June Photo-a-Day: my month in pictures

Ah, yes, my mid-month, supposed-to-be-posted-last-day-of-the-month Photo-a-Day post! :) June was such an eventful month for the family, but such an exciting one. I didn't get a picture everyday, although I am going to try my hardest to do so this month (July). So let's jump in!

The Girl Scout Cookie party took place at the local skating rink and Cami loves one of her cookie sale prizes quite a bit (the t-shirt). // Mason got chocolate cake wasted and passed out. // His little curls!! // We took Saydee to the Bark at the Park event downtown - it was a hot day, but gorgeous out and we had loads of fun.

2016 Series Challenge: Update #2

I know I wanted to be at the halfway point at this time of the year, but I do feel I've made quite a dent in series books. I am rereading the Southern Vampire Mysteries series. I have read 10 additional books in a series since last time. So up from 4 books in 3 months, 10 is not too shabby if you ask me. I did add 3 new series to the active list, but did take one off. Eesh...

• 14 books in a series read
• 1 series finished
• 3 new series started

I will be back in October for another update...I really hope that I can have tons of series finished by then. *fingers crossed*

I highlighted all the to-be-released books in purple.

Books I Read in June

Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris - 5 stars (finished 6/5)
BOOK 2 IN THE SOUTHERN VAMPIRE MYSTERY SERIES

Another reread and still just as much in love...the only thing about this one that annoyed me was the word of the day calendar references from Sookie. Loved seeing more of Eric...not big on Bill and a lot of that is how rough he is without regard to the fragility of Sookie being mortal.

Club Dead by Charlaine Harris - 4.5 stars (finished 6/9)
BOOK 3 IN THE SOUTHERN VAMPIRE MYSTERY SERIES

I would give this one a 4.5 star rating because some of the parts were kind meh to me. And Sookie frustrates the crap out of me in this one. Once again, [highlight to see spoiler she yells no and Bill keeps on going. This time, he literally rapes her]. That should be a done deal, right?! Alcide and Sookie go so well together, but he has some baggage too and that was also annoying. All-in-all though, I still love the book. But really, I am excited because it's over and now I get to reread my FAVORITE SVM book, Dead to the World. :D

Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris - 5 stars (finished 6/14)
BOOK 4 IN THE SOUTHERN VAMPIRE MYSTERY SERIES 

I was so excited to reread this book because it has always been my favorite of the SVM books. Amnesiac Eric is by far the best thing that ever happened. Sookie can be really annoying at times, but she was tolerable with Eric. 

Dead As a Doornail by Charlaine Harris - 4 stars (finished 6/20)
BOOK 5 IN THE SOUTHERN VAMPIRE MYSTERY SERIES

So here's the thing about this one...the storyline was sort of boring, if you ask me. Not bad enough to make it hard to read, but just not like the most interesting of the books so far. I also find Sookie's relationship with Calvin so cringeworthy. She is the worst at leading men on. Her back-and-forth with like 8 men is obnoxious. I never really like her character, but she definitely gets worse in this book. Insufferable, really.

I did like the parts with Eric, duh. I did like reading about the "race" for packmaster. I want to say it was this book though that introduced Claude out of no where and I don't remember him being at all mentioned in the previous book. It was just like "you remember Claude" and I was like wait, what?

Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris - 4.5 stars (finished 6/29)
BOOK 6 IN THE SOUTHERN VAMPIRE MYSTERY SERIES

So here's the thing about Sookie...she can be so insufferable at times. I don't hate her all the time and her voice doesn't grate my nerves to read, but sometimes I wish I could shake her. Also the word of the day calendar is old already.

It was also quite irritating that suddenly Hadley is dead and Waldo is whodunit and we missed out on that because it's part of an anthology somewhere else.

One of my favorite parts about this book is that Sookie finally gets it about Bill. FINALLY. Girl, you took your sweet ass time, huh?! There was quite a bit of action and lots of different story arcs and I liked that. I really like Quinn, but I'm still #TeamEric. Always. I also really love Queen Sophie-Anne. Onto the next book! :) 

July TBR List + Upcoming Releases

I'm down to 4 books behind my yearly Goodreads challenge instead of 5. I'm so proud of myself for finishing FIVE books last month. It's insane because back in the day, I read those same books in one day each. It took me 5 days what it is now taking me a month to do. So I'm rereading the Southern Vampire Mystery books - I have 7 left and my hope is to have them done by August. I also hope though to read some of Outage and Yellow Brick War. Here is my pretend possible TBR for the month...

What I may read:

• Interview with the Vampire with Anne Rice (new series)
• The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
• Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
• Firelight by Sophie Jordan (new series)
• Poison Princess by Kresley Cole (new series)

Chasing Impossible // A World Without You

P.S. I Like You // Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

What books do you hope to read this month?

What releases are you excited for?