June books
June was a bit of an off month for me - I didn’t really get sucked into anything, and I’m a greedy reader that way. I also wasn’t in the mood for audiobooks much, which cut down my total some.
The Brothers: The Road to an American Tragedy by Masha Gessen
This was pretty interesting until she went full conspiracy theory in the end. I was also under the impression that it was a new book and wondered why she stopped partway through the trial, but that was just me being a dumbass.Smoke and Ashes: Opium’s Hidden Histories by Amitav Ghosh
This was pretty interesting and the little trivia fact I took from it is that Immodium is an opioid. Who knew!Coming Home by Brittney Griner
The big lesson here is never pack for the airport in a rush.The House at the End of the Road: The Story of Three Generations of an Interracial Family in the American South by W. Ralph Eubanks
This was a really interesting story that took place not far from where I live.Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott (audiobook)
Your Utopia: Stories by Bora Chung
I really liked some of these weird stories.Night Watch by Jayne Anne Phillips
It was FINE. But the Pulitzer? Over Same Bed Different Dreams? Outrageous.Bite by Bite: Nourishments and Jamborees by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
These were really lovely micro essays, allegedly about food but really about much more, and there were some writing prompts at the end, which is a really neat feature.Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xochitl Gonzalez
I struggled with this one. I had an advance listener’s copy and gave up, then decided to try again with the print copy (partially to fulfill a prompt on a reading challenge) and I still struggled. It picked up later in the book but I had a hard time getting there. I really liked her first book, and I know a lot of people like this one, but I just flailed around.Sex With a Brain Injury by Annie Liontas
This was very interesting and made me even more paranoid about suffering a traumatic brain injury.Rabbits for Food by Binnie Kirshenbaum
This was a pretty good portrayal of a psychiatric hospital.Death at the Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson (advance reader’s copy)
Kate Atkinson is one of my favorite authors, and her standalone stuff is my favorite - her early novel Emotionally Weird is a Book of My Life - but I enjoy the more commercially successful stuff like the Jackson Brodie series as well. This is the new installment in that and I found it quite fun.I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning by Keiran Goddard
The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME WITH THAT ENDING?!?!?Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
I read this to fulfill a reading challenge prompt and she’s such a masterful writer but it made me realize I hadn’t read anything of hers since reading Sula in English Comp in 1995.The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
Another reading challenge book, and I just didn’t get into it, though I liked how “voicey” it was.Just Add Water: My Swimming Life by Katie Ledecky
As a Katie Ledecky superfan, I pre-ordered this the instant I heard about it and sucked it up like, well, water. It was fun to hear about her development and in particular her training. I was wondering if she would tell us she has some rare genetic trait that means she doesn’t feel pain, which would explain a lot about how she is able to do what she does, but (as I suspected) it comes down to a lot of hard work and determination in someone who seems very grounded.The Believer: Encounters with the Beginning, the End, and Our Place in the Middle by Sarah Krasnostein
I picked this up for the UFOs but learning about the death doula ended up being my big takeaway.Log Off by Kristen Felicetti
Good Lord, this novel told through LiveJournal entries was nostalgic.Housemates by Emma Copley Eisenberg
I saw this described as “queer, fat, road trips!” and that’s accurate. I liked it, but I wanted more. That could just be a me thing. Or maybe it’s a June thing - it’s hot, I’m irritable, nothing satisfies.The Writer’s Notebook: Craft Essays from Tin House
This was recommended by a friend of a M’s who won the Sewanee Prize for nonfiction for their first publication, so obviously that’s a hell of a recommendation. There were two essays about revision that I think will be especially helpful.
Tehrangeles by Porochista Khakpour
Just take a moment to breathe in this cover:I thought this was in conversation with Victim by Andrew Boryga, because they’re both pegged as satire but neither felt entirely satirical to me. Like Victim, I liked it, but wanted more.
Zone One by Colson Whitehead
I was so not in the mood for an apocalypse book but still kept reading?