Rewind and Fast Forward: June 2015

Dear Summer, 

Can you please slow down? 

Sincerely, 

Becca

Um, for real. How is it already July??? What is happening right now? I'm trying to screech the brakes on summer here because I feel like it's flying by way too fast and before I know it it's going to be winter again. Ugh. But I am very much enjoying the summer weather. Spending time by the pool, running outside, planning some trips into the city in July to enjoy the National Mall. And hopefully doing a beach weekend here soon. June was a somewhat busy month for me, but not too crazy. In case you missed anything, here's what went down. 

Reviews:

Emancipated by M.G. Reyes: 2 Stars

Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider: 4 Stars

Tiny Pretty Things by Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton: 3 Stars

The Cage by Megan Shepherd: 4 Stars

The Stars Never Rise by Rachel Vincent: 4 Stars

Material Girls by Elaine Dimopoulos: 4 Stars

Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone: 4 Stars

The Witch Hunter by Virginia Boecker: 4 Stars

The Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo: 5 Stars

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo: 5 Stars (Early Bird Special, full review to come)

Book of the month was definitely my binge-read of The Grisha Trilogy and Six of Crows. Leigh Bardugo is amazing and I can't believe I waited so long to read her books. Fail. I can't wait for the next book in her new series. Too bad it doesn't come out until September 2016...Why do I do this to myself??? 

Other Posts: 

I recapped the awesomeness that was BEA 2015 for you guys. It was just an amazing time. I met so many amazing bloggers and authors, got to network with some awesome publicists and of course, got a ton of amazing books. I can't wait for next year! I talked about my most anticipated 2015 releases for the rest of the year are AND my favorite books I've read so far this year. I finished the first draft of my WIP and shared what the next steps are. Btw, I'm fully into revisions now and they suck! But I'm trucking along. I shared five of my favorite quotes I had highlighted in my Kindle while reading from various books. I talked about the latest season of Game of Thrones and why I'm not happy with the direction the show began to take (SPOILER ALERT FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T SEEN IT YET). And I shared five books I've read recently that I think you should check out with just one to two sentence reviews (for those of us who don't always have time to read the full, long-winded reviews). 

In My Real Life: 

June wasn't super busy in my real life which was probably good after the madness that was May. Phil and I mostly spent our weekends planning our trip to Europe that we'll be taking in September! Yay!! It's a lot of work to plan a Europe vacation, but it's so going to be worth it. I can't wait to be there. 

I also spent time working on my container garden. Okay, mostly watching my vegetables grow... I have a ton of cherry tomatoes and now there are a bunch starting to ripen. My red peppers are slowly starting to turn red. I have two baby zucchinis growing (which is a miracle because I thought I killed it...) and a ton of cucumbers. My basil is completely out of control. It has literally turned into a tree. And somehow my strawberries have started blooming again even though we are past strawberry season. *shrugs* So I'd say that I'm having a lot of success so far. I've had to go to Lowe's three separate times to buy wooden stakes to stake the plants and I'm pretty sure the employees think I'm a vampire hunter. At least I hope that's what they think... 

My mom is going to be here today!!! I'm so excited. Her and her partner, Betsy, are coming to visit for like ten days and I couldn't be more excited. It's always so fun to have people come visit Phil and I since it seems like we're always going to Chicago. I think we may be trying to go into the city to see the fireworks on Saturday. Yeah, I know, we're crazy, but you've got to do it once in your lifetime right? Next weekend, I think we're going to try to do a beach day and I'm sure we'll squeeze a shopping trip in there somewhere. My mom and I LOVE to shop. 

Fast-Forward:

The Heart of Betrayal by Mary E. Pearson: July 7, 2015: I can't wait for this sequel to The Kiss of Deception. That book ended on a horrible cliffhanger and I must know if my characters are going to be okay! 

A Million Miles Away by Lara Avery: July 7, 2015: This book promises to be an emotional one about a girl whose identical twin dies. When said twin's boyfriend comes back from Afghanistan and thinks she's her dead sister, she plays along and starts to fall for him. 

Pretending to Be Erica by Michelle Painchaud: July 21, 2015: I'm all about heists right now and this one is about a girl whose DNA is altered to make her look identical to an heiress so she can steal a priceless painting. 

Every Last Breath by Jennifer L. Armentrout: July 28, 2015: Obviously I'm DYING to get my hands on the last book in the Dark Elements series. Roth better win this showdown. I <3 <3 <3 him!! 

How was your June? Read any books I should have on my radar? What July releases are you most excited for?