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My June reading started off with a bang…I read three books in a row that made my Best Books of 2018 So Far list! Then, it fell off a cliff with a string of DNFs and one book that I sort of hate-read. But, I think I’ve found my groove again…
I read 7 books this month…a little less than normal. We traveled a lot and were getting adjusted to the summer routine with the kids out of school. I also read a couple longer books, which I used to steer clear of, but I’m glad I’ve gotten over that because I would’ve missed out on some amazing books! I have fallen behind with my Goodreads Challenge goal of 100 books for the year, but I’m not sure I care.
Winners
- FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE MONTH:
Us Against Youby Fredrick Backman AND…
The Great Believersby Rebecca Makkai (my review)
- A False Report: A True Story of Rape in America by T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong (Audiobook)
- The Book of Essie
by Meghan MacLean Weir
- Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win by Jo Piazza
Losers
- Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage
- Nomadland
by Jessica Bruder (Audiobook)
DNF’s
- Only Child by Rhiannon Navin
- What We Were Promised by Lucy Tan
Best-Selling Book (via my affiliate links)
The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez – I’m not sure how to explain this one…I really liked it, but I haven’t talked about it on the blog since last year!
Announcements
- I shared by Best Books of 2018 So Far list on Tuesday!
- If you missed it, check out my 2018 Summer Reading List…and stay tuned because I’ll be adding a couple more books to it this month!
- Personalized Book Recommendations and the Superstars Facebook Group are now available to anyone who supports Sarah’s Book Shelves on Patreon!
June Quality and Recommendation Sources
Reading Quality
June 2018
- % Successful Books Attempted (includes DNF’s) = 56% (above my 43% success rate from 2017)
- % Successful Books Finished (does not include DNFs) = 71%
2018 Year-to-Date (through June)
- % Successful Books Attempted (includes DNF’s) = 56% (above my 43% success rate from 2017)
- % Successful Books Finished (does not include DNFs) = 83%
Successful Recommendation Sources
- Read It Forward’s Favorite Books of the Month (The Great Believers, The Book of Essie, A False Report: A True Story of Rape in America)
- Annie Jones from From the Front Porch podcast (The Book of Essie)
- Bermuda Onion (A False Report: A True Story of Rape in America)
- Book of the Month (The Book of Essie)
- Catherine at The Gilmore Guide to Books (Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win)
- Modern Mrs. Darcy (Us Against You)
- New York Post Summer Reading List (The Book of Essie)
- Susie at Novel Visits (Us Against You, The Great Believers
- Tara at Running N Reading (Us Against You)
- Trusted Author (Us Against You)
- Tyler Goodson (The Great Believers
- Unsolicited from Publisher (Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win)
If you’re interested in tracking these types of stats, my “Rock Your Reading” Tracker does all the heavy lifting for you! Enter your book details and it automatically compiles everything into Summary Charts in real time! Go here for more details.
July Releases I’m Excited About
Clock Dance by Anne Tyler (July 10)
Give Me Your Hand by Megan Abbott (July 17)
The Incendiaries by R.O. Kwon (July 31)
Fruit of the Drunken Tree by Ingrid Rojas Contreras (July 31)
Most Popular Posts
Posts Actually Published in June
Best Books of 2018 So Far
June 2018 Books to Read (and Skip)
Book of the Month June 2018 Selections: What Book Should You Choose?
Overall Posts
Book Club Recommendations
2018 Summer Reading List
Am I the Only One Who Didn’t Love Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine?
Favorite Posts by Fellow Bloggers
- Y’all know I’m a huge fan of the DNF, so I loved Susie at Novel Visits‘ list of 10 Hyped Books She Just Couldn’t Finish.
- I wrote recently about my fraught relationship with classics, so I admire (although probably wouldn’t attempt myself) Erin at Imaginary Book Stack‘s effort to Go Classic at 30.
- The girls at The Ardent Biblio designed a cool method to create a Summer Reading Program for Your Kids or Yourself.
- Susie at Novel Visits shared her Favorite Books of Summers Gone By.
- Some more Summer Reading Lists / Guides…NYCBookGirl, Simone and Her Books, Bookpage, Running N Reading.
- Finally, we’re about halfway through the year, which means the Best Books of 2018 (So Far) lists are starting to roll in (I shared mine recently): Novel Visits.
How was your reading month?
bermudaonion (Kathy)
Baby Teeth wasn’t exactly a loser for me but I didn’t love it the way most people have. I had trouble suspending disbelief at times (when Hana opened the capsules and exchanged the medicine with flour comes to mind).
Sarah Dickinson
Yep! Agreed! My 7 year old wouldn’t have figured that out and I think Hanna was 4 or something?
Ann Marie
I can’t believe I missed out on The Great Believers. What was I thinking?? I’m living with regret and will probably just buy it.
Sarah Dickinson
You haven’t missed out….just buy or borrow it!
Susie | Novel Visits
June really was a great month. I miss it already! I’m looking forward to Charlotte Walsh. It sounds like a perfect light summer read and those are really working for me right now.
Thanks for all the shout outs!
Aj @ Read All The Things!
I’m also behind on my Goodreads goal because I’ve been reading the Game of Thrones books, and those are all over 1000 pages. I’m glad you read some really good books. Happy July!
Sarah Dickinson
Dang GR goals!! I’m thinking about not setting one next year!
Judy Krueger
Thanks for mentioning The Book of Unknown Americans. I have a copy on my shelves but never got to it. Perhaps now I will.
sarah
do you have to read bear town to appreciate us against you? I’ve read all his other books but when i heard bear town was about a town as a character I was resistant.
Naomi
I’m glad to see that Us Against You holds up to Beartown – not that I’ve read Beartown yet, but I like to keep up with these things anyway. 🙂
Beth F
Two of your anticipated July books made it to my roundup this week. I know what you mean about travel and reading … I have a ton of 3- and 4-day weekends (starting last week) and juggling work and play is cutting into my reading time. Oh well.
Madeline
Loved Us Against You. I find it hard to say, but I think it was better than Beartown. Wonderful characters; great to be back with them.
My hold on Clock Dance has come up! I’m really looking forward to that.
Catherine
Sorry Only Child didn’t wrk for you, but I understand why. Somehow I found telling the story solely from the perspective of the child was what made the book so amazing, but if you didn’t want that it would grate on you.
Glad to hear Charlotte Walsh is good- thanks for vetting it!