Does anyone else long for the days where your summer was spent checking entire series out of the library and spending all your waking hours diving into new worlds? I distinctly remember the summer between third and fourth grade when I read The Series of Unfortunate Events. I still talk about the summer where I read all seven Harry Potter books in eight days. (Reading Order of the Phoenix in one sitting is still one of my proudest moments.)
This summer, I was hoping to be able to dive into reading in the same way (can I still earn free personal pan pizzas?). Of course, work and life has eaten up a bit more reading time than I had hoped, but that doesn’t meanI haven’t found some gems in these first few weeks of summer reading!
5 Books in June
Puppies, Dogs, and Blue Northers by Gary Paulsen
Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney
Reputation by Lex Croucher
The Gentleman’s Gambit by Evie Dunmore
Arch-Conspirator by Veronica Roth
Highest Rated Book: The Gentleman’s Gambit ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (I absolutely love this series)
Lowest Rated Book: Arch-Conspirator ⭐️ (Just read the OG Antigone instead)
Other Goals
Books from My TBR: 3 (I did some book buying this month 😬)
Book of the Month editions: 2 (Rock Paper Scissors and The Gentleman’s Gambit)
Hours Spent Writing in May: 6 hours
Total Writing Hours in 2024: 100 hours
Books Bought: 4
Reputation by Lex Croucher
The Fields by Erin Young
The Bone Code by Kathy Reichs
Arch-Conspirator by Veronica Roth
Notes on June
We’re half way through the year and a third of the way through my reading goal! With 33/100 books read so far, it’s time to talk strategy for the second half of the year: More audiobooks, mixing in short story and poetry collections, finding a few good series to power through!
Also in June, Musings officially released to the world. I’m so grateful to everyone who got a copy and who have taken the time to read it. I have loved hearing which pieces were favorites and which ones made you smile, or cry, or laugh. I promise there will be more writing to come in the next few months and hopefully another big project in 2025!
Sydney M. Crago 