June 2026 - What are you reading?

[Anonymous]

A bit of an older book, but I’m starting Malibu Rising ahead of a vacation I take this weekend. I won’t have much opportunity to read beforehand, but I like to be invested beforehand.

“Set in California in August 1983, Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid follows four famous siblings—Nina, Jay, Hud, and Kit Riva. Over the course of 24 chaotic hours, their epic annual end-of-summer party spins completely out of control. The night brings long-held secrets to light and culminates in a devastating fire.”

[Anonymous]

I read "The Uncommon Reader" by Alan Bennet. It is a delightful little gem of a book, about 120 pages and only 3 hours as audiobook. I listened to the audiobook read by the author himself and his narration was very good. The premise is that the Queen stumbles upon a mobile library van parked in the palace grounds. She borrows a book. This lights the spark and she becomes obsessed with reading much to the dismay of her aides. For such a small volume it packs a punch and is very funny. Highly recommended. Listened to it on Libby. I think it would be great for Book Clubs too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I read "The Uncommon Reader" by Alan Bennet. It is a delightful little gem of a book, about 120 pages and only 3 hours as audiobook. I listened to the audiobook read by the author himself and his narration was very good. The premise is that the Queen stumbles upon a mobile library van parked in the palace grounds. She borrows a book. This lights the spark and she becomes obsessed with reading much to the dismay of her aides. For such a small volume it packs a punch and is very funny. Highly recommended. Listened to it on Libby. I think it would be great for Book Clubs too.

Typo - Author is Alan Bennett

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I read "The Uncommon Reader" by Alan Bennet. It is a delightful little gem of a book, about 120 pages and only 3 hours as audiobook. I listened to the audiobook read by the author himself and his narration was very good. The premise is that the Queen stumbles upon a mobile library van parked in the palace grounds. She borrows a book. This lights the spark and she becomes obsessed with reading much to the dismay of her aides. For such a small volume it packs a punch and is very funny. Highly recommended. Listened to it on Libby. I think it would be great for Book Clubs too.

I read this years ago and still remember it as being really fun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I jsut reread Natalie Zina Walschots Hench, about a young woman who finds herself working as a temp on the Villain side doing spreadsheets. She is terribly injured by a "hero" and gets laid off, and starts working on tallying the human cost of heroes. And goes on from there. I loved it as much the second time! Re-read because it was published in 2020 and the sequel, Villain, just came out a couple of weeks ago so that's on my to read list.

I just started American Fantasy by Emma Staub. It's got a fairly low raiting for goodreads, so I'm curious to see how it goes (I'm only on page 50). A 40 (50?) something woman goes on a 4 day cruise dedicated to fans of an aging boy band (think New Kids on the BLock on a cruise today) where guests can interact and hang out with the boy band. She ends up befriending one of the band members. If this was a straight romance book by a well known romance author, the concept would be a home run. So very curious why the low rating. The blurb says it's a richly textured, uplifting story about the magic of revisiting youthful feelings, and the even greater magic of starting anew.

I read American Fantasy. Almost a DNF for me. Stupid.

I wouldn’t say “stupid,” but it definitely wasn’t for me. I think I may have commented in the May thread that American Fantasy might hit differently if you are a fan of boy bands, cruises, or both. As someone just a few years too old for the Justin Timberlake-era boy bands and who has never been on a cruise, I didn’t find anything that spoke to me. YMMV

[Anonymous]

I just finished Five by Ilona Bannister. I’m sure I saw it recommended on this forum, because that’s where I get many of my book recommendations these days.

We meet five people, one of whom we know is going to die in an accident in a British railway station. The novel keeps you guessing as to which character is going to die. Since all of the characters are flawed in some (or many) ways, it also makes you think about which of them would be the least of a “loss” for humanity if they are the one who dies. (And it makes you question your own humanity for even thinking in such a manner.) If you’re like me, the more you learn about them, the more you may change your opinion.

It’s not very long, and it’s not challenging to read, but it is challenging in other ways.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I jsut reread Natalie Zina Walschots Hench, about a young woman who finds herself working as a temp on the Villain side doing spreadsheets. She is terribly injured by a "hero" and gets laid off, and starts working on tallying the human cost of heroes. And goes on from there. I loved it as much the second time! Re-read because it was published in 2020 and the sequel, Villain, just came out a couple of weeks ago so that's on my to read list.

I just started American Fantasy by Emma Staub. It's got a fairly low rating for goodreads, so I'm curious to see how it goes (I'm only on page 50). A 40 (50?) something woman goes on a 4 day cruise dedicated to fans of an aging boy band (think New Kids on the BLock on a cruise today) where guests can interact and hang out with the boy band. She ends up befriending one of the band members. If this was a straight romance book by a well known romance author, the concept would be a home run. So very curious why the low rating. The blurb says it's a richly textured, uplifting story about the magic of revisiting youthful feelings, and the even greater magic of starting anew.

I LOVED American Fantasy! I'm surprised by the negative reviews (I haven't seen them myself though...) And I wouldn't call Emma Straub a romance author (though there's nothing wrong with romance). I would characterize her books as litery fiction.

No, that's the point I'm trying to make. If this premise was written by a popular romance author (like Katherine Center), it would be golden. This is a can't miss romance trope. But it's written by Emma Straub, a literary fiction writer, and has a very low Goodreads rating. Has her literary audience turned their nose up at this premise? Did romance readers pick it up because of the premise and then get turned off by the literary-ness of it? Is it the wrong premise for the right writer, or the right premise for the wrong writer?

I just finished it today. It's not as bad as the ratings would lead me to think, but I didn't love it. There's quite of bit of snobbery here - likely much of it intentional. The female main character works at an Opera magazine and we're talking about 90s boy bands! But there's also unintentional snobbery, too, that bleeds out - about cruising, the type of people who cruise, fandoms. I read through some reader reviews on goodreads and people didn't like how little actually happened. I can see that, there's a lot that happens in the main character's heads (literary!), but not a lot of plot. It did feel like she got a lot of the angst at fame at a young age right (and she thanks Joe McIntyre from NKOTB, so she had a good source).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A bit of an older book, but I’m starting Malibu Rising ahead of a vacation I take this weekend. I won’t have much opportunity to read beforehand, but I like to be invested beforehand.

“Set in California in August 1983, Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid follows four famous siblings—Nina, Jay, Hud, and Kit Riva. Over the course of 24 chaotic hours, their epic annual end-of-summer party spins completely out of control. The night brings long-held secrets to light and culminates in a devastating fire.”

Oooofff hated it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I jsut reread Natalie Zina Walschots Hench, about a young woman who finds herself working as a temp on the Villain side doing spreadsheets. She is terribly injured by a "hero" and gets laid off, and starts working on tallying the human cost of heroes. And goes on from there. I loved it as much the second time! Re-read because it was published in 2020 and the sequel, Villain, just came out a couple of weeks ago so that's on my to read list.

I just started American Fantasy by Emma Staub. It's got a fairly low rating for goodreads, so I'm curious to see how it goes (I'm only on page 50). A 40 (50?) something woman goes on a 4 day cruise dedicated to fans of an aging boy band (think New Kids on the BLock on a cruise today) where guests can interact and hang out with the boy band. She ends up befriending one of the band members. If this was a straight romance book by a well known romance author, the concept would be a home run. So very curious why the low rating. The blurb says it's a richly textured, uplifting story about the magic of revisiting youthful feelings, and the even greater magic of starting anew.

I LOVED American Fantasy! I'm surprised by the negative reviews (I haven't seen them myself though...) And I wouldn't call Emma Straub a romance author (though there's nothing wrong with romance). I would characterize her books as litery fiction.

No, that's the point I'm trying to make. If this premise was written by a popular romance author (like Katherine Center), it would be golden. This is a can't miss romance trope. But it's written by Emma Straub, a literary fiction writer, and has a very low Goodreads rating. Has her literary audience turned their nose up at this premise? Did romance readers pick it up because of the premise and then get turned off by the literary-ness of it? Is it the wrong premise for the right writer, or the right premise for the wrong writer?

I just finished it today. It's not as bad as the ratings would lead me to think, but I didn't love it. There's quite of bit of snobbery here - likely much of it intentional. The female main character works at an Opera magazine and we're talking about 90s boy bands! But there's also unintentional snobbery, too, that bleeds out - about cruising, the type of people who cruise, fandoms. I read through some reader reviews on goodreads and people didn't like how little actually happened. I can see that, there's a lot that happens in the main character's heads (literary!), but not a lot of plot. It did feel like she got a lot of the angst at fame at a young age right (and she thanks Joe McIntyre from NKOTB, so she had a good source).

Not sure if there should be a spinoff thread at this point (I'd be interested) but I'm another who really enjoyed reading American Fantasy. Not a boy band fan and I've never been on a cruise fwiw.

I think the thing I liked most about it is that for me it explores the division of being young, playful, girlish vs becoming more "serious" and adult. I think there IS snobbery there from the opera magazine MC but the whole time she is asking herself why she is that way, when it's totally obvious that the women who are being "uncool" and totally into the experience are having a blast. So to me it brings up questions like - why do we dismiss things that brought us joy when we were children/teens? (Or I guess: why do some people dismiss them and others don't.) What does it mean to be part of a fandom? How does music connect and divide us (boy band vs opera)?

It also makes me think about the division in literary fiction world where many books by women's authors are dismissed outright for being too relationship centered or heaven forfend having domestic themes. Where a man writing the same book will be lauded and held up as some kind of example. So (to me) it's very cool to see a literary fiction author tackle a very high concept subject that would be right at home in a romcom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I jsut reread Natalie Zina Walschots Hench, about a young woman who finds herself working as a temp on the Villain side doing spreadsheets. She is terribly injured by a "hero" and gets laid off, and starts working on tallying the human cost of heroes. And goes on from there. I loved it as much the second time! Re-read because it was published in 2020 and the sequel, Villain, just came out a couple of weeks ago so that's on my to read list.

I just started American Fantasy by Emma Staub. It's got a fairly low rating for goodreads, so I'm curious to see how it goes (I'm only on page 50). A 40 (50?) something woman goes on a 4 day cruise dedicated to fans of an aging boy band (think New Kids on the BLock on a cruise today) where guests can interact and hang out with the boy band. She ends up befriending one of the band members. If this was a straight romance book by a well known romance author, the concept would be a home run. So very curious why the low rating. The blurb says it's a richly textured, uplifting story about the magic of revisiting youthful feelings, and the even greater magic of starting anew.

I LOVED American Fantasy! I'm surprised by the negative reviews (I haven't seen them myself though...) And I wouldn't call Emma Straub a romance author (though there's nothing wrong with romance). I would characterize her books as litery fiction.

No, that's the point I'm trying to make. If this premise was written by a popular romance author (like Katherine Center), it would be golden. This is a can't miss romance trope. But it's written by Emma Straub, a literary fiction writer, and has a very low Goodreads rating. Has her literary audience turned their nose up at this premise? Did romance readers pick it up because of the premise and then get turned off by the literary-ness of it? Is it the wrong premise for the right writer, or the right premise for the wrong writer?

I just finished it today. It's not as bad as the ratings would lead me to think, but I didn't love it. There's quite of bit of snobbery here - likely much of it intentional. The female main character works at an Opera magazine and we're talking about 90s boy bands! But there's also unintentional snobbery, too, that bleeds out - about cruising, the type of people who cruise, fandoms. I read through some reader reviews on goodreads and people didn't like how little actually happened. I can see that, there's a lot that happens in the main character's heads (literary!), but not a lot of plot. It did feel like she got a lot of the angst at fame at a young age right (and she thanks Joe McIntyre from NKOTB, so she had a good source).

Not sure if there should be a spinoff thread at this point (I'd be interested) but I'm another who really enjoyed reading American Fantasy. Not a boy band fan and I've never been on a cruise fwiw.

I think the thing I liked most about it is that for me it explores the division of being young, playful, girlish vs becoming more "serious" and adult. I think there IS snobbery there from the opera magazine MC but the whole time she is asking herself why she is that way, when it's totally obvious that the women who are being "uncool" and totally into the experience are having a blast. So to me it brings up questions like - why do we dismiss things that brought us joy when we were children/teens? (Or I guess: why do some people dismiss them and others don't.) What does it mean to be part of a fandom? How does music connect and divide us (boy band vs opera)?

It also makes me think about the division in literary fiction world where many books by women's authors are dismissed outright for being too relationship centered or heaven forfend having domestic themes. Where a man writing the same book will be lauded and held up as some kind of example. So (to me) it's very cool to see a literary fiction author tackle a very high concept subject that would be right at home in a romcom.

Your review is making me want to read it! (NP here). I also loved This Time Tomorrow, so even the many negative reviews of American Fantasy just had me a bit on the fence...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A bit of an older book, but I’m starting Malibu Rising ahead of a vacation I take this weekend. I won’t have much opportunity to read beforehand, but I like to be invested beforehand.

“Set in California in August 1983, Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid follows four famous siblings—Nina, Jay, Hud, and Kit Riva. Over the course of 24 chaotic hours, their epic annual end-of-summer party spins completely out of control. The night brings long-held secrets to light and culminates in a devastating fire.”

Oooofff hated it!

Oof! These kinds of replies are so annoying. As if your personal opinion with zero context actually matters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A bit of an older book, but I’m starting Malibu Rising ahead of a vacation I take this weekend. I won’t have much opportunity to read beforehand, but I like to be invested beforehand.

“Set in California in August 1983, Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid follows four famous siblings—Nina, Jay, Hud, and Kit Riva. Over the course of 24 chaotic hours, their epic annual end-of-summer party spins completely out of control. The night brings long-held secrets to light and culminates in a devastating fire.”

Oooofff hated it!

Oof! These kinds of replies are so annoying. As if your personal opinion with zero context actually matters.

I'm a different poster but people post stuff like this all the time. You can like the book even if someone else hates it, it's weird to get riled up about someone else's opinion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A bit of an older book, but I’m starting Malibu Rising ahead of a vacation I take this weekend. I won’t have much opportunity to read beforehand, but I like to be invested beforehand.

“Set in California in August 1983, Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid follows four famous siblings—Nina, Jay, Hud, and Kit Riva. Over the course of 24 chaotic hours, their epic annual end-of-summer party spins completely out of control. The night brings long-held secrets to light and culminates in a devastating fire.”

Oooofff hated it!

Oof! These kinds of replies are so annoying. As if your personal opinion with zero context actually matters.

I'm a different poster but people post stuff like this all the time. You can like the book even if someone else hates it, it's weird to get riled up about someone else's opinion.

NP. I agree with the prior PP. Comments like the one she responded to add nothing and are disappointing on an otherwise very thoughtful thread/forum.

Re Malibu Rising, I listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed the descriptions of Malibu and the surfing world. The characters didn’t grab me, but I thought the book was reasonably entertaining.

[Anonymous]

My copy of Fairies: A History by Francis Young is arriving today. I loved his Twilight of the Godlings, so I'm excited to start it.

[Anonymous]

I'm a little halfway through Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth. It's about an 81 year old woman with a dark past. I initially wasn't intrigued based off of the synopsis, but I can't put this one down.