LA LA IN THE LIBRARY: TELL ME TUESDAY #401 Last. Now. Next. - June Reading Wrap-Up

TELL ME TUESDAY

LAST. NOW. NEXT.

NUMBER FOUR HUNDRED AND ONE

JUNE READING WRAP-UP

*tidbits*

TELL ME TUESDAY is a floating feature, depending on your reading style, where you tell us what you read last, what you are reading now, what you will be reading next from your TBR pile, and why.

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I am curious why people read what they read, so tell me!

MY PREVIOUS TMT

THIS IS A MONTH'S WORTH OF BOOKS

JULY'S READINGTHEME

SUMMER IN THE CITY

(books set in New York City)

MY GOODREADS THOUGHTS

★★

ADULT FICTION

STANDALONE

FANTASY

HISTORICAL FICTION

MAGIC

CIRCUS

FOUND FAMILY

Published June 13th 2023 - Edelweiss ARC

The ending totally ruined this book for me. You can't abandon the magical system you've built just so you can come to a conclusion. Ugh.

MY GOODREADS THOUGHTS

★★★★

MEMOIR

JAMAICAN CULTURE

MUSIC

REGGAE

Published July 4th 2023 - Edelweiss ARC

This was my first book for the Carib-A-Thon reading challenge which ran from June 7th to the 17th. It was my third time participating in Carib-A-Thon. I hope some of you will join us next year! Thank you to Akashic Books for also providing a physical copy of this book, so I can donate it to our neighborhood community center.

MY GOODREADS THOUGHTS

★★★★

(4.5)

ADULT FICTION

STANDALONE

CONTEMPORARY

FAMILY/FRIENDS

LGBTQ

Published 2021 - Libby Borrow

It was refreshing to read a "lighter" story about gay characters that was written by a gay man and not a straight woman. This was my book for Pride Month. Starting next year I'm going back to reading Caribbean authors only during Carib-A-Thon and LGBTQ titles the rest of June.

MY GOODREADS THOUGHTS

(not yet rated)

MEMOIR

JAMAICAN CULTURE

RASTAFARI MOVEMENT HISTORY

Publishes August 29th 2023 - Edelweiss ARC

I'm still scratching my head about the last chapter of this book. Up until then I was going to give this book five stars, but her final thoughts and actions were the ruination of her previous story for me.

MY GOODREADS THOUGHTS

★

ADULT FICTION

STANDALONE

LUCY MAUDE MONTGOMERY

FICTIONAL BIOGRAPHY

Published May 30th 2023 - Edelweiss ARC

This author made up events that didn't happen. The most egregious one was L.M. Montgomery having premarital sex, when her personal diary journals say she never had sex before marriage. L.M's inner most thoughts were also interpreted with a Millenial's perspective, not a Victorian/Edwardian mindset. There was also a scene where one of her young sons committed a grusomely violent act of animal abuse, and later the author had L.M. omitting this journal entry. So, if she omitted it from her journal... how does this author know it happened? This entire book made me angry. She said people have a thirst to know more about L.M. Montgomery so, "... that's where fiction comes in." What does that even mean? They want to know more about the REAL Lucy Maude! Grrr... I am going to be reading L.M.'s journals myself, so I can see just how much of this book is rubbish.

GOODREADS

MEMOIR

PATTI SMITH

NEW YORK

MUSIC AND ART SCENE

1960s - 1970s

THE CHELSEA HOTEL

Published 2010 - Own Ebook

I know I've said it millions of times... if you want to know what a "rock star" life is/was really like don't read fictional stories. I have yet to find one that has much authenticity. This book is brilliant! It shows musicians and artists "paying their dues"; the struggles that give music its heart and soul, and why a lot of new music is missing this element today. Someone rated this story one star because there is "too much about Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe". Good grief... the book is about Patti and Robert! They're the Just Kids! This is my second book for Summer in the City.

GOODREADS

ADULT FICTION

STANDALONE

SCIENCE FICTION

POST-DYSTOPIAN

ENVIRONMENTALISM

Publishes August 15th 2023 - Edelweiss ARC

As much as I want to dive right into Patti Smith's second memoir, M Train, I've been staying on top of my current review book TBR (we won't talk about my ARC backlist) and I don't want to disrupt my progress! This also qualifies as a Summer in the City theme read.