Reading Recap for May & June 2023

I'm going to be real honest with y'all (like I'm never not honest). May was a shit show! I got hit was some kind of stomach bug that left me losing six pounds in a weekend. It wasn't Rona or any kind of the flu so I had to let it "run it's course" and that took almost three weeks. Also, this mysterious illness decided to strike me THE DAY AFTER my birthday! Seriously! I also realized that my 29th birthday sucked so why not my 39th. I know where I lived when I turned 19 but it was oh so memorable so I don't know if that one sucked as well.

June was as equally as shitty. We had to put our dog down (a post on that will come when I can write about it) and my meds I'm on literally have liquified fat leaking from my body (again...another post on that soon). I really used June to focus on finishing any books that I needed to in order to get all my Kindle Challenge badges! You will see that I have two books listed in my Extras that I don't leave a review for. They were books that I read to my daughter. They counted towards one of my badges but I'm not counting them in my overall book count but they were both really cute! Let's get to the reading recap.

WHAT WAS PLANNED FOR MAY BOOK CLUBS

VBC: The Haunting of Beacon Hill by Ambrose Ibsen (Book 1 in The Beckoning Dead series), eBook, 239 pages

CBC: You Shouldn't Have Come Here by Jeneva Rose, eBook, 309 pages (didn't start)

HFBC: Remarkably Bright Creatures, audiobook, 11h 16m

VBC: The Haunting of Beacon Hill, 5.27 in FB Messenger Room

I listened to this last year and decided to make it a VBC book and opted to read it this time. I don't include my opinions on the audiobook but might add it to my review at a later date.

VBC: Midnight at the Blackbird Café, 6.24 in FB Messenger Room

My first Heather Webber book but not my last. What ended up being super funny is that my mom fell in love with her stories and narrators that she has listened to all of her books that are out to date! Here's my thoughts on this one.

HFBC: Remarkably Bright Creatures, 5.22 on IG Live

I'm so glad I listened to this. I really brought the characters to life. Here's my review.

EXTRAS: READ/LISTENED TO

The House at the End of the World by Dean Koontz, eBook, 407 pages

This might be my first Dean Koontz book and it did not disappoint.

Regretting You by Colleen Hoover, eBook, 363 pages

Am I in my Colleen Hoover era? Possibly. Here's what I thought about this one.

KINDLE CHALLENGE UPDATE

Number of Badges Earned: Remaining 7 badges (plus level ups)

What Badges Were Earned: Silver Reader (read 40 days), Gold Reader (read 75 days), Head Start (read 1 day/month) x3, Perfect Week (Sun - Sat) x 13, Perfect Month x3,

What Mystery Badges were Earned:

4.12 Hint: 1 book, 2 books, 3 books, 4...; Badge: Over Achiever; Challenge: Complete 8 Kindle Books by 6.30; EARNED ON 6.30.23

5.4 Hint: Escape reality; Badge: Escapist; Challenge: Read a Sci-Fi or Fantasy Book "The House at the End of the World"; EARNED ON 6.20.23 5.18 Hint: Bringing books to life; Badge: Page to Screen; Challenge: Read a literary adaptation "Judy Hopps and the Missing Jumbo Pop"; EARNED ON 5.21.23

6.1 Hint: Best way to spend the weekend; Badge: The Weekender; Challenge: Ready every day on the weekend of June 2-4; EARNED ON 6.5.23 6.15Hint: Viral reads; Badge: BookTok; Challenge: Read a book from The Best of BookTok collection "Regretting You"; EARNED ON 6.30.23

WHAT IS PLANNED FOR JULY

VBC: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, eBook, 398 pages

CBC: skipping

HFBC: skipping