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Do you like your romance novels steamy, not, or as a side in another genre?  We love all kinds here, and honestly, we don’t know where Emily Henry’s Beach Read lands on the steam scale.  If you like more steam, then we also suggest Beach Reads Box Set (which is free, for now), although you’ll have to slide into our DMs for that discussion (and we’ve only read the Pippa for now, but we also know and love Claire and Lucy from other works).   If you’re up for a romance with a side of literary life, then do SIGN UP HERE and join us for the discussion on June 18th at 7:30pm Central Time.  

Ashley IN MEDIAS RES

• Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia
• The Electric Heir (Feverwake #2) by Victoria Lee
• The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman

Nikki IN MEDIAS RES

• Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia
• This House of Sky: Landscapes of a Western Mind by Ivan Doig
• The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman

Ashley FIN

• Empress of All Seasons by Emiko Jean
• Harris Rules: A Real Estate Agent’s Practical, No-BS, Step-by-Step Guide to Becoming Rich and Free by Tim Harris
• Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
• A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes
• American Gods by Neil Gaiman
• Galatea by Madeline Miller
• Lore by Alexandra Bracken
• We Free the Stars (Sands of Arawiya #2) by Hafsah Faizal*
• First-Time Home Buyer: The Complete Playbook to Avoiding Rookie Mistakes by Scott Trench and Mindy Jensen*

*Completed in April

Nikki FIN

• The Parthenon in Nashville by Wilber Creighton
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter #6) by J.K. Rowling
• Empress of All Seasons by Emiko Jean
• Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
• Rocking Player (Steel Series #2) by Victoria Pinder
• American Gods by Neil Gaiman
• A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes
• Winter’s Warrior (The Wicked Winters Book 13) by Scarlett Scott
• Lore by Alexandra Bracken
• We Free the Stars (Sands of Arawiya #2) by Hafsah Faizal

Although school has only been out for one week, summer reading is on in my house.  One of the teachers suggested the boys read from multiple genres this summer and even provided a printable list they can fill out to keep track.  They were both grumpy when I suggested this, and honestly dear readers, I have yet to decide if it’s worth the fight to pry fantasy from their hands.  Only time will tell.  Today, I’m including their current reads for you because it amuses me.  S is reading The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan.  I think this means I’ll need to pick up the next in the series myself as I have yet to read that one and I hate spoilers.  B is reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and he’s mad at me because I started it in April (because I needed a Kindle to read when the dead tree of The Queen’s Fortune by Allison Patakai was not going to work because of other people sleeping).  And yes, I read it off and on for two months, unlike the last time I read it (right after it came out and my boss was generous enough to let me borrow his copy he picked up at midnight).  So now, in addition to the ambitious summer plans Ashley and I have for our reading life (you’re shocked, I know), I’m about to have a rising fourth grader who needs me to start Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows so he can too.  I’m wondering if that’s a beach read, but also, that’s how I read it the last time, on a team building retreat.  Ashley was there, and she can tell you how I barely moved that book from my hands for two days, and then I was all in with the trivia team building!  [Ashley Here: These are truths. Also truth, I had already read it before the retreat.]

Also dear readers, a reminder.  Just because a title ends up on our Reading Life Review list does not mean we enjoyed it or recommend it, it only means we read it.  Please visit our Goodreads for our star ratings for all of our read titles.  

In addition to finishing my first reread of the Harry Potter series this summer and rereading A Court of Silver Flames with Virtual Book Club for July, I’m also looking forward to reading through some holds that have been hanging out and feel like fun engaging reads.  What are you looking forward to reading this summer?

~Nikki 

Dearest Readers, I know that the reading life is not a competition. However, this month contains the least amount of titles I have read in a month all year. As of this writing I completed seven and have two in medias res, neither of which do I foresee completing before tomorrow night at midnight. But, who knows, my lack of respect for tomorrow has been on point the past few nights but only because I binged some movie series. Namely, the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy and then I started on a chronological re-watch of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I fell asleep last night at the beginning of Thor. I was doing other things while watching the movies, but my butt didn’t move from the couch much. I don’t feel bad for needing the comfort of familiar stories, even if they’re on screen instead of in books. I kinda phoned it in on the reading life, and that’s OK. Nikki made me feel better by reminding me to check how many books ahead of schedule I am according to Goodreads and that’s thirteen. Next month’s Reading Life Review is the halfway point of our year, so let’s see where I am next month! 

My nonfiction for the month is a real estate business book, Harris Rules, and that’s included a lot of goal setting homework and business planning. (PS, that’s what I have been doing while my butt was on the couch watching movies and Stanley Cup Hockey playoffs.) I’ve kept up with The Daily Stoic, otherwise I don’t have two nonfiction titles to share with you this month, the first time all year I haven’t met that personal goal. 

Mythology in May has been a super fun experience overall! I’ve thoroughly enjoyed our titles this month and that alone brings me joy. I didn’t know anything about Japanese folklore or indigenous Mexican mythology going into this month so I’ve learned a ton and been fully entertained along the way. I hope Nikki will let me explore this theme again in the future but more immediately I am READY for some beachy and summery reads!

~Ashley

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