Reviewed: Everything I Read in June

 

This month I'm going to simply list the books I read and the rating I give them. I only read two books that wowed me, though I'm not sure that I would recommend either of them broadly. So I think it makes sense to skip details about each of the books I read in June. If any of my friends find this blog post without my highlighting it on Facebook (which will be interesting to see), then I hope you are having a wonderful summer, looking for the beauty and joy in each day. Here are the books I read in June:

Reading Riches: Everything I Read This Month

I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith

My rating: 3/5

The Calamity Club, by Kathryn Stockett

*This one has content warnings

My rating: 4.5/5

Whistler, by Ann Patchett

My rating: 5/5

A Month in the Country, by J.L. Carr

My rating: 2/5

The Midnight Train, by Matt Haig

My rating: 3/5

DNF's: A List

The sort of reading I've been craving lately is books with heart, substance, and a pace that clips along nicely. Summer just doesn't feel like the season for a 500-page slow burn. I've been browsing bestseller lists and Goodreads recommendations to find stories that might scratch that itch, and I've found a few winners. The Calamity Club and Mad Mabel are exactly the kinds of books I've been looking for. But, as you would expect, I've also picked up several that weren't for me.

I used to feel guilty about DNF'ing books. I worried that I was being too quick to judge or somehow disrespectful to the authors who had put so much time and effort into creating them. But as every steady reader eventually realizes, there are only so many reading hours in a day—and far more good books than any of us could finish in a lifetime.

I've come to think that choosing not to finish a book is a way of making room for other stories--ones that become lifelong companions. I want to be intentional about the stories I give my time to.

With that perspective in mind and because I was searching for a specific kind of book, June included an unusual number of DNFs.

Lake Effect, by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney

Why it didn't work for me: Sexual content, with infidelity at the heart of the story. I DNF'd it early.

Before I Forget, by Tory Henwood Hoen

Why it didn't work for me: The story moved too slowly for my taste. It may pick up later in the novel, but it didn't hold my interest long enough to find out.

American Fantasy, by Emma Straub

Why it didn't work for me: A story about a boy band cruise sounded fun in theory, but in practice it was just too cringey for me. I lived through the '90s once and wasn't eager to relive them.

Margo's Got Money Troubles, by Rufi Thorpe

Why it didn't work for me: Sexual content. I checked this audiobook out solely because I'd heard Elle Fanning was starring in the adaptation (film? limited series? I'm still not sure). At first I was enjoying the story, but on the second day I noticed something on the cover that prompted me to look up the plot. Once I read the full synopsis, I realized the story was headed in a direction I wasn't interested in following, so I moved on.

Library Additions: The Books I Bagged in June

June was a good thrifting month! I found a copy of one book I am thinking of recommending for book club and three that have been recommended to me. I was most surprised to find a like-new copy of Maus, a graphic novel that won the Pulitzer Prize in 1992. It has been on my TBR for a few years but I really never thought it would pop up at a Twin Falls thrift store. 

Marked Passages: Thoughts that Stayed With Me