now and I actually wanted to read this back in December. It’s the story of a post-graduate named Alex who decides to move to London and become a playwright. But from the moment she arrives, a bunch of stuff happens to her; she loses her luggage, her room at her friend’s flat is actually more of a closet, she knows no one. When her friend’s girlfriend steals her play in a jealous rage, that’s when Alex starts to really feel like she needs to step up her game and not let London get the best of her.
Find London Belongs to Me on Amazon
Here’s to reading more books in July! What did you read this month?
Simone and Her Books 