Books Read – June 2025




















Books
- Stiff News (Catherine Aird)
- Dangerous Books for Girls (Maya Rodale)
- Magician’s Hoard (Celia Lake) – reread
- Carry On (Celia Lake) – reread; reviewed 7/10/2025
- The Fossil Door (Celia Lake) – reread
- Three Tales of Gabe and Rathna (Celia Lake) – reread
- The Blonde Who Came In From the Cold (Ally Carter) – ARC
- Loving a Lost Lord (Mary Jo Putney) – reread
- Never Less Than a Lady (Mary Jo Putney) – reread
- Nowhere Near Respectable (Mary Jo Putney) – reread
- No Longer a Gentleman (Mary Jo Putney) – reread
- Sometimes a Rogue (Mary Jo Putney) – reread (reviewed Sept. 2013)
- Not Quite a Wife (Mary Jo Putney) – reread (reviewed Aug. 2014)
- Once a Soldier (Mary Jo Putney) – reread (reviewed Nov. 2016)
- Once a Rebel (Mary Jo Putney) – reread
- Once a Scoundrel (Mary Jo Putney) – reread
- Once a Spy (Mary Jo Putney) – reread
- Once Dishonored (Mary Jo Putney) – reread
- Once a Laird (Mary Jo Putney) – reread
- The Murder of Thomas Cardwell (Stephanie Laurens)
- Rose Daughter (Robin McKinley) – reread

Audiobooks
- Braiding Sweetgrass (Robin Wall Kimmerer) – reviewed 7/24/2025
Summary: July was stressful work-wise, and my anxiety was also up (not a lot, but enough to notice.) I wasn’t sleeping well, so I ended up plowing through rereads. Mostly, I binge-read my way through related two historical romance series by Mary Jo Putney: Lost Lords and Rogues Redeemed. I started several ARCs, but only finished one.
I completed a total of 22 books in July, including 1 ARC, 5 first-time reads, and 16 rereads. I reviewed 2 of the books I finished this month. I didn’t post any reviews of books I read in previous months of 2025 or in 2024 or earlier. Of the books I reread in July, 3 were books I had already reviewed in previous years.
Challenges (year to date)
Here’s the breakdown of my reading challenges this year so far:
- Goodreads Challenge: 110/140. I am 28 books ahead of schedule!
- Audiobook challenge: Listened to 14/12; reviewed 4/12
- COYER Out to Lunch challenge: Read 69/25; reviewed 16/25
- Ilona Andrews series read-along: Read 4; reviewed 1 so far. (I skipped the rest of the Edge books for now, but I have been reading all the Innkeeper Chronicles books; I just haven’t written the reviews.)
- Library Love Challenge: Read 12/12; reviewed 4/12
- NetGalley & Edelweiss Challenge: Read 13/25; reviewed 6/25 (Reviews includes 2 books read prior to 2025, so I still have 9 ARCs from January through July to review.)
- Robin’s Recs: Read 3/6; reviewed 1/6
Click here to see a detailed list of my challenge reading.
Other Goals and Resolutions
Writing: Days I wrote: 0. My heart wants to get back to it, but I keep not making the time.
Prioritizing reading and writing time over screen time: Meh.
Review more of the books I read: Well, at least I reviewed 2 books, which is better than June’s zero reviews.
Unpack and reorganize my book collection: I haven’t done much of this due to work and other projects. Hopefully in August!
Catalog my books: I plan to catalog as I unpack them, so…
Click here for the full list of my 2025 goals and resolutions, excluding challenges.




























Anne - Books of My Heart
You’re doing well. We all do what we can. As long as you enjoy reading.
Anne – Books of My Heart recently posted…Knife in the Back by Karen Rose @karenrosebooks.bsky.social @berkleyromance.bsky.social @berkleypub.bsky.social @KarenRoseBooks @BerkleyRomance @BerkleyPub
Lark_Bookwyrm
That’s the important thing! Everything else—goals, challenges, readalongs, even reviews—only matters if it supports your reading.
Nicole @ BookWyrmKnits
That’s a lot of reading! I hope your anxiety is better this month.
Nicole @ BookWyrmKnits recently posted…Hot August Linkity (2025 edition)
Lark_Bookwyrm
It’s getting better, thank you. Brain chemistry is weird. Sometimes there’s an external trigger for my anxiety, but sometimes it just rises for no apparent reason.
Katherine
Wow! I’m sorry for the reasons but you got a ton of reading done. I hope your anxiety is a bit calmer now and that August is a great month!
Lark_Bookwyrm
I’m doing a bit better this week, thank you.