June Reading Recap

I read these books in between World Cup matches.

I didn’t rate a lot of these, some of them because I was trying to be polite and not rate them very low, and some because I just didn’t feel strongly enough about them to give them a score.

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans - I’m not the target audience for this book, but I can see why people liked it.

The Art Spy by Michelle Young - This was non-fiction about a woman named Rose Valland who worked at the Louvre during World War II. I loved it! I have not stopped thinking about it. I have read a lot of books about World War II but had never thought about how museums had to protect the artwork. Of course people’s lives are more important than art, but at the same time, the war was being fought about culture, which is worth preserving. Rose was a hero both for her bravery during the war as she helped resist the Nazis and her work afterwards to reunite art with its Jewish owners. I highly recommend this one if the topic interests you.

All the Beauty in the World by Patrick Bringley - I loved this one too! This is a memoir from a man who worked as a guard at the Met and I found his reflections on the art to be deeply moving. It reminded me of spiritual practices - the ways he would revisit the art and learn from it, the amount of time that he spent looking at the art, the ways that he would see new things in other people’s responses. This is one of my favorite books I have read so far this year.

The Music of Bees by Eileen Garvin - I finally picked a book for church book club! Thank goodness. This is a nice read about a woman beekeeper and some young men she takes in, and how they all help one another (and fight against the dangers of pesticides). We will discuss it in September.

Last Night in Brooklyn by Xochitl Gonzalez - I have enjoyed all of this author’s books but this one probably spoke to me the least.

For the Blessings of Jupiter and Venus by Varun Gauri - I read this to consider it for church book club and it was a no for me. The story of an arranged marriage was interesting but I wasn’t invested.

Call Your Daughter Home by Deb Spera - I support women’s rights and women’s wrongs, so I didn’t object to the premise of a woman shooting her drunk abusive husband and feeding him to the gators, but I really really did not like the ending of this book. I read it to see if we’d do it for church book club and the answer is no because I hated the ending. If you have read it, let me know if we can talk about the ending.

Skye Falling by Mia McKenzie - I loved These Heathens so I thought I’d check this one out, it was about a woman meeting a child born from an egg they donated many years before. It was cute but not life-shattering.

Joyful Anyway by Kate Bowler - I have been thinking a lot about joy this summer, and I thought I’d give Kate Bowler another try. It didn’t totally hit for me - it felt disjointed and disconnected from her life in a way that I couldn’t put my finger on - but I enjoyed some of her reflections.

Game Changer and Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid - I had to take a turn reading the gay hockey books! I actually liked Game Changer better than Heated Rivalry because I like meet cutes more than enemies to lovers. When the Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup I was like, why are none of them kissing, but thankfully there was kissing at the Stanley Cup in these books.

Before We Visit the Goddess by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni - There was a real disconnect between the critical reviews of this book and my experience reading it. I found it disjointed and difficult to follow. I cared about the characters but not the way it was written.

Full of Myself by Austin Channing Brown - I got this one for Christmas and finally had time to read it. I enjoyed her reflections on being full of herself - present in her body, present in the world, present in her work, present in her family.

Currently reading: Kin by Tayari Jones. Enjoying it a lot so far! What are you reading and what did you read in June?