June 2026 Wrap-Up
Happy mid-July!
How has everyone’s summer been going? What fun things have you been getting up to? One highlight of my June was I finally got to meet Brynne Weaver. If you didn’t know, I got to copyedit Black Sheep for her and Alexa Harlowe, so it was such an amazing experience to finally meet her in person at the Book Boudoir in Edmonton😍 When I tell y’all I was shaking like a leaf from all the emotions 😅 I also got to see Luna Day again, and now I officially have all her books! She has a new book releasing in October, New Chapel, and it looks so freaking good! Anyhoo, I didn’t get as much reading done in June as I would’ve liked, but I’m going into July with some new strategies so we’ll see if they work. So far, they’re not 😅 I did get bombarded with work, so that’s been taking up most of my time, but the books I’m working on at the moment are all great, so I’m happy. In June, I managed to finish 3 books and 1 audiobook, and 1 of those books was a picture book. I’m currently reading around 6 books and listening to 3 audiobooks, so we’ll how many I end up finishing.
Editing Update: I had a little lull in editing work but it’s really picked up again! I’m currently working on 2 projects, and I’m happy to announce that I’ll be a judge for Writing Battle once again! I’m also currently booked until October, so if you have any spooky manuscripts, I’d love to hear about them so I can read things that fit my favorite season 🎃 Tell me all about your manuscripts here!
My Library
The Secret Pocket by Peggy Janicki
Review:
This was a very quick but important and thoughtful read about the Indigenous author’s mother’s experience as a child in a residential school. I saw this book on an Indigenous book rec list from my library and thought it would be a quick and informative read, as it’s a picture book. The art was an interesting style and the story was well written and emotional. I think it would be a great book to read to your elementary school–aged child to introduce them to the topic of residential schools, as it’s descriptive but not too graphic. It’s definitely an emotional read, though. I’d highly recommend checking it out! The Author’s Note at the end added more information about her mother’s history and explained how the author carried that story into her life and honored her family’s experience.
5/5⭐
Netgalley eARCs
Ladies of the Knight by Fiona Marchbank
Review:
I had just come back from renfaire when I finished this graphic novel, so it was definitely on theme. I loved the plot of this story so much. It was so heartfelt and the characters were all beautifully written. The camaraderie among the knights was so strong even though they were all hella competitive with each other. Seraphina and Minerva’s relationship was so fun with how Seraphina was such a simp for her wife despite her gruff personality. I also loved the contrast between Seraphina and Aethelburg. The art was stunning, and I loved seeing the characters’ outfits evolve throughout the story. The bonus content was super neat! This story just has so much personality and I highly recommend checking it out!
4.5/5⭐
Cat-Life Balance Vol. 1 by Akari Otokawa
Review:
This was such an adorable manga. The beginning was a bit boring when the characters were first introduced, but once they started meeting up at the park and Kurone talks about the stray cats, things got much more interesting. I love how the MMC, Mamoru, won over Puff, the jaded stray cat. That scene was so heartwarming. I love how Kurone also starts to slowly come out of her shell. I’m curious if she’ll end up making more friends at her job, so I may end up reading a few more volumes to see how things progress, especially with Mamoru.
3/5⭐
Other (e)ARCs
I’m currently reading quite a few eARCs and I’m loving all of them so far! Hopefully I’ll finish some so I can review them at the end of this month.
Audiobooks
Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman
Review:
I got super excited about this book from Mercedes’s excitement for it, but it did not live up to the hype for me. I thought it would be super creepy and more of a ghostly horror, but it only had a few really creepy scenes and the story focused more on the family’s issues and Bella’s mother. Honestly, that lady needed some serious therapy. The way they framed her mother’s issues made everything so much more dramatic than it really was, and they could’ve explained things in a much more calm and mature way. I guess that probably wouldn’t have worked for the story, but it also just made me feel very annoyed with how Bella’s parents acted. I liked her grandmother’s character, though. Her parents really lagged with their decision to get an exorcist, and it felt like they wasted so much time. No wonder Bella did what she did at the end. I would’ve been sick of their crap too. I did love the concept of the Other Mommy and she was a really creepy entity. I wish she had more page time. Overall, this was a decent horror story but was way less horror than I was expecting.
3/5⭐
Let me know what you’ve been up to this summer in the comments below, and if you’ve had any great reads!
Happy reading!
