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?
I enjoyed The Correspondent, too. I think I will pass on The Phoenix Pencil Company; it looks like it was just an okay read for you.
ReplyDeleteIt is wonderful to look forward to July and all the activities then. Enjoy your porch reading.
Deb - I'll have more to say about The Phoenix Pencil Company in another post, but it was a good read. Not great, not especially memorable.
DeleteI’m a big Murakami fan, and just read the two novels on your list for the first time, although they are his oldest works. He wasn’t yet into magical realism, but they reflect his mature literary genius nevertheless, I felt. I have read quite a few of your other selections as well. Great list!
ReplyDeletebest… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Mae - I'd like to read one of Murakami's more recent novels. I'm not a huge fan of magical realism, but can appreciate it in small doses. Any suggestions?
DeleteI need to get my June reading wrap-up finished. I feel like a read a lot this month and most of it was good. I hope you enjoy your family time for the 4th and happy reading!
ReplyDeleteCindy - This may be the first time I've ever done a monthly wrap-up before the month has actually ended, lol!
DeleteI enjoyed Bel Canto but haven't gotten to any of the others you mentioned. I'm getting close to getting The Correspondent, looking forward to that.
ReplyDeleteYou've had some great visiting in and I am glad your daughter and SIL will be closer while you spend time in CT. For June I enjoyed Picnic at Hanging Rock, bailed on the Niall Williams book and am currently reading The History of Sound by Ben Shattuck, liking it very much so far. Can you believe the 4th is almost upon us? Yikes
Tina - Yesterday our daughter and SIL drove down for lunch and a short visit. They're heading back to NYC and will officially move in the beginning of August, but I already love having them so much closer!
DeleteWow. That must have felt odd to not travel! We were on the road for a couple of weeks, but that's it until September & October. I'm kind of antsy to go out again, but I know the campgrounds will be super crowded with families and we prefer off-season camping.
ReplyDeleteI read 5 books this month and like yours, a few were pretty short (under 300). I'm so happy to see that you loved The Correspondent. I bought a copy when we were in Port Townsend and while it's not on my summer reading challenge list, I may have to break my own rules and read it ASAP. :)
I'll be interested to see what you think of Abide With Me. I wish I had a copy of that annotated edition of Bel Canto. I bought it for my brother for Christmas and if I can get him to hurry up and read it, maybe he can bring it to me later this fall. Or, I could just buy myself a copy.
Porch reading sounds lovely. I do miss our porch in Nebraska. It's not quite warm enough to sit outside on our back deck to read. Maybe in August or September.
My favorite book in June was The God of the Woods by Liz Moore. I loved it!
Les - I'm sure I'll get antsy to travel before too long, but it was just so good to stay put this month! We'll see what ends up appealing to me from my July list, but I remember starting Abide with Me once years ago and not being in the mood for it. My daughter gave me the annotated Bel Canto for Christmas, so I do need to read that one. The God of the Woods sounds so good, and I love an Adirondack setting. So many books!!
DeleteYou are lucky to be able to travel so much ( I wish I could JoAnn)! Have a wonderful July!
ReplyDeleteJodie - Most of the traveling is just back and forth from FL, but there have been a lot of family events the last couple of years, too.
DeleteI love traveling but it's always nice to be home. I've always been a cover snob and I love the cover of The Phoenix Pencil Company. I have to get a copy!
ReplyDeleteVicki - The Phoenix Pencil Company was definitely my favorite cover of the month - it's beautiful!
DeleteOhmygosh I totally forgot that the library notified me the Kindle of Correspondent is ready to borrow! Yikes! I'd better get on that tomorrow! Thanks for the reminder!
ReplyDeleteJinjer - Claim that kindle book of The Correspondent!! Especially if you like epistolary novels and older protagonists, Sybil Van Antwerp is not to be missed!
DeleteBy far my favorite book in June, and possibly so far in 2025, was Maria Reva's Endling. What a read! Have you read True Grit before? It's one of my all-time favorites. Hmm, I should read it again.....
ReplyDeleteAmy - I have Endling is on my ridiculously long tbr list, but will bump it up if it's in the running for your 2025 favorite. I've never read True Grit and it keeps coming up - must be a sign that its time has come!
DeleteI'm looking forward to the Virginia Evans book ... and I'm glad you had such a good month of reading. You might like True Grit on audio read by none other than Donna Tartt, which is terrific. I wish she read other things. I still have the Doris Kearns Goodwin book on my stack but I might wait till fall for it. Enjoy your next reads and happy bday month.
ReplyDeleteSusan - Donna Tartt narrates True Grit? Guess I'll be listening! It's time for me to start another nonfiction and I know I want to read that new DKG. Hope it 'sticks'... we'll see.
DeleteThat sounds nice, porch reading. :) I hope you get to enjoy lots of good books and some cold drinks.
ReplyDeleteErin - The porch is kind of a screened in sunroom, but that keeps the bugs away... it's a great place to read!
DeleteNice to read an update, JoAnn. Enjoy your 4th weekend with family and also enjoy your porch reading! Sounds about perfect to me. A little hot here to read outside - ha!
ReplyDeleteKay - I'm sure you won't be doing much porch reading until fall, lol! We abandon our lanai in FL this time of year, too. Hope you enjoy the holiday weekend!
DeleteI love to travel but getting settled in at home is such a nice feeling! Looks like great reading. Murakami is on my to read list but I think I might skip those two. Enjoy your 4th and have a great week!
ReplyDeleteKatherine - You're right, settling in at home this month has been the best feeling. Feels like I've had a chance to relax and catch my breath. Now, on to July! Enjoy the 4th!
DeleteI really liked On Tyranny and Bel Canto (obviously, very different reads!).
ReplyDeleteI haven't read much at all the past week due to moving my parents, but hope to use the 4th of July to do some major catch up.
Helen - Bel Canto will be a reread for me. I didn't love it nearly 20 years ago, but may feel differently today. Plus my daughter gave me the new annotated edition for Christmas. Hoping I can get to my library hold of On Tyranny. I understand it's very short. Hope your parents continue to settle in and you get some much deserved reading time this weekend!
DeleteI think Bel Canto was the first Ann Patchett novel I read, and it blew me away. Definitely worth reading. I think the annotations would be helpful as I didn't really get the politics, but just the basic plot line.
ReplyDeleteLoved True Grit--been meaning to read more by Portis, but haven't yet. Great novel.
I started listening to Unfinished Love Story, but it just didn't grab me. I also had to speed it up as Goodwin read too slowly for me to enjoy.
JaneGS - It's been close to 20 years since I read Bel Canto and this annotated edition has Ann Patchett's notes, observations, criticisms in her own hand writing. My daughter bought it for me for Christmas and I hope to reread it this summer.
DeleteI listened to the intro and part of the first chapter of Unfinished Love Story, but can't say I'm full committed yet. We'll see!
Hope get my library hold of True Grit soon. I understand Donna Tartt narrates the audio.
Yes, Donna Tart narrates the version I listened to, and she was fantastic. Definitely a good listen.
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