I just can’t wrap my head around the fact that the first half of 2018 is already over. Poof. Disappeared. How did that happen, when it still feels like January? Winter is here… And it’s been pretty cold down here so far. One of the reasons I’ve been busy learning a new crochet technique and I made this rainbow bobble stitch cowl (among other things). ❤

The cold came with a virus though, and I’ve been under the weather for the last ten days or so of June. I guess being cooped up inside did mean I was able to read way more than I initially planned: a total of 19 books! And there were more surprises… Not only has It’s All About Books now reached the magical 100.000 page views mark ( ❤ ❤ ❤ ), I’m also reaaaaaally close to getting that mythical 200 NG review badge!! o.O

Now to the bookish numbers:

  • Number of books read in June : 19
  • Total number of books read this year: 97
  • Total number of pages read in June: 6.012
  • Total number of pages read this year: 30.832

I somehow managed to read a lot last month, and most of them were excellent as well.  I was able to add two 5 star read to my list of favorites and five other titles received an almost perfect rating as well. I did have a couple of other lower ratings, but overall I’m quite happy with last month.

JUNE READS

5 STARS: Absolutely and entirely mind blowing! I suggest you to pick up a copy now.

The Date – by Louise Jensen // The Border – by Steve Schafer

4.5 STARS: This one was almost perfect. Surely fantastic! 

The Fourth Monkey – by J.D. Barker // The Fifth To Die – by J.D. Barker // Will To Live – by Rachel Amphlett // Her Mother’s Grave – by Lisa Regan // One To Watch – by Rachel Amphlett

4 STARS: Wow, this was really good. Close to amazing!

What Happened That Night – by Sandra Block // The Perfect Friend – by Barbara Copperthwaite // Bad Romance – by Heather Demetrios

3.5 STARS: Great read. Really entertaining!

Bring Me Back – by B.A. Paris // The Silent Sister – by Shalini Boland // Saigon Dark – by Elka Ray

3 STARS: It was a nice read, but not fantastic. 

The Lost For Words Bookshop – by Stephanie Butland // The Upside Of Unrequited – by Becky Albertalli // When The Moon Was Ours – by Anna-Marie McLemore

2.5 STARS: I give this one the benefit of the doubt. Nothing too exciting.

The Map Of Us – by Jules Preston // The Year Of The Snake – by M.J. Trow

2 STARS: It was ok. But mostly ‘meh’.

The Unbinding Of Mary Reade – by Miriam McNamara

I haven’t joined a lot of challenges this year so far, mostly because I decided to focus more on ‘fun’ reading and less on goals I have to complete. Things are going way better than planned! I’m almost done with both my Goodreads challenge, the Beat The Backlist challenge and I’m really close to completing When Are You Reading? as well. I still haven’t found a title for the last era though (1600-1699). I really need to start reading some classics for the Reading Through The Centuries challenge by the way because I’m quite behind with that one.

# CHALLENGES #

As for my other goals… I managed to finish read my first (modern) classic, so two more titles left to go. I also managed to add three new titles to my list of foreign authors/translations… Note: I’m calling authors international when they were born in a non-English country (AKA UK, Ireland, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, you get the idea). I also joined another challenge and completed my challenge goal! My NG ratio is also quite stable and well above the 80% mark; I’m really happy with that. As for the rest of them: I have actually finished my Spanish read a few days ago (which also counts as a reread, so two down), and I’m hoping to pick up my Dutch title in July as well. I’m still deciding which will be my 800+ pages book though.

# OTHER READING/BLOGGING GOALS #

  • Read at least 3 (modern) classics (rereads don’t count) 1/3 (Murder On The Orient Express)
  • Complete at least 5 series (rereads don’t count) 4/5 (The Conspiracy Of Us, Bad Girls Don’t Die, Embassy Row, The 5th Wave)
  • Reread at least 2 books 0/2
  • Bring my physical TBR pile below 300 books and keep it that way. 386/300
  • Read at least one book over 800 pages 0/1 (maximum 528 pages)
  • Read at least 1 book in Spanish 0/1
  • Read at least 1 book in Dutch 0/1
  • Read more international authors/translations (at least 10) 9/10 (Stage Four (The Netherlands)/ Born A Crime (South Africa)/ Halfway (India)/ A Castle In Romagna (Croatia)/ My Sweet Friend (Belgium)/ The Elephant Keeper’s Daughter (Germany)/ The Letter For The King (Indonesia)/ The Air Raid Killer (Germany)/ My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She’s Sorry (Sweden))
  • Join at least 5 challenges during the year 5/5 DONE!!
  • Keep my Netgalley ratio above the 80% currently at 96%
  • Reach 5km running! 2000m/5000m

Happy July and Happy Reading! 

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