Dodson Productions

June was a difficult reading month for me. I spent 4 days in Pigeon Forge, TN for my birthday and then 4 days in Washington, D.C. for Warped Tour. I also went on 2 mini trips to Chicago for different concerts. So while I didn’t have a lot of time for physical reading, I did get to have some incredible audiobook experiences. So let’s get into it!!

• Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa – 2 Stars (6/5/26)

I sadly related too much to the theme of this book. Wanting to feel like a normal, every day person when you have a disability is honestly more emotionally damaging than the disability itself. But the way in which the character chooses to express this normalcy is a little too shocking, even for me. I get why this was written. I understand why this scenario was used to show someone craving a normal life experience. But go into this story knowing you are going to have conflicting and confusing feelings by the end of it. It is made to make you think. It is genuinely a good book, which makes it so hard for me to rate. Ultimately, the intensity of it and the jarring emotion it inflicts makes this book such a low rated one for me. But go into with open eyes and make your own opinions on it. That’s really what this book is supposed to push the audience to do.

• Summertime Punchline by Betty Corello – 3 Stars (5/31/26-6/14/26)

I enjoyed this book. Betty Corello’s writing is always enjoyable for me. I do think that after such an amazing book like 32 Days in May that I might have had my expectations set a little too high. It’s a good story, but it misses all the intense darkness of her other book. It felt a little rushed and sometimes that was a good thing. Some characters felt a little one dimensional. It was genuinely a good book. If I had gone in with no expectations, I might’ve rated it higher. It was just missing something serious in it to hold everything together. And that was a bit of a bummer for me.

• The Cursed by Harper L. Woods – Did Not Finish (5/31/26-6/21/26)

DNF at 40% and I’m extremely upset about it. I notoriously hate romantasy cause I’m not a fantasy girly. I read the first book for book club and absolutely loved it. I thought I was finally getting into something that everyone else loved and would be able to have conversations with my fantasy reader friends and actually know what was going on. And then I read this book… While the first one felt exciting and had me on the edge of my seat, this one was absolutely boneless. IT’S ALL SMUT!! And I have nothing against smut if that’s what you’re going for, but this series was so much more than the sex to me and I can’t believe the writer let this happen. I’m genuinely distraught and don’t know if I’ll ever truly recover…

• Next Time Will Be Our Turn by Jesse Q. Sutanto – 5 Stars (6/10/26-6/30/26)

This was absolutely a 6 star book for me!! It makes you feel every possible emotion. It takes you on the most intense highs and the most depressing lows. The generational component was so beautifully necessary to the story and where it takes us as the reader. I honestly am still in shock from the incredible story I just read. I am shattered. I am heartbroken. I am in love with this book.

I’ve got some books that I am super excited to read in the month of July! I’m planning on getting back to reading every single day again since I’ll be home more cause that is genuinely my favorite way to end the day. See you next month everyone!!