June: What I Read

June was a sublime summer reading month.  Looking back, last June was spectacular with Euphoria, The Invention of Wings, Guests on Earth, and The Book of Unknown Americans.  And the June before THAT, I read Flight Behavior, whose haunting ending still pops into my head.  June is just a good month for books, I guess.

10. The Honest Toddler by Bunmi Latidan:  Hilarious, but really no funnier than the blog.
9.  After Birth by Elisa Albert:  I LOVED this story of postpartum depression and female friendship.
8.  The First Bad Man by Miranda July:  What a weird, funny, and, in the end, totally charming book.  You should check it out but be prepared for weird sex.
7.  Crash and Burn By Lisa Gardner:  I have a special fondness for her thrillers because they kept me from going completely insane from my postpartum insomnia when Harry was a baby.  Also they are always suspenseful.
6.  Where They Found Her by Kimberly McCreight:  Not as good as Reconstructing Amelia or The Girl on the Train, but still, a fast, tense read.
5.  Early Warning by Jane Smiley:  So this is the second book in a series, but I didn't know that.  I tried to read the first one, but I just couldn't get into it.  This one was slow but ultimately really engaging, and I have the first one (Some Luck) waiting on my bookshelf.
4.  Dietland by Sarai Walker:  READ THIS!  It is funny, well plotted, full of excellent characters, feminist, and wonderfully hopeful.
3.  Being Mortal by Atul Gawande:  READ THIS, too!  It's about how medicine fails at the end of life and really, really made me thing about mortality, as the title suggests, but not in a depressing way (more like somber and contemplative).  Loved it.
2.  All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr:  I am about a year late on this, but seriously, read it.  It will stop centimeters short of breaking your heart, I think because it so well crafted that you can stand outside it a little and admire the poetry.
1.  In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume:  I absolutely love Judy Blume.  The first book I remember completely losing myself in was Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.  It was second grade, and my whole class went to music class, but I stayed in my seat because I was so wrapped up in my book I had no idea anyone had left the room.  I was really surprised to find myself alone with my teacher who said she didn't want t bother me.  Every fall, I think of Blubber because of the perfect way Blume described leaves and crisp air. I LOVE Judy Blume.  And this book was a total gift.  Her same voice, her same sharp child characters, only this time they get to grow all the way up.  I loved it.  Plus there were plane crashes.

All of these books were entertaining, but the top five were all contenders for book of the year.  Read them!  And then let's talk.