June & July 2025 Wrap-Up

Hello, hello! Here we are again at the end of another month: July felt like it was over in a flash! With my unplanned hiatus earlier in the month, I never posted my June wrap-up so you get a 2-for-1 this time round.

I have to say, I read way less than I thought I would over these two months. Maybe it’s the heat, maybe I was just generally tired from the rest of, well, life and the state of the world… I don’t feel in a reading slump, yet whenever I have some free time, my impulse is to go to the gym or do some yoga and just generally move my body rather than sitting down to read – which isn’t really usual for me. I’m honouring that though and giving myself grace for not meeting every single goal/challenge, as my body is probably telling me something. I’m very curious to see what August will bring!

What I read…

I was on three different blog tours in June, for The Forty Rules of Love, The Lights of Shantinagar and Silverbirds. If you missed them, you can check out my review posts at the link in the title!

I also managed to get through two non-fiction books, one of which (Discorso sulla razza, A Rap on Race in the English version) had been keeping me company for a long time as I kept pausing it to prioritise other books. Maestre was an insightful read focusing on some key literary classics and the women who wrote them – and I obviously now wish to catch up on all of them!

I FINALLY finished listening to Dream Count after almost three (!) months. This was one of my most anticipated new releases this year and I’m really sorry that it did not live up to my expectations. Speaking of disappointments, Brown Skin, White Lies was another book that I had high hopes for but sadly ended up not loving – you can read my full review here. In contrast, I did enjoy Butter, even though it wasn’t quite what I was expecting. I’ll try and write a full review post sometime soon, as I have a lot of thoughts on it.

What I added to my shelves…

June and July were so good for new books! Although I’ve been trying not to buy new books this year, I had to make an exception this time as there were some juicy promotions and books I’d been eyeing for a while. I also managed to get the Illumicrate edition of The Jasad Crown, which pairs nicely with the one I already had of The Jasad Heir. I haven’t read it yet, but I heard nothing but good reviews so far, so I went ahead and bought the sequel on blind trust. As always, link in title takes you to the Goodreads page.

For Review

Huge thanks to publishers, authors, book tour organisers and NetGalley for spoiling me with review copies this summer!

• The Satisfaction Café by Kathy Wang – out now!
• Silverbirds by Rocky Magaña – out now!
• Brown Skin, White Lies by Bobby Mohan – out now!
• When We Ruled: The Rise and Fall of Twelve African Queens and Warriors by Paula Akpan – out now!
• Good People by Patmeena Sabit – publication expected in February 2026
• The Naked Light by Bridget Collins – publication expected in September 2025
• The Red Wind Howls by Tsering Döndrup – out now!

Gifted

These ebooks were kindly gifted by publishers or downloaded for free during limited-time promotions.

• The Burning Stones by Antti Tuomainen
• Monstrous Anger of the Guns: How the Global Arms Trade is Ruining the World and What We Can Do About It, edited by Rhona Michie, Andrew Feinstein, Paul Rogers
• Riot. Strike. Riot: The New Era of Uprisings by Joshua Clover
• Border and Rule: Global Migration, Capitalism, and the Rise of Racist Nationalism by Harsha Walia
• No Cop City, No Cop World: Lessons from the Movement, edited by Kamau Franklin, Micah Herskind, Mariah Parker

Bought

• Colazione al parco con Virginia Woolf by Marta Perego
• Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
• The Count of Montecristo by Alexandre Dumas
• L’arte della gioia (The Art of Joy) by Goliarda Sapienza
• The Jasad Crown by Sara Hashem (Illumicrate edition)

What I’m reading…

With the state of the world being what it is, I’ve gone fully into comfort-reading mode and picked up the final book in the Arlan’s Pledge series. I also finally started Yellowface, which I’m very curious about!

What I’ve been watching…

Lots of films by my standards, but disappointingly few stand out. Although I have also fallen victim to the Golden/Soda Pop craze haha. Series-wise, I also finished watching the latest seasons of both The White Lotus and The Bear. I’m planning to start watching Interview with the Vampire next, forced gently suggested by my brother. Have any of you already watched it?

That’s it for now!
What have you been up to?
Tell me in the comments or leave a link to your wrap-up post so I can visit!