Hello, welcome to damppebbles and to this, my sixth #CaseClosed post of the year. How can it be July already? Where have the first six months of the year gone? Are you having a good year so far? I truly hope so. We’ve said goodbye to June 2025 and the summer in the UK is in full swing! We’ve actually had some warm days, so warm I think some of us may have been pining for slightly cooler temperatures again. You REALLY can’t please some of us Brits 😂
So, final mention of this but for those who have been asking, a shoulder update. It’s going to be brief and after this, I’m NEVER going to mention it again (because I’m pretty sick of it, to be honest). I’ve had the latest round of surgery on both shoulders. Things are good. Movement is returning, physio is ongoing and I’ve joined the gym to gently rebuild the strength I’ve lost in my shoulders and arms. Hopefully back to some semblance of ‘normal’ in the not too distant future.
Let’s get to the books and #CaseClosed as that’s what we’re really here for. #CaseClosed is my monthly wrap up post where I share the books I’ve read, the content I’ve posted on the blog, the state of my NetGalley shelf and how my Goodreads challenge is going. Plus this month, and for the next two months only, the state progress of my #20BooksofSummer2025 challenge.
During June I read the grand total of eleven books which, for me, is a very good month. One was a short story (the final story in a collection from some of the finest horror writers around, which I had intended to read before the end of May but I ran out of time!) and two books were on the shorter side by a squeak. A bit longer than a novella, a bit shorter than a full novel.
Those eleven books were…
➡️ Letter Slot by Owen King
➡️ We Live Here Now by Sarah Pinborough
➡️ The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
➡️ Chasing Shadows by Robert Bryndza
➡️ We Are All Guilty Here by Karin Slaughter
➡️ Killer on the Road by Stephen Graham Jones
➡️ The Wasp Trap by Mark Edwards
➡️ The Compound by Aisling Rawle
➡️ The Stranger in Room Six by Jane Corry
➡️ The Outback by Sara Ochs
➡️ The Babysitter Lives by Stephen Graham Jones
I’ve already shared my reviews of We Live Here Now, Chasing Shadows and Killer on the Road. As I mentioned last month, I’ve stupidly taken on more review copies than I have actual space for on the blog. So normally I would say ‘look out for these reviews around publication day’ but that would be misleading. Most of these reviews won’t be published around publication day. Most of these reviews will probably feature on the blog weeks after they’ve been published as I just can’t squeeze everything in at the moment. I’ll keep working on it though!
During June I posted the following reviews…
🖤 The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey
🖤 How the Other Half Die by Rachel North
🖤 The Countdown Killer by Sam Holland
🖤 Dear Future Me by Deborah O’Connor
🖤 We Live Here Now by Sarah Pinborough
🖤 Chasing Shadows by Robert Bryndza
🖤 Actually, I’m a Murderer by Terry Deary
🖤 With a Vengeance by Riley Sager
I posted four Top Ten Tuesday posts during June…
⚪ Tuesday 3rd June – Summer Freebie – Yellow Covers
⚪ Tuesday 10th June – Bookish Wishes (ten books on my wish list)
⚪ Tuesday 17th June – My Summer 2025 To-Read List
⚪ Tuesday 24th June – Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the Second Half of 2025
I also posted four WWW Wednesday posts where I share my previous read, my current read and what I plan to read next.
🟧 Wednesday 4th June
🟧 Wednesday 11th June
🟧 Wednesday 18th June
🟧 Wednesday 25th June
And of course, there was #CaseClosed for May.
My most popular review on the blog in June was The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey.
My most popular non-review post in June was my Top Ten Tuesday contribution from Tuesday 24th June – Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the Second Half of 2025.
My Goodreads Challenge progress is still looking positive. I decided to take the heat off in 2025 and instead of going for my usual ‘one book every four days’ (roughly 92 books a year) I’ve gone with the more sedate 60 books over 52 weeks which I see as one book a week. It’s not 52 for two reasons 1) I started two books in 2024 and finished them in 2025 so they shouldn’t count towards my total. And 2) I’ve added a number of short stories/novellas which I don’t count in my challenge total (only full length novels). Makes some kind of strange sense somewhere! So far this year I have read 54 books which puts me 25 books ahead of schedule (90% of the way there). Woohoo!! I’m keeping everything crossed that I’ll be able to say I’ve completed my Goodreads Challenge in my July #CaseClosed post 🤞
On to my NetGalley update for this month. For anyone not familiar with NG it’s a site where you can request early copies of digital books in exchange for a review. I’ve been on NG since I first started the blog in 2016 and we’ve….had our moments…? I find it very easy to get carried away and request ALL the books, only to realise a few days later that I do actually need to find the time to read ALL of the books! One of my bookish goals for this year is to get my NetGalley shelf down to five ‘to-be-read’ books at a time. I made a pledge at the end of January to reduce the number of books to be both read AND reviewed on my shelf. I was, at the time, feeling overly confident. Then I realised that would mean cutting back and unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be something I am capable of!
Big changes last month. Even bigger changes this month! Looooook at my virtually empty to-read shelf!! And the one book on my NetGalley shelf at the moment isn’t even mine! (It’s for my guest reviewer.)
This is what I currently have to read on my NetGalley shelf.
💟 Ring the Bells by C.K. McDonnell (which is for my guest reviewer)
Sadly, the number of books I still have to review on my NetGalley shelf is high. However, I do feel I’ve made progress this month and July may be the month I finally get on top of my review writing. It’ll be a breeze, surely. What with the school summer holidays starting, lots of lovely physio to keep my shoulders moving and having recently joined the gym to slowly build up the strength in my shoulders and arms again. Not forgetting everything else us adults have to do, all that ‘adulting’! And reading, of course. Have to find the time to read.
So in summary…..
January: 11 eARCs to be read | 14 to be reviewed
February: 14 eARCS to be read | 11 to be reviewed
March: 12 eARCS to be read | 12 to be reviewed
April: 9 eARCS to be read | 11 to be reviewed
May: 5 eARCs to be read 🥳 | 14 to be reviewed 🙈
June: 1 eARC to be read 🍾 | 11 to be reviewed 🙈🙈
For three short months (because that’s how long the challenge lasts) I’ll also be including a 20 Books of Summer 2025 wrap up as part of my #CaseClosed posts. I think it’s all going quite well at the moment.
These are the twenty books I chose for the challenge. I’ve included my progress, whether there have been any changes and a link if I’ve reviewed them (and I have ACTUALLY reviewed a couple! Who am I? I don’t recognise myself. I never review ’20 Books’ books until the challenge has ended and that’s often MONTHS later!!).
1. We Solve Murders by Richard Osman – currently reading
2. ✔️ The God of the Woods by Liz Moore – read, review to follow
3. Love Kills by David Jackson
4. ✔️ We Live Here Now by Sarah Pinborough – read and reviewed
5. ✔️ We Are All Guilty Here by Karin Slaughter – read, review to follow
6. ✔️ The Compound by Aisling Rawle – read, review to follow
7. The Night I Killed Him by Gill Perdue
8. ✔️ The Stranger in Room Six by Jane Corry – read, review to follow
9. ✔️ The Outback by Sara Ochs – read, review to follow
10. ✔️ Chasing Shadows by Robert Bryndza – read and reviewed
11. ✔️ The Wasp Trap by Mark Edwards – read, review to follow
12. Runner 13 by Amy McCulloch – I’ve swapped this out for ✔️ Killer on the Road by Stephen Graham Jones. Runner 13 was a NetGalley request and it was taking too long to hear either way so I cancelled my request. I have read and reviewed Killer on the Road and will make sure I pick up a copy of Runner 13 to read at a later date.
13. Butter by Asako Yuzuki
14. In the Blink of an Eye by Jo Callaghan
15. Broken Girls by Joy Kluver
16. The Final Vow by M.W. Craven
17. Strange Pictures by Uketsu
18. Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney
19. The September House by Carissa Orlando
20. 59 Minutes by Holly Seddon – currently reading
In short, I’ve read nearly all of the review copies and none of my own books! Nine books in the first month is pretty good going though. I think I managed three over the entire course of the challenge last year so this is a definite improvement.
Out of the eleven books I read in June, my book of the month is…
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That’s it for another month. Thanks as always for getting this far and for your continued support. I hope you have a wonderful July, stuffed to the gills with the very best books. If you’re also taking part in the 20 Books of Summer Challenge I would LOVE to know how you’re getting on. Please let me know in the comments! Happy reading one and all. See you soon lovely people!
P.S. If you’re looking for your next read then check out the hashtag #fivestarflashback on Bluesky. I’ve been re-sharing all of my old reviews from the dawn of time itself (or 2016 if you prefer). It’s been so much fun digging in the DP archives! There are around roughly five reviews posted a day so lots of lovely book suggestions if you’re in need of inspiration.
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