Red, White, and Books: An Independence Day Update

 Greetings, souls. Happy Independence Day to those of you in America. I'm giggling over here at some of the memes I've seen this year about our beloved day of all things red, white, and blue. I've been enjoying all the book stacks I've seen too, and the shelves reorganized to look like the American flag. Very clever.

    I'm spending the Fourth of July with my parents. Partially by choice but partially because I don't have a working AC in my apartment and they can't get it fixed for at least two weeks. It's been alright, but I've now been crashing with my parents for two weeks and sometimes I remember why I love having my own space. Big families are great but noisy and I feel like I'm in the way most of the time. 

    Anyway, it's 3:07 in the afternoon right now and my nephew has confiscated my phone to play PBS Kids while his brother takes a nap, so I thought I'd take this time to write an update. 

    I've been keeping track of all the books I've read this year and each month I list all the books that I've given a five-star rating to. Then, I pick my favorite book out of those to be my Book of the Month. Sadly, I haven't been spotlighting these, but I thought maybe I would on here. Make it something special for the blog and maybe Instagram. So, I just picked June's Book of the Month and it's been added to my list of other ones. 

    At the end of the year, I'll pick a Book of the Year and I may give away a copy of my pick. What do you think? 

    Want to see the standings so far? 




_______________________________________________________________________

    January 5 Star Ratings:

- Nire, The White Stag (YA, LQBTQ+, Fantasy), by Camille Collins

                        Book of the Month: Nire, The White Stag

February 5 Star Ratings:

- Little Critter at Scout Camp (Children's Lit), by Mercer Mayer

- Future Miss President: Inspiring Children to Dream Big (Children's Lit), by S.R.D. Harris

- Kindness is Cooler, Mrs. Ruler (Children's Lit),  by Margery Cuyler

- Blizzard (Children's Lit), by John Rocco

- Peppermint Kisses for the Omega (Mature, Romance, LQBTQ+, ABO Dynamics), by Lacey Daize 

- Luke Skywalker's Race Against Time (Children's Lit), by Killian Plunkett

- Hope for Valentine's Day (YA), by K.D. Hilt

- Twenty-One Postcards (Poetry), by Greg Watson

                        Book of the Month: Future Miss President: Inspiring Children to Dream Big

March 5 Star Ratings: 

- Girl, Stop Apologizing (Adult, Self-help), by Rachel Hollis

-Striving to Become a Proverbs 31 Woman (Devotional), by Heidi Lynn

- Mommy's Makeup (Children's Lit), by Ashley Madden 

- There's a Wocket in My Pocket (Children's Lit), by Dr. Seuss 

- Black Bears of Independence: Dylan and Caleb (Adult, Romance, LQBTQ+), by Karen Hall

- Ms. Infinity: Where Infinity Begins (Science Fiction), by Andrew Kirschner 

- My High School Christmas Boyfriend (YA, Christmas, Romance), by Kylie Key

- The Vampire's Mail Order Bride (Paranormal, Supernatural, Romance), by Kristen Painter

- Fated Kisses for the Omega (Romance, LQBTQ+, ABO Dynamics), by Lacey Daize 

- Melinda and the Unicorns (Children's Lit, Music), by Lilianna Lopez 

- T-Rex Trying (Comic Collection, Comedy), by Hugh Murphy 

                        Book of the Month: Girl, Stop Apologizing 

April 5 Star Ratings: 

- The Casebook of Sam Spallucci (Detective Fiction, Paranormal, Supernatural), by A.S. Chambers

- She's My Kind of Country (LQBTQ+, Romance, Adult), by Amber Kestner 

- Fools Kisses for the Omega (LQBTQ+, Romance, ABO Dynamics), by Lacey Daize

- Matched by Santa (Clean Romance, Christmas), by Angelina Kerner

- Heart Stopper: Volume One (LQBTQ+, Romance, YA, Graphic Novel), by Alice Oseman

- How to be Perfectly Unhappy (Illustrated/Comic, Self-Help), by Matthew Inman 

                    Book of the Month: How to be Perfectly Unhappy

May 5 Star Ratings: 

- Heart Stopper: Volume Two (LGBTQ+, Romance, YA, Graphic Novel), by Alice Oseman

- Poetic Ramblings (Poetry), by Alicia LaFontaine

- All My Friends Are Still Dead (Dark humor), by Avery Monsen 

- Heart Stopper: Volume Three (LGBTQ+, Romance, YA, Graphic Novel), by Alice Oseman

                Book of the Month: Heart Stopper: Volume Three

June's 5 Star Ratings: 

- Spring's Showers (Romance, Mythology), by C.A. King

- The Candy Corn Witch (Realistic Fiction, Halloween), by S.E. Winters

- Raemkai's Stairs (Fantasy, Mythology, Paranormal, Mystery), by Mary R. Woldering

- The Lost Apothecary (Historical Fiction, slight Fantasy), by Sarah Penner

- The Dead Boy's Club (Paranormal, YA, Romance), by Rue Volley 

- Fawn's School Day (Children's Lit), by Zoey Daniele

- The Mystery of Sir. Byron's Ghost (Paranormal, Mystery, Romance), by Suzanne Nemec 

- High Rise Love (Clean Romance), by Angelina Kerner

- Never Put a Cactus in the Bathroom (Nonfiction, Informational), by Emily L. Hay Hinsdale 

- All the Ways You Never Loved Me (YA, Romance, Mental Health), by Rue Volley 

                    Book of the Month: The Dead Boy's Club

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