fiction

What I Read in June 2025

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It feels like June was 100 years long and also it feels weird that it’s already July. Time isn’t real.

June was busy and I didn’t read as much as I would have liked. But I read one really, really great book that I’ll never forget and two pretty good books that I’ll remember whenever I happen upon them in a bookstore and think “Oh yeah! I read that! I liked it.”

I wrote a whooole post about Stirring Spurs earlier this week in preparation for it’s release (today!) so I’ll skip that today.

Shall we?

Every Time I Go On Vacation Someone Dies by Catherine Mack

I thought this was a great, funny, pallet cleanser of a book. I love a cozy mystery and this one was clearly aimed at millennials (I guess we’re getting to that Murder She Wrote age).

What I loved about this book:
-The setting, an Italian cruise with all your favorite authors? Sign me uuuup!
-So many pop culture references! The main character is always talking about books and music she loves. And while that will ultimately really date it down the road, I loved it today!
-This author is constantly breaking the 4th wall. Not only does she use footnotes (in fiction?!) but she includes sections of the book written specifically to the reader, making us a character in the story. That was a lot of fun though at times I felt like she was very obviously trying to steer us in a specific direction with this tactic.

There were a few things that didn’t work for me:
-The cast of characters felt enormous and I couldn’t distinguish most of them from one another.
-Main character is constantly talking about what an ugly, fuckup, good for nothing she is compared to everyone else in the book (primarily her sister) and I kept waiting for it to actually mean something. But as far as I could tell I think it was just the author’s stab at self deprecating humor? And in a world where so many people in power want us to believe these things to be true, despite all evidence to the contrary (this woman is a multi-bestselling author with two love interests), hearing people (real or imaginary) talk this way about themselves reeeeeally grates on my nerves. 

Ultimately I’d read the second book in this series! The things that were really well done were enough to overshadow my pet peeves.

O’ Sinners by Nicole Cuffy

I don’t know how to talk about this book. I feel like I could tell you the whole story and somehow not give you any spoilers at all. And at the same time, I don’t want to tell you anything at all and I just want you to read it for yourself.

Here’s what I will say, reading this book there were times when my husband had to remind me to breathe. I remember one scene in particular where I could not stop gasping. There were times where I completely ignored my time-to-leave alarm. I didn’t silence it–I just ignored it. Couldn’t be bothered t pull my eyes away from the page long enough to hit the snooze button.

Ultimately this book is about an investigative journalist named Faruq Zaidi. In the wake of his father’s death, he’s distracting himself by going out to California to live amongst a cult called The Nameless after he learned about them in a documentary (think Wild, Wild Country) and felt like it left a lot of story untold.

The story unfolds in four different perspectives–which I can sometimes find confusing but Nicole Cuffy is such a masterful writer that it was never even remotely confusing and not only that but each chapter was so vastly different from the last that it also provided some tension relief. Look, this book isn’t necessarily a thriller or mystery and definitely not a horror. But the tension–that “wait–what?!” is so strong that you need to have it broken and she breaks it at the exact right moment.

Obviously the first perspective is from that of Faruq as he’s researching. The second perspective is a transcript of the documentary (written like a screenplay complete with sound and visual direction). The third method for telling this story is going back in time to learn about Odo’s (the cult leader) experience fighting in Vietnam where he “got hipped” and discovered the truth (this is honestly where most of my breathless moments came from). And fourthly, we get a glimpse of The Nameless’ instagram account. The combination is truly wild.

Anyway–I need to have a book club meeting because this is the kind of book where everyone is going to have a different experience and different theories, etc.

Also, I feel like it’s important to add this part but I don’t know where or how to slip it in. Almost every time I told someone I was reading an amazing cult book, they’d ask “wait–are there kids involved in the cult????” There are no kids. Well–there might be but none of them are characters in the book and nothing bad happens to kids in the book.

What I Read in January 2025

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Yes, I am sitting down to type this on *checks calendar* February 8th. I usually pride myself on writing my overviews closer to the end of the month–it’s actually really fun for me so I love doing it. But, look, I got distracted. On February 1, we went to the animal shelter and a few days later we brought home a sleepy sweetheart named Nala.

I’m just now realizing that there are so many topics that I want to write about–but I sat down here to write about my reading last month. And I don’t want this to become 500 pages of what’s been going on (though I fear I could do it). So for now, I’ll stick to reading. But if you are interested in learning more about Nala or what I’ve been doing since selling the bookstore, or how my reading life has changed since then or anything else at all–let me know. I’ve been feeling a strong pull back to blogging again as I’ve been consuming social media less and less these days.

This year I attempted the StoryGraph’s January challenge (for the third year in a row) and for the first time ever, I read every single day in the month! And… I’m still going strong! I’ve never had a reading streak last this long before and I’m really excited that I am back in the habit of this hobby that I really love. Thanks StoryGraph!

Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See

I picked this one up after my friend Kory recommended it. I grabbed it from Watermark books in Wichita while my friend Shulah and I had a pre-holidays day together to eat mediteranian food and browse bookstores. It was perfect. Anyway, when I got home I saw that my copy had been signed! What a fun delight. And honestly this happens a lot when I shop at Watermark. I grabbed the latest Grady Hendrix a few weeks ago and what do you know? That one is signed too!!

Anyway, back to the book:

This book was surprisingly different for me. I usually shy away from fantasy or historical stuff because I’m already a slow reader and it can be tough to get into a whole new world that I’m not already familiar with. And this story is set in 1400’s China–I found myself Googling everything just to soak it all in and make sure that I knew what was going on. I liked that the author didn’t dumb anything down for the reader, though. You could either rely on context clues (which I could have easily done, I just wanted a crystal clear mental picture) or Google it–and Lisa See has a whole site devoted to things you’ll probably need to Google in this book.

It’s about Tan Yunxian, a real woman during the Ming Dynasty who learned medicine from her grandparents, back when there were no women doctors (and the relationship between women patients and male doctors was bonkers). The story dives into her close friendship with a local midwife as well as all the other women in her life and explores the challenges and benefits associated with being the only female doctor around.

My main issue is the title—Lady Tan’s Circle of Women—is kinda misleading. She doesn’t really gather her circle until the last 40 pages. I was hoping for more of that female bond throughout the book but it’s more about what prompted her to create or appreciate her circle of women. A title like “Lady Tan: Woman Doctor” would have suited the story better since she had such a long life to explore even after the book ended.

I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue

I discovered this book because I had about 30 minutes to kill on an extremely snowy day and decided to browse the public library. I find myself extremely overwhelmed at the library–unless there’s something specific I’m looking for. So I tend to just keep myself to the new release rack when I’m there. Well, on this particular day the new release rack was super picked over. But this book was there (as well as the next book I talk about) and I though it looked cute. I think we should all be judging books by their covers but that’s another post for another day.

I loooved this book. I read it SO FAST! Which—I recently learned is something that authors find offensive? But I just mean I was hooked from the get-go and I ignored so much of my life so that I could crawl into this book and live there for a while. The plot twists were GLORIOUS and made me giddy. 

Now, I am basically allergic to what I call “depressed single girl” books where the main character is so sad and makes terrible choices that I can’t even begin to bring myself to understand and then I’m annoyed at them and also kind of depressed, myself (like, My Year of Rest and Relaxation or Luster, for example). I was worried that was what this was going to be. Thankfully, there was so much humor and lightness around it all that it kept me from becoming depressed and I was never confused about Joleen’s motivations. 

To me it’s giving Fleabag meets Office Space—a woman trying her best with misguided (but hilarious to the audience) coping mechanisms just trying to survive in the wake of trauma and the utter boredom of her office job.

Five stars. I loved it so much. Also the office setting was impeccable. 

Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten

One thing about me is that I’m always going to turn my nose up at the concept of a celebrity memoir and then fall deeply, deeply in love with it.

I could write an entire post about all I loved in this book just like I did with Stanley Tucci’s. I could not believe how much I related to Ina’s story. From her childhood, raised by a distant primary parent. To meeting and marrying Jeffrey and spending the rest of her life being surprised at all that she’s capable of when she’s supported by someone who loves her and wants her to be her whole self. To diving all in on buying a store–something she knew absolutely nothing about at all. And then, finally, the utter weirdness and gutwrenching boredom after selling that store and then having nothing to do–and thinking, “Welp. That was the cool thing I did with my life. I guess I’m done doing cool shit, now.” Ina and I have SO MUCH IN COMMON!

I wish I could write a letter to Ina Garten thanking her for this book from the depths of my soul. I mean, I suppose I could. I would do anything to hold her hands and look in her eyes and say, “Oh my god. Thank you. Thank you for going before me and showing me that I’m not done. I’m not even close to done. I’m only 42 and I don’t have much to do right now in this particular season of my life but I have a lot of life left and a lot of time to make incredible things happen for me and people around me.” I wonder what my version of multiple cooking shows, dozens of cookbooks, and buying and renovating a Paris apartment will be? I can’t wait to find out.

Okay. Those were the three books I read this month! What did you read??

DNF this month: My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite. There was actually nothing wrong with this book at all. It’s just that after it took me forever to read Lady Tan, I was looking for something extremely punchy and a quick whodunit. Well… guess what. The “who” who dunit is listed in the title. And for some reason, I didn’t put two and two together. So this was less of a mystery–which was just not what I was looking for in that exact moment.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn + June Virtual Book Club Selection

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“Who wants to die? Everything struggles to live. Look at that tree growing up there out of that grating. It gets no sun, and water only when it rains. It’s growing out of sour earth. And it’s strong because its hard struggle to live is making it strong. My children will be strong that way.”
― Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

For being a novel that deals mostly with themes of strength-through-adversity, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was a captivating read.

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This is a largely autobiographical novel—Betty Smith’s first published work. It chronicles the life of Francie Nolan, starting in 1912 when is 11-years-old. The book follows her through becoming a full woman at the age of 17. Francie’s family was a poor one. Her father, an alcoholic who occasionally kept regular work. Her mother worked tirelessly to keep the family afloat and held tightly to the dreams that she had for her children. Everyone talked about how profoundly beautiful her mother was—but she was self-conscious about her rough and ragged hands that came from working so hard to make a living.

The book itself reads an awful lot like a huge collection of short stories. Nearly every chapter goes through the classic story structure of building crisis, climax, and dénouement. Because of this, it didn’t feel like the novel itself was particularly plot-driven but I did keep reading because I was so interested in the characters. Everyone has their dreams and plans to have them realized—you want to see if things will shake out in their favor. But also, since there’s a high climax in every single story, there are some parts that maybe don’t seem all that believable. I don’t mind that–I can suspend disbelief for a while, particularly when our narrator is a child who is just trying to figure out all these things happening around her all the time.

I loved this book so much more than I had ever expected. For starters, I tend to gravitate towards contemporary literature. The idea of reading a book that took place before WWI, did not particularly appeal to me. Secondly, I haven’t talked to a single person who read this book and didn’t count it as one of the best of all time. That kind of hype can make me feel obligated to like something. And like a teenager, I tend to rebel against that. So if this book was able to break through those two seemingly impenetrable barriers, it must be really, really good. These things kept me from picking up the book right away but once I started, I only ever put it down reluctantly.

In a book so long and covering such a vast period of time, so many different themes and topics are discussed and it would be impossible to cover them all in a reasonable amount of time. Of course, I’m drawn to the feminist themes through the book.
I think that having a female main character/ hero is going to just naturally have some girl-power moments but this one had some overarching themes about how women are keeping the family (the world?) together.

In her own family, Francie’s mother is unable to rely on her husband to help keep the family financially secure. She takes on a job as housecleaner of the new apartment building where they move to in exchange for lodging for the family. She comes up with creative ways to get the children the things that they need—from trading house cleaning for piano lessons to coming up with creative games to play when they’re low on food in the house. She does all she can to maintain the children’s innocence even in some terribly dark times.
Francie also has two aunts—one of whom has carried 10 babies to full term, just to burry them just a few hours later when we meet her, though she never gives up her dream of having a child. Her other aunt has to step up when her husband is unable to work and she becomes the first female dairy delivery driver in Brooklyn. Her grandmother is full of wit and wisdom and teaches her daughters the art of saving money by nailing a version of a piggy bank to the floor in the closet so you can’t get to the money unless you absolutely need to. Francie sees these women and is proud to be in their lineage and she even carries on the legacy of self-sufficiency in so many ways.

“Those were the Rommely women: Mary, the mother, Evy, Sissy, and Katie, her daughters, and Francie, who would grow up to be a Rommely woman even though her name was Nolan. They were all slender, frail creatures with wondering eyes and soft fluttery voices. But they were made out of thin invisible steel.”

I recommend A Tree Grows in Brooklyn to everyone I come across. There’s just so much in it—so much covered. Through out most of the book I kept thinking about how I wanted to mail it to my niece who is going into the seventh grade in the fall. There is, however, one small but powerful incident involving a sexual predator that keeps me from poping it in the mail right away. The whole incident is maybe 1/2 a page out of over four hundred but still. Maybe in a few years when she’s going into high school I’ll feel better about it. But, who knows, maybe kids can deal with more than I can. Lord knows that Francie Nolan could. She was so strong and brave. I, on the other hand, know that I’ve grown a lot more sensitive in my older years.

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Next month our Virtual Book Club will be reading Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty. We wanted a fun, summertime read and this looks like it just might be a good choice! I’ve loved every Moriarty book I’ve read. I feel like she’s really good at making the most mundane parts of life dramatic and important.

Our book club “meets” in a Facebook Event at the end of the month where we get together and talk about books. If you want to be added to our group comment or message me on Facebook and I’ll get you in there! Also, a few of us write blog posts like this one, though it’s certainly not required for membership. Go check out Staci’s review of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

Have you read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn? I want to hear all about what you thought of it.

XOXO, Lib

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