What I read in June 2017.

Well, June was a cracking month for reading, wasn't it? It was for me, anyway. My Recovery Reading has been so efficient I've had to up my Goodreads challenge a few times already – I'm now aiming to have read 80 books by the end of 2017 and while I know that may not seem much to a lot of my bookish brethren, it's a lot for this reader! 

I decided to devote this month to YALC prep, meaning I've only been reading YA for the past four weeks and let me tell you, it's been magical. I maintain that YA fiction is not just for young adults – the themes present in those novels are incredibly mature, and the issues tackled by some authors are so painfully important. 

As mentioned in my start-of-month post, I started June with 'The Loneliest Girl in the Universe', and read 'How Not To Disappear' not long after. 

I also tackled Sarah Crossan's latest 'Moonrise', and as predicted, her fantastic verse once again made me wobble. It was a shocking and stunning story. 

Next up was 'Editing Emma: The Secret Blog of a Nearly Proper Person' by the mega babe Chloe Seager. It's very rare that a book makes me laugh these days, but my goodness this narrator was an absolute hoot...and a total teenage mess. I related to her a little too much...

I also had to (lol, 'had to'? I was thrilled to) read 3 specific YA novels in preparation for a panel I was chairing at Waterstones Tottenham Court Road. I got to chatter with Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock, author of 'The Smell of Other People's Houses'; Tanya Landman, author of several YA books but most recently 'Beyond the Wall'; and Lisa Heathfield, author of 'Seed', 'Paper Butterflies' and most recently 'Flight of a Starling'. 

There will be a full blog post to come about this magical night, and how fab it was for all involved – so for now I'll simply say it was magical, enlightening and inspiring. I also thoroughly enjoyed and was moved by every book I read for it; I definitely learned something important from each one. 

I then deviated from my YA Only regime and indulged in some poetry! 'The Princess Saves Herself in this One', the heartbreaking and hope-bringing debut collection from Amanda Lovelace, had been appearing all over my Twitter timeline and Instagram feed for a while, so I scooped it up at Waterstones TCR before the panel event. I read it in less than 24 hours, and am already planning to re-read it several times over the course of my life. Maybe once every few months. It was not dissimilar to Rupi Kaur's 'Milk and Honey' in that it pulled my fickle heart apart before repairing it very gently – and I couldn't believe that level of feeling was possible to evoke in so few words. 

Then I jumped back on the YA hype train and read (am currently reading) 'When Dimple Met Rishi'. Another book that had been popping up on the socials for a while – mostly with my bookish friends' pleas to get it published in the UK to begin with! I'm only halfway through now but I already know it's a new favourite YA; such a gorgeous unique story with totally relatable and cute characters. 

I also had a lovely time celebrating the 20^th anniversary of the publication of 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'. I really am forever grateful to have received the first 3 Potter books for my 8^th birthday – and to Joanne Rowling, for letting us all see, learn from and escape to the magical world she'd made. 

Thank you to the babes at Books Are My Bag for helping me recognise this special day. I have also loved celebrating Independent Bookshop Week! (Blog post on that to come, too!) (I also highly recommend signing up for their Bound newsletter, always a treat in my inbox!)

Okay, I feel slightly more prepared for YALC. However, I'm nowhere near done. I will be announcing my July reading plans very soon (calm down please, your excitement is deafening) but whatever I choose to read, you can bet there will be some extra YA added in – because YALC is very demanding, y'know. Also I heard recently that a 'Songs About Us' proof may or may not be on its way to me, and I'm sorry but that takes priority over anything else...

Now, what have you all been reading this month? Any recs? Also, are there any reading themes you feel I should try out and stick to for 4 weeks? Let me know via tweet or in the comments! 

And now, I leave you with this charming excerpt from a book entitled 'The Rules', found in an Eastbourne charity shop... 

Happy reading, y'all.