June was a fairly slow month of reading for me. I tackled some longer books, but busy weekends out of town meant I just didn't have a ton of time to sit and read this month. 

Still, I did manage a couple really enjoyable books this month, and I look forward to reading more books in July since not every weekend is jam-packed with plans. 

Five Stars

That Summer by Jennifer Weiner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book really struck me, and while I found it started a bit slow, it wasn't long before I was sucked in and couldn't put it down. This book tells the story of two Dianas -- one is trying to cope with the trauma of being assaulted when she was 15, the other more broadly questioning how happy she is in her life as a stay-at-home mom with a small cooking business. For a while I struggled with how spineless the latter Diana was. So many times I wanted to shake her and be like don't put up with that nonsense. But over the course of the book, as the two women's lives intersect, they each have a profound effect on the other and you see them both grow.

Four Stars

A Promised Land by Barack Obama
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Holy cow this book is long -- 29 hours of audio. But I found it really interesting to hear in the former President's own words how he found his way into politics and then reflected on his first term in office -- dealing with the economic recession, passing healthcare reform and managing international crises. Were there parts where he surely glossed over some of the challenges or criticisms he faced? Sure, but it was still good. This book ends with the raid to take out Osama bin Laden and listening to Obama narrate how the operation was planned and carried out gave me chills.

Golden Girl by Elin Hilderbrand
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love Elin Hilderbrand's books, but I'll be honest I was a bit skeptical of her newest one because it involves a character in the afterlife. I wasn't sure how the book would read with a main character looking in on the action from the heavens, but I actually thought it worked well. After famous writer Vivan Howe is hit by a car while out for a run, her children and friends are left to figure out how to move forward. As with all of Hilderbrand's books, this one took some good twists and turns, though ultimately figuring out who killed Vivian was fairly easy to figure out. Still a really enjoyable read from one of my favorite authors.

Three Stars

The Hand on the Wall by Maureen Johnson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was excited to finish the Truly Devious series, but I found this book to be a little bit slower than the first two. It took me a bit to get going, and I didn’t love some of the plot lines not directly tied to the case, but by the end I was satisfied with how things wrapped up.

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I generally love Kate Quinn's books, but this one took me a long time to get through. To be fair, it's 600+ pages, but I felt in the beginning the story moved kind of slowly. The Rose Code tells the story of three woman that worked at Bletchley Park cracking codes during World War II. When the book opens, one of them is in a mental institution claiming there was a traitor in BP. The book jumps back and forth in time as the women both crack war codes and try to figure out who the traitor is. By the last hundred pages or so, I couldn't put it down and I stayed up way too late to finish it.

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