June in life and reading #MonthlyWrapUp

Hello readers! I hope you all had a joyful June. It felt June came real fast and passed slowly but for a change, it wasn’t bad slow. Many things happened in life and I could read more but that is because of short reads.

Here is how June in life and reading has been –

June Highlights –

We finally got our house keys and the furniture work has started. Here are some pictures of the community with the clubhouse, common ares, and play area. I will share pics of my flat once it’s ready with furniture.

I received other physical ARCs from Penguinsters for my kid and we had fun reading them. I also received Google Ads payment. Now most of my self-hosting costs so far is covered through it. So now I hope next time after four years I wouldn’t have to pay the self-hosting cost from my pocket and I could also have extra money saved for books.

My brother’s wife’s baby shower went well. We are getting used to my husband going away for 2 weeks every month now.

Now that house and everything is on its path we are now focusing more on my kid and we started working on her potty training AGAIN! We know she is withholder and it’s getting more difficult with her age (she will be 5 this November) and now I don’t think I can give her more time waiting for her to be ready to overcome the problem on her own. I admit I’m soft-hearted when it comes to her and that has resulted in this much delay. It also clashes with our impatient nature. We started figuring out steps that work for her. I just hope it doesn’t take another year for her to be fully potty trained. I might not post or blog hop regularly if I have to until everything is on track with her.

Reading Stats

Books Read : 12 (5 novel + 7 short stories/children’s fiction)
Pages Read : 3147

June in Reading

Zen by Shabnam Minwalla is beautiful, deep, well-written mix of contemporary and historical fiction that cleverly blends the lives of two girls with the same name from different time periods, Mumbai in 1935 and Mumbai in 2019, and how political changes in India affect their lives along with family drama and romance. I loved both Zen in the present and Zainab in the past. The family dynamic of both Zainabs was equally interesting. The theme and layers were amazing. I love how the topic was realistic and moreover, I love reading it from Indian Muslim’s perspective. It perfectly blends Mumbai’s history with its present. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison is fluffy, adorable, and delightful romance with lovely characters and a perfect setting. This definitely has a hallmark movie vibe with lots of Christmas spirit, with friendship, love, and holiday magic at its core. Romance is slow burn with friends-to-lovers trope. It was heartwarming to read how Luka and Stella slowly falling in love over the past ten years. Banter is fun and chemistry is hot and sizzling. What I loved most is how they handled fake dating and their real feeling. They were upfront about how they didn’t want it to ruin their friendship and handled the confession maturely. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies by Alison Goodman  is immersive feminist historical fiction set in Regency London that revolves around two unmarried twin sisters in their forties who gets involved in a series of rescue adventures that saves women and children from a dangerous and life-threatening situations. There are many themes and layers that included. But even with such darker themes and topics there are many uplifting and lovely moments. I enjoyed banter between the characters. It feels good to see both Augusta and Julia, who were in their spinsterhood in the beginning, found love at the end who admired them for who they are. This is absolute perfection and I’m already want to read the next books in the series. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn is as complex and immersive YA fantasy as its predecessor Legendborn. The plot is as complicated and twisty as I expected. I couldn’t guess what would happen next, where this will go. I had a little ideas/theories but they all turned out wrong. grief, loss, racism, and intergenerational trauma is the main theme in this book. I liked how realistically author showed how in small or big part the racism continues to be part of the system. However, I didn’t like Bree’s reckless and not enough development in her character, love triangle and romance is disappointing, and the end isn’t that strong and satisfying. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Sisters of Sea View by Julie Klassen is heartwarming character-driven historical fiction about four Summer sisters struggling with their financial situation after their father’s death which makes them turn their house, ‘The Sea View’ into a guest house for travelers. It’s about their struggle with the change in their life and status from being gentlewomen to tradeswomen, running the guest house, getting out of their comfort zone for a better future, confronting traumatic past, ups and downs in sister relationships, and unexpected romance. All sisters are amazing. The Summer family dynamic and sisterly bond between them is the best part in the book I loved how they all worked together to keep their house and staff. They all are realistic and they faced all dramas and struggle that came with turning The Sea View to guest house together. They didn’t always get along, they had different personalities and views that clashed and still their love for each other shone throughout the book. I’m going to rate this⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

An Authoress and a Viscount by Ann Hawthorne is short well-written Regency Romance with many Regency details and amazing characters. Author packed lots of things in just few pages – fashion, forms of dances, court life and drama, scheming and mystery, scandal, banter, romance, as well as character growth. I loved both Lavinia and Hugh. Romance is clean and slow burn. I enjoyed the chemistry, the push and pull between Lavinia and Hugh. Their banter and remarks are fun. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Bipathu and a Very Big Dream by Anita Nair s heartwarming, lovely, and fun middle-grade fiction that shows a glimpse of Indian village life. The author subtly covered many layers in this small lovely story. The representation of Cerebral Palsy. Gender stereotype is highlighted throughout the book. Economic inequality and position in society is also hinted. There is also a hint of religious differences. What I loved most about Bipathu’s friendship with her elder neighbor is how Bipathu never felt she was missing out on anything by spending time with her neighbors and her family nor she envied other kids but could see what other kids were missing out by staying at home watching TV and playing on the phone. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Dum Dum to the Rescue and Yet More Adventures of Little Shambu by Reena Ittyerah Puri is fun and entertaining third and last installment in the Adventures of Little Shambu series. Like previous books, this is 6-in-1 chapter book with easy writing, cute illustrations, adventurous and adorable characters, and all stories subtly address animal rights issues. it was fun and entertaining to read animals’ thoughts, Shambu’s kindness towards animals and his frindship with his dog Dum Dum. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Simi Stands Tall by Arti Sonthalia is lovely, heartwarming, and realistic middle-grade fiction about dealing with change in life and facing it with courage that all kids can relate to. I loved how author showed middle-grade girl’s life in house with love and hate relationships with siblings and in school. Simi’s development is good. There is also serious layers like parents with cancer and how it affects kids, kid with divorced parents and the struggle of with financial condition and they face judgments in school, and losing a pet and loved one but they are well balanced with lovely moments with family and friends. I definitely recommend this book to middle-grade readers. I will rate this ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Paper Plane Flew by Bharti Singh is imaginative, nostalgic, and beautiful children’s book about the Paper Plane journey and father-daughter bond, childhood memories, and changes in life and the transition to the next phase of life but at the same time keeping the lovely memories alive through the transition. I loved how the paper plane journey shows all things in life come to a full circle and the importance of small things. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Girl Who Loved to Run: PT Usha by Lavanya Karthik  is beautiful, inspiring, and empowering illustrated biography for children that every young reader would like to read. This sure will inspire kids to ignite their ambitions and follow their dreams. It shows how the big dream starts small and unknowingly and how the beginning of the journey is the most important in life. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Whale Who Refused to Poo by Daniel Kim is the story of an orphaned baby whale who is ashamed to poo in front of other fish. It is cute, lovely, and colorful children’s book about Whales and their environment that kids would love to read and learn. It opens the door to discussing whale facts with kids and also the poo situation. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Best book of the Month

All novels I read were amazing and so were children’s book but I will choose the best of each that I absolutely enjoyed.

Best Character of the Month

Augusta in The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies

Selwyn in Bloodmarked

Blog Stats

Plans for July

Nothing much! I will try to read as much as I can but I have a feeling next few months I might not be able to read or be around much.

Thank you for reading! Let’s chat..,

How was your June in life and reading?
Have you read any of these books?
What do you plan to read in July?

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How was your June in life and reading? What do you plan to read in July?

Check out my June in life and reading in this #MonthlyWrapUp post ⬇️https://t.co/h4bcraiaRR

— Books Teacup and Reviews (@BooksTnReview) July 3, 2023

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