Mel's Random June

Half the year is over! I've been enjoying the long evenings and bright mornings, even if the British summer time does like to throw the odd shower and thunder storm into the mix! Has everyone been enjoying the strawberries? :-)

Yummy!

And coming up in July I'm looking forward to a week's holiday - I'm off to Cyprus to sit in the sun, crack open a few books, pick at some yummy mezze and poke around the local sights - I can't wait! I also hope to only read books I want too while on holiday. In fact I'm planning on making July my joyful July reading month - I'm only reading books I want to and no review copies (unless it's one I really want to read!) Don't worry though - I won't desert you! I plan to have a few posts scheduled while I'm away and perhaps a little suprise or two...

So back to June and how did I do in reducing the never-ending TBR pile?

Books
Sweet Valley High: Perfect Summer - Francine Pascal (BV's YA of the 80s and 90s)
Now You See Me - SJ Bolton (BCC's Mystery and Suspense Challenge)
Married with Zombie - Jesse Petersen (FCC's Speculative Fiction Challenge)
Bitten In Two (Jaz Parks 7) - Jennifer Rardin
Shady Lady (Corine Solomon 3) - Ann Aguirre
White Cat - Holly Black
The Deadliest Bite (Jaz Parks 8) - Jennifer Rardin
The Owl Service - Alan Garner

EBooks
Tomorrow's Guardian - Richard Denning
Heart of Evil (Krewe of Hunters 2) - Heather Graham
Morlock Night - KW Jeter (FCC's Speculative Fiction Challenge)
Feast - Merrie Destefano

Guest Reviews
Sarah reviewed her birthday book: The Sterkarm Handshake - Susan Price

Author Interview
Merrie Destefano stopped by for some Q&A about her new release Feast

Other Posts
In Book Temple, I discovered the joy of swapping with Read It- Swap It
I did a guest post showing off my book shelves over at The Overflowing Library
Same Book/Different Cover looked at Moon Called by Patricia Briggs
I also started Creature Feature which looked at why Zombies are so popular
 In addition there were the usual wishlist posts, in my mailbox and Throwback Thursdays.

So with all that in mind my reading challenges status looks like this:
BCC's Mystery & Suspense Challenge - 8 Read, 4 Left to read
FTC Speculative Fiction Challenge - 13 Read - officially I've completed this! Yay! However, I'll continue to post reviews and see how I can do in the second half of the year.
BV's YA of 80s and 90s Challenge - 11 Read, 1 Left to read

Personal Classic Challenge -  3 Read

Highlight of the Month: Merrie Destefano's answers to the Q&A were great!

Honourable Mentions: Shady Lady was probably my favourite read of the month! 

So what was your month like? :)