At the start of June, I posted my reading goals and agenda for the summer. Today I have a summary of how it went.
Family Reading Challenge
This year not only did I finish the challenge (unlike in 2018), but I also finished first!! We added a prize for first, second, and third place this year which helped keep everyone reading. My husband finished in second place, and our teen is still working through his pile. (He has the last three Harry Potter books to go.)
Sadly, I did not enjoy either of the books that were recommended to me. That happens sometimes. The teen’s book was too gory, and my husband’s recommendation for me was too slow in too many parts. I finished both because I had to rather than because I wanted to. The teen enjoyed both books that were recommended to him and said he would be interested in reading the sequels some day. My husband said he, too, would read the sequels to both books he read on recommendation because he enjoyed them.
All three of us thoroughly enjoyed our Harry Potter re-read. The books stand up well over time, and we were reminded once again how much better they are than the movies. We are considering a re-read of Percy Jackson next summer since this re-read turned out so well.
TBR Books
Alas, my goal of re-reading a bunch of my favorite books suffered from an overloaded reading list. I re-read 10 altogether (which includes the 7 Harry Potter books from the challenge), but only 3 from the ones I listed in June. And I read two of those to refresh my memory for new books that came out this summer.
I was able to finish all 6 of the review copies I had on my list as well as 11 more.
Of the six books that I listed that were releasing in June and July that I wanted to read, I started five of them, finished two of them (one I am reading right now), and only liked one of them. That happens sometimes, too. There were 10 books I started and did not finish this summer. There’s no shame in not finishing a book that isn’t working!
#Bookaday
It was my goal to read 61 books in 61 days. I actually finished 73 books. This was a mixture of picture books (14), middle grade (17), teen/YA (13) and adult books (28) and a mix of fiction (66) and nonfiction (7).
Some of my favorites from this summer have been:
- A Daughter’s Truth by Laura Bradford (Amish fiction)
- The Amish Cookie Club by Sarah Price (Amish romance – first in series)
- What If It’s Us? by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera (YA – LGBTQ+ romance)
- The Me I Used to Be by Jennifer Ryan (romantic suspense)
- The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez (romance)
- Raven by Kami Garcia (DC Comics YA graphic novel)
- Screen Queens by Lori Goldstein (YA contemporary)
- Andrew by Jennifer Beckstrand (Amish romance – first in series)
- Protect the Prince by Jennifer Estep (fantasy, sequel to Kill the Queen)
- The Pigeon HAS to Go to School by Mo Willems (picture book)
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling (MG fantasy – I used to dislike this one, but this time I loved it)
- The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman (romance)
- Sweet as Honey by Jennifer Beckstrand (Amish romance – first in series)
Did you read anything amazing this summer?