Overdue Reviews, July Edition

The Phoenix Pencil Company by Allison King

One of my reading goals this year is to at least try all selections of the Modern Mrs. Darcy book club and this is the July book. The Phoenix Pencil Company is debut historical fiction with dual timelines and a bit of magical realism. It was inspired by the author's own family who ran a pencil company in China around WWII. Initially I found the premise interesting, but after about a hundred pages the story became repetitive and my interest flagged. I also preferred the historic timeline to the present day story. Overall I liked the book and look forward to watching the author chat.

⭐⭐⭐

By Nightfall by Michael Cunningham

Nobody can write like Michale Cunningham! As I read By Nightfall, I often stopped to reread his beautiful sentences. But as for plot, there really isn't much.  This is basically a novel about New York art dealer Peter Harris's mid-life crisis. Peter is self-centered and insufferable, and the reader spends a lot of time inside his head. If anyone other than Michael Cunningham had written this book, I doubt I would have finished it. And even with Cunningham's writing, it sometimes bordered on tedious. On the plus side, I enjoyed the many literary references, including quite a few to The Great Gatsby which I reread last month. This was a read/listen combination for me and the audio edition, narrated by Hugh Dancy is excellent! It is available on hoopla.

⭐⭐⭐💫

Bug Hollow by Michelle Huneven 

I enjoyed Michelle Huneven's novel Search a few months ago and her new novel, Bug Hollow, is even better! This family drama begins in southern California in the late 1970s and gradually moves forward through time. Chapters are told from the perspective of various family members - parents, children as they grow into adulthood, and various significant others. Bug Hollow had it all for me - great characters, a propulsive plot, an interesting structure, and a final chapter that made me cry. I wouldn't be surprised if it lands on my list of favorites at the end of the year. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

Mid-Year Musings and A List of Favorites: 2025 Edition

And now it's July... somehow half of 2025 is behind us! That makes this the perfect time to reflect on my reading year to date. Back in January I decided to again forgo all challenges, including goodreads. My plan was to make rough monthly tbr lists, while leaving room for flexibility. I wanted to at least try every selection of the MMD Book Club, plus the selections from my bimonthly World Lit book club. Plus I wanted to participate in buddy reads and community reads. I'm happy to report that so far I've mostly managed to stick to that plan.

By the numbers

As of June 30...

I've read 26 books, in keeping with my comfortable one book per week pace

27% nonfiction, slightly higher than last year

15% in translation 

4 books from my Classics Club list

4 buddy reads/ community reads

MID-YEAR FAVORITES

Fiction

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

Run for the Hills by Kevin Wilson

Hot Air by Marcy Dermansky

You Are Here by David Nicholls

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim

How the Light Gets In by Joyce Maynard

The Annotated Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Nonfiction

A Fever in the Heartland by Timothy Egan

Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green

(audiobook narrated by the author)

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

(audiobook narrated by the author)

How is your reading year going? What book has been your favorite?

 

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?

TSS: Let the Summer Begin!

Hello, friends, it's been a while! I didn't mean to disappear for so long, but April and May got so busy. First of all, we made it back and are settled in for another CT summer. We closed up the FL house, spent a few days in Alexandria, VA/DC on the drive north, and have even been to central NY to visit my parents and  siblings. Now we're enjoying a relatively quiet (and chilly!) long holiday weekend. 

The big news is that our oldest daughter and son-in-law are moving to CT! They close on their new home next month and it's only 45 minutes away. We're thrilled. Twin A and her husband are still living in NYC, so our regular visits to the city will continue... and that also makes me happy.

Recent reading//

Run for the Hills by Kevin Wilson

I've been a fan of Kevin Wilson since Nothing to See Here landed on my favorites list in 2019 and I couldn't believe my luck when I found myself at the top of the library hold list for his latest novel. This one is a zany road trip novel and I loved it! It's the June selection for MMD Book Club and I'm already looking forward to the author chat.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Voices in Summer by Rosamunde Pilcher

This is a slim, lesser-known novel originally published in 1984, but still distinctively Pilcher. It features her lush descriptions of the Cornwall coast, a mostly endearing cast of characters, and a simpler way of life. Despite the predictable ending, it was a lovely read. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Current reading//

Ordinary Time: Lessons Learned While Staying Put

by Annie B. Jones

If you listen to From the Front Porch podcast or have supported  The Bookshelf in Thomasville, Ga, then you know Annie B. Jones. I'm slowly reading/listening to her debut essay collection, which I pre-ordered from her store. It's very good so far.

Hot Air by Marcy Dermansky

My library hold came in yesterday and the first few pages of this book have pulled me in. Just wish I could remember where I first heard about it!  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. 

Dracula Daily: Reading Bram Stoker's Dracula in Real Time With Commentary by the Internet by Bram Stoker, edited by Matt Kirkland

Have you every read Dracula? Did you know it is an epistolary novel consisting of journal entries and letters? My answer to both of those questions is no, so I was intrigued when a small group of MMD members decided to start a community read in real time. The first journal entry was May 3 and it concludes sometime in November. We're just getting started, but I think this is going to be fun!

The rest of the weekend//

When we got back to CT, I re-discovered a Christmas gift certificate to a nearby indie bookstore. This afternoon, we'll head over to R.J.Julia and maybe stop for a lobster roll on the way home. Tomorrow is our town's Memorial Day parade and, of course, we'll grill some burgers to kick off the summer season. I'm also planning on a couple hours of reading and relaxing.

How have you been? What are you reading this weekend?

The Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.