1. The Five Kisses by Karla Darcy
2. Never a Mistress, No Longer a Maid by Maureen Driscoll
3. Why Prohibition! by Charles Stelzle
4. 12 Health & Fitness Mistakes You Don't Know You're Making by Michael Matthews
5. The Silver Locket by Margarey James
6. The Office Idiot Review by Pete Sortwell
7. The Variant Effect by G. Wells Taylor
8. The Top 30 Vegetarian Slow Cooker Recipes for Busy Women by Sarah Jessica Cook
9. R is for Running by Ray Charbonneau
10. Snow Bound by Blake Crouch
11. Conduct Unbecoming a Gentleman by Wareeze Woodson
12. Weight Loss Motivation Hacks by Derek Doepker
13. A Father's Odyssey: 75 Marathons in 75 Days by Terry Hitchcock and Peter Jessen (June 30, 2013)
Yup, that's 13 books for June. Not bad. Some books were longer than others, but a book is a book. Always fun to get lost in the pages of a story.
Top Books
Why Prohibition! is probably my favorite of all the books this month. Remember, I'm a history person, so this book may not be your thing, but I loved it! The book was written in 1918 and gave all the reasons why prohibition needed to happen and how to counter-argue those who felt Prohibition shouldn't pass. I loved reading all the arguments for Prohibition. It really is crazy all the reasons given that I never would have thought of: after the war, Europe would need our grain to rebuild; non-drinkers do not get paid as much as they should because bosses take into account the drunks at work; if passed, imagine all the money the family will have for food and luxuries. What I liked especially about this book is knowing how Prohibition went. It's interesting hearing the very logical explanations for Prohibition, which makes sense but that just didn't actually play out the way the dry's anticipated. Such a neat read not only for the content, but also for the writing itself. The writing style of the turn of the 20th century is truly different than how we write today. It's a great book to expose yourself to that writing style!
The Variant Effect was a good book too. I'll be honest, it was a bit graphic in terms of violence, but it was a really cool book. In a world where drug companies come up with medications that get passed quickly by the FDA, this book tells the story of a drug that cured just about everything, then it turned out to be worse than any disease it cured. Think zombies meet drugs with lots of violence and there you go. I liked this one because I've been on a zombie book kick lately and while this book kinda fit into that genre, it wasn't about zombies. It was definitely one of those books that I kept trying to find time to read it when I should have been doing other stuff.
Don't Read
This month, there weren't too many in this category. I'll be honest, none of the books in June were awful (thank heavens!), so while the following books are not "don't read" worthy, I just wasn't digging them.
The Office Idiot Review is supposed to be a funny book and I've read another one similar that was funny, but this one just didn't seem to hit the mark. The premise of the book is the whole book are reviews of products by one particular office, where the people overlap in their reviews. Some of the reviews for office products were funny. But, for the most part, the reviews fell flat to me. I just didn't find them very funny. Maybe it was the story lines being woven through the reviews that didn't interest me. But, for some reason this book just did nothing for me.
Conduct Unbecoming a Gentleman is a mindless romance novel. I like these, especially in summer. Sadly, this one just annoyed me. The whole time the male protagonist just stuck to his own prejudices and refused to see what was in front of him. I get that's the way these books are supposed to go, but ugh. Maybe there were just too many examples of how the female protagonist was the opposite of what he wanted so the reader could fully be just as frustrated with him as she was. I don't know. I liked the premise of the book, but it just bothered me how stubborn the make was in this one. It was a decent read and I finished it, but it did make me a little annoyed...never good for a mindless romance novel.
The rest of the books were ok. Nothing to write home about, but not awful. I just love the Kindle because of all the books I read these days, unless it's a history or running book, I can pick something up for free on it and not worry if it's a great book or not. Best.Christmas.Present.Ever!
What did you read in June? Any recommendations?
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Holy Cow! 13 books in ONE month!! That's very impressive!! I'm almost done with "the violet of march" by Sarah Jio. LOVE it, can't out it down!!
ReplyDeleteHere is a quick overview:
A heartbroken woman stumbled upon a diary and steps into the life of its anonymous author.
In her twenties, Emily Wilson was on top of the world: she had a bestselling novel, a husband plucked from the pages of GQ, and a one-way ticket to happily ever after.
Ten years later, the tide has turned on Emily's good fortune. So when her great-aunt Bee invites her to spend the month of March on Bainbridge Island in Washington State, Emily accepts, longing to be healed by the sea. Researching her next book, Emily discovers a red velvet diary, dated 1943, whose contents reveal startling connections to her own life.
I love to read. Always have. Though sometimes I wish I was IN the book rather than the world I'm in. LOL!
DeleteThat sounds like a great book! :) Will have to put that one on the list.