June Round Up

Hey guys 🙂 It’s been a little while. I had me a case of the old writer’s block unfortunately but I think I’m better now thanks in part to June feeling like it was a productive month.

June was Caribbean American Heritage Month and fellow book blogger and bookstagrammer Cindy came up with the idea to have a Read Caribbean challenge. She reached out to me and quite a few other Caribbean book lovers to try to encourage people to read books by Caribbean and Caribbean heritage authors all month. It went soooo well! I *met* new Caribbean instagrammers, bloggers, authors etc. Different publishers heard about it and offered books for giveaways. I think we all did a great job highlighting Caribbean authors across all genres and lemme tell you, if you thought my book wish list was long before…

We had people as far as Australia following along and taking part! I loved how we were all engaging with one another, that we saw books from different Caribbean islands, not just Jamaica and Trinidad. We also had a photo challenge with different prompts for everyday of the month which I did. I am tired! Hahaha! Bwoy, the ambition did tun up. I had so much fun with it I’m kinda bummed it’s over. Luckily, I didn’t get to read all the books I wanted to so those will spill over into future TBR’s.

What I Read

I deliberately chose not to read anything heavy this month as I was still in a bit of a slump. I figured YA and short stories/essays might be the way to go. Also, the Caribbean is known for it’s vivid story telling from the written to the spoken and I wanted my TBR to reflect that.

• The Beast of Kukuyo – Kevin Jared Hosein
• Dreams Beyond the Shore – Tamika Gibson
• Talk Stories – Jamaica Kincaid
• Tales From The Heart – Marys Conde’
• Six Stories & An Essay – Andrea Levy
• Queenie – Candice Carty-Williams

I have fallen behind on my reviews but all of these should have reviews up on my Goodreads page by next weekend.

What I got

Chillaxi taxi my friends, I didn’t buy all of these. Read Caribbean brought some luck 🙂

• Golden Child – Claire Adam – I have wanted this for soo loong so I snatched it when Storyland Books had a used copy on sale. Perfect for Read Caribbean.
• Tell The Wolves I’m Home – Carol Rifka Brunt – Another Storyland Books sale purchase. When I read the blurb it sounded like it could be a continuation of Simon’s story from Chloe Benjamin’s, The Immortalists. I’m very intrigued.
• My Favorite Half-Night Stand – Christina Lauren – This was my June Book Genie pick from Storyland Books. I forgot I even had this on my want to read list. It sounds light and funny, could be a really good summer beach read.
• The Art of Death. Writing the Final Story – Edwidge Danticat – Another author I feel like I should have read but never have. Like I said previously, some publishers sent books to support Read Caribbean and Graywolf Press sent some copies of this one & lucky me got one! Another intriguing number.
• With the Fire on High – Elizabeth Acevedo – One of my most anticipated books of the year, it’s soo pretty and I’ll read or listen to pretty much anything Acevedo. I was lucky again to get this one for free as part of a bundle of books sent by the lovely (when dem ready) people at Harper Collins. Decentred Lit is really the reason why I got thee two free books and I’m so grateful. Who is Decentred Lit? If you don’t know, watch this space because you will by next week 😉

What I borrowed

I borrowed quite a few books this month. I really am making an effort to cut down on all the book buying. It was a resolution of mine this year and I haven’t been doing too great on that front I admit. Still six months left of the year though so I think I can pull the reverse uno card!

• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time – Mark Haddon. I borrowed this from my cousin today. It’s been on my wish list for while so had to scoop that up.
• The Meaning of Night. A Confession – Michael Cox. Victorian murder mystery, why not?

I also finally went to my local library! I really wanted to see what they had in their West Indian collection and while it is limited, I did find some good titles.

• Tales From the Heart. True Stories from my Childhood – Maryse Conde’. As soon as I saw Maryse Conde’s name I had to borrow this one. I’ve been fascinated by her lately. I finished it night before last and while I’m still gathering my thoughts lemme tell you, her parents were a trip.
• In This Breadfruit Kingdom. An Anthology of Jamaican Poetry. Selected by Mervyn Morris. I haven’t read this one yet because poetry isn’t really my thing. I borrowed for the photo challenge poetry prompt. No shame. It’s due back soon but I am going to at least try it before I return it.
• Growing Up Stupid Under the Union Jack – Austin Clarke. I’m currently reading this and it’s equal parts amusing and eye-opening. I don’t think I’ve read many books set in Barbados especially not during colonial time. I like making comparisons between their colonial experiences and ours.

So like I said, June was a productive month and here’s hoping the rest go as well. I sure as heck ain’t starved for reading material. If you participated in Read Caribbean in anyway, thanks for the support, it is really appreciated.

‘Til next time 🙂