It’s been a while since my last round up so I’ll format this one slightly differently so as not to make it too lengthy. Instead of rounding up for June I’ll give an update of what I’ve read since February/March and also post my forthcoming books for July. My reading has been a lot slower in the past few months which certainly is not a reflection on the books themselves. I’ve enjoyed some absolute crackers. But, we’ve been away quite a lot and we’ve also had a lot of visitors this year, family and friends, which is fantastic but also takes time and attention away from other things. So, this year, by end of June I think I’m up to about 40 books – so I have some catching up to do if I can make it to my usual 100 in a year by the end of December. I’ll see how it goes, I’m not stressing about it.

In my last round up for (February) I posted the list of books that I was hoping to read during March (below) which I’ve updated here to show which books I read during that month. I had 8 books and apart from Steel Gods I read and reviewed them all. I will try to return to Steel Gods, I don’t know whether it was my mood at the time but I really struggled with it which was such a surprise as I’ve loved this author’s other books and indeed the first in this series:

1. The Fortune Tellers of Rue Daru by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore
2. Steel Gods by Richard Swan – DNF
3. Daughter of Crows by Mark Lawrence
4. Wolf Worm by T Kingfisher
5. Snake-Eater by T Kingfisher
6. How To Get Away With Murder by Rebecca Philipson
7. Green and Deadly Things by Jenn Lyons
8. Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman

I then had a break during April so no reviews were posted and although I was reading during May I was only blogging a little. I posted four reviews as I was trying to catch up – which were:

1. Death’s Daughter by SA Barnes
2. The Caretaker by Marcus Kliewer
3. We Burned So Bright by TJ Klune
4. The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett

I’m nearly back on track with reviews. During June I posted the following:

1. This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews
2. The Unicorn Hunters by Kathryn Arden
3. The Children by Melissa Albert
4. All Hail Chaos by Sarah Rees Brennan
5. The Wonder Engine by TJ Kingfisher

What’s On My Plate: July

I have already posted a review during July which was for Two Little Liars by Michelle Harrison – but this was a review book from June and part of my catching up. The books I’m hoping to read during July (I’m currently reading a June book – The Tinder Box by MR Carey) are:

1. This Blade of Ours by Shalini Abeysekara
2. Nine Goblins by T Kingfisher
3. The Eye of Leviathan by MA Carrick
4. The Intrigue by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
5. The Amber Owl by Juliet Marillier
6. The Witch Below the Dreaming Wood by HG Parry
7. The Winter Folk by Jen Julian
8. The Second Death of Locke by VL Bovalino
9. Harbour of Hungry Ghosts by Eliza Chan

Quite a few books but I’m really excited for all of these so lets see how things go. I’d also like to backtrack to try and include some titles from May and June that my slower reading meant I didn’t get to.

Backlist Book

For the moment I’m not tackling the list I created at the start of the year as I’d like to catch up with my review books from the last two months to get back on track.

Bookforager‘s Picture Prompt Book Bingo

And the ‘wordy’ version:

Picture Prompt Book Bingo 2026 (text version)

1. A teacup and saucer	2. A set of weighing scales	3. A moth	4. A hand holding some fanned out playing cards
5. A hot air balloon	6. An acorn	7. A human eye	8. A cooking pot hanging over a campfire
9. A griffin	10. A large, old key	11. A hand holding a threaded needle	12. An octopus
13. A plant being repotted	14. A skull and crossbones	15. A decorative water fountain	16. A pinch-clip purse

This month I’m going to tick off a number of prompts:

A plant being repotted – Green and Deadly Things by Jenn Lyons (this really is a perfect fit)

A hand holding some fanned out playing cards – The Fortune Tellers of Rue Daru – I’m thinking of the card readings (tarot but playing cards can also be used)

A moth – Wolf Worm by T Kingfisher – gothic horror with insects, maggots and more

A human eye – A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett – this may seem a bit random but Ana, one of the two main characters in this series usually chooses to wear a blindfold in order to help her restrict all the sensory data and improve her thinking

A large, old key – The Children by Melissa Albert – keys, very unusual keys I might add, play a large part in this beautiful book

A Griffin – This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews – there are a few critters in this

A hand holding a threaded needle – The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett a group of women coming together, forming bonds and found family, there is actually literal stitching involved as well but I’m going more for the abstract idea here of the women joining together in times of need