June 2019 Wrap Up

This month I didn’t finish as many books as usual, but it was for a good reason! With the weather being consistently decent for once in the UK, I spent a lot of time outside revamping our yards.

We bought the house last year because of its big yards, but the previous owner hadn’t tended to them for several years so they need a LOT of work. My plan is to make them my own reading oases once time (and money) allows.

This month there was a fence to put in and paint, weeds to pull, junk to get rid of, electricity to install, paving to lay… It’s still got a long way to go but it’s getting there! I’ll put up photos soon, but in the meantime here’s a few snapshots of some of the flower beds I put in last year that are finally blooming.

I tried to plant flowers that bees like and it’s been fantastic seeing them buzzing about.

Galaxy flowers are a must for space nerd gardeners.

Now that the weather has taken a drastic turn it looks like I’ll be spending a lot more time indoors reading instead of outside gardening. Such is summer in the UK!

Now for the books…

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The books I finished:

My mother gave me a copy of this for Christmas. It’s one of the editions printed in the 60s and has that wonderful old book smell.

This book left me SHOOK. I was reading this outside and startled some birds when I yelled, “HOLY SH*T!” as I got to the literally unbelievable ending. Even though it’s over 50 years old, Fail Safe is still staggeringly relevant and packs a heck of a punch.

Wil Wheaton is one of my go-to audiobook narrators so this audiobook was a no brainer. It was interesting, fun, and Wil was great as always.

As far as thrillers go this one was fine. It wasn’t very compelling, but it wasn’t bad either.

An exhilarating ARC I received about the politics of Rome set against the backdrop of Mt. Vesuvius’ eruption. Read my review here.

This is hands down one of my favourite reads this year, if not my favourite. I received it as an ARC from the publisher and I’m tempted to write them a Thank You note. Review to come closer to its release date in a couple of weeks.

A truly unique debut that I gobbled up. Read my review here!

An impressive collection of stories set within the Machineries of Empire universe. Read my review here!

A gripping thriller that surpasses most of the others I’ve read this beach-read season. Read my review here!

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The books I’m currently reading:

• The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
• An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield
• The Broken Girls by Simone St. James
• The Colonel and the Bee by Patrick Canning
• She Lies in the Vines by Benjamin Stevenson

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The DNF’ed of June:

During an Audible sale I picked up Locke & Key by Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez and Welcome to the Universe by Neil de Grasse Tyson, Michael A. Strauss, and J. Richard Gott. Even though they were produced really well, after a few hours I found that listening to them wasn’t working for me.

Both of these seem like they’d be much better in print, especially with Locke & Key being a graphic novel. So I’ve decided to get the print versions instead! Audible is pretty great for letting you exchange your purchases if they aren’t your cup of tea.

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So, those are my books of June!

Have you read any of these? How is your summer reading going so far? Let me know in the comments!