JUNE READS

June was a pretty light month when it came to stuff I actually finished, but I made a lot of progress toward several awesome reads that will all be wrapping up in early July. 

Book of the Month: Quaint Creatures 


A delightful and charming 5/5 !

The masterful Andrew D. Meredith strikes gold again, this time in the cozy fantasy subgenre. Charming characters, a creatively constructed world, and a lovely balance between slice of life moments and a larger, overarching plot all made for a deeply enjoyable experience. It has all the wholesome hallmarks of the subgenre as well as the signature storytelling flare that I have come to appreciate in Meredith's writing. 
 

BONUS: The Lord of the Rings Appendices and Final Review


A perfect 5/5 rereading experience

I'm fairly certain that I had completely ignored the Appendices included at the end of Return of the King my first time around. This time, however, I decided to give them a chance and even though some parts were vastly more interesting than others, I am glad I finally got to this section of the book. It was fun to see the bits from this that Jackson took and incorporated into the main story like Aragorn and Arwen's romantic arc which really isn't mention in the novels until she shows up to marry him. Family lineage and the legacy of Numenor were also fascinating topics to read more on. While I enjoyed Tolkien geeking out over the linguistics of his world, I admittedly skimmed through most of that, though I found myself really appreciating that he put that much thought into this level of minutia. 

I also decided to go ahead and write a review on this beautiful box set edition of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. 

Full review here


Going into July, I will be finishing up the audiobook for Rhythem of War, the fourth book in The Stormlight Archive, the Kickstarter special edition of The Sword of Kaigen, a professional development book called Transformed, and a 33-day spiritual retreat book titled 33 Days of Eucharistic Glory. I'm set to get through at least two of these pretty early on in the month, so depending on what else I get through, there might be a rather lengthy list of reads for next month.

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