Books Read in June and July 2026

 

I read a lot of good books in June and July. For various reasons I only read 3 books in June, and I was grateful that I was able to finish 6 books in July.  Since we are now in September, I can report that I did not even come close to finishing my list of books for the 20 Books of Summer event. In June, July, and August I read a total of 14 books. Two were not on my 20 Books list. So I am continuing to read books from that list through September and October, interspersed with other books.

Here are the nine books I read in June and July...

Fiction

Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk (2017) by Kathleen Rooney

Lillian Boxfish is 85 years old and decides to take a long walk in New York City on New Year's Eve, 1984. That is very impressive to me, but for her it was easy because she always walks a lot. She meets a lot of different people along the way. The story of her life is told as she takes the walk, mostly through her thoughts. She loved her work in advertising and she was very successful, but there were some very sad stories about her life. Lillian reminded me of the protagonist of The Correspondent. She is outspoken, doesn't mince words, and is opinionated. But still a very likable protagonist. I liked that she did not conform to accepted norms and behaviors. Lillian is based on a real woman, poet and ad woman Margaret Fishback. I bought this book at the September book sale last year and I am so glad I did. 

Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop (2024) by Hwang Bo-Reum, Translated by Shanna Tan

This was another great read. It is about a South Korean woman who left her high-stress job and got a divorce and started a book store. One theme is how reading and books help people, but it also has a strong focus on the protagonist's goal to create a good bookshop that people will visit again and again. What I liked best were the philosophical thoughts on what people want out of life. The characters (employees and customers) are all ages and visit the store for many different reasons. My husband read this book and Every Day I Read by the same author, and liked them both. In Korea, this type of book is called "healing fiction." Without a doubt, I will read this book again.

Fiction, Classic

Middlemarch (1872) by George Eliot

I read this book for my 20 Books of Summer list. I had never been interested in reading Middlemarch until recently, but in the spring  of this year I got interested in the book and my husband owned a nice copy. I started reading it on June 4th and finished reading on July 4th, with a 10 day break somewhere in there. It was quite an experience.  My review is here.

Science Fiction

Floating Hotel (2024) by Grace Curtis

This is another science fiction novel my son read first, then loaned to me. I am a sucker for novels set in hotels, so I was eager to read it. It starts out as a simple story about a ship that functions as a luxury hotel, going from planet to planet, with guests and occasionally employees taking time to visit the planet below.  My review is here.

Crime Fiction

Murder on the Yellow Brick Road (1977) by Stuart M. Kaminsky

Stuart M. Kaminsky is one of my favorite authors. His Toby Peters mystery series is set primarily in Hollywood, California. Each book in the 24-book series is centered around a celebrity. Toby is a perpetually down-on-his-luck private eye; the books are humorous and clever. Murder on the Yellow Brick Road is set in 1940, and Judy Garland is one of the primary characters. My review is here.

The Father Hunt (1968) by Rex Stout

Rex Stout is my favorite author. This book is part of his Nero Wolfe series, and one of my favorite books in the series. Amy Denovo asks Archie to find out who her father was. Her mother had been killed a few months earlier in a hit and run incident. I liked Amy because she is a strong young working woman who knows what she wants. She is living with Lily Rowan because she is working on a book about Lily's father. I always like the books that feature Lily, a very good friend of Archie's. I read this book when I was on jury duty for two days in June. It was the only book on this post that was not on my 20 Books of Summer list.

A Graveyard for Lunatics (1990) by Ray Bradbury

This is the 2nd in a three-book mystery series. The first book, Death is a Lonely Business, is a homage to mystery writers such as Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, and Ross Macdonald. A Graveyard for Lunatics seems to be based on Bradbury's experiences in Hollywood in the 1950s and 60s. Both books include bizarre happenings and strange, eccentric characters. The story in this book is so fantastical that it is hard to take seriously as a mystery. Yet, in the end I enjoyed the story and was very glad I read it. The magic of Ray Bradbury's writing turns it into a lovely story.  My review is here.

Glass Houses (2017) by Louise Penny

This is the 13th book in the Inspector Armand Gamache series. I have been really impressed by the last four books I read in the series, and this was no exception. I always feel like Penny's Inspector Gamache novels are too dark and serious while I am reading them, but at the end I always give them 5 stars. This one had a very complex plot. The story starts out with Inspector Armand Gamache on the witness stand testifying at a trial, and after that it goes back and forth between the trial and the events that preceded it. Sometimes that gets confusing, but it also created a lot of suspense.

The Sisters (1985) by Robert Littell

This is a weird and wacky story of two KGB agents from the USSR. One of the agents is a sleeper agent in the US. The "Sisters" of the title are two male CIA agents; they are partners and have planned an illegal scheme which is not revealed until the very end. The whole thing is very complex, but the joy is in the journey of reading it, and it is very humorous. It has been a long time since I had so much fun reading a spy story. 

About the photos:

At the top of the post is our cat London, who has been living with us over a year now. He has changed a lot from the cat who first came to live with us. Glen likes to say that London has flipped the maturity switch, although he sometimes switches back to an earlier version. And he has gained 2 pounds; he is now at 14 pounds.

The two photos below are of plants on our front walkway, which were planted in March of this year. The top photo is a cuphea, in a pot. They attract hummingbirds, and we have at least four pots of those in the front. The bottom photo shows a geranium (or pelargonium), which we were lucky to find with that coloration. All of the photos were taken by Glen. Click on the images for the best viewing quality. 

My Books from the 2025 Book Sale

Every year we look forward to the Planned Parenthood Book Sale, which was held between September 12 – 21, 2025. We go to the sale five times, and the last day the books are half price. So, two months after the book sale, I am listing seven of the many books that I purchased at the sale. I have not read any of these yet, but I will read the first one on the list before the end of the year.

These are listed in no particular order, although I started with books that were not mysteries, and ended with mysteries.

Tell Me Everything (2024) by Elizabeth Strout

Why did I buy this book? It was on my list of books to look for at the sale. I just finished reading Oh, William! by the same author in October. I will be reading Lucy by the Sea this month (November). And I want to read Tell Me Everything by the end of 2025. All of those novels have some of the same characters. So I was happy to find a copy.

I don't know much about Tell Me Everything (and I don't want to at this point), but it is set in the fictional town of Crosby, Maine, and features several characters from previous books by Strout: Lucy Barton, Bob Burgess, Olive Kitteridge and more.

Pearly Everlasting (2024) by Tammy Armstrong

Why did I buy this book? It was another book on my list that I had hoped to find. The author is Canadian and the setting is New Brunswick during the Great Depression. If I hadn't found a copy I would have been buying a copy soon, probably for much more than I spent at the sale. 

I don't know much about this story. The Goodreads description notes that it is about a cook in a logging camp who rescues an orphaned bear and brings it home. The bear lives with him and his wife and daughter. Years later the bear is sold and the teenaged daughter goes to rescue it. I have seen Pearly Everlasting classified as a fantasy. I don't think it fits well into my definition of a fantasy, but I think the basic story of a bear bonding with a girl is not based on realistic bear behavior. So it sounds more like a folktale to me. See Susan's review at The Cue Card. In that same post, Susan also reviews Tell Me Everything (above).

The Grammarians (2019) by Cathleen Schine

Why did I buy this book? I saw the cover, read the description, and was intrigued by the book. The author is new to me. I don't focus on grammar so much but I love words, so it sounded good.

From the dust jacket on the book:

The grammarians are Laurel and Daphne Wolfe, identical, inseparable redheaded twins who share an obsession with words. They speak a secret “twin” tongue of their own as toddlers; as adults making their way in 1980s Manhattan, their verbal infatuation continues, but, lo and behold, this love, which has always bound them together, begins to push them apart.

Lilian Boxfish Takes a Walk (2017) by Kathleen Rooney

Why did I buy this book? It was pretty much the cover that decided me. I had heard of the author vaguely but had seen this cover here and there. The description sounded good, AND the book has a map of New York on the end papers.

From the dust jacket of the book:

Now it’s the last night of 1984 and Lillian, 85 years old but just as sharp and savvy as ever, is on her way to a party. It’s chilly enough out for her mink coat and Manhattan is grittier now―her son keeps warning her about a subway vigilante on the prowl―but the quick-tongued poetess has never been one to scare easily. On a walk that takes her over 10 miles around the city, she meets bartenders, bodega clerks, security guards, criminals, children, parents, and parents-to-be, while reviewing a life of excitement and adversity, passion and heartbreak...

The Spy Coast (2023) by Tess Gerritsen

Why did I buy this book? I like espionage books, and this one is by an author who I am familiar with. The ratings are good. I have read five books in the Rizzoli and Isles series. 

From the back of the book:

Former spy Maggie Bird came to the seaside village of Purity, Maine, eager to put the past behind her after a mission went tragically wrong. These days, she’s living quietly on her chicken farm, still wary of blowback from the events that forced her early retirement.

But when a body turns up in Maggie’s driveway, she knows it’s a message from former foes who haven’t forgotten her.

Invisible Helix (2021) by Keigo Higashino, translated by Giles Murray

Why did I buy this book? My husband introduced me to this author and I have read as many books by him as we can find. This is the fifth book in the Detective Galileo series that has been translated to English, and I have read the four previous books.

From the description at Goodreads:

Detective Galileo, Keigo Higashino's best loved character from The Devotion of Suspect X, returns in a case where hidden history, and impossible crime, are linked by nearly invisible threads in surprising ways.

The body of a young man is found floating in Tokyo Bay. But his death was no accident-Ryota Uetsuji was shot. He'd been reported missing the week before by his live-in girlfriend Sonoka Shimauchi, but when detectives from the Homicide Squad go to interview her, she is nowhere to be found.

To Fetch a Thief (2010) by Spencer Quinn

Why did I buy this book? This was another one I bought for the cover. I have read the first book in the Chet and Bernie series and enjoyed it. I like books about the circus, although I haven't read that many. It was too good to pass up.

The books in the Chet and Bernie series are narrated by a dog named Chet. Chet is not a superdog; he flunked out of K-9 training, but still has the heart of a detective. His owner, private investigator Bernie Little, is not perfect either but never gives up on the case. The setting seems to be Arizona.