June Wrap-Up post

Well, it’s the end of June!  Did I manage the Summer Reading Blitz hosted by Shauna and complete 30 books in 30 days?

Yes, I did!  I’m not going to link any of these to my reviews because I’m exhausted and because I’m a little lazy.  Most of them haven’t been posted anyway, I have 20 reviews in the queue and 8 to write.  That’s what happens when you read too fast.  Dates are finishing dates only, some took me longer than others and I didn’t hesitate to read shorter books while reading longer ones.

119. Songs My Mother Never Taught Me – Selcuk Altun – 1 Jun – 212 pages
120. Joker One – Donovan Campbell – 1 Jun – 307 pages
121. Her Secret Fantasy – Gaelen Foley – 2 Jun – 401 pages
122. The Last Witch of Langenburg – Thomas Robisheaux – 2 Jun – 338 pages
123. Out from Boneville – Jeff Smith – 3 Jun – 138 pages
124. Uglies – Scott Westerfeld – 4 Jun – 425 pages
125. When the Duke Returns – Eloisa James – 4 Jun – 375 pages
126. The wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and six more – Roald Dahl – 5 Jun – 239 pages
127. The Lieutenant’s Lover – Harry Bingham – 8 Jun – 442 pages
128. The Heart of the Night – Judith Lennox – 10 Jun – 500 pages
129. The Great Cow Race – Jeff Smith – 10 Jun – 132 pages
130. Married By Mistake – Abby Gaines – 12 Jun – 268 pages
131. Into the Beautiful North – Luis Alberto Urrea – 12 Jun – 334 pages
132. My Lord John – Georgette Heyer – 13 Jun – 430 pages
133. Everything and the Moon – Julia Quinn – 13 June – 372 pages
134. Shadows and Strongholds – Elizabeth Chadwick – 14 Jun – 564 pages
135. A Pearl in the Storm – Toni Murden McClure – 15 Jun – 292 pages
136. Slammerkin – Emma Donoghue – 16 Jun – 422 pages
137. The Road Home – Rose Tremain – 16 Jun – 365 pages
138. On Beauty – Zadie Smith – 18 Jun – 422 pages
139. Land of Marvels – Barry Unsworth – 22 Jun – 287 pages
140. Blood Bound – Patricia Briggs – 23 Jun – 326 pages
141. Ink Exchange – Melissa Marr – 24 Jun – 312 pages
142. Crossed – Nicole Galland – 25 Jun – 642 pages
143. Simply Magic – Mary Balogh – 26 Jun – 326 pages
144. The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins – 26 Jun – 454 pages
145. The Incendiary’s Trail – James McCreet – 27 Jun – 356 pages
146. Guilty Pleasures – Laurell K. Hamilton – 28 Jun – 266 pages
147. A Little Bit Wicked – Victoria Alexander – 29 Jun – 359 pages
148. Shadows Return – Lynn Flewelling – 29 Jun – 522 pages

A couple of things please me about this list.  First and foremost is that I only read 6 romance novels.  That’s the most out of any month this year, but I was expecting to read a lot more because they are quick; I can read an average sized one in about 2 hours.  I do have 2 graphic novels on my list as well.  I did, however, manage to read 11 books with 400+ pages.  I think that’s pretty impressive!  I am happy to be able to do something else with my free time though, and I’m very much looking forward to the chunksters I’ve started or am about to start now.

We are also officially at the halfway point of the year.  I doubt anyone remembers but I set my goal at 200 books this year.  Can I imagine not hitting 200 books at this point when I’ve already read 148?  Well, no.  It was a challenge at the time though.  I’m not sure whether to up my goal or not.  Time will tell.

Finally, why am I exhausted today?  I went on a field trip with other students at the Centre for Medieval Studies!  It was a wonderful day but has left me worn out.  Here’s a 13th century manor house, Markenfield Hall, to liven up this post:

It even has a moat, which you can’t see well in this picture, between the fence and the bushes.  I would like to live there but, well, I guess we can’t all marry earls.