Happy July, everyone! It's the middle of the month somehow and I'm just now getting around to posting this monthly update. So sorry. Between traveling for the Fourth, having oral surgery, and trying not to melt in record breaking heat, I've been a little busy, I guess. 

I managed to read two bookish books in June:

I re-read The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson for book club. I loved it the first time I read it a few years ago and loved it again the second time. It was a hit with everyone in my book club, too. If you haven't read it, do. It's a lovely novel that emphasizes the power of reading, among other inmportant themes.

Although I was a rabid Little House on the Prairie fan as a kid, I didn't know much about the life of its author outside of the autobiographical elements in her books. Prairie Fires by Caroline Fraser talks all about Laura Ingalls Wilder's life as a woman, a pioneer, an author, and a mother. I found it very interesting. 

July is turning out to be a good month for me and bookish books. I started the month with this one:

Translated from Spanish, I Lived On Butterfly Hill by Marjorie Agosín is about a young girl living in Chile during a time of political upheaval. When her parents come under suspicion from the dictatorial government, they are forced into hiding and she is sent to live with an aunt in the U.S. Throughout the ordeal, the girl finds comfort in words and books. 

I'm reading this gem right now:

When a beloved but reclusive children's author who hasn't published in years suddenly announces a by-invitation-only competition that will reward one lucky winner with an unimaginably lucrative prize, Lucy Hart is stunned to find herself one of the competitors. The 26-year-old is desperate to adopt a vulnerable young boy who's floundering in foster care, but she doesn't have the money to provide the stable home he needs. Winning the author's contest could change both of their lives forever. What will she find when she sets foot on magical, mysterious Clock Island?

I'm loving everything about The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer, from the gorgeous cover to the warm, likable characters to the intriguing plot. It's engaging and fun so far.

The audiobook I'm listening to right now also has some bookish themes:

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney is a thriller about an estranged family who gathers at their grandmother's isolated manor for her 80th birthday. Nana is a beloved children's author and illustrator who's made a tidy fortune that all of her descendants want a (large) piece of. When she dies suspiciously, each of the party attendees becomes a suspect. Who killed Nana and why? And who's next on the killer's hit list?