June Reading Wrap-Up and a List of July Possibilities

Despite the recent heat wave, June has been a very good month. For the first time in what feels like years, we went an entire month without traveling! Our oldest daughter and son-in-law spent some time with us as they closed on their new house, and a week later everyone was here for Father's Day. It's been wonderful to stay close to home and enjoy the CT shoreline.

The reading was good this month, too. I finished six books! That's a lot for me, but most of them were on the short side. Now I'm caught up with book club selections, and look forward to a month of commitment-free reading in July. 

BOOKS READ IN JUNE

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

My favorite book of the year so far!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Annotated Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

A beautifully annotated edition of a favorite classic

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green

nonfiction, especially good on audio

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Hear the Wind Sing by Haruki Murakami

Murakami's first published work, book #1 of The Rat series, for book club

⭐⭐⭐

Pinball, 1973 by Haruki Murakami

The Rat #2, for book club

⭐⭐⭐💫

The Phoenix Pencil Company by Allison King

debut fiction, MMD July selection

⭐⭐⭐

JULY READING POSSIBILITIES

By Nightfall by Michael Cunningham (in progress)

Bel Canto: The Annotated Edition by Ann Patchett 

True Grit by Charles Portis

Abide with Me by Elizabeth Strout

On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder

An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Dracula Daily (ongoing, real time read-along)

Also in July//

We're going to central NY to spend the long 4th of July weekend with family, and are looking forward to my sister-in-law's visit here mid-month. "The kids" will all be around to help celebrate my birthday later in the month. With no big travel plans ahead, I'm looking forward to plenty of porch reading!

How was your month? What was you favorite June book?

The Sunday Salon: June 22, 2025

Hello, friends and happy Sunday! It's been a good week here in CT... all the girls were around for Father's Day last weekend (husbands and dogs, too!), we celebrated summer with the first neighborhood gathering of the season, and had lunch at a nearby marina's lobster shack. I should have snapped a photo of the lobster roll, but it disappeared too quickly! I also had a pretty good reading week.

RECENT READING

Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green

I've never read John Green's fiction, but have become a fan of his nonfiction. Here Green writes about tuberculosis - the disease, its history, and how treatment is rife with inequity and injustice. His presentation is straight-forward and accessible, and he further engages the reader by centering the narrative around the case of one young man in Africa. Who knows what topic Green will become obsessed with next, but I'm here for it! This was a read/listen combination for me. Green narrates the audio himself and it's excellent. I highly recommend listening if possible.

 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Hear the Wind Sing

by Haruki Murakami, translated by Alfred Birnbaum

⭐⭐⭐

Pinball, 1973

by Haruki Murakami, translated by Alfred Birnbaum

⭐⭐⭐💫

These two novellas (130 and 215 pages) are Haruki Murakami's earliest published works. They are the first two installments of his four-part Rat series. Both are relatively plotless books about two young men, an unnamed narrator and his friend, The Rat. Basically the two talk, drink a lot of beer, and converse with unusual women. In the second book, there is a slight plot about the narrator's pinball obsession.

I never would have chosen these books on my own. They are the next selection for a small World Lit book club I'm participating in this year. I had not read Murakami before (though have been meaning to for years) and found these books oddly compelling. I'm assuming other members have read this author and are curious about his development as a writer. That will likely be the focus of the discussion and unfortunately, I will not have much to contribute. I don't think I would recommend these to anyone except the most devoted Murakami fan.

CURRENT READING

The Phoenix Pencil Company by Allison King

Just 75 pages in, and I'm enjoying this so far. It is the July selection of MMD book club.

Dracula Daily by Bram Stoker

Dracula is an epistolary novel and I'm reading it in real time. It began in early May, but there haven't been many letters in June. I hope I can remember what's already happened when they pick up again...

On the blog//

Quick Lit: Four Reviews

In the kitchen//

I haven't been trying many new recipes lately but after a day full of activities, we wanted to come home to dinner ready and waiting. I've had pretty good luck with recipes from Gimme Some Oven over the years and decided to try this Slow Cooker Chicken Satay. My daughter and I both love the Thai flavors and my husband is willing to humor us. This dish was pretty flavorful and didn't require much more than shredding the chicken and finishing the sauce at the end. I did use the full two pounds of chicken, but it was a little soupier than anticipated. I'm still considering it a win and will likely try it, or something similar, again.

The week ahead//

It's going to be hot!! Like much of the northeast, we've got a heatwave coming tomorrow. It shouldn't be quite as brutal this close to the coast, but it might still be an ideal time to stay indoor and read  in the air conditioning.

How was your week? What have you been reading?

The Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

 

Quick Lit: Four Reviews

Hot Air by Marcy Dermansky 

A joyfully unhinged story of money, marriage, sex, and revenge unspools when a billionaire crashes his hot air balloon into the middle of a post-pandemic first date.  The publisher's description, especially the "joyfully unhinged" part, says it all. These characters exhibit the most outrageous behavior, and it makes for wildly compelling reading. Dermansky writes in short, easy to read sentences that kept me quickly turning the pages even at times when I wanted to look away. This definitely isn't a book for everyone, but I loved it and plan to read more by this author.

⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

Ordinary Time: Lessons Learned While Staying Put by Annie B. Jones 

I've been a fan of both Annie and From the Front Porch podcast for years. I preordered a copy of her debut essay collection from The Bookshelf and they included the free audiobook code from libro.fm. It was a pleasure getting to know Annie better and I enjoyed her reflections of living in a small town, owning an independent bookstore, and her faith journey. I highly recommend listening to this one! 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans 

I have a soft spot for older protagonists and epistolary novels, and found myself immediately drawn to seventy-something Sybil Van Antwerp. She is a fascinating character and I loved learning about her life through the letters she wrote and received over the years... including several to famous authors.  I found myself slowing down to savor this novel and wish it had been even longer. Easily my favorite book of the year so far!! 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Annotated Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

edited by James L.W. West III, with an introduction by Amor Towles

Like many other Americans, I first read The Great Gatsby in a high school English class. Since then I've read it a couple more times, most recently in 2015. Gatsby turns 100 this year and The Library of America has released a gorgeous new annotated edition to commemorate the occasion. Earlier this month I read it once again as part of a Modern Mrs. Darcy community read. The annotations enriched my reading experience... and I still love The Great Gatsby!

 

 

May Reading Wrap-up and A List of June Possibilities

 

our last evening in Florida

May is always a busy month for us and this year was no different. We started the month in Florida, spent five days traveling north to Connecticut, made two trips to central NY to see family, and we've had our daughter and son-in-law staying with us in CT while they looked for a house. So I was surprised to look back at my reading and find that I'd completed five books. And even better, they were all 4 or 5-star reads. I'll take that any month!

BOOKS READ IN MAY

Search by Michelle Huneven

literary fiction, MMD book club, 4 stars

Run for the Hills by Kevin Wilson

literary fiction, MMD book club, 5 stars

Voices in Summer by Roasmunde Pilcher

fiction, 4 stars

Hot Air by Marcy Dermansky

literary fiction, 4.5 stars

Ordinary Time: Lessons Learned While Staying Put by Annie B. Jones

nonfiction, essays, 4 stars

JUNE READING POSSIBILITIES

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (Completed - LOVED it!!)

The Annotated Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (in progress)

Everything is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection

by John Green (nonfiction, audio, in progress)

Dracula Daily by Bram Stoker (readalong in real time, in progress)

Wind/Pinball: Two Novels by Haruki Murakami (for World Lit Book Club)

 

Beyond these books already in progress and reading commitments, my goal for the summer is to read from my shelves, both physical and virtual. We'll see how it goes...

What was your favorite May book?