June 2025 Book List

What an excellent reading month for me. Woot woot! Four five-star books! 

6/4: The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley (library, 2024) - IRL book club choice. I loved it. 5/5 stars

6/8: How To Read a Book by Monica Wood (library, 2024) - What a sweet book. Maybe too saccharine for some readers, but I liked it. 5/5 stars

6/13: The Favorites by Layne Fargo (library, 2025) - Yes! I'm all in. A sports book that's really a soap opera. 5/5 stars

6/17: Night Film by Marisha Plessl (library, 2013) - So engrossing. 5/5 stars

6/22: What Feasts at Night (Sworn Soldier #2) by T. Kingfisher (library, 2024) - Kingfisher really is a gem in the modern fantasy landscape. 4/5 stars

6/22: Seraphina (Seraphina #1) by Rachel Hartman (library ebook, 2012) - Dragons and humans have had a truce for many years, but that peace is in peril now. Seraphina understands both sides since she is the daughter of a human man and dragon woman. I thought this was a fun premise, but the execution was a bit sluggish. 3/5 stars

6/22: Dungeon Crawler Carl (Dungeon Crawler Carl #1) by Matt Dinniman (audiobook I purchased narrated by Jeff Hays, 2020) - This was our book club book. I will write more after book club meets, but that won't be until August, so I mostly liked this although it took me a bit to get into it. 4/5 stars

6/28: The Most by Jessica Anthony (library, 2024) - Disaffected housewife in the 1950s. Where else have I seen this before? 3/5 stars

Total: 8 books (I mean, two of those were novellas, but that's how it goes, right)
Average star rating: 4.25/5 stars

DNF 

Too Like the Lightning (Terra Ignota #1) - I'm 30% through this book and I have no idea what's going on. Sometimes you just have to give up. I'm not smart enough for this book. 

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Have you ever read four five-star books in a row? Do you think they're really great books or that I'm just an easy grader? 

The Most by Jessica Anthony

I heard about The Most by Jessica Anthony on Sarah's Bookshelves, when Susie described it as "a book about a woman who went into the pool and refused to get out." 

It's early November 1956. The Russians have sent a dog into space, Virgil Beckett goes to church in his brand new '57 Buick Bluebird with his two sons, and his wife Kathleen stays home and gets into their apartment complex pool wearing her swimsuit from her college days. When Virgil gets home with the boys, Kathleen just stays in the pool. 

I thought this was a thoughtful look at how a marriage can fall apart. The beginning was interesting, the setting was interesting, the mini character studies on the two sons was interesting, and even the evolution of the marriage in peril was interesting, despite my dislike of that as a subject. The writing is lyrical, but doesn't devolve into poetic. We switch between Virgil and Kathleen's POV and while I don't really care about Virgil all that much (I'd much rather spend time with Kathleen), there were some clever passages where we see the conversation from different viewpoints and that was fun.

But boy was I ever let down by the last third of the book. It's only 135 pages long, so I guess I don't know what I was expecting, but I sort of wanted closure. I wanted to know if these two sat down and hashed it out. I wanted to know if someone ever figured out why Nicholas was a little sociopath. I wanted to know MORE. I feel like the ending was abrupt and disappointing and it let down the rest of the book. 3/5 stars

Thing I looked up:

Thessaloniki  - The second-largest city in Greece, with slightly over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of Macedonia. (Seriously, why is my knowledge of geography SO BAD?)

Hat mentions (why hats?):

He played a cowboy, he said, who sat on top of a horse and wore a ten-gallon hat. (page 28)

With the men out of the office, there was no one to complain when Virgil put on his coat and hat, hung the CLOSED sign, and left. (page 63)

The man was wearing one of those old-fashioned wool suits and a brown derby hat, as though about to embark for a day at the office in 1924. (page 67)

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Did you know where Thessaloniki was? Is your knowledge of the geography of the world as limited as mine? 

Tell NGS What To Do: Wedding Edition

Later on this summer, we will be attending a wedding in California. It's in the Santa Cruz area for those of you who want to know, although I have to admit that due to microclimates in the area, that might not be the most helpful of descriptors. I don't want to out my friends here. 

The bride and groom have been very quiet about this wedding. We never even received a save the date and the invitation came with very limited information, but there was a link to a wedding website! 

Okay, I thought this would have solved all my problems, but it absolutely has not. 

Conundrum #1

Here's what it say about the dress code:

The bride will be wearing a wedding dress and the groom will wear a suit, but we'd love for you to wear whatever makes you feel comfortable and festive. Dresses, suits, and ties are all optional. If you prefer a bit of inspiration, think coast, garden, and sunshine. Plan to walk briefly on moderately uneven ground, grass, and dirt trail, and know that you'll be standing for the entirety of the ceremony.

We recommend bringing layers, as temperatures can range from the low 50s to high 70s during summer.

What does that mean I should wear? 

I've googled the locations and literally cannot find the ceremony site, but I think it's literally a meadow. The place for the reception is a cute restaurant with a giant outdoor eating area. It sounds like we will be outdoors for all of it. 

1) Dr. BB is probably going to wear a linen suit.

2)The ceremony is at 4pm and the dinner is from 6-9pm. Both will be held outdoors. 

3) Should I just wear a regular cotton dress and bringing a cardigan or scarf?

4) Can I just wear my every day sandals? Because of my dicey leg, I am not great at heels on level surfaces, let alone uneven ground. Normal sandals doesn't seem very celebratory and wedding-y. I do not want to be hobbled, though. My bad leg sometimes does bad leg things. 

Conundrum #2

The registry has six items on it and then a contribution to a honeymoon fund. I suspect the meager registry items were put there for elderly relatives who would complain about just handing over cash, but I fear that I AM an elderly non-relative who is cranky about just handing over cash. 

Should I just suck it up and donate to the honeymoon fund (*sigh* *eyeroll* *unhappy face*) or be a jerk and purchase one of the registry items? 

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Okay, sound away. What do I do here? 

What Feasts at Night by T. Kingfisher

I really enjoyed the first novella in T. Kingfisher's Sworn Soldier series, What Moves the Dead, so I was excited to dive into the sequel, What Feasts at Night. 

We are back with Alex Easton, who has spent some time in Paris since their adventure at the Usher manor in the previous installment. They are now on their way to their home country of Gallacia to their hunting lodge where they will meet Miss Potter for more fungus exploration. When they arrive, they find that the caretaker of the lodge had died several months earlier. When they attempt to figure out what caused the caretaker's death, local superstition starts to take hold. 

Boy, oh boy, do I enjoy Kingfisher novellas. This was such a fun, quick read. Kinda spooky, but we know Alex is going to be okay in the end, so it's never terrifying, really. It's funny and Alex is such a fun character to be around. I see that there are two more books in the Sworn Soldier series to come and I can't wait to read more. 4/5 stars

Lines of note:

I gazed at Cordin's daughter's front door with sinking dread. Paying one's condolences sounds well and good in theory, but in practice you have to walk up to a stranger and effectively say, "Ah, yes, that person you loved so much? Remember how they died horribly? So sorry about that." It's different when it's at a funeral and fresh in their minds, but two months later? I felt ghoulish. (page 26)

Such great observational writing. It is different at a funeral than much later, but somehow you always end up having to do both, don't you?

If you have ever dealt with the possessions of the dead, you probably know what I mean. You take things away and leave behind emptiness, and everything you remove - every sheet and pillowcase, every lost sock and old razor - erases a little bit of the dead person's footprint in the world. You picture your own home being carted away, piece by piece, hopefully by loved ones and not by strangers. (page 35)

Am I the only one who does hope it is done by strangers so there's less emotional baggage for them? 

Nevertheless, I personally have never seen an ostrich.

They simply don't play a large part in my life. If I woke in the night and head footsteps in the hall, I would not immediately assume it was an ostrich. Why would I? Ostriches are things that happen to other people, far away, in countries more Serengeti-adjacent. If you want to tell me your saga of your encounter with an ostrich, I will listen appreciatively, but it's just not something I worry about happening to me. 

Likewise, ghosts do not play any significant role in my life. I have slept in reputedly haunted houses and never seen anything worse than a stray cockroach. The howls of banshees and Gray Ladies fall on deaf ears (or at least ears rather badly affected by tinnitus). I've never attended a seance and while I have a vague skepticism about mediums, it's the same kind that I have about landlords and minstrels. Undoubtedly some of them are fine people, and I do not question the existence of either rental properties or music. (page 99)

This extended analogy made me laugh out loud. 

Things I looked up:

moroi (page 32 and then over and over again) -  a type of vampire or ghost in Hungarian and Romanian folklore

Hat mentions (why hats?):

I took off my hat and held it in front of my chest. (page 26)

I took a deep breath and clenched the brim of my hat in nervous fingers. (page 27)

I squeezed the brim of my hat with my hands. (page 27)

I wanted to jam my hat in my mouth to stop myself talking. (page 27)

My hat was never going to be the same, as badly as I was twisting it. (page 28-29)

Miss Potter removed a pin from her hat... (page 48)

I shook myself and turned to Bors, who was mutilating his hat...(page 145-146)

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Did you know what a moroi is?

Heat Wave*

This past weekend, I left the house. I KNOW. Big steps. Actually, I'm going to be leaving the house a fair amount in the next month, so be prepared for a lot of these fun updates.  

The youngest child of one of my best friend's from high school graduated from high school himself and I trundled myself off to Michigan to go to his open house. Some of you might not be aware, but it's been HOT here in many parts of the United States, including where I live and where I was going. 

After a harrowing drive in peak construction season (at one point I texted my husband that I had gone four miles in 45 minutes), I was told to arrive at the house where the open house would take place the next day, which was my friend's parents' house. No one was there despite the dozen cars in the driveway. I started to imagine I was in the middle of a horror movie and was slowly making my way to the barn where I (obviously) assumed I was going to find a massacre when my friend texted that they were doing family pictures and would be there soon and I should make myself at home. 

My friend's parents, who I will call Mike and Judy because those are their names, are a delightful couple. And Judy immediately put me to work in the kitchen chopping fruit for a fruit salad and I WROTE DOWN THE RECIPE. You're welcome.

1 watermelon
4 cantaloupes
2 honeydew melons
3 big giant containers of strawberries
Red and green grapes (I didn't get exact measurements, but roughly 2-3 pounds of each)
2 pints blueberries
Those big bulk cans (you know the ones? you buy them at restaurant supply places?) of pineapple, pears, and mandarin oranges

Anyway, I did some kitchen stuff and then we went to my friend's house where I slept on the couch like I am twenty-two.

The next morning, it was NINETY DEGREES BEFORE I ATE BREAKFAST. I thought I was going to help do things like chop more fruit and put up photographs, but instead I helped put up a tent and decorate tables and did I mention that it was like a gazillion degrees?

One of only four photos I took all day. 

By the time the party started, I was a bedraggled mess and while my friends could go home for a quick shower and change, I did not have the wardrobe for that options. Anyway, the graduate was celebrated, food was eaten, and no one passed out from heatstroke. 

BUT IT WASN'T OVER because Saturday was also Mike and Judy's 50th wedding anniversary! So later that night a whole new group came over to the house, the grandkids all did funny and/or cringeworthy performances, and more cake was cut. 

I went back to my friend's house, took the coldest shower I've ever taken in my life, ate pizza, and slept on their couch again. 

The next morning, I stopped at South Haven in Michigan to enjoy an hour on the beach. Unfortunately, it was still eleventy billion degrees out, so my brilliant "go to the beach" idea was not unique to me.

Lake Michigan is amazing. White sand beaches, shells, and all the trappings of an ocean without the annoying salt water. 

I took three times as many photos in that one hour than I did the entire day before. Then I drove home. 

Monday was actually Hannah's sixth Gotcha Day, but I missed it, so I made Dr. BB take my photo with her yesterday morning. This was the best we got.

Do you want to see some outtakes?

The tongue!

Ears flat, cringing away from me - this looks like I abuse her. 

Then I came home from work to find she is once again in GI distress. Please send good thoughts to me while my husband is at a conference and won't be home again until Friday night. Let me make it through. 

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*Look, if you're not singing this song, I don't know what's going on in your life. 

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When's the last time you were at a beach? Do you have travel plans this summer? 

Night Film by Marisha Pessl

Jenny mentioned Night Film by Marisha Pessl on her blog and I was immediately intrigued. Mixed media? Disgraced journalist? Mystery? I'm in!

What a delightful book. A disgraced journalist starts investigating a suicide. Along the way, he buddies up with two young people and they solve puzzles and go on adventures. Most of the book is a traditional narrative, but there are pages that are recreations of websites, photos, and other documents. I loved that mixed media format and it made every page exciting to turn.

There are some legitimate criticisms of this book. The characters are super flat and don't develop at all, so if you're someone who likes character-driven books, this is not for you. The author's use of italics is confusing and erratic and doesn't make a lot of sense. 

But, oh, what a joy. I was so immersed in this that I stayed up too late reading it. I wanted to escape from the realities of *waves hands at the world* and this book accomplished it. Sure, it was silly and there are random magical/mystical elements that I could have done without, but I was all in on this. 5/5 stars

(Maybe I am becoming an easy grader in my current state. I don't care. I have really thought all the books I've read recently have been fabulous.)

Lines of note:

I'd never heard of Piano Row. It was a splinter of Fifty-eighth Street between Broadway and Seventh Avenue, where delicate piano stores had tucked themselves between hulking sixties apartment buildings like a few sparrows living among hippos. (page 194) - Awww...you guys, Piano Row was demolished in 2016. Sad news. 

"It sounds like something out of a night film." (page 384) - Title spotting!

Things I looked up:

Teboni (page 287) - an ancient Japanese form of tattooing that often yields large, colorful, and meaningful tattoos

Horimono (page 287) - another type of Japanese tattooing

Irezumi (page 287) - Japanese word for tattoo, is used in English to refer to a distinctive style of Japanese tattooing

Iruma Air Base (page 294) - Air Base is a Japan Air Self-Defense Force base located in the city of Sayama, Saitama Prefecture, north of western Tokyo, Japan

Best Director at the 1980 Oscars (page 308) - Robert Benton won for Kramer vs. Kramer

Tyrone Power (page 374) - an American actor. From the 1930s to the 1950s, Power appeared in dozens of films, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads. Had amazing eyebrows.

Tarantino's trunk shot (page 529) - Especially in Tarantino's early films,  at a critical moment in the film, Tarantino starts a shot in pure darkness before revealing our main characters looking down on us as they open a trunk. It should not surprise anyone to learn I've never watched a single Tarantino movie.

first step of a twelve-step program (page 552) - We admitted we were powerless over alcohol — that our lives had become unmanageable. What a blessing it is that I do not know the twelve steps.

Murad cigarettes (page 553) - It was a brand of cigarettes made of pure Turkish tobacco

Hat mentions (why hats?):

...Marlowe reclining poolside surrounded by palm trees, a wide-brimmed black hat on her head...(page 360)

Her hair was longer than I remembered, secured in a ponytail under a black velvet hat. (page 562)

"Drew, you left your hat on the prop table." (page 564)

Five for Friday Plus One, Edition #25

1) Summasummasummatime - This is the time of year I survive the rest of the year for. This morning I rolled out of bed and walked the dog in shorts and a t-shirt just wearing sandals. Blue skies! Happy dog! No one has to put on eighty bazillion layers of clothes to walk outside. I dream of these perfect June mornings in February and March and when Hannah stops to sniff the seventh tree in a row, I just stand there and watch her adoringly because I get it, my girl, this is a PERFECT day to sniff seven trees in a row. 

2) Chocolate donut, cinnamon scone, banana nut muffin, blueberry muffin - Of this list, which do you choose? My boss stopped at the local bakery (shout out to the Sweet Spot, which I am bound and determined to have survive even though Starbucks has invaded) to provide us with these delicacies before yet another first year orientation. What's your choice? 

3) Snail mail! Look at all the fun postcards people have sent me. Friends, I feel like we are starting a postcard revolution. 

4) Big girl pants - I have been struggling with my bad leg for a while now. 

(Long story short. I had a tib-fib fracture in December 2011. Screws and plates and many opioids. After about six months, I resumed normal activities and moved on with my life.)

Doing any sort of exercise with impact is a challenge. Running is off the table. By the time I'm done with an hour-long Zumba class, I'm limping. Every morning the first few steps I take are dangerous because it's hard to put weight on it. I have pins and needles in it way more than is normal. I honestly don't think there's anything that can be done about it, but with some prodding, I made an appointment with my doctor (just kidding - my doctor is on maternity leave, so this was really a substitute doctor) who took some xrays and sent me a referral to ortho.

My xrays came back with no abnormalities in the hardware, so that's good news, right? Meanwhile, next week I have the follow-up with ortho and I'm pretty sure they're going to tell me to suck it up, but at least I'll have that information, right? I took (some) control of my health and am moving on. 

5) Pop culture that takes you by surprise - What's some pop culture that you've engaged in that has changed your mind about something?

Full Swing - Full Swing is a Netflix documentary series that follows golfers around. I literally do not care one iota about golf (terrible for the environment, not action-packed enough for me, etc., etc.), but this show is really about the golfers, not really the sport. I ended up being the sort of person who can vaguely follow golf news! Very vaguely, but that's better than nothing, right?

Lonesome Dove - This book made me think westerns can be on okay read. I still think about it all the time. 

Serial - In a pre-Serial podcast world, I listened to radio shows - most NPR shows, to be fair - but I was not addicted to podcasts. This was the podcast that sucked me in. 

Lincoln in the Bardo - This book. I think about this book EVERY DAY. I can't stop thinking about it. It made me think that I should expand my horizons and not immediately make a face when someone uses the term "experimental fiction." 

6) Saying no - The new director of the community center recently reached out to me to join a committee. I sat on that email for two days before I sent an email declining and giving someone else's name who might be a good fit. I debated it because I do want to be a supporter of the community center, but my life is just not in a good volunteering spot right now. Maybe in another year or two I can reevaluate. 

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What is the pop culture that changed your mind? Chocolate donut, cinnamon scone, banana nut muffin, or blueberry muffin for you?