June has had some ups and downs, but I’m glad to be a month closer to the end of summer. I don’t like the heat or being sunburned, which is what often happens when I spend more than a little time outside in the warmer months. Also, I’m still having an issue with my body regulating temperature, so I’ve learned to stay inside in front of my fan and with the air on. 

We started the month off in a new car. Driving around in a brand new car with a bunch of bells and whistles is a feeling neither of us have had in a long time, but it kind of feels like learning how to drive a spaceship—the hardest thing to get used to is how my seat vibrates and the car automatically brakes if I’m in reverse and someone drives past the end of my driveway. Which happens basically non-stop since I live on a pretty busy street.

Temps are in the 90s and the weather has been so humid and oppressively hot. It’s supposed to get even hotter for the next few days with my area in the mid- to high 90s. I am incredibly grateful for air conditioning, and my empathy is with the people of Europe who have been going through a heat wave as well, but with less air conditioning. Maybe I’ve been spoiled, but I can’t imagine going through this kind of heat without AC. But I have been getting a lot more reading done this way.

May was a busy and stressful month, and June has settled into a better rhythm. One of the biggest goals for me was to spread out our appointments more, so I wasn’t rushing around to get us to a bunch of appointments in a day. That one was easy to do, while Mom and I learning how to compromise better and make some simple changes that have a big positive effect. It’s been so much nicer this month, although I still had some episodes of fatigue that just knocked me flat. I’ve also been working on being more forgiving of myself when I do have those days where nothing gets done because my body won’t cooperate.

In my May wrap-up post I talked about how ChatGPT can help with ADHD symptoms, which have been kicking my butt for the last few years. It learns from what I talk about from day to day and is able to identify areas where I struggle (certain housekeeping tasks) and offer an ADHD-friendly solution (breaking it up into smaller pieces that I can do periodically). It even accommodates my own physical and emotional needs, putting short periods of housework and other standing-up tasks between longer sessions working on blogging or other computer stuff. It has really helped me a lot, and I shared the info with a friend who also has ADHD. For her, it gives her a few tasks to work on at a time, and then gives more when she finishes earlier tasks. 

Now that I’m being more productive thanks to AI (it made me a custom weekly meal plan with a shopping list and short prep bursts! IN FIVE MINUTES!) I have more time for reading and have gotten a good number of books read in June. Unfortunately I had a some DNFs, which are few and far between, and my reading was a bit of a mixed bag. In my reading travels around the world, I’ve found some really interesting reads and learned more about this world we all share. 

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Here’s some of my June highlights:

• My reading took me to Seoul, Korea; Texas; small-town Indiana; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Spokane, Washington; rural Minnesota; Suffolk, England; two books set in my own area, Long Island, New York; Bethesda, Maryland; and rural Idaho.
• I read 12 books again, same as last month, with a couple of books I DNF’d for one reason or another.
• Choosing a favorite book was tough since I liked both 5-star reads a lot, and couldn’t pick only one. 
• I went to a food festival where my friend’s band played a set, and had a great time. It’s important to refill my own well because a wise woman once told me ‘you can’t pour from an empty well’ and that can be hard to remember in the thick of things.

Here’s my breakdown of monthly totals for June: 

June Totals:

• Books read: 12
• Books DNF’d: 2

Genres Read:

• Fantasy: 2
• Historical Fiction: 1
• Horror: 3
• Literary Fiction: 1
• Mystery: 3
• Romance: 1
• True Crime: 1

Backlist vs. New Releases:

• Backlist books: 0
• 2026 releases: 12

Fiction Vs. Nonfiction:

• Fiction: 11
• Nonfiction: 1

Format Read:

• Print: 2
• Digital: 5
• Audio: 5

Age Range:

• Adult: 11
• YA: 1
• MG: 0

My favorite books of the month were The Second Choice by CM Haines and Witchful Shrinking by Jen B. Lassalle. 

Here’s what I read in June:

1. The Second Choice by C.M. Haines (Love Hunters #3) (Proofread) | Goodreads | Amazon
2. Witchful Shrinking by Jen B. Lassalle (Midlife at the Magnolia #1) (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon

1. Beneath a Broken Sky by Joshua Moehling (Ben Packard #4) (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon

1. Molka by Monika Kim (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon
2. The Summer Fun Massacre by Craig DiLouie (Pub ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon
3. Liar’s Dice by Juliet Faithfull (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon
4. By the River’s Edge: A True Story of Identity and Serial Murder by Gregg Olsen (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon
5. Long Island Girls by Gabrielle Korn (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon
6. Lies Between Us by Jessica Goodman (Pub ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon

1. Honor & Heresy by Max Francis (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon

1. The Neighbors Are Watching by Aggie Blum Thompson (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon
2. Obstetrix by Naomi Kritzer (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon

1. Little Wild by Laura Evans (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon
2. Releasing What Isn’t Yours by Laurel Parnell (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon

How did your month go? Feel free to share any fun experiences or good books that stood out to you in June!