Hey everyone! I’ve been on a reading roll this year. January through June of 2020, I read 50 books, 12 of which I read in June (that was the most I read in a single month), and I thought it would be fun to share them with y’all.
I’ve also been meaning to make more Youtube videos, so I made a video of me discussing the books if you’d like to check it out. It was my first video talking in front of the camera, and it was fun to try out something different from the usual blog posts. I have a lot to learn as far as video is concerned–it’s a whole different animal from photography and blogging! If you have any tips, feel free to send them my way.
Disclosure: This post is not sponsored. The post contains affiliate links, meaning if you purchase through them, I may make a small commission.
These are the books I read in June 2020:
Final Girls by Riley Sager (Thriller)- This thriller has horror/slasher/Scream vibes and a food blogger main character. I loved this one, it was one of my top 5-10 reads so far this year.
Recursion by Blake Crouch: (Sci-Fi Thriller)- This sci-fi thriller had me at the edge of my seat the whole time, and when I finished it, I was like this would make an amazing movie or show! And after some googling, I found out it’s going to be on Netflix–I’m so excited! This was also one of my top reads so far this year.
The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B. Cooney (Young Adult Thriller)- This book was a re-read–I read it for the first time when I was around 10 years old (in the ’90s). I loved it then, and I love it now! It was such a nostalgic, fun read.
Cirque Berserk by Jessica Guess (Horror)- I found this book through Jessica’s blog Black Girls Guide to Horror recently and was intrigued by the cute cover. It is set in a carnival and has vintage (1980s) and slasher vibes, diverse characters, and surprising plot, all of which I loved!
Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson (Young Adult Thriller)- This book gutted me (in a good way.) It has real, well developed characters, and a powerful, heartbreaking story.
No Exit by Taylor Adams (Thriller)- I enjoyed this thriller and thought it had a very strong ending, which I always appreciate.
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty (Fiction/Mystery)- This book wasn’t a super fun read for me since I’d already seen the show and kept picturing the actresses (seeing a show or movie first often ruins the story for me.) It took me a while to get into, but I did still enjoy it. I liked the show better overall though and enjoyed how the show went even deeper into the story in Season 2.
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn (Thriller)- Again, this one was kind of ruined for me because I saw the show first. I guess I should know better by now than to read a book if I’ve already seen the adaptation, but sometimes if the book is much different I can still enjoy it (and I have trouble resisting bargain books while thrifting, which is what happened with both of these books.) This book was well written though (Gillian Flynn is an amazing writer), and if you haven’t seen the show I’d definitely recommend checking it out if you like thrillers.
All the Beautiful Lies by Peter Swanson (Thriller)- I enjoyed this thriller and think it’s worth checking out if you find an inexpensive copy, but it wasn’t one of my favorites.
Christine by Stephen King (Horror)- This was my least favorite read of the month, I had a lot of trouble getting into it/finishing it.
Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen- Like Christine, I didn’t really get into this book either, but it was much easier to finish since it’s short. I haven’t seen the movie in a while, but I remember liking it, so maybe this is another instance where I like the movie better.
A Secret Rage by Charlaine Harris (Mystery)- Charlaine Harris is one of my favorite authors, and one of my goals is to read all of her books. This book was one of the few I had left to read (I still have some anthologies she edited to read though.) The story is a mystery centered around a serial rapist, and I don’t like reading about sexual assault, so this wasn’t one of my favorites, though it was still well written/a good book.
Overall, it was a good book month for me–I discovered two of my favorite books of 2020 so far, Final Girls and Recursion, and enjoyed quite a few of the others I read as well.
Have ya’ll read any good books recently? Any recommendations for me? Please let me know in the comments! Also, I’m not sure if I’ll do more of these reading round-up types of posts/videos or not, so if you’d like to see more, please let me know.
Other Things I Mentioned in the video:
-Bookstagrammers I enjoy: @thethrillerqueeen & @amanda__reads
–Sookie Stackhouse Books
–True Blood
–Buffy the Vampire Slayer
–Scream
–Riverdale
-My Riverdale/Cheryl Blossom Cosplay: Part 1 & Part 2
–Stranger Things
[…] by Caroline B. Cooney, a nostalgic series that I read as a kid that I’ve enjoyed re-reading. (I read the first book, The Face on the Milk Carton in June.) I also read Monster by Christopher Pike (I used to love Christopher Pike books as a pre-teen too […]