June Recap

Goodbye June! You wore me out. Completely and utterly. I did, however, manage to read a quite a few books. Here are the highlights:

Chime by Franny Billingsley

The Liar Society by Lisa & Laura Roecker

Girl's Best Friend by Lisa Margolis

Sequins, Secrets, and Silver Linings by Sophia Bennett  - Let me point you to Trisha's review over at The YA YA YA S, which is what made me want to read the book, when she compared it to My Most Excellent Year, a most excellent book by Steve Kluger. Bennett's book turned out to be one of my favorites of this year; here's my favorite line, that I think just sums up what kind of lovely book this is - "Bad stuff happens, but every now and again miracles can happen, too...Life can be that kind." (p. 280) Can't wait for the next one!

The False Princess by Eilis O'Neal - magic, adventure, a conspiracy, a little romance...such a good book...Janssen's review at Everyday Reading is what made me want to read this, and I'm so glad I did.

The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson - I read 13 Little Blue Envelopes ages ago, but Johnson does a great job of reminding the reader about things from the previous book. Loved this one as much as the first.

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray - While I loved Bray's A Great and Terrible Beauty, I never finished Going Bovine, and I wasn't sure what to expect from this one, in which a plane full of teenage beauty pageant contestants crashes on an island. This is over-the-top, a satire that was so much fun. About thirty pages into it, I texted a friend telling her she had to read this.

We'll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han - Hmmm...The last book in Han's Summer trilogy, I included this because I'd waited so long for it, and was glad to see how story ended. While I'm happy with the brother Belly finally chose, this wasn't really the story I was wanting. There's a little epilogue at the end; that is the story I wanted.