Currently Reading - The Irresponsible Reader

June 2025 in Retrospect: What I Read/Listened to/Wrote About

On July 4, 2025

In Books, Calendar Items, Currently Reading, News/Misc.

There we go…fairly timely and everything.

In June, I read 22 titles (1 down from last month, 2 down from last June), with an equivalent of 6,416 pages or the equivalent (302 down from last month), and gave them an average of 4.2 stars (.5 up from last month).

One note that means something only to me. I can’t quite see how this month’s selection for the Science Fiction Book Club counts as SF, so that’s why there’s a goose egg in the chart below (I put Station Eleven under “General Fiction.” Feel free to convince me I’m wrong in the comments).

So, here’s what happened here in June.
Books/Novels/Novellas Read/Listened to

Still Reading

Ratings

		Average =	4.18
	6		0
	2		0
	10		0
	2		0
	2

TBR Stacks/Piles/Heaps

	Audio	E-book	Physical	Goodreads Want-to-Read	NetGalley Shelf/ARCs/Review Copies
End of 2024	3	68	78	167	10
1st of the Month	3	76	87	171	12
Added	2	1	11	4	2
Read/ Listened	0	1	6	0	5
Current Total	5	76	92	175	9

Breakdowns:
“Traditionally” Published: 18
Self-/Independent Published: 4

Genre	This Month	Year to Date
Children’s	0 (0%)	6 (4%)
Fantasy	4 (18%)	18 (16%)
General Fiction/ Literature	5 (23%)	18 (16%)
Mystery/ Suspense/ Thriller	6 (27%)	26 (29%)
Non-Fiction	2 (9%)	23 (21%)
Science Fiction	0 (0%)	12 (13%)
Theology/ Christian Living	2 (9%)	12 (13%)
Urban Fantasy	2 (9%)	11 (10%)
“Other” (Horror/ Humor/ Steampunk/ Western)	1 (0%)	1 (1%)

Review-ish Things Posted

Dark Neon & Dirt by Thomas Trang: Pressure’s High Just to Stay Alive ‘Cause the Heat is On
The Core of the Christian Faith by Michael W. Goheen: How (and why) to Be Salt and Light Today
Return to Sender by Craig Johnson: The Misadventures of the World’s Worst Undercover Sheriff
Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life by C. S. Lewis: A Portrait of a Reader/Thinker as a Young Man
A Graveyard for Heroes by Michael Michel: The Canvas is Bigger, but the Intensity Remains.
The Great Gatsby: Alphabetised Centennial Edition by F. Scott Fitzgerald, edited by Chris McVeigh: A Classic Reorganized
The Amazing Twin Chicken Freedom Fighters by Zephaniah Sole: The Revolution Will Not Be Pasteurized
I See You’ve Called in Dead (Audiobook) by John Kenny, Sean Patrick Hopkins: Friendship and Funerals
The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis: Do you listen to the angels on the outskirts?

Other Things I Wrote
Other than the Saturday Miscellanies (7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th), I also wrote:

Enough about me—how Was Your Month?

2025 WWW Wednesday—July 2, 2025

By HCNewton

On July 2, 2025

In Books, Currently Reading, News/Misc., WWW Wednesday

It’s July already. Can someone help me put the brakes on 2025? I saw this on Facebook a couple of weeks ago, so it must be true.
On July 2, 2025, we will officially reach the halfway mark of the year. At that point, we'll be closer to the year 2050 than to the year 2000.
That’s the kind of thing that makes you want to run into the comforting distraction of a book, isn’t it?

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?


The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman	No One Leaves the Castle by Christopher Healy, read by Jessica Almasy

I’ve been kicking myself for waiting so long on this new Arthurian tale, and I still am. But I’m cutting myself some slack because I actually am reading it. I just might finish it today, too. It’s so good folks, if you’ve slept on it like I have–quit it.

No One Leaves the Castle is just silly fun, and Almasy is a perfect narrator for this one. I needed something like this book this week.

What did you recently finish reading?


The Blue Horse by Bruce Borgos	How to Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveler by (and read by) Ryan North

Hopefully, you’ll see a full post on the Borgos book here tomorrow. But basically, it’ll make fans of Books One and/or Two very satisfied. And will likely convert anyone new to the series.

North’s book is the perfect combination of snark, information, and odd-as-all-get-out trivia. I don’t know how to explain it.

What do you think you’ll read next?


Dogged Pursuit by David Rosenfelt	Amongst Our Weapons by Ben Aaronovitch, read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith

An Andy Carpenter prequel, eh? Never thought I needed to know anything about the time before Open and Shut (yeah, no dog related puns–how odd!), but now that it’s here–I’m pretty curious.

Just in time for Rivers of London #10’s release next week, I’m tackling #9 on my revisit.

You doing anything to celebrate Friday night (in the U.S., anyway), or will you be cuddled up with a book and some headphones to block out the noise?

20 Books of Summer 2025: June Check-In

By HCNewton

On June 30, 2025

In Books, Currently Reading, Fantasy, Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, News/Misc., Non-Fiction, Science Fiction, Urban Fantasy

A quick check-in for this Reading Challenge hosted by Emma of Words and Peace and Annabel from AnnaBookBel (you can read more about it here). I don’t typically like to do this kind of thing until the first of the next month, but since I doubt that I’ll read 500 pages today, I figured I might as well get this up since I won’t be able to finish the post I initially planned for today. So, I’ve read 1 1/6 books for this challenge (hopefully 1 1/2 by the end of the day). It’s not the most auspicious start, but I’ll take it (and I’ve had worse starts).

So here’s the list:

1. The Lords of the West End by Peter Blaisdell
✔ 2. King of Ashes by S. A. Cosby
3. Mississippi Blue 42 by Eli Cranor
4. Guard in the Garden by Z. S. Diamanti
5. Mushroom Blues by Adrian M. Gibson
6. The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman
7. Everybody Knows by Jordan Harper
8. Interstellar MegaChef by Lavanya Lakshminarayan
9. Sabriel by Garth Nix
10. Lirael by Garth Nix

11. Abhorsen by Garth Nix
12. Welcome to Pawnee: Stories of Friendship, Waffles, and Parks and Recreation by Jim O’Heir
13. Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits by Jason Pargin
14. Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett
15. A Tail of Mystery by Paul Regnier
16. Samurai! by Saburo Sakai with Martin Caiden and Fred Saito
17. The Crew by Sadir S. Samir
18. When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi
19. Remarkably Bright Creatures: Shelby Van Pelt
20. Leveled Up Love by Tao Wong & A. G. Marshall

(subject to change, as is allowed, but I’m going to resist the impulse to tweak as much as I can).

On the other hand, I’m doing pretty well with my Books on My Summer 2025 to-Read List (That Aren’t on My 20 Books Challenge)

1. Stone and Sky by Ben Aaronovitch
2. Algospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming the Future of Language by Adam Aleksic
3. Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki
✔ 4. The Blue Horse by Bruce Borgos
5. Five Broken Blades by Mai Corland

6. This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar, Max Gladstone
✔ 7. The Medusa Protocol by Rob Hart
✔ 8. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
9. Mrs. Plansky Goes Rogue by Spencer Quinn
10. Dogged Pursuit by David Rosenfelt

Okay, if you think it as a percentage, I’ve read 14% of the books I called my shot on for the summer. Again, inauspicious. July promises to be a good one for reading—I hope/expect that I’ll be looking better in 31 days.

(and no, I don’t see a conflict between this and the Orangutan Librarian’s recent post about competitive reading. This is me comparing myself with my goals, or my past self, or—worst of all—my expectations.

20 Books of Summer '25 Chart June Update

May 2025 in Retrospect: What I Read/Listened to/Wrote About

By HCNewton

On June 28, 2025

In Books, Calendar Items, Currently Reading, News/Misc.

I know, this is incredibly late, but I need to get this out of the way before I can start June’s wrapup in a couple of days. I’m also aware that almost no one cares about this stuff–but I’ve come to find that it really helps me think about how I’m spending my time. And, occasionally, someone sees something interesting in one of these posts. So, I continue to press on.

What did may look like from 50,000 feet? I finished 23 titles (1 down from last month, 3 up from last May), with an equivalent of 6,718 pages or the equivalent (496 up from last month), and gave them an average of 3.7 stars (.1 down from last month).

So, here’s what happened here in May.
Books/Novels/Novellas Read/Listened to












	7
		1

Still Reading


</a

Ratings

		Average =	3.73
	2		1
	2		0
	4		0
	7		0
	4

TBR Stacks/Piles/Heaps

	Audio	E-book	Physical	Goodreads Want-to-Read	NetGalley Shelf/ARCs/Review Copies
End of 2024	3	68	78	167	10
1st of the Month	3	76	88	171	11
Added	3	1	5	0	5
Read/ Listened	1	1	6	0	4
Current Total	3	76	87	171	12

Breakdowns:
“Traditionally” Published: 18
Self-/Independent Published: 5

Genre	This Month	Year to Date
Children’s	0 (0%)	6 (5%)
Fantasy	2 (9%)	14 (13%)
General Fiction/ Literature	4 (17%)	13 (12%)
Mystery/ Suspense/ Thriller	6 (26%)	23 (21%)
Non-Fiction	6 (26%)	21 (19%)
Science Fiction	2 (9%)	13 (12%)
Theology/ Christian Living	1 (4%)	11 (10%)
Urban Fantasy	2 (9%)	9 (8%)
“Other” (Horror/ Humor/ Steampunk/ Western)	0 (0%)	1 (1%)

Review-ish Things Posted

The Ten Commandments by Cornelius Van Til: A Brief Look at the Law
Good Trouble by Forest Issac Jones: Marching toward Victory
Hive by D. L. Orton: A Wild Time Travel Ride
Class Clown by Dave Barry: A Chuckle-Filled Peek Behind the Curtain
Rift by Cait West: An Important and Moving Story, That Didn’t Completely Work for Me
Kaua’i Storm by Tori Eldridge: A Thriller + So Much More
Killer Conversations with Rex Stout and John McAleer: Ridiculously Fun (and insightful, too, if you’re into that sort of thing)

Other Things I Wrote
Other than the Saturday Miscellanies (3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th),and 31st), I also wrote (and/or posted):

Enough about me—how Was Your Month?

Opening Lines: The Troubled Deep by Rob Parker

By HCNewton

On June 26, 2025

In Blog Series, Currently Reading, News/Misc., Opening Lines, Quotations

This was a mistake, I knew I didn’t have time to read this book anytime soon. But I sucummbed to temptation when I took it out of the package. Now I’m kicking myself–I need the next 360 pages.

Mum and Dad really like parties. They go to three or four a week sometimes, but we are never allowed to go with them. Me and my big brother, that is. They say it’s because the parties always finish too late. That there are no party games, no ice cream, no musical statues. That we’d be home too late for school the next day.

They are probably right about this, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to go. Getting all dressed up the way Mum does in her sparkly frocks and jangling earrings. My brother could get cleaned up like Dad does too, handsome in a suit or a leather jacket. Mum and Dad always look so special as we wave from the window, watching them leave Brindley Hall in their super cool Jaguar car.

Dad taught me an old-timey rhyme about it and I like the way it rolls off the tongue. Father’s car is a jaguar, and pa drives rather fast. I am going to tell the other children at school on Monday.

If I get to school on Monday.

Because tonight, it has all been different. This time, when it went dark, the babysitter didn’t come, and Mum told us both to get dressed smartly instead. This time, we got to go with them in the Jaguar car, named after a big cat, because it goes so fast.

I wish it had been faster. I wish we’d gone far away from here.

I wish it hadn’t gone into the water.

I wish I wasn’t stuck in it, me and my brother looking at each other in the back as freezing water comes up through gaps in the floor.

I wish we were at home.

I wish we’d never gone to that party.

from The Troubled Deep by Rob Parker

Opening Lines Logo

2025 WWW Wednesday—June 25, 2025

By HCNewton

On June 25, 2025

In Books, Currently Reading, News/Misc., WWW Wednesday

Oh, hey…time for this post…

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?


The Blue Horse by Bruce Borgos	How to Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveler by (and read by) Ryan North

Unless the next 80% of this book goes off the rails in a big way, Borgos has locked himself a spot in my TBRs for years to come with this one.

Say you’re a time traveler stuck in the past and you need to recreate civilization–but by cheating, because you don’t want to have to do the trial and error bit, North’s book is exactly what you need.

What did you recently finish reading?


Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel	False Value by Ben Aaronovitch, read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith

I’m stunned by Station Eleven, it seems beyond good. I’m not sure exactly what Mandel was trying to accomplish there (still working on that), but that book is a doozy.

False Value was just as fun as I remembered–but the pacing was different than I expected. It just threw me a little bit from time to time–you’re doing X already? When is Y going to happen? etc. Memory is a funny thing, eh?

What do you think you’ll read next?


The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman	No One Leaves the Castle by Christopher Healy, read by Jessica Almasy

I’ve been curious about Grossman’s take on Arthurian legend since I first heard about it–time to put the curiosity to an end. Past time, really.

It’s been a dog’s age since I spent time with Healy, this book looked like a good excuse to fix that.

How are you closing out June? Also, how is it the end of June already?

2025 WWW Wednesday—June 18, 2025

By HCNewton

On June 18, 2025

In Books, Currently Reading, News/Misc., WWW Wednesday

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?


King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby	Money, Lies, and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy by Katherine Stewart, read by Patricia Rodriguez

I sort of feel like I should be holding my hands in front of my eyes as I read King of Ashes, the book starts dark and doesn’t lighten up. The three primary characters keep doing things I know are going to end horribly. But I can’t look away.

Actually, the same could be said of Stewart’s book. Even if she’s only 1/3 right, anyone reading this is going to lose some sleep.

What did you recently finish reading?


How to Dodge a Cannonball by Dennard Dayle	The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest by Marisa Calin, read by Aubrey Hartman

Dayle’s Civil War satire was a heckuva read. Not sure how I’ll manage to say something about it. But will be trying soon.

For an MG fantasy, Calin’s book was pretty dark. Also cute and heart-warming. Which is a fun combo, you have to admit.

What do you think you’ll read next?


The Medusa Protocol by Rob Hart	False Value by Ben Aaronovitch, read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith

More from the Assassins Anonymous world? Yes, please

I’m picking up the pace on my Rivers of London revisit, so False Value is next. As I recall, some of my favorite lines of the series here.

What are you reading this week?

WWW Wednesday—June 11, 2025

By HCNewton

On June 11, 2025

In Books, Currently Reading, News/Misc., WWW Wednesday

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?


How to Dodge a Cannonball by Dennard Dayle	The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest by Marisa Calin, read by Aubrey Hartman

I’m not sure what to say about Dayle’s book yet–it’s a satire set in the Civil War about a white teen in an all-black squad in an almost-all-black regiment. I’m very impressed, but am still trying to figure out just where it’s going before I firm up my impressions.

Calin’s book was being promoted by a local bookstore, and looked like just the needed level of lightness.

What did you recently finish reading?


The Amazing Twin Chicken Freedom Fighters by Zephaniah Sole	Lies Sleeping by Ben Aaronovitch, read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith

Sole’s book is either brilliant, the ravings of a mad man, or both. I’m leaning toward the latter. My goal is to expand on that soon.

This is my 3rd time through Lies Sleeping, and I picked up so much this time that I think I missed before (or just plum forgot). And, it’s a rollicking great time.

What do you think you’ll read next?


King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby	Money, Lies, and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy by Katherine Stewart, read by Patricia Rodriguez

Family drama, a crime story, and S.A. Cosby…King of Ashes sounds like a grim but fantastic time.

I heard an interview with Stewart this morning, so when I was browsing the Library’s offerings and saw this book, I figured I might as well give it a whirl. Would like to hear a bit more about what lead her to some of her conclusions.

Tell me about your recent reads!

WWW Wednesday—June 4, 2025

By HCNewton

On June 4, 2025

In Books, Currently Reading, News/Misc., WWW Wednesday

There’s still a little Wednesday left…

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?


The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch	Death Masks by Jim Butcher, read by James Marsters

I was having such fun reading The Lies of Locke Lamora last night that I didn’t finish this post (or the other one I had planned for today).

Death Masks is such a great book, and it is so pivotal to the series–setting up so much, it’s really hard to believe. And so much fun to revisit.

What did you recently finish reading?


Return to Sender by Craig Johnson	Life Hacks for a Little Alien by Alice Franklin, read by Sally Phillips

You can blame Scott Lynch for not reading my post about Return to Sender today.

Life Hacks… was so much more than I bargained for when I picked it up. A real gem.

What do you think you’ll read next?


The Amazing Twin Chicken Freedom Fighters by Zephaniah Sole	Rift in the Soul by Faith Hunter, read by Khristine Hvam

Between the cover, the blurb (click a link above), and the title–I don’t know what to expect from Sole’s book, but Run Amok Crime never disappoints.

My Libby waitlists aren’t shrinking, and I want a little more time before my next Rivers of London, so I might as well take this opportunity to revisit Rift in the Soul.

You have any hot reads for this hot season?

(did I really ask something that cheesy?)

20 Books of Summer 2025: Can I Make it Five in a Row?

By HCNewton

On May 31, 2025

In Books, Currently Reading, Fantasy, Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, News/Misc., Non-Fiction, Science Fiction, Steampunk, Urban Fantasy

After Cathy of 746 Books retired from hosting this challenge after an impressive 10 years, I figured this was going away. But Emma of Words and Peace and Annabel from AnnaBookBel stepped up to carry the torch. You can read their kick-off post here. So, I’m back for my fifth year of participation in this challenge–and hopefully completing it. “But HC,” some of you might be saying, “a lot of these books look suspiciously like books from other challenges you mentioned.” Yes, yes they are. I’ve not done a great job at some of my challenges this year (okay, most of them0. So, why not multitask? I’ll force myself to read some anticipated new releases (another thing I’ve failed at this year), read every book I’ve borrowed from a friend, and chip away at two other challenges (possibly more). That’s a win-win-win in my book.

Still, I’m worried about completing it. Feel free to harass me about this from time to time.

I’ve frequently used the unofficial US Dates for Summer—Memorial Day to Labor Day, but Memorial Day has already passed. So, I’ll go along with the June 1-August 31 (actually, none of these books are what I’d read on a Lord’s Day, so June 2-August 30). And It’s going to be Friday at the earliest before I can start one from this list. So…sure, I’m stacking the deck against me (although a couple of years ago, I didn’t read any in June and finished okay).

There’s still time to join in the fun—if you’re into this kind of thing. (there are 10 and 15 book versions, too)

This summer, my 20 are going to be:

1. The Lords of the West End by Peter Blaisdell
2. King of Ashes by S. A. Cosby
3. Mississippi Blue 42 by Eli Cranor
4. Guard in the Garden by Z. S. Diamanti
5. Mushroom Blues by Adrian M. Gibson
6. The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman
7. Everybody Knows by Jordan Harper
8. Interstellar MegaChef by Lavanya Lakshminarayan
9. Sabriel by Garth Nix
10. Lirael by Garth Nix

11. Abhorsen by Garth Nix
12. Welcome to Pawnee: Stories of Friendship, Waffles, and Parks and Recreation by Jim O’Heir
13. Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits by Jason Pargin
14. Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett
15. A Tail of Mystery by Paul Regnier
16. Samurai! by Saburo Sakai with Martin Caiden and Fred Saito
17. The Crew by Sadir S. Samir
18. When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi
19. Remarkably Bright Creatures: Shelby Van Pelt
20. Leveled Up Love by Tao Wong & A. G. Marshall

(subject to change, as is allowed, but I’m going to resist the impulse to tweak as much as I can).

What do you think of this list? Any warnings—or anything you think I should be really excited about?

20 Books of Summer '25 Chart

Category: Currently Reading Page 6 of 71

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

You doing anything to celebrate Friday night (in the U.S., anyway), or will you be cuddled up with a book and some headphones to block out the noise?

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

How are you closing out June? Also, how is it the end of June already?

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

What are you reading this week?

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Tell me about your recent reads!

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

You have any hot reads for this hot season?

What do you think of this list? Any warnings—or anything you think I should be really excited about?