June was a mixed bag--a mostly enjoyable one. In addition to what is listed here, I read 120 pages of Simon Morrison's hefty (400+ pages) A Kingdom and a Village: a One-Thousand-Year History of Moscow. I'm enjoying it. I was enjoying Babylon, South Dakota until I was about 1/3 (116 pages) into it when it began to disintegrate. I may not finish it.
I continue with the seemingly never ending reading of books with the word "last" in the title. I've read over 40 since I accidentally started this in February 2025. I picked up and rejected or DNF about ten others. I have one currently checked out and another on my holds list, so they will keep on coming like the donuts in Homer Price (by Robert McCloskey).
Fiction:
Palaces of the Crow by Ray Nayler
Really, really good!
Hunger and Thirst by Fuller, Claire
Enjoyed it while I was reading it, but two weeks later I couldn't remember anything about it?!
Ms. Mebel Goes Back to the Chopping Block by Sutanto, Jesse Q.
I liked this story of an Chinese/Indonesian rediscovering herself at age 63 after her marriage falls apart. I read a book in Sutanto's Aunties series a couple of years ago and was lukewarm about it. But maybe I'll try another of her non-series books.
Down with the Shipmans by Moore, Meg Mitchell
Another author I decided to give a second try (DNF Mansion Beach). I'm glad I did because I enjoyed this story of threes sisters revisiting the childhood summer home.
Porcupines by Fabriczki, Fran
Single mother, an undocumented Hungarian immigrant, in Los Angeles.
A Perfect Hand by Waldman, Ayelet
A lady's maid and a gentleman's valet scheme to get their employers matched in marriage so they (the servants) can also marry and live in the same house.
The Haunting of Paynes Hollow by Armstrong, Kelley
What a strange one. It kind of switches genres as it goes along. It's a bit of a mishmash and I was sucked in. Did I like It? Sort of....
Livonia Chow Mein by Savitch-Lew, Abigail
Maybe it was the writing or the subject (I'm growing weary of books about small groups of residents trying to keep or gain control of their neighborhoods) but I never really got into this novel.
The Butler (The Butler, #1) by Mackintosh, Clare
A formula mystery that checks a lot of boxes: a glamorous setting (a Cannes mansion), an assorted group of house party guests, a victim everybody hates, and a butler who didn't do it. Add in motives (everybody has at least one} money, infidelity, blackmail, sexual harassment, etc. Not great lit, but a pleasant bit of fluff for a summer afternoon.
A Good Animal by Maurer, Sara
Coming of age while sheep farming on the Upper Peninsula. Well written but I wish I hadn't read it.
Last One Out by Harper, Jane
One of the better of the word 'last' in the title books. A town in New South Wales is dying because a mining company is buying up all the land.
Nonfiction:
"On 5 December 1926, Claude Monet, the master of Impressionism, died in the village of Giverny in Normandy. One century on, the Paris Region and Normandy, so the two French regions where he was born and brought up, where he lived and created, pay homage to this icon of modern art."
About those water lilies.
