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Even though I’ve been reading more than ever the past few months, this month I fell off a bit. After killing something like 50 books in the first five months of the year, I was just feeling burned out or overwhelmed by my list of books to read. There were several books that I utterly loved, though, so it wasn’t a total loss of a reading month! (Are they ever, though?)

My boyfriend got me a Kindle last fall, and turns out that has been the key to unlocking voracious reading. This month was even more excessive than normal – a flight to California allowed for some dedicated reading time, and (finally) having really nice weather and setting up the patio office meant I just wanted to camp out with coffee and a book at all times!

Dani and I also created our own reading challenge this year to increase our reading: 51 categories to prompt us to pick up books we wouldn’t typically read (or books that have languished in TBR-land for too long.) Here’s what I read this month, including what you should pick up and what you should let lay!

Buffering: Other than scrolling past her show on the Food Network app, I knew very little about Hannah Hart before listening to her memoir. I really liked this book – she talks openly and honestly about her struggles as the daughter of a mentally ill mother and how that has shaped her life, both in childhood and as an adult. As someone who has gotten to caretake for older relatives, I related to parts of her story, and enjoyed the humor she infused throughout.

Back Talk: When Julie Buntin, author of one of my favorite books (Marlena), posted one of the shorts from this book to Electric Literature earlier this year, I knew I had to grab the book. The title short is phenomenal, and the stories range from two to 20 pages. Danielle is a fantastic writer, and though this took me awhile to get through, I definitely recommend it.

Like reading on your computer or mobile device? Check out Scribd – thousands of eBooks, audiobooks, magazines and more on your device!

Sharp Objects: I had never read anything by Gillian Flynn before – I know, I know, I’m behind the times. I picked her for one of our book challenge prompts (a local Chicago writer) but couldn’t hammer down which of her books to read. Dani helped me pick this one out, and it has everything I love – mystery, crime, mental health, Chicago, travel… you get the picture. It’s being turned into a TV series, and I can’t wait to see what they do with it.

The Hot One: Remember when Ashton Kutcher’s girlfriend died? I knew a bit of the story and was excited to read this when it first came out. It was…. not what I expected. The book is written by Ashley’s childhood “best friend,” and it becomes pretty clear pretty early on that the writer had some seriously jealous feelings about her. It’s full of victim blame, shame, and doesn’t put much onus on the actual murderer – really disappointing read, and I only finished it as a hate-read.

Natural Disaster: To say that I devoured this book is a gross understatement. Ginger Zee is from the same area of Michigan as me, and we had similar stories growing up. It was cool to watch her move from local stations to the Chicago market to finally Good Morning America, but her story proves that you never know what’s really going on behind a red lipsticked-smile. She opens the book talking about her depression – something brave and totally inspiring, and goes on to confess about a manipulative relationship that saw her calling the cops and an inpatient psychiatric stay before starting her dream job at ABC. I heavily recommend this book – it’s not a weather book at all, it’s a totally relatable memoir of what it’s like and how hard it is to work for your dreams while being unable to get out of bed for weeks at a time.

Wondering how I read so much? My libraries use Libby – see if your library has a partnership, and check out the mobile app!

Love Songs & Other Lies*: Between this book and August and Everything After, I’m not sure where the current girl musician trope in YA came from, but I’m here for it. I liked this book and it was an easy read to break my dry spell. There’s a small mystery in it, which adds some dimension, but I wish it was explored more – maybe an opening for a sequel!

Tell Me Lies: Tina said in her review of this book that fans of it would fall into a specific niche, but that people who love it would love it – and I loved it. It’s told from alternating viewpoints of two people in a relationship over several years of being together and not. The male is an entirely irredeemable character, and as someone who was in some pretty crappy relationships, I saw a lot of parallels (hence being the target for this book.) There’s a twist in I even I didn’t expect, and I really liked the full circle storytelling – I normally don’t like happily ever afters, but they worked for me here. I totally loved this book and I can’t wait to read more by Carola Lovering.