End Of June And Halfway Through July Reading

We're back from our vacation to Saskatchewan and I'm trying to catch up on life today. Rachel is volunteering at dance camp all this week, we're doing some gardening for various friends, and I probably have some yard work to focus on. Since I won't have much time to read this week (too busy catching up on "all the things"), I thought I would publish a book post today. And I'm doing something a little differently and combining an entire month of reading into one post.

I started this book in May and then had to return it. However, my hold on it came back in mid-June. I didn't remember much about the beginning of the book but didn't feel the need to re-read it. However, I did really enjoy the second half. After I'd finished this book, I spent a lot of time on Wikipedia reading about the larger Kennedy family, especially Kick (Kathleen) and Rosemary. I didn't realize how tragic their lives actually were.

I didn't think this was Jennifer Robson's strongest book. I much preferred The Gown, Somewhere In France, or Goodnight From London. However, it was interesting to read more about London surrounding the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

   

   

I read about eight "In Death" books in a row during  the last weeks of work in June. I just couldn't handle diving into a new book so I reached for old, familiar, friends. (Am I the only person who thinks of books as "friends"?!?). These were some of the earliest "In Death" books and some of the more recent ones. And re-reading this many "In Death" books is why I decided I could write about one month of reading in one post :)

This was a Decades Reading Challenge book. So here's the thing -- now we're reading in the 1960s. I was born in 1972 so the 1960s doesn't feel that far removed from my life. This book was about segregation in the Southern US combined with a present day story. I find it so hard to believe the strides we've made in my lifetime. I feel like (official) "segregation" was so long ago but it really wasn't. (And I wrote "(official) segregation" because I realize that there is still a lot of work for society to do towards anti-racism and equal rights for everyone, no matter what.)

Here's another book which takes place not long before I was born. I don't usually enjoy Elin Hilderbrand books but I really liked this one. I read it because it was on the Decades Reading Challenge list for the 1960s. I liked the multiple perspectives. I liked the story. I liked the time period. I would recommend this book and I don't say that about many Hilderbrand novels. I want to read the followup to this book, Summer of '79. That's how much I enjoyed this book.

 

I wanted to finish this series off and then realized I didn't really remember what had happened previously. So I muddled my way through the third book (which I thought was just...okay) and then re-read the second book which I enjoyed much more. I'm currently waiting for the first book to come in so I can remind myself of the beginning. These books would probably be much more enjoyable read in order, one after the other.

Since I'd re-read so many of the recent "In Death" books, I wanted to re-read this one too. This is one of the better books in the series. I really appreciate when Robb ties current events/issues in (in this case, sex trafficking) with this futuristic series.

And that's what I read over the course of a month. And because this post covers the last of my June reading, here are some statistics for you.

Total books read in June: 13

Total books read in 2023: 86