June Wrap-Up

June Snapshots

I have many snapshots because I actually accomplished my goal of posting on Instagram every day in June. I apologize in advance for all the scrolling you're about to do.

1. Nature is gross. I ran a lot in June. I only skipped one scheduled run because it was 105° (40.5°C) and the air was smoky and full of drifting ash from wildfires. Thanks, nature, for reminding me why I hate summer. This place is a hellscape sometimes. Anyway, since I spent so many hours outside, I had a few . . . interesting nature encounters:

1. I currently have mosquito bites everywhere, including on my eyelid, which is something that needs to never happen again.
2. I jumped over a massive bullsnake. It was stretched all the way across a 6 foot (1.8 meter) sidewalk. That means that the snake was longer than 6 feet. It barely moved when I jumped over it, so clearly it was not afraid of me. That’s comforting.
3. There was a big toad that had been flattened by a car. A crow landed in the road, peeled the toad off in one piece, and flew away with it. Talented crow. That toad was flat.
4. I saw a mom and her son walking home from the grocery store. The mom had loads of grocery bags hanging from both arms. The kid had one bag that he kept slinging around and tossing in the air. When I ran past them, I noticed that the kid’s bag was leaking raw, bloody meat. Either the kid had just murdered someone, or there was a package of hamburger in that bag that had burst open. Enjoy your dinner, family!

2. I hope you’re just a harmless bumper sticker enthusiast. I’ve mentioned before that most of my neighbors are irritating. They love fireworks, bonfires, loud music, loud trucks, all-night parties, getting drunk, and dragging their TVs onto the lawn so that everyone can hear what’s happening on FOX News. I did have some normal neighbors, but they moved in June! Nooo! They were a nice British couple who didn’t let their dogs bark incessantly. I liked them!

On the day they had their open house, I walked my dog past their driveway. There was only one car at the open house. It had bumper stickers all over the back. Do you know what was on those bumper stickers? Confederate flags and assault rifles. Noooo! Why can’t anybody around here have quiet, nonlethal hobbies?

Wayward Googlers

Cait @ Paper Fury sometimes posts the amusing Google searches that led people to her blog. Today, I’m stealing her idea. Here are some unfortunate souls who ended up on Read All The Things! instead of finding what they were Googling for.

“antique furniture Baltimore.” Nope. Still a book blog, no matter how many times people ask me to sell furniture. 

 “Out inside back . things again.” Why would you even Google this? 

 “Can drug addiction be passed down hereditary?” Possibly. Research is still being done on this topic. Some people may be psychologically predisposed to addiction. For those people, it’s very easy to develop an addiction. However, to become a drug addict, you need access to drugs. Then you have to put those drugs in your body. That’s environmental, not hereditary. #TheMoreYouKnow 

Books I Read

In June, I read 6 books and gave up on 1. For me, that’s a terrible reading month. One of the books was over 1000 pages and another was over 500 pages. Those should count for multiple books, right? Also, my retriever dog died from cancer in May. I’m furiously pretending that I’m okay, but honestly, I’m kind of lonely and not sleeping. Whenever I try to read, I zone out from tiredness and stare at the book like a moron. That does not help with my reading goals.

A Man Called Ove – Fredrik Backman

A Storm of Swords – George R.R. Martin

A Thousand Perfect Notes – C.G. Drews

When the Moon was Ours – Anna-Marie McLemore (DNF)

The Tale of Despereaux – Kate DiCamillo

The Complete Stories – Flannery O’Connor

Kira-Kira – Cynthia Kadohata

I also made progress on my reading challenges. Click here to see how I’m doing.

Best Books Of June

1. A Storm of Swords – George R.R. Martin

2. The Tale of Despereaux – Kate DiCamillo

3. A Man Called Ove – Fredrik Backman

Most-Viewed June Reviews

1. Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson

2. Mini Reviews: A Head Full of Ghosts || Grief is the Thing with Feathers

3. A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin

Most-Viewed June Non-Reviews

1. A Brief List of Oddities Discovered in My Email Account

2. Top Ten Tuesday: What I’m Reading This Summer

3. I’d Love to Read About: Underground Places and Garbage

Posts I Wish Got More Views

1. I’m deep into my mission to read all of the Newbery Award winners.

2. I still love Fredrik Backman and need more of his books immediately.

3. My Game of Thrones obsession remains unchanged.

4. The year is halfway over, and I have thoughts.

Things We Need To Talk About In July

                                                                                                        

• I’ve acquired so many books that my shelves are in danger of imminent collapse.
• But I’m still constantly adding more books to my TBR list.
• What are the best books I’ve read so far this year?
• Classic short story collections.
• My favorite short stories of all time.
• Swamps, caves, and parks.
• There are so many Newbery winners!
• Strange places where I’ve read books.
• Occasionally, hyped books don’t suck.

All The Things!

Distance I’ve sloppily jogged so far this year = 133 miles (214k).

Number of unread books on my TBR shelf = 61 books.

I’m currently reading = Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones.

What did you do in June?