June Reading Stats and Midway Through the Year Post

So my numbers this year are definitely going down. It's due to a lot of things, but most especially that it's harder to get my hands on certain books as audio books combining with the way I have been choosing my books. So I will be changing things up with this new month, and see if that helps me figure things out a little more. I'll explain below the stats, for anyone interested.

I only managed to finish 12 books this month, which is the lowest since I started listening to audio books. 

My top favorite book this month was A Destiny of Dragons, by my new favorite author, TJ Klune. It's a great followup to Lightning Struck Heart, and I highly recommend it, though it's definitely for mature audiences, because there's a unicorn in it that definitely doesn't know when to censor himself, and he encourages everyone around him to be the same way. Fantasy, Humor, and LGBT Romance. What more could I possibly want? Definitely a fun one that put a very big smile on my face.

Runners up for the month were River Marked and Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs, the sixth and seventh books in her Mercy Thompson series. Werewolves, Vampires, and all sorts of other beasties. River Marked has a lovely insight into how the Northwest Native tribes fit into this world. I highly recommend the whole series. Especially if you enjoyed but then burned out on the Anita Blake series. This gives me the same vibes, but always leaves me wanting more. 

The third runner up was Curtsies and Conspiracies by Gail Carriger, the second book in her Finishing School YA series. If you're a fan of her Parasol Protectorate, I highly recommend this series, too. A great story about a girl in a finishing school that isn't quite what it appears to be.

The oldest book I read this month was City of the Beasts by Isabel Allende. It was published about August of 2002. It is the first book of a YA series she wrote for her grandchildren. This one's about a boy who finds himself going on an adventure with his grandmother into the depths of the Amazon, to find a fabled monster people have seen there that sounds like it could be a sasquatch.

The newest book I read this month was Misrule by Heather Walter, which came out May of this year. The duology is based on Sleeping Beauty, but told from the point of view not of Sleeping Beauty, but the girl who falls in love with her, but is hated by nearly everyone around her because she is a dark creature. If that sounds interesting to you, I definitely recommend the Malice Duology. The second book is darker and a good deal more frustrating than the first, but I enjoyed them both, and they are definitely worth checking out for those who like Fairy Tale Retellings.

June stats:

Of the 12 books I read this month, eight were audio, three were eBook, and one was a physical book. I did manage to finish two series, and I'm very pleased to say I didn't DNF any books this month. Five of the books I read were YA, and seven were adult. Five had male authors, and seven female, with nine male main characters, and eight female main characters, which is a good split on both sides of things. I did try to pump up my LGBT reads this month, but only eight of the twelve were LGBT content, so that could have been higher. And only five of the books had non white central characters, so I'm going to definitely need to work on that in the future.

My current and future reading:

Currently I am reading:

• The One Hundred Nights of Hero by Isabel Greenberg (I don't have page numbers, but at least 2/5 through)
• Stormbringer (the Wyrd #2) by Alis Franklin (16%)
• The Tower of Nero (Trials of Apollo #5) by Rick Riordan (haven't actually started yet)
• Soul Breaker (City of Crows #1) by Clara Coulson (haven't actually started yet)
• What Once Was Mine (Twisted Tales #12) by Liz Braswell (haven't actually started yet)

Hero is interesting. It's a slow read because I'm not particularly enjoying the art, but it's enough to keep me reading, at least. Stormbringer and Tower of Nero are final books in those series, so that will be two for July, at least.

I don't currently have other Audiobooks waiting on my Libby.

Here are my current holds:

• The Lonliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James
• We Unleash the Merciless Storm (We Set the Dark on Fire #2) by Tehlor Kay Mejia
• Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki
• This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar

And as for how I'm choosing my books starting this month (unless it fails, in which case, I will find another way): I have decided to pre-choose the books I read for the month, so that I can set up holds and actually read them, so all the books on the hold list are ones I've chosen for the month of July, so long as they come in July.

My current July Reading List:

• Soul Breaker (City of Crows #1) by Clara Coulson 
• What Once Was Mine (Twisted Tales #12) by Liz Braswell
• Reawakened (Reawakened #1) by Colleen Houck 
• Dreamtime (Elfquest #8.2) by Wendy and Richard Pini
• The Circlet Press Steampunk Bundle edited by Elizabeth Schechter
• Lost in the Never Woods by Aiden Thomas
• The Steel Remains (A Land Fit for Heroes #1) by Richard K Morgan
• Dearly, Departed (Gone with the Respiration #1) by Lia Habel
• Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki
• This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar
• The Lonliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James
• We Unleash the Merciless Storm (We Set the Dark on Fire #2) by Tehlor Kay Mejia

So have you read any of these? Do you think I'll enjoy them? What are you planning on reading this month?