June 2022 Reads - First month and no homework!

I know we are already midway through July, but let's talk about June reads.  This June marked the first full month out of graduate school and I was definitely busy reading!  For this month, I tackled a couple of new release books and a couple of books that have been sitting in my pile for a while.

Lessons in Chemistry - Bonnie Garmus

I picked this one up through Book of the Month earlier this year.  I don't remember what else was released during this month, but I remember that this one was the only one that caught my eye.  Full disclosure: I totally judged this book by the cover!  I thought this was going to be quick and enjoyable romance read, but it definitely surprised me.  While it does have some romantic elements in it, this one is actually filed under historical fiction.

This book focuses on a female chemist, Elizabeth Zott, in a 1960s setting.  Hidden behind this brightly colored cover is a story that follows the struggles of a being a women in a STEM setting in the time period.  Zott's story highlights the misogyny and ideals that were rampant during the time period and through her struggles she eventually ends up a single mother with a successful cooking show.  

My favorite parts of this book were from the perspective of Zott's dog, Six Thirty.  As a former failed bomb dog to emotional support and family to the main character, the addition of these view points was both intriguing and allowed for some heartfelt moments.

Overall, Lessons in Chemistry had some brilliant writing.  The story was well written and had several moments that had me hooked.  I cannot recommend this book enough.

My GoodReads Rating: 5/5⭐

We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story - Simu Liu

I discovered Simu Liu when I started watching "Kim's Convenience" on Netflix and was so excited when the SDCC announcement went online that he was cast as Shang Chi.  This one had been on my radar since I follow him on social media and when a book club I am in selected this one for the month I jumped on it!  I was curious to see the story that Simu had to share.

I was pleasantly surprised with this book.  He highlights right in the title that it is about an "immigrant superhero"and his book begins with his parent's stories of immigration and then weaves in his own story.  It was interesting to read about the struggles that his family faced and how things slowly changed for them in Canada.  

While the book also focuses on Simu's acting story and how he ended up where he is currently, it also provided some insight on some of the differences between acting in Canada and the United States that I was unfamiliar with.

If you have an interest in learning about where the actor comes from, this is a fantastic read.

My GoodReads Rating: 5/5⭐

Tokyo Dreaming (Tokyo Ever After, #2) - Emiko Jean

The first book in this series, Tokyo Ever After, was another one that caught my eye with the cover.  (I confess, I love a good cover and might make some decisions based on them...sometimes).  The first book in the series very much felt like "Princess Diaries", but set in Tokyo.   

In the second book, the main character Izumi Tanaka is continuing to work on adapting to life as a princess in Japan.  This involves forcing herself into a mold to try and match what is expected of her.  In the first book, she discovered she was a princess and went to go stay with her father in Japan.  In the second book, she is still a fish out of water, but facing down what to do with her future and decide if she wants to go to university.  Plus!  Her parents are engaged, but need approval to wed and is also working on her princess image to help them.

This is a light-hearted story and left me feel so happy and light at the end.  Izumi's love triangle takes center stage in this story.  I seriously adored Akio from the first book, but the addition of the smart and fun Eriku really had me torn.  I'm hoping for more in this series and I'm looking forward to reading more from Emiko Jean!

My GoodReads Rating: 5/5⭐

Our Violent Ends (These Violent Delights, #2) - Chloe Gong

The These Violent Delights duology is a retelling of Romeo and Juliet, but set in 1926 Shanghai.  This was a series that I discovered through Book of the Month. 

One of the coolest additions to these stories is the addition of monsters.  In the first book they Roma and Juliette spend time investigating where the monsters are coming from and find the culprit.  In the second book, the monsters are resurfacing as slightly different versions of the same creatures and from an unknown source.  It doesn't take them long in this second book to figure out where the new monsters are coming from, but just locating the source isn't enough.

The political overlay of 1920s China upped the danger factor to extend further than just a feud between the Scarlet Gang and White Flowers.  The feud between the two gangs is still at the heart, but the politics of the Nationalists projects danger larger than the two groups.

At the end of this second book, I found myself searching to see if there will be more in the series, even though I know how Romeo and Juliet ends.  Roma and Juliette really struggled in their rival gangs throughout this series and I was left interested in several of the side characters at the end.  Did I immediately pre-order Foul Lady Fortune after reading this book?  Yes, yes I did.  I can't wait for this one and will most definitely not let this one linger in my TBR as long as this second book.

My GoodReads Rating: 5/5⭐

A Lesson in Vengeance - Victoria Lee

This one was hanging out from my Owlcrate TBR pile for quite a while.  I'm not sure what it was about this one, but I had to work up to reading it. Dark academia and witchcraft set in an all girl's school?  Um, yes please.

Something I struggled with this book was the main character Felicity Morrow.  This character was burdened with becoming an unreliable narrator because she did not finish the previous school year due to her friend/girlfriend's death, which may or may not have been her fault.  As the story unfolds, it only serves to make her mental health worse than it was at the beginning of the book.

Something I really enjoyed though was the witchy backstory that was given to the Dalloway School and how it played into the story.  The well known writer that shows up in Felicity's house wanting to recreate the deaths of the witches of the school?  The group of girls assembled to act out the deaths?  How is this not a red flag?

While this one was a slower read for me and had a slow burn, the twist at the end was worth getting to.  Once the twist hit, I had trouble putting the book down and wanted to see what Felicity did next.

My GoodReads Rating: 4/5⭐

Whew!  That was a long post.  I hope to condense these a bit in the future, but I really wanted to add some lists and reviews of the books I read in June.  If you stuck in this long, thank you for sticking with me!  

Let me know what your thoughts were on these books.  I always love hearing what I may have missed that could change my viewpoint.

Kattie