What a month! My “all I’m going to do is lay on the beach and read” vacation crashed and burned spectacularly. I decided to intentionally start reading some more nonfiction so I don’t get to Nonfiction November and then realize that I haven’t read as much nonfiction as I think I did. The husband and I have started to do jigsaw puzzles while listening to audiobooks at night because we are 900 years old. So I’m doing a relisten to Kelley Armstrong’s Rockton series because I knew he would love it.
I read 15 books this month.
![Ink blood sister scribe by emma torzs](https://i0.wp.com/www.spiritblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/inkbloodsisterscribe.jpeg?resize=675%2C1024&ssl=1)
![Moorewood Family Rules HelenKay Dimon](https://i0.wp.com/www.spiritblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/moorewoodfamilyrules.jpeg?resize=267%2C400&ssl=1)
![Walking With Gorillas: The Journey of an African Wildlife Vet Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka](https://i0.wp.com/www.spiritblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/walkingwithgorillas.jpeg?resize=683%2C1024&ssl=1)
![the kaiju preservation society by John Scalzi](https://i0.wp.com/www.spiritblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/thekaijupreservationsociety.jpeg?resize=665%2C1024&ssl=1)
![The Longest Race: Inside the Secret World of Abuse, Doping, and Deception on Nike's Elite Running Team Kara Goucher](https://i0.wp.com/www.spiritblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/thelongestrace.jpeg?resize=675%2C1024&ssl=1)
![Pageboy: A Memoir Elliot Page](https://i0.wp.com/www.spiritblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/pageboy.jpeg?resize=663%2C1024&ssl=1)
![Pixie Problems Dusty Rose](https://i0.wp.com/www.spiritblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/pixieproblems.jpeg?resize=683%2C1024&ssl=1)
![Best Served Hot Amanda Elliot](https://i0.wp.com/www.spiritblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/bestservedhot.jpeg?resize=230%2C346&ssl=1)
![Miss Robinson and the Unsuitable Baron Sofi Laporte](https://i0.wp.com/www.spiritblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/missrobinsonandtheunsuitablebaron.jpeg?resize=333%2C500&ssl=1)
![The Enchanted Hacienda: A Novel J.C. Cervantes](https://i0.wp.com/www.spiritblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/theenchantedhacienda.jpeg?resize=675%2C1024&ssl=1)
![Spud Fit: A whole food, potato-based guide to eating and living. Andrew Taylor , Mandy van Zanen](https://i0.wp.com/www.spiritblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/spudfit.jpeg?resize=720%2C959&ssl=1)
![Off the Map Trish Doller](https://i0.wp.com/www.spiritblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/offthemap.jpeg?resize=668%2C1024&ssl=1)
![City of the Lost by Kelley Armstrong](https://i0.wp.com/www.spiritblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cityofthelost.jpeg?resize=422%2C650&ssl=1)
![A Darkness Absolute](https://i0.wp.com/www.spiritblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/adarknessabsolute.jpeg?resize=331%2C500&ssl=1)
![This Fallen Prey by Kelley Armstrong](https://i0.wp.com/www.spiritblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/thisfallenprey.jpeg?resize=674%2C1024&ssl=1)
The books were:
- 3 audiobooks
- 4 nonfiction
- Set in The United States, England, Ireland, Uganda, Mexico, and another dimension/Greenland
The authors were:
- 1 black Woman
- 1 white transman
- 1 East Asian woman
- 1 Latina
- 2 white men
- and all the rest were white women
How are my challenges going?
I read two books from writers South of the Equator.
![Spud Fit: A whole food, potato-based guide to eating and living. Andrew Taylor , Mandy van Zanen](https://i0.wp.com/www.spiritblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/spudfit.jpeg?resize=720%2C959&ssl=1)
![Walking With Gorillas: The Journey of an African Wildlife Vet Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka](https://i0.wp.com/www.spiritblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/walkingwithgorillas.jpeg?resize=683%2C1024&ssl=1)
These authors are from Australia and Uganda.
What about reading books I already own?
You would have been so proud. I packed only paper books from my shelves for the vacation. I read part of The Little Breton Bistro on my afternoon at the pool. It should have been perfect for me. It is a Foodie Read after all. But it really isn’t all that interesting. I even took it to our make-up beach day when we went up to Lake Erie on a very hot day but I haven’t gotten far.
I also thinned out my shelves. I have 2 main bookcases. They were overflowing so I decided to do a light purge and this happened.
That’s what they get for making me feel guilty that I haven’t read them. There are still a lot of unread books waiting for me though.
Kaiju Preservation Society is one of my favorite books! You read a few others that are on my TBR too. Hope July goes more to how you’d like it to be!
https://lisalovesliterature.bookblog.io/2023/07/01/the-looooong-and-the-short-of-it-with-a-giveaway-june-2023-wrap-up-post-and-what-to-expect-in-july/
15 books is a great reading month – and looks like some really interesting ones. I MUST get to my shelves and do a good purge…..maybe in the fall. 🙂
Terrie @ Bookshelf Journeys
https://www.bookshelfjourneys.com/post/monthly-wrap-up-june-2023
Those are some interesting books. I have some of them on my tbr.
Have a great July reading month.
What a great variety of books you read this month! And reading from your own shelves is a bonus.