Reading Recap: June Highlights

This was a not-so-great month for reading for me, guys. I'm in the process of moving (the next time I decide it's a good idea to move in the middle of summer, someone kick me in the shins. Hard.), and with everything I own (including most of my brain cells) temporarily misplaced, I haven't been able to get through much. There were two highlights this month, though, and as different as they may be, they are both awesome:

 

The Blue Blazes, by Chuck Wendig: The story of Mookie Pearl, a big bruiser of a man with lots of muscle, some heart, and less grace, Blue Blazes is full of bad guys from start to finish, a touch of gangster mythology (which is a thing I potentially just made up), and lots of drugs and violence. Oh, and ghosts and demons and a portal to the Underworld. While this could *technically* be classified as urban fantasy, I suppose, trying to label it feels like cheating--no one label or descriptor could possibly do it justice. If you're looking for a fast-paced read with lots of smarts, this is it.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette, by Maria Semple: Technically, I finished this one at the end of May, but it took me some time to just mull it over and consider and reconsider and consider again how much I loved it. Whip-smart, funny, emotional, poignant--Semple is all of these things and more. The perfect balance of light read + thoughtfulness for my moving-addled brain.