June is coming to an end. So it’s time for my June Wrap Up. I am sad to see the summer go by so quickly. I haven’t been able to accomplish all the things that I wanted to do. We have been so busy this month. I only read six books. I am still keeping up with my goals, but I feel like I have hit a bump in the road. This month was a mixed bag of emotions. I read books that I really liked, books that I really hated, and books somewhere in between. Here are the books that I actually finished. I dnfed several, but we won’t talk about that today.
Home Before Dark
Synopsis:
What was it like? Living in that house.
Maggie Holt is used to such questions. Twenty-five years ago, she and her parents, Ewan and Jess, moved into Baneberry Hall, a rambling Victorian estate in the Vermont woods. They spent three weeks there before fleeing in the dead of night, an ordeal Ewan later recounted in a nonfiction book called House of Horrors. His tale of ghostly happenings and encounters with malevolent spirits became a worldwide phenomenon, rivaling The Amityville Horror in popularity–and skepticism.
Today, Maggie is a restorer of old homes and too young to remember any of the events mentioned in her father’s book. But she also doesn’t believe a word of it. Ghosts, after all, don’t exist. When Maggie inherits Baneberry Hall after her father’s death, she returns to renovate the place to prepare it for sale. But her homecoming is anything but warm. People from the past, chronicled in House of Horrors, lurk in the shadows. And locals aren’t thrilled that their small town has been made infamous thanks toMaggie’s father. Even more unnerving is Baneberry Hall itself–a place filled with relics from another era that hint at a history of dark deeds. As Maggie experiences strange occurrences straight out of her father’s book, she starts to believe that what he wrote was more fact than fiction.
My Rating: 4/5
My Full Review: https://atomic-temporary-167326132.wpcomstaging.com/2020/06/26/home-before-dark-by-riley-sager-review/
Naptown Blues
Synopsis:
Wes Roberts has worked hard creating and maintaining a delicate balance between being a father and satisfying his wanderlust. When he’s not working at an auto repair shop you can usually find him climbing mountains all around the world with his climbing partner Cal, going backpacking with his son Jax, taking weekend bike or kayak trips, or just hanging out at the neighborhood watering hole with his best friends Wilson and Penny.
But somewhere inside, he knows he needs more– more adventure, more freedom, more mountains.
A chance encounter with a mysterious vagabond, Fitz, supercharges his wanderlust, threatening to upset the balance he’s worked so hard for. Fitz is everything he’s ever wanted to be, and the two of them are instantly drawn to one another. When Wes finds himself suddenly unemployed, and most importantly– with Jax’s blessing– Wes and Fitz set off on a series of adventures.
My Rating: 5/5
My Full Review: https://atomic-temporary-167326132.wpcomstaging.com/2020/06/22/naptown-blues-by-rob-wesley-review/
The Librarian of Auschwitz
Synopsis:
As a young girl, Dita is imprisoned by the Nazis at Auschwitz. Taken from her home in Prague in 1939, Dita does her best to adjust to the constant terror of her new reality. But even amidst horror, human strength and ingenuity persevere. When Jewish leader Fredy Hirsch entrusts Dita with eight precious volumes the prisoners have managed to sneak into the camp, She embraces the responsibility―and so becomes the librarian of Auschwitz.
As a young girl, Dita is imprisoned by the Nazis at Auschwitz. Taken from her home in Prague in 1939, Dita does her best to adjust to the constant terror of her new reality. But even amidst horror, human strength and ingenuity persevere. When Jewish leader Fredy Hirsch entrusts Dita with eight precious volumes the prisoners have managed to sneak into the camp, She embraces the responsibility―and so becomes the librarian of Auschwitz.
From one of the darkest chapters in history comes this extraordinary story of courage and hope
My Rating: 3/5
My Full Review: https://atomic-temporary-167326132.wpcomstaging.com/2020/06/15/the-librarian-of-auschwitz-by-antonio-iturbe-review/
The Boy from the Woods
Synopsis:
Thirty years ago, Wilde was found as a boy living feral in the woods, with no memory of his past. Now an adult, he still doesn’t know where he comes from, and another child has gone missing.
No one seems to take Naomi Pine’s disappearance seriously, not even her father-with one exception. Hester Crimstein, a television criminal attorney, knows through her grandson that Naomi was relentlessly bullied at school. Hester asks Wilde-with whom she shares a tragic connection-to use his unique skills to help find Naomi.
Wilde can’t ignore an outcast in trouble, but in order to find Naomi he must venture back into the community where he has never fit in, a place where the powerful are protected even when they harbor secrets that could destroy the lives of millions . . . secrets that Wilde must uncover before it’s too late.
My Rating: 1/5
My Full Review: Coming soon. Spoiler alert. This book is not great.
Nocturne
Synopsis:
Set against the backdrop of 1880s Paris and the stunning Opera Garnier, The Guardian of the Opera: Nocturne brings you the familiar tale of the Phantom of the Opera from a different direction. Meg Giry met the Phantom once when she was twelve years old, a new ballet dancer lost in the Opera’s maze. Years later, when an Angel of Music offers singing lessons to her best friend Christine Daaé, Meg is sure she knows what’s actually happening. But as strange events unfold and the pieces stop adding up, Meg has to wonder if she truly understands the Phantom–or Christine.
Erik is a man of many talents and many masks, and the one covering his face may be the least concealing. The opera house is his kingdom and his refuge, where he stalks through the shadows as the Phantom of the Opera, watching over all that occurs. He never intended to fall in love; when he does, it launches him into a new symphony he’s certain can only end in heartbreak.
My Rating: 3/5
My Full Review: https://atomic-temporary-167326132.wpcomstaging.com/2020/06/19/nocturne-by-cheryl-mahoney/
The Affliction of Praha
Synopsis:
It’s 20th-century Czechoslovakia… and murder comes knocking.
The Teralov family are loved and respected by everyone in Prague. So nobody expected to find Peter Teralov inexplicably murdered in the streets.
To quell the uproar, expert Soviet detective Edgar Rollenvart soon finds himself tasked with hunting down the one responsible and bringing the killer to justice. He’s confident he can unravel the mystery behind Peter’s killing – despite the mysterious absence of evidence.
Teaming up with Peter’s brother, Edgar embarks on a twisting and impossible case that will take them through the streets and cities of early 1920s Czechoslovakia. As the number of suspects mounts and the evidence seems to go nowhere, Edgar soon realizes that the mystery behind this case runs far deeper than meets the eye…
My Rating: 3/5
My Full Review: Coming Soon.
That is my June Wrap Up. I’m hoping to finish and enjoy more books in July. Hope you had a good June. And I hope you have an even better July!
Check out my June TBR.
Reading in the Wildwood 
Awesome wrap up!!
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Thank you! 💕
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