I am frankly shocked that I read 9 books this month. Starting out the month in the midst of tornado pick up, I was reading MAYBE a few pages a day, but things started to get back to normal(-ish) and I felt a little more in the swing of things.

So, all that being said, here's what I did read this month.

The North Wind by Alexandria Warwick (3/5)

This was fine. Like could not have been more middle of the road. I think I either needed more world-building and plot, or I needed more smut. As it was, I just wasn't feeling it. It wasn't bad, but I had a hard time paying attention throughout the entire thing (this one's long) and ended up putting it on 1.7x speed just to get through it. Will I read the next one? Eh. Not sure.

Black Sunshine and This Blood is Love by Karina Hale (3.5 and 3/5)

This series did exactly what I needed it to, when I needed it to. I read these during the tornado-chaos and I just wanted something extremely spicy, a little cringey, with a tortured MMC and a bit of the hurt/comfort trope. Well Karina Hale delivered on all fronts and I was not disappointed by the time I spent in this series. I will likely come back to the spin off series next time I'm in the mood for some seriously angsty spice.

Hum by Helen Phillips

HELEN PHILLIPS IS EVERYTHING. This book was an impeccable, incredible, anxiety inducing experience. This book made me FEEL THINGS. I was stressed. I cried real tears. I was filled with love and hope. It's a masterpiece of speculative fiction and likely my favorite book of the year. These are all the words I have. Holy shit.

PS: This one's best read with no preconceived notions

The Spite House by Johnny Compton (4/5)

I got this one as an audiobook when it first came out last year, but hadn't given it the time to actually listen to it. After hearing Johnny Compton speak at our Road to Stoker Con event at the end of May, I decided to finally give it a go. I love a good haunted house story and this was one of the better ones I've read. I do not get scared while reading, so I'm not the person to speak to how scary it was, but it was a wonderful story about family and sisterhood. I came for the haunted house and stayed for the characters.

Midnight Rooms by Donyea Coles (5/5)

Y'all have likely already heard me scream about this one, but this is seriously one of my must-reads of the summer. It's a Gothic masterpiece that compeletely swept me off my feet on page one. It's got the sensuality of The Goblin Market, but with the darkness and danger of the original fairytales. Everything about this one is sharp-toothed and sinister. Read this one while embracing a Grey Gardens Summer–i.e. in a crumbling mansion while trying to hold onto your former youth and wealth.

Haru, Zombie Dog Hero by Ellen Oh (4/5)

Dog lovers beware. The dog dies in this one, but he does come back as a "zombie dog hero". This is an early middle-grade novel about a young boy and his best friend, Haru. The opening chapter (from Haru's perspective) made me cry ugly tears. We don't deserve dogs. We definitely don't deserve zombie dog heroes.

PS: For early middle-grade this one did have some pretty intense descriptions of animal-testing, so please be aware if you (or your kiddos) are sensitive to that.

The Darkness Within Us by Tricia Levenseller (5/5)

I had such a fun time reading The Shadows Between Us when it came out in 2020! Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would get a follow up and never did I think we would get a follow up this good! This book was so damn fun. All Chrysantha wants to do is enjoy her days of dowager dutchess after murdering–yes, murdering–her husband. She wants to spend her money, find a good lover, and read her silly little books. Well, obviously, a mysterious man comes into her life and we the rest is romantasy history. This is a sex-positive teen/new adult fantasy that made me fall back in love with the genre.

Safiyyah's War by Hiba Noor Khan (5/5)

I'm definitely annoying everyone in my real life by endlessly talking about this book, but it deserves all the praise. This book is why we need diverse books. Not only does it bring a little-known part of history to the forefront–did you know that that the Grand Mosque of Paris saved 1500 Jewish people during WWII?–but it does so through the eyes of one of the BEST heroes in modern fiction. Safiyyah is the kind of person I want the kids (and the adults) in my life to read about. This book makes me angry that we're still teaching about that problematic AF middle-grade book (you know the one) in most schools.

Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman (4/5)

Well, I think it's time to say that books just don't scare me. This might be due to the 100s of horror movies I've watched throughout the years, but they just don't bother me. That being said, this book was just plain FUN. It was a great possession/haunted-house story with some moments that are sure to scare some readers. I loved the depictions of Other Mommy and the POV of the child as the narrator. Absolultely recommend to folks who love a good Exercist-esque story. This made me want to rewatch all the possession classics.