Show Us Your Books - The One Where I Start a Bookstagram and Get A Puppy

Hellooooooooo things have been VERY HECTIC around here since we last checked in and boy do I have some news for y'all. First, I decided to join bookstagram because I clearly didn't have enough projects going on (please don't ask me how the closet/office renovation is going because we're like stuck at *nearly* complete and have been for months) We also ADDED A NEW MEMBER TO OUR LITTLE FAMILY. We've been talking about getting a puppy for over a year, then Thursday the 24th I saw a craigslist post, we e-mailed them that night (after cocktails) they e-mailed back on Friday morning, Albus and I went to "just meet the puppy" and of course she came home with us. No one expected that to go any other way. We were wildly unprepared, didn't even have a crate for her. So I snagged one off of marketplace and now Albus has a baby sister, named Betty Lou. 

ANYWAYS now that we've got all that out of the way, here's what I read in June! This post contains affiliate links which means if you click trough and make a purchase I may receive a tiny commission. 

In a shock to absolutely no one: I finished the Throne of Glass Series:

Tower of Dawn: This is book 6 and it's Chaol's story! We get a handful of new characters and get to see a different part of the world they live in! I enjoyed this one, and then learned from instagram that people sometimes skip it? I wouldn't recommend that, I feel like you learn a lot of things in this one that you need for the next one? 

Kingdom of Ash: I accidentally bought this physical book twice. By accidentally, I mean I went on thriftbooks to see what their shipping time would be and it was too long, so I backed out of the order and they still decided to charge me and send the book, even though I reached out to customer service immediately, they couldn't cancel the order because it has "already entered the shipping process" then didn't ship for five business days. ANYWAYS. I wanted to pace myself through this but instead I read the entire thing, even though it's the longest of all of them, in less than a week. I devoured it. I loved it, I'll admit, I'm firmly in the Sarah J Maas fandom. Give me all  the territorial fae male bullshit. I also really enjoyed that this book had an ending? Like, yes technically there's an opening to continue this series, but it also feels finished. Would I read more books in this universe about other characters? Obviously. Also, there's a fun ACOTAR Easter egg in this one! 

The Assassin's Blade: This is a prequel of smaller stories to the Throne of Glass. It's five? novellas put into one book. I think you can also get them all separately if you really wanted to do that? I would *not* recommend reading these first. I'd say after the 4th book, because there are some mild spoilers. Things you might figure out before the characters do in the normal span of the books but things they end up telling you. Anyways, this was fun, I read the whole thing in one day.

For the Wolf: I picked this up on a whim at the register of the first Barnes & Nobel I've been inside since the Before Times. I also tore through this one. It tells the story of two sisters and fate and magic and myths and misunderstandings and oh man I tore through this one too. I highly recommend. 

Ariadne: I wanted to like this more than I ended up liking it. I loved Circe but the characters in this one just felt flat to me? I don't really know how to explain it. The overall theme is "men ain't shit" but like, it just didn't land for me. I really wanted to like it, I hated the fucking ending. 

Half Sick of Shadows: I wanted this to be so much more than it was. Back to back with the BOTM disappointment. Becca & I decided to make this a little mini book club read between the two of us and when I finished it I texted her and said "I hate that ending" I don't know if it's possible to spoil a book that keeps jumping from the present to future visions that aren't set in stone. I just finished it feeling very underwhelmed. Idk, but good news, I was able to pause my BOTM membership because I didn't really want any of the July books. 

The Other Black Girl: HOLY COW. Bookstagram made me buy this and WOW. I read it in one day. Just absolutely devoured it. I've never seen Get Out because I thought it was scary scary? Like horror movie scary? I like a thriller and boy HOWDY do we have one here. If you haven't seen Get Out, like me, it also has Stepford Wives vibes. I highly highly recommend this one. Don't let thriller scare you like it usually does to me haha

Shadow and Bone: Hello now I am elbows deep in the Grisahverse. I accidentally? read this faster than I thought I was reading it because the kindle told me I was 54% of the way done when really it was 100% because the rest was just like. previews of the next book or something? I don't know I didn't even flip through to see. I instead, immediately ordered just the entire box set for curbside pickup at B&N. I'm currently on the second book, Siege and Storm and am enjoying this universe. Obviously will make myself read them all before I start the netflix show. (also, sadly, the netflix stickers are printed on all three books. ugh.)

That's it for June! OH Question for y'all. I saw A Tiktok that told me I needed to stop using Goodreads because of Bezos (important note: there is no ethical consumption under capitalism.) and switch to Storygraph? Have y'all used that? I do love visual representations of data and it did let me import my Goodreads history. Lately I've been using both. I think they both have different values, I'm just so used to Goodreads, I'm worried? it'll be like every time we've mass joined different social media because we're over Facebook or Instagram's new updates. What do y'all think?

Anyways! Happy Show Us Your Books Day! Linking up with Steph & Jana