It's hard to be patient when you're limited in what you can do, but I am trying to will myself to do better. Some of you may already know, but last week I had a minor setback in my recovery. It was scary when it happened and freaked me out pretty bad. I ended up spending most of a day at my doctor's office because they worked me in so I wouldn't have to go to the ER. She made sure that nothing had been undone and dealt with the problem. Now I'm using a special cream to speed up cell recovery and have taken a couple of steps back in my daily activity level. I've still got another two weeks at least until I'm considered fully recovered.

I am feeling a little more motivated in terms of work this month. With the school year approaching and pretty much everything back open in some form or fashion, so I have my fingers crossed that things will be closer to normal.

It's been no secret that I've been reading a lot, especially in the last few months. It's one of the things helping keep things feeling semi-normal for me. And because I really haven't had a lot of content to share since having my surgery, I thought I would share the books that have left a lasting impression on me so far this year.

Ghosts of Gotham - I think I said it best when I reviewed this book for May: Holy freaking wow. There were so many jaw-dropping moments throughout this book. I don't want to spoil anything for you so I'm just going to 'copy and paste' from my original review: An investigative reporter is hired to find and authenticate a lost manuscript written by Edgar Allan Poe. For Lionel Page, who's built his career on debunking mysteries and the supernatural, it should be an easy task, but when the first body shows up, Lionel realizes he's gotten involved in something much bigger than a mysterious manuscript.

Regretting You - I said it before, and I'll say it again: this book deserves all the hype it's gotten. A mother and daughter's world is shattered when their father and sister/aunt are killed in a car accident. Grief, guilt, and anger find the mother and daughter in vastly different places, unable to find common ground, until they each find new love in unexpected places. The ending scene was quite literally the best I have ever read.

Whisper of the Moon Moth - Historical fiction based on real-life actress, Merle Oberon (best known for her role of Cathy in Wuthering Heights), and how she hid her Indian heritage.

The Mermaid's Sister - Three teenagers who were raised together must travel to the coast to save one of their own as she turns into a mermaid.

All Souls trilogy: A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night, The Book of Life - The story of a witch and vampire who fall in love and then have to fight for their right to be together. The author does a beautiful job of blending past and present. The second book is the best.

The Designer - This is the story of an American woman striving to be a journalist in war-torn France and how she helped Christian Dior launch his fashion empire.

Pawns in the Bishop's Game & Till the Sun Dies - So technically, these are the first two books of an ongoing series, Checkmate by Emilia Finn, but different characters get their own books, and I couldn't not include this duo after reading them this weekend. I'll include my full review in my July book roundup, so I'll keep this short-ish. This duo revolves around twins Jessica and Laine and the men who love them, Kane and Angelo. The first book is told from the dual POVs of Jessica and Kane, while the second is Laine and Angelo. These books made me laugh and cry.