Books I Read: June

June was a great reading month! I finished five books. Honestly, I thought I would finish more because we went on vacation, but I didn’t read as much on our trip as I thought I would AND Adeline’s birthday party ate up a ton of my hours that I would have normally spent reading. Also, this list includes a 600-page book, which totally should count for two books. 🙂

The big thing you’ll see is that the library was the boss of my reading this month. More than half of my reads were library books. Never mind that I have probably 200 unread books on my own bookshelf – ha!

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (Book of the Month): 5 stars
I LOVED this book. Seriously, if you are a Book of the Month subscriber and didn’t get it for June, I would definitely add it to your July box. It is a book you will love and want to share with friends. It revolves around the life of Evelyn Hugo, a film actress who would compare in fame and love affairs to Liz Taylor. In the book, she is sharing her story with a young journalist and it goes between present day and the past, in which she used marriages to climb the Hollywood ladder and hide her love affair with a woman.

The Handmaid’s Tale (Audio book): 3.5 stars
Everyone has been buzzing about this book and the show on Hulu. I decided I wanted to read the book before watching the show and opted to go for the audio version because it is performed by Claire Danes. I LOVE Claire Danes and her performance did not disappoint. That said, I had a hard time getting into the book and though it isn’t that long, it took me two months to finish.

The Stars are Fire (Library book): 4 stars

I have been a fan of Anita Shreve for many years, and her book about a woman’s life after a fire that destroyed a Maine town in the 20s did not disappoint. An enjoyable, quick read, perfect for summer.

The Story of Beautiful Girl (Library book): 4 stars

I heard about this book from Amy Allen Clark, one of my go-tos for book recommendations. The story revolves around a woman in a mental institution who escapes with another patient, a deaf man, after giving birth to a little girl. They leave the baby with a retired teacher who raises her. A beautiful story about love and loss, it is told from the three different people’s perspectives, continually moving forward with each chapter. I thought a few parts moved a bit slow, but I loved how the book ended.

I am Pilgrim (Audio book/Library book): 5 stars

I can’t stop thinking and talking about this book. Though it released a few years ago (and has more than 6,000 reviews on Amazon, with an average of 4.5 stars), I just heard about it. If you are a fan of thrillers or like shows like Homeland and Alias, you must read this book. I bought the audio book with my credit from Audible and then ended up going check it out of the library half way through because it was SO good I had to read the end faster than I could listening (It’s a 22 hour audio book!). “Pilgrim” is a covert CIA agent of the highest levels of secrecy and security in the government. The book revolves around a case of a bio-terrorism that is a bit scary to read about because it totally felt like it could happen. I won’t go into more details, but seriously, this is a GREAT book.

Currently reading

The Magnolia Story: Chip and Joanna Gaines’ memoir (audio book): I’m about halfway through this quick listen (only 5 hours) and am so enjoying it!

Beartown (library book): Everyone has been raving about this book and I was thrilled when my reserve arrived at the library.

The new Book of the Month selects are available. You can sign up for a 1, 2 or 3 month subscription for just $10 a month. If you sign up for two or more months, use the code TOTALLY to get a great big canvas BOTM tote for free.

Previous What I Read Posts for 2017

May 2017 Reads (6 reads)

March & April 2017 Reads (7 books)

February 2017 Reads (4 books)

January 2017 Reads (7 books)

TOTAL BOOKS I’VE READ IN 2017: 29