June 2025 Wrap Up

June has been a mixed bag. I’ve really enjoyed some of the books, but I’ve really disliked a few. It seems like every review I’ve written has been negative lately. So, let’s get to my June 2025 wrap up and talk about it.

The Devils

Synopsis:

Holy work sometimes requires unholy deeds.

Brother Diaz has been summoned to the Sacred City, where he is certain a commendation and grand holy assignment awaits him. But his new flock is made up of unrepentant murderers, practitioners of ghastly magic, and outright monsters. The mission he is tasked with will require bloody measures from them all in order to achieve its righteous ends.

Elves lurk at our borders and hunger for our flesh, while greedy princes care for nothing but their own ambitions and comfort. With a hellish journey before him, it’s a good thing Brother Diaz has the devils on his side.

My Rating: 2/5

My Full Review: https://wildwoodreads.com/2025/06/13/the-devils-review/

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Graveyard Shift

Synopsis:

Every night, in the college’s ancient cemetery, five people cross paths as they work the late shift: a bartender, a rideshare driver, a hotel receptionist, the steward of the derelict church that looms over them, and the editor-in-chief of the college paper, always in search of a story.

One dark October evening in the defunct churchyard, they find a hole that wasn’t there before. A fresh, open grave where no grave should be. But who dug it, and for whom?

Before they go their separate ways, the gravedigger returns. As they trail him through the night, they realize he may be the key to a string of strange happenings around town that have made headlines for the last few weeks—and that they may be closer to the mystery than they thought.

My Rating: 3/5

My Full Review: https://wildwoodreads.com/2025/06/18/graveyardshift/

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With a Vengeance

Synopsis:

One train. No stops. A deadly game of survival and revenge.

In 1942, six people destroyed Anna Matheson’s family. Twelve years later, she’s ready for retribution.

Under false pretenses, Anna has lured those responsible for her family’s downfall onto a luxury train from Philadelphia to Chicago, an overnight journey of thirteen hours. Her goal? Confront the people who’ve wronged her, get them to confess their crimes, and deliver them into the hands of authorities waiting at the end of the line. Justice will at last be served.

But Anna’s plan is quickly derailed by the murder of one of the passengers. As the train barrels through the night, it becomes clear that someone else on board is enacting their own form of revenge—and that they won’t stop until everyone else is dead.

With time running out before the train reaches its destination, Anna is forced to hunt the killer in their midst while protecting the people she hates the most. In order to destroy her enemies, she must first save them—even though it means putting her own life at risk.

My Rating: 2/5

My Full Review: https://wildwoodreads.com/2025/06/23/with-a-vengeance-review/

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Memorials

Synopsis:

1983: Three students from a small college embark on a weeklong road trip to film a documentary on roadside memorials for their American Studies class. The project starts out as a fun adventure, with long stretches of empty road and nightly campfires where they begin to open up with one another.

But as they venture deeper into the Appalachian backwoods, the atmosphere begins to darken. They notice more and more of the memorials feature a strange, unsettling symbol hinting at a sinister secret. Paranoia sets in when it appears they are being followed. Their vehicle is tampered with overnight, and some of the locals appear to be anything but welcoming. Before long, the students can’t help but wonder if these roadside deaths were really random accidents…or is something terrifying at work here?

My Rating: Coming Soon

My Full Review: Coming Soon

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Audiobooks

In the Garden of the Beasts

Synopsis:

The time is 1933, the place, Berlin, when William E. Dodd becomes America’s first ambassador to Hitler’s Nazi Germany in a year that proved to be a turning point in history.

A mild-mannered professor from Chicago, Dodd brings along his wife, son, and flamboyant daughter, Martha. At first Martha is entranced by the parties and pomp, and the handsome young men of the Third Reich with their infectious enthusiasm for restoring Germany to a position of world prominence. Enamored of the “New Germany,” she has one affair after another, including with the suprisingly honorable first chief of the Gestapo, Rudolf Diels.

But as evidence of Jewish persecution mounts, confirmed by chilling first-person testimony, her father telegraphs his concerns to a largely indifferent State Department back home. Dodd watches with alarm as Jews are attacked, the press is censored, and drafts of frightening new laws begin to circulate. As that first year unfolds and the shadows deepen, the Dodds experience days full of excitement, intrigue, romance—and ultimately, horror, when a climactic spasm of violence and murder reveals Hitler’s true character and ruthless ambition.

My Rating: 4/5

My Thoughts: I enjoyed this. It was quite a lengthy book, but it was interesting. This showed WWII from a more social side of things versus the political side. Obviously, there were some politics thrown in as well, but it was interesting to see both.

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The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music

Synopsis:

Dave Grohl’s The Storyteller created a sensation when it was initially published, becoming a global bestseller and thrilling fans and critics alike. Readers came to the book for Dave’s heartfelt voice, his love of family and music, and the energy that pours from every page.

Dave’s is an extraordinary life made of up ordinary moments, and he tells stories just like he writes songs—from his soul. Whether recounting his time as kid in Toughskins in the Virginia suburbs, as a skinny teenager drumming his heart out for punk band Scream, living through the explosion and implosion of Nirvana, or hustling all the way around the world to escort his daughters to the Father/Daughter dance (only to be ignored as soon as his girls found their friends) The Storyteller is just like its author, as real as it gets.

My Rating: 5/5

My Thoughts: This could quite possibly be my favorite book of the year. It was witty, inspirational, and emotional all at the same time. Dave Grohl is a wonderful storyteller. I’m also really glad I listened to the audiobook because his execution of the story was great.

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I Survived the Attack of the Grizzlies

Synopsis:

No grizzly has ever killed a human in Glacier before . . . until tonight. Eleven-year-old Melody Vega and her family come to Glacier National Park every year, and it’s always been a place where she can forget her troubles. But this year is different. With Mom gone, every moment in the park is a heartbreaking reminder of the past.

Then Mel comes face-to-face with the mighty grizzly. Now her only thought is one of survival. Mel will soon be a part of one of the most tragic seasons in the history of America’s national parks – a summer of terror that will forever change ideas about how grizzlies and humans can exist together in the wild.

My Rating: 5/5

My Thoughts: This series does a great job at representing some well-known and less known events in history. I had never heard of the attack of the Grizzlies, but it was an interesting story. It does a great job of highlighting everything we should not do when visiting a National Park and it also breaks down everything we should do while we’re there. I think this is a great children’s book especially for a child with an interest in nature.

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The Pearl

Synopsis:

Like his father and grandfather before him, Kino is a poor diver, gathering pearls from the gulf beds that once brought great wealth to the Kings of Spain and now provide Kino, Juana, and their infant son with meager subsistence. Then, on a day like any other, Kino emerges from the sea with a pearl as large as a sea gull’s egg, as “perfect as the moon.” With the pearl comes hope, the promise of comfort and of security….

My Rating: 3/5

My Thoughts: Like most Steinbeck books this bordered on depressing. It was well written and obviously a classic. I liked it, but it’s not my favorite Steinbeck story.

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So that’s my June 2025 wrap up. How was your reading month?