The funk continues . . .

This one will be brief. I only managed to read three books this month.

That's not to say I didn't start only three books . . . No, I began plenty of books. Finish them? Now that's a different story.

Granted three of those books are non-fiction. It tends to be my go-to when I'm in a funk. But, I don't blitz through non-fiction like I typically do romance novels. For instance, one of the books I began, The World : A Family History of Humanity by Simon Sebag Montefiori tops out at over 1300 pages and will probably be picked up and read little by little over the next year.

There was one fiction book that shall not be named that took up much of the month. I decided, hey! let's read a traditionally published romance! and picked up one that I'd seen favorable reviews of. It had a decent plot. The sex scenes had plenty of spice. But around the 35% mark, there was a sentence where the verb was blatantly absent . . . in a TRADITIONALLY PUBLISHED BOOK!!! Meaning the author had a team of agents and editors behind her. They weren't pouring over every line themselves. They had paid professionals doing that for them, and they still missed a freaking verb. Not sure if you realize this, but verbs are pretty important components in sentences. Anyways, I toughed it out, grumbling about the typo for another week, getting through another ten percent before tossing the book into the dnf pile.

Enough about that rant, though, let's focus on what I did manage to finish. The trio of books I did manage to read were excellent :

The duo of Vi Keeland/Penelope Ward never fails. I finished Hate Notes pretty early in the month and I was certain they would be the cure to my funk. Instead, they were a temporary bandage.

Pathogenesis was both informative and entertaining. When it comes to non-fiction I love scientific and social history topics. This fits both categories perfectly. If you want a clear understanding of how pandemics affected society throughout history, pick this one up.

Everyone . . . and I mean everyone, has been recommending Tessa Dare's The Duchess Deal to me for ages. I finally picked it up hoping that a historical romance would be a nice change of pace. People were not wrong. This was a fantastic story, and being the first in a series it gave me an idea which I hope will help get me on track and back to reading more.

That's right . . . going into August, I'm dusting off all those series' I never got around to finishing. Fingers crossed, returning to some old favorites may be just what I need!

Wish me luck!

C.J.