Genre: Young Adult Fiction / Coming of Age

June ’26 Wrap-Up

Posted 06/30/2026 by Charli in Wrap Up / 0 Comments

I finally got back into reading this month after almost a year of not reading. I didn’t review all the books on this list, but I did review several of them. Here’s what I read in June 2026: So there it is – all 13 books I read during the month of June 2026! Clown in a Cornfield, Together We Rot, We Did Nothing Wrong, 1 Peter, 52-Week Prayer Practice for Women, The Courage to Change, Sweet Nightmare, and The Joy of an Uncluttered Life were NetGalley reads. Clown in a Cornfield 2: Frendo Lives and Clown in a Cornfield 3: The Church of Frendo were just to finish the released books in the series. ‘Salem’s Lot, Hell House, and The Exorcist were part of my Summerween/Scariest Books Ever Written list. What did you read this month?

Clown in a Cornfield by Adam C..

Posted 06/03/2026 by Charli in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

I’ve been trying to read Clown in a Cornfield since it first came out. I tried to get an ARC but failed, I tried to get it from the library but failed. Then I finally got it from the library, but couldn’t get into it. I was just about to give up when I was able to request it from NetGalley. I still couldn’t get into it – until I managed to snag the audiobook through the Libby app via my public library. Then… it clicked. Normally, I’d do the CAWPIRE review, but I think I’m going to just keep it low key today. I loved Quinn, Cole, and Rust. I liked Quinn’s dad. Wasn’t overly fond of the rest of the characters – although Janet was pretty cool. The rest of the cast was more or less window-dressing to me and I found myself more interested in Quinn and Cole than […]

The Vinyl Underground by Rob R..

Posted 07/10/2023 by Charli in Book Reviews / 2 Comments

Today is my stop on TBR & Beyond Blog Tours’ blog tour for The Vinyl Underground by Rob Rufus. This is a YA Contemporary novel set in 1968, during the Vietnam War. There will be some anti-war sentiments, racism, racial violence, and other possibly upsetting things in this book, so please, check the content warnings before reading. When I first saw The Vinyl Underground, I thought it was going to be a book about music. And it is… kind of. Music figures heavily into the book, but the main message of the book and the main plot have nothing to do with music. I should preface this by saying that my uncles both fought in Vietnam. Both of them volunteered and one of them actually volunteered to go over there twice. My family was lucky – both of my uncles came home. But a lot of my grandparents’ friends lost […]