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[HAPPY JULY!] How are we more than halfway through 2019?!? Time sure does fly.
I’m wrapping up June with some great AND not-so-great reads, but that’s expected, right? I’ve felt a little lost the last few months with my reading life; I couldn’t quite find books that really resonated with me or that I felt interested in enough to write about them passionately. Personally, I feel that 2018 has been my best reading year yet and I’m constantly comparing books to some of the BEST I’ve read: The Great Believers, Educated, Lillian Boxfish Takes A Walk, The Great Alone. But that just isn’t fair to my 2019 books!
Anyone else find their standards are just too high after reading remarkable books that stay with you for days and weeks and months? I HAVE read great books this year, but I’m still waiting on that raw, emotional feeling I get when a book touches my heart in just the right place.
With that being said, I’ve learned a few things through my June reading. One: a thriller has to be damn good to for me to REALLY enjoy. Two: I will never pass up an historical fiction WWII book, ever. Three: I’ve been very disappointed in Reese Witherspoon’s book club choices.
Let’s address my first point above. Don’t get me wrong, I have read amazing thrillers like Not Her Daughter, Then She Was Gone and Because You’re Mine but lately the genre has fallen incredibly flat for me. I was extremely surprised by Something in the Water – it was our June book club pick and I felt very let down (I didn’t even review it!). The Night Olivia Fell was a decent mystery with a good twist near the end but like I’ve mentioned, I’m just not a thriller gal.
To my second point, I LOVE, love, love, love historical fiction and I am a huge sucker for WWII reads. I adored Those Who Save Us and would recommend it over and over again to anyone who loves the genre as much as I do. I gravitate towards books that spark an emotional reaction in me and stories that stay with me for years to come. I totally get historical fiction isn’t for everyone, but I embrace and welcome dark, heavy and emotional reads!
My third point coincides with my first point mentioned above and the mystery/thriller genre – Reese Witherspoon’s book club picks, in my opinion, are incredibly random and hit or miss! This pick was a total miss for me. While I’ve loved past choices like Where The Crawdads Sing, I find that some of her picks are too fluffy or predictable for me.
To wrap up my post and June month of reading, I’m ranking my reads from favorite to least. I’m starting July out strong with Before We Were Yours and I’m hopeful to get back on track with some amazing reads!
The Forgotten Hours 
Something in the Water
*just a reminder: I do not review everything I read. I review books I love and would 110% recommend or books I don’t quite love but still have a lot of thoughts on them! If a review is not posted for a book I’ve read, that simply means I wasn’t a huge fan or I just don’t have enough thoughts/opinions to create a worthy and quality post*
The Bookmarker 