I’ve been reading a LOT

I just updated Goodreads to mark the book I finished reading as complete, and I noticed this:

We’re not even through June, and I only need to read 10 more books before I hit my annual Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 52 books (or a book a week, on average)! I was so surprised by that stat that I had to double check it against my reading tracker spreadsheet, just to be sure. But, yup. It’s right. I’ve read 42 books so far this year!

This, of course, makes my competitive, goal-oriented brain immediately perk up and think, “Ooooh! Do you think we can make it to 52 before the end of the month?!”

To which I have to say, “Down, brain. Chill.”

And then, of course, quietly start doing the math on how many more days, how many books I have in progress, etc., etc.

Is it possible? Yes. Maybe.

Would I get anything else done in the meantime? No. Maybe?? I don’t know. Probably not.

Let’s break it down, shall we?

This isn’t really an “inbox / outbox” post, but since I think the last recap I did was after the Orilium Spring Equinox Readathon, I might as well start with a brief recap. I read five books in May and another six so far in June.

Of those, A Lady’s Guide to Fortune Hunting (historical romance), The Keeper’s Six (fantasy novella), and After Hours on Milagro Street (contemporary romance) were probably my top three faves of the bunch. I also really liked Georgie, All Along (another contemporary romance), but since I *just* finished that one, there may be some recency bias influencing my feelings on that one.

I also have another six books (all non-fiction) that I’ve started, but haven’t finished, yet. Most of those are slower reads, so I doubt I’ll finish all of them before the end of June. But I might finish a few of them.

What I don’t have in-progress right now are any other fiction books. So, let’s take a look at the ones that are currently jostling for the top position on my TBR.

I will probably pick up Witch King by Martha Wells next, since that’s a buddy read book I need to finish before next week. I also want to read Kingdom of the Wicked, since that’s the FairyLoot hardcover I planned to read this month for the Adventure in Aeldia reading challenge.

But A Sinister Revenge has been at the top of my TBR for a while, and it keeps getting pushed out of the top slot by other books taking higher priority for a variety of reasons. And I got my hands on an early copy of A Lady’s Guide to Scandal (the next book by the author of A Lady’s Guide to Fortune Hunting), which I would love to read before it officially releases on 6 July. Both of those are very tempting distractions from my “required” reading for this month.

Not to mention, after I finished reading (and really enjoying) The Keeper’s Six by Kate Elliott, I went searching on my Kindle for the other books of hers that I know are on there, but that I haven’t read yet. She has a new series I’m really excited about, but there’s also this other recent novella, Servant Mage, that I haven’t read, yet. And, Sea of Tranquility keeps coming up as something I would probably really like, so I’ve bumped that one back up to the top of my TBR as well. Both of those are short books that might be fast reads I could easily squeeze in before the end of June.

That said, I really don’t think I’m going to push it. I do, in fact, have other projects that require my attention this month. And I highly doubt I’m going to read ten books in ten days. But who knows? Maybe June will be an epic reading month, and I’ll hit my Goodreads Reading Challenge goal before we’re even halfway through the year!