June was  a weirdly dizzying month. As per usual, I’m a little stunned that it’s finished already, but at the same time it felt oddly drawn out. I think the main thing making me feel this way is the fact that I feel stuck on the books I’m reading at the moment. This is the first time in a while I’ve gone through an entire month without finishing any of the books I’m in the middle of. I don’t dislike them or anything, so I’m troubled by this reading rut I’m in at the moment.

Anyway, enough disgruntled introspection. On to the new books!

New Books

Stories of Jedi and Sith by various was the only book this month that was actually planned; I had pre-ordered it a while ago, so I was expecting it would appear on this post this month. I don’t normally go for the middle grade Star Wars stuff, but I like the idea of this collection with its diverse selection of characters. I’m particularly looking forward to checking out the story about Rey.

The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett was a book I spontaneously purchased. I decided to hang out in a bookstore while my partner had an appointment, and by a surprising coincidence one of the only two Discworld books they had in stock is the exact next one I need. I haven’t actually read the book that precedes this one yet, but I plan to get to it soon, so I decided to give this local shop some business.

I was utterly compelled to pick up The Rise and Reign of the Mammals by Steve Brusatte once I found out that it exists. I really loved reading the author’s book The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs a few years ago, so a follow-up like this sounds perfect to me. I’m less interested in mammals than I am dinosaurs, sure, but I expect this will be a wonderful reading experience.

I was inspired to pick up The Plague Charmer by Karen Maitland in part because of a Top Ten Tuesday post I recently did that featured books with animals on their covers. I really like the design of this book, and I really enjoyed Maitland’s A Gathering of Ghosts, so I decided it was time to pick this book up.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold are the two purchases that were the most random this month. They’re both books I’ve had a passive interest in for a long time, but not enough to go out of my way to pick up. As it happens, however, a friend of a friend was moving, so she needed to sell some of her books. The deal was too good to pass up, so now they’re mine.

Novel Discoveries

Admittedly, I barely remember why I decided to virtual shelve Villager by Tom Cox. I think it involves a mystery in a small village spanning generations, but that is really not specific. Reading the summary on Goodreads didn’t jog my memory either. Nevertheless, I’m not deterred from sharing this here. I’m sure it’s worth checking out.

People From My Neighbourhood by Hiromi Kawakami is a book I learned of thanks to TikTok. Not only am I interested in the premise, which blends mundane slices of life with magical realism, but I’m happy for the opportunity to read more Japanese literature, which is something I have a growing interest in but virtually no experience with.

What Moves The Dead by T. Kingfisher is a book I only just heard about the other day. I find the cover quite eye-catching, and learning that it’s a retelling of “The Fall of the House of Usher” involving infection of the environment by way of gigantic mushrooms, I knew I would probably enjoy checking it out.

Closing Thoughts

How do you deal with a reading rut? I’ve always been a little slow at reading, but my subpar reading pace this past month has felt a little different. Part of me wants to blame work, but it’s not as if I haven’t been working two jobs for the better part of a year now. It has impacted my reading in general, sure, but it hadn’t been this bad before now, and I’m not sure how to remedy it. Perhaps I just need to ease up on the pressure I’m putting on myself, but that yearning to finish reading books clashing with my weaker inclination to get casual reading done is a weird hill I need to get over.

With summer now in full swing, I hope you’re all enjoying yourselves and the lovely weather. Until next time, thank you for reading.