Thing 1

1. Read 6 books off Mt. TBR

During June, I read a lot of books, some of which had been on my TBR bookshelves for years:

1. Teleny and Camille by Jon Macy- I bought this at a conference in 2012. Glad to have finally read it. Not sure I want to read the original Oscar Wilde story after reading this amazing version with its satisfying "fix-it" ending, though.

2. Sticky by Dale Lazarov, Steve MacIsaac- I bought this at a con years ago and the author signed it for me. It was nice to finally enjoy it!

3. The Rules and Regulations for Mediating Myths & Magic by F.T. Lukens- I also bought this at a con a few years back, and the author autographed it. I absolutely loved it and can't wait to read the second book in the series.



Progress: 3 / 6

Thing 2

2. Read 6 Overdrive wish list books

I also got through a lot of the LGBTQ+ books on my Overdrive wish list during June! I love when I can combine two things at once. I've got another book from my list almost finished, so I should be able to knock this thing out pretty soon.

1. Camp by Lev A.C. Rosen- I absolutely adored this book. The concept was so flawed (changing one's self so someone will like you) but the resolution was beautiful.

2. Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy- I almost read this last year but didn't. So it's been hanging around on my wish list for a long time. I wish I hadn't waited; I loved it!

3. Release by Patrick Ness- Shorter than I had expected, but full of heart.

4. The Love & Lies of Rukhsana Ali by Sabina Khan- This book has also been on my list for more than a year. I loved the diversity and culture, but I wasn't ready for the violence.



Progress: 4 / 6

Thing 5

5. Watch 6 Netflix DVDs

Last month, I watched Live and Let Die. I don't seek out James Bond movies often, but I've had this one on my radar for a little while now since discovering my first tarot card deck was created specifically for this movie. It was neat seeing a young Jane Seymour using the cards I've used for the past 22+ years.



Progress: 1 / 6

Thing 10

10. Pride Reading Project 2021- 06/30/21

I finished 19 LGBTQ+ books and had another 5 in progress still at the end of the month. I would have liked to have finished more, but I think that's still a pretty good job for what turned out to be a busy month for me.

Finished in June:
1. Later by Stephen King
2. Queer Icons and Their Cats by Alison Nastasi, P.J. Nastasi
3. Camp by Lev A.C. Rosen
4. Husbands by Brad Bell, Jane Espenson, others
5. How to Be a Movie Star (How to Be #2) by T.J. Klune
6. Teleny and Camille by Jon Macy
7. Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
8. Lila and Hadley by Kody Keplinger
9. Sticky by Dale Lazarov, Steve MacIsaac
10. Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy
11. The Old Guard Book Two: Force Multiplied (The Old Guard #2) by Greg Rucka, Leandro Fernández
12. Release by Patrick Ness
13. Like a Love Story by Abdi Nazemian
14. The Love & Lies of Rukhsana Ali by Sabina Khan
15. Conventionally Yours (True Colors #1) by Annabeth Albert
16. The Backstagers, Vol. 1: Rebels Without Applause (The Backstagers #1) by James Tynion IV
17. As Far As You'll Take Me by Phil Stamper
18. Heavy Vinyl, Vol. 1: Riot on the Radio by Carly Usdin, Nina Vakueva
19. Heavy Vinyl: Y2K-O! by Carly Usdin, Nina Vakueva

In Progress at the End of June:
1. The King of Crows (The Diviners #4) by Libba Bray (Have since finished)
2. The Rules and Regulations for Mediating Myths & Magic (The Rules #1) by F.T. Lukens(Have since finished)
3. Adam & Steve by Craig Chester
4. The Rainbow Comes and Goes: A Mother and Son on Life, Love, and Loss by Anderson Cooper, Gloria Vanderbilt
5. Bears on Bears: Interviews and Discussions by Ron Jackson Suresha

Thing 14

14. Participate in a reading challenge/readathon

I participated in three reading challenges in June. Two were adult summer reading challenges at local library systems. For Arlington, I read at least a little bit every day for 30 days straight (and am working on some of the bonus challenges now). For Fairfax, I finished the challenge in 3 days, reading 1000+ minutes (and have done some of the bonus challenges as well).

From June 6-12, I participated in the Read-o-Rama reading challenge. I got two BINGOs by the end of the challenge by finishing 6 books. I almost finished one other and read just a little of two others. In addition, I attended two online events during the challenge and participated in every day of the Instagram Photo challenge. It was intense but a lot of fun!

Thing 36

36. Finish an adult coloring book

During a Harry Potter meetup, I got 1.5 pages colored in the coloring book I've been working on for years now. As it was pride month, I colored the owl with rainbow colors and the flowers around it with ace flag colors. I enjoyed coloring the fish as well, just choosing random colors for each.




Progress: 19 / 24

Thing 39

39. Build 30 LEGO sets

I built three more sets in June, another small polybag one and a proper full set as well.

3. Bricks by the Bay Convention Streetcar Set
4. 30382: Jurassic World Baby Velociraptor Playpen
5. 40516: Everyone is Awesome



Progress: 5 / 30

Thing 56

56. Spring Cleaning 2021

I still haven't accomplished everything I set out to during this year's spring cleaning session, but I did enough to be able to cross it off my list here.


Some things I did: Sorted though 8 boxes of things from storage, vacuumed everywhere, cleared off some counters and desk surfaces, organized my LEGO loft including sorting bricks for more than a week and buying some new storage solutions, bought a new trash can and new command strips for pictures that were falling off my walls, scrubbed the downstairs bathroom from top to bottom, straightened up my bedroom closet, found out where my front door paint is, swept and de-weeded my deck and fixed loose boards in my fence, inventoried my freezer, took down and cleaned my bird feeder, cleaned my humidifier.

Thing 69

69. June 2021 Travel from Home Trip

In June, I fake traveled to Canada. It was more cooking/baking than I'd counted on, but I was surprised by how much I enjoy poutine! The hardest part was finding cheese curds and maple syrup actually produced in Canada instead of Vermont. The pursuit was well worth it, though. It was a fun travel from home adventure.



Meal: Poutine, split pea soup
Dessert: Pudding chomeur
Movie: C.R.A.Z.Y.
Book: Canada by Norah Myers
Music: Barenaked Ladies albums: The Barenaked Ladies and The Persuasions and Fake Nudes
Link: Canada, Eh?

Thing 91

91. Get a new job

After 11 and a half months of unemployment and part-part-time jobs, I finally found a new job that's an excellent fit for my skills. I'm excited about getting to help another association maintain and reimagine their website!