Well, June wasn’t any different to what I expected. It was the last month of full-time work for everyone at my office and wow, it was hectic, stressful, frustrating and emotional in so many different ways. It hasn’t been an easy process and if I’m being honest, there were so many instances the team felt deep betrayal and disbelief due to decisions being made by the higher-ups in New York, but would be the most impactful to the local team on the ground here. By the time the 30th rolled around, the energy was almost manic because everyone was beyond exhausted but at the same time, relieved to not have to deal with the heavy burden of this change full-time anymore.
Personally, I was feeling pretty numb to it all and even now, I don’t think it’s fully set in? There were a few panicky moments towards the end of June when I started thinking too long and hard about what I’m going to do next, whether I’m ever going to be able to get a job again, how I’m going to survive in this economy, etc. I know it’s a serious situation but I also know my brain was making things more dramatic and worse in those moments. As of right now, I’m feeling quite a bit of guilt because I’m not working, and I’m also struggling to not feel like I have to constantly be online and available for work because I’m no longer being paid to work full-time. It’s a weird transitory feeling and I’m sure it’ll take a while for me to get used to it, but I know I will adjust. 🙂
Again, as expected, June was another weird month for reading. I’m honestly happy that I managed to read anything at all and that I wound up finishing 7 books. It’s hard to pick a favourite because I read some surprisingly great books and almost all of them were rated 4+ stars! Since I can’t pick a favourite, I’ll share my top 3 and they’re all very different to each other, but I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them.
I was more online on the blogosphere in June, but it wasn’t a vast improvement from being on hiatus. I tried to at least post once a week and I did that, so I’m happy with it. The area where I really dropped the ball was in engaging with others—I didn’t have the energy or headspace to respond to comments on my blog or to do any blog hopping and I feel so bad about that! 😣 I just want to say thank you to everyone who has continued to support my blog, and visit and engage with my content even if I didn’t do the same. I appreciate you all so much and thank you for your patience! 💜 Now that I will have more time from July onwards, I’m really looking forward to being more active again in the blogosphere.
Let’s Talk Bookish made a return this month but we’re changing things up moving forward! You can check out the announcement post including the newest topics, but TL;DR: LTB will now have a quarterly schedule and will have 1-2 topics per month. Even with these changes, Aria and I hope that you’ll still join us for these bookish discussions!
TEXTis linked to my review (if available)
4.5 & 4.75 pandas
Blog Tour Review: The Ocean Would Paint Me Blue by Zoulfa Katouh
4 pandas
A Rather Vengeful Accord by Danielle Knight
3.5 pandas
The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst
Colour me surprised because I completely forgot about my reading challenges over the past few months but I was still able to fill in the prompts for June anyway! (We’ll just ignore that the Buzzword book was read in May…) I’ve thankfully been reading my share of backlist titles, so I can also still count those towards my challenge, even if no prompts on the bingo were filled. There were a few I’d missed in previous months but I’ll try catching up on those asap now that I have the time and brain space.
✔ Goodreads Reading Challenge: 51/100
✔ Beat the Backlist 2026: 📚 4 backlist books // 📱 0 backlist ARCs ⇢ +1 bingo spot
✔ 2026 Buzzword Reading Challenge: June (“one word title”) ⇢ Faithbreaker
✔ Year in Aeldia 2026: June (Book ft. Fantasy Creature) ⇢ The Shadow of the Gods
And with that, we’ve passed the halfway mark of the year! Still hard to believe time has gone so quickly. How was your reading month? I hope everyone is doing as good as can be and taking good care. Hope July treats you better than June did, friends! 🫂
dinipandareads 
It sounds as though it’s agood thing that your job has finally finished. The stress of those last few days must have been awful. I hope that you do manage to find anothe job and hopefully one that you enjoy.
Well done on your challenges and reading 7 books despite all the mental upheaval.
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Yeah, the last few days were mental. Did not enjoy. Would not recommend 😂 So I’m really glad that stress is over, but now it’s just finding my footing again. I’m trying to give myself a bit of time to just relax a bit and decompress (which yes, I’ve been doing loads of already, lol) but I think it’s also a procrastination tactic for me. I’m so good at putting things off 😂 But it is also quite scary looking for new work in today’s economy and after not having to do it for years! One good thing is that now I have loads more time to read and sort my shelves out, so yay?! Hehe
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I get that completely. One of the reasons I stayed in my job so long was that I just couldn’t bear the thought of looking for another one and interviews etc.
Enjoy your time out and I hope that something turns up
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All the best for July!
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Thanks, Hayley! 💜 Hope you have a great July as well!
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Thank you!
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Wishing you the best of luck with the job situation!
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Thanks, Keira! 💜
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I didn’t realize they let you ALL go. Wow! That is a big adjustment, but I am sure you are right, you will adjust.
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Yep, it’s everyone, unfortunately. But… Well, we will survive! *positive thinking and all*
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Good luck with your work situation Dini. It is an adjustment, and it is hard not to feel guilty for not working – I’ve been there! I hope you can take a little bit of time for yourself just to breathe and relax before regrouping.
Some excellent books here – Shadow of the Gods is truly the start of an epic series! I really need to read Wild Dark Shore sometime soon!
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It’s a big adjustment, but I’m trying to look on the bright side and see it as coming at the right time. Now I get to focus on my health and figuring out what it is I want do next, lol. It’s been tough though, for sure, especially in this economy and with the state of the world being what it is. But I’m sure I will adjust soon enough 🙂
Shadow of the Gods was so good—the way it all came together was so unexpected and I can’t wait to continue with the series tomorrow! I hope you love Wild Dark Shore. It’s so beautiful, haunting, and also, heartbreaking. I loved how McConaghy wrote about climate and the environment amidst all the other drama/mystery.
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[…] Monthly Wrap-Up: June 2026 […]
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That work drama sounds so stressful. I’m sorry that decisions by higher ups have impacted you and your colleagues so drastically. 😞
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Yep, definitely sucks seeing people who are meant to be in your corner be the ones who worry about their own asses at the end of the day. 🙃 But it is what it is now, we move forward and hopefully, on to better things!
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That really sucks about your work, Dini. I can’t imagine how stressful it would be, and hopefully you manage to sort about something new soon. Really glad we fit our buddy read in though, and I’m looking forward to picking up the second book soon.
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It’s a shoddy situation but it is what it is now… I’m doing very well decompressing by doing absolutely nothing and reading a bit more 🙂 I’m soo looking forward to picking up the second book in the series tomorrow! I hope we both continue to love it! 🥰
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It sounds like now is a great time to take a deep breath and let yourself do a mental reset. I had to do the same thing about a year and a half ago when my company closed down and let everyone go. So yeah, I know what you mean about this economy not being a fun place to be looking for a job. Best of luck, though! Hopefully you’ll find something suited to you soon.
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