June Wrap Up

Image by Holly Maguire

June ended up being a pretty successful reading month for me. I read six books and accomplished everything I set out to do, including reading all three books in the Lord of the Rings series. Here's what I finished:

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
Munmun by Jesse Andrews
The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller
The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien

My favorite read of the month ended up being Munmun, an absurd and funny novel about wealth inequality. This one made a big impression on me and I ended up putting it onto my all-time favorites list. I enjoyed the Lord of the Rings books too, although I was occasionally bored with the dense descriptive passages.

My least favorite book this month was The Book Whisperer, a teacher resource that was not as helpful as I was hoping it would be. I already knew a lot about the topic it covered and was frustrated at the lack of specifics I could bring into my classroom. Even so, I think I will get some use out of the list of recommended middle grades novels it includes.

My plan for July is to continue chipping away at my challenges, and hopefully enjoy a few fun, easy books. After wading through 1,000 pages of Tolkien's challenging writing, I'm in the mood for some guilty pleasure reading! Here's my plan:

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell

Truevine by Beth Macy

Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

My lighter reads should be the young adult works by Rainbow Rowell for my Then Versus Now Challenge. From there, things take a rather serious turn in subject matter. I'm the most worried about Wives and Daughters, as it's quite long and by an author that I have a so-so track record with. Hopefully Gaskell will surprise me and it won't be as sleep-inducing as Ruth. I guess we'll see!