New Books for June 2023

Summer beach reading is my favorite time of the year, and there are many great books to fill up your TBR for summer reading

Hi readers,

I hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend and finished lots of books. I finished two books and started a few more. I’m trying to finish another one, Who is Maud Dixon?: A Novel, but I’m having a hard time with it. I understand the need for a back story, but I’m at page 153 and still waiting on the “event” that is supposed to happen. I’m about to lose hope. Have you read this book? Is it worth continuing, or should I DNF?

There are so many great books hitting the shelves this summer. I have several summer reading guides, and I’m trying to plan my summer reading, but those bright, shiny covers keep getting in the way. June looks to be the month for historical, literary, and contemporary fiction as well as thrillers, as those are the majority that has caught my eye. I’ve only read one of these books, but many more will be in my reading future. Let’s get started.

• The Whispers by Ashley Audrain (6-6-23) - A look at four suburban families with pretense and secrets and how people putting themselves above everyone else leads to what happens after the young son of one of the families is critically injured. Some readers compare it to Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan, and others say Desperate Housewives is a good TV comparison. I’ve not read or watched either, so I can’t confirm, but it sounds like a great domestic psychological thriller that will keep the reader up at night.

• Girls and Their Horses by Eliza Jane Brazier (6-6-23) - This book is being described as the “book about horses that I didn’t know I needed to read.” I wasn’t planning on reading it, but after seeing several book reviewers give it high praise, it’s now firmly on my TBR. Reviewers are also saying that this is Brazier’s best book yet. I feel left out as I have never read anything by this author; it sounds like I’ve missed a few good books. Set in the world of showjumping, this book is about the girls that ride the horses, their cutthroat mothers, and a suspicious death. Author Jessica Burkhart says, “Dark and deliciously twisted, this is the thriller of my equestrian dreams . . . or nightmares. You’ll never look at horse girls the same way.”

• The Spectacular by Fiona Davis (6-13-23) - I am a completist of Davis’ books and was excited when I received a NetGalley ARC of this one. All of her books are set in landmarks in NY City, and she does the research to make the landmark its own character in each of her books. The Spectacular is set in the “glitz and glamour of Radio City Music Hall” and was so fun to read as I knew virtually nothing about the history of the Rockettes or the “Big Apple Bomber.” Marion sees her future of marrying her sweetheart and living in the suburbs raising children as stifling and on a whim auditions for the Radio City Rockettes. She teams up with a doctor at the local mental hospital to identify (it seems there is a connection to her) the bomber and stop the terror inflicted by the bomber who has targeted popular, crowded spaces in NYC. It was a little contrived in places, but it was an enjoyable book for me.

• The Five-Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand (6-13-23) - In advance of Hilderbrand’s 2022 book, The Hotel Nantucket, she said that she would write two more books, and then she is going to retire. Based on the above, she has one more “beach” novel next year, which makes me sad. She didn’t rule out writing in a different genre or writing something set in a different location, so that gives me hope. In the meantime, I have this book on hold with three of my Libby library cards in hopes that I can read it soon after it releases. From the publisher, “After tragedy strikes, food blogger Hollis Shaw gathers four friends from different stages in her life to spend an unforgettable weekend on Nantucket.” I’m excited to read it for many different reasons, but when I first read the blurb about “friendship,” I was sold.

• You Were Always Mine by Christine Pride & Jo Piazza (6-13-23) - I really enjoyed We Are Not Like Them by this author duo, so I’m excited to read this one. From the publisher, “a moving and provocative novel about a Black woman who finds an abandoned white baby, sending her on a collision course with her past, her family, and a birth mother who doesn’t want to be found.” The early reviews say that the story deals with several thought-provoking issues, such as race, abuse, and motherhood, leaving readers with a lot to think about as they read the book. The reviews so far are somewhat mixed, but I’m not going to let those reviews cloud my desire to read it. I’ll let you know what I think when I read it.

  

• The Last Lifeboat by Hazel Gaynor (6-20-23) - I will read anything this author writes by herself or with her sometimes writing partner Heather Webb, but I’m not a completist quite yet. I have two (including this one) left to read, and hopefully, I will read both by year’s end. A historical fiction novel set in the 1940s follows two women who put their lives on the line to save children by evacuating them to another country. From author Renee Rosen, "A harrowing tale of one woman’s survival in the Mid-Atlantic and another’s refusal to accept the unacceptable news of her children. Hazel Gaynor brings us two courageous heroines in a gripping, historical pager turner, beautifully told with great heart and such vivid detail, you can practically taste the sea salt in the air. And the children—the children will stay with you forever, as will this marvel of a novel." I can’t wait to read it, how about you?

• Hotel Laguna by Nicola Harrison (6-20-23) - Another historical fiction novel by an author with a promising future ahead of her. Set in Southern California, Hazel left Kansas to become one of the “Rosie the Riveters” at Douglas Aircraft, and when the war is over, and she is no longer needed, she finds herself in Laguna Beach. Needing a job, she goes to work for a famous artist and fully immerses herself in the bohemian lifestyle of the town. I read Harrison’s first novel, Montauk, and thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to reading this one too. My reading jam is historical fiction, and when I find an author that writes historical fiction set in the US, the book immediately has a home on my TBR.

• The Beach at Summerly by Beatriz Williams (6-27-23) - Another novel from an author that sets her historical fiction primarily in the US, and it sounds like the perfect beach read to me. It begins after WWII has ended and takes place at Winthrop Island off the coast of Connecticut. A wealthy family, the Peabodys, own Summerly House, and Emilia, the caretaker’s daughter, has lived there all her life. She is drawn into the effects of the Cold War by an FBI agent who needs her help to find the Soviet spy doing dirty deeds from the estate. Give me a dual-timeline, historical fiction novel set in the US, and I’m all for reading it.

• Banyan Moon by Thao Thai (6-27-23) - This debut novel is winning high praise from reviewers and authors alike. From the publisher, “A sweeping, evocative debut novel following three generations of Vietnamese American women reeling from the death of their matriarch, revealing the family’s inherited burdens, buried secrets, and unlikely love stories.” This falls squarely in the “family saga” category and is full of family drama, wisdom, secrets and plenty more to keep the reader turning the pages. This is one of the book club books in the Modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club this summer, and the discussions are usually so good. I want to read this book closer to the author event in August.

• Invisible Son by Kim Johnson (6-27-23) - Life changes in an instant when Andre Jackson is accused of a crime he didn’t commit. After being released from juvie, he tries to reclaim his life and also clear his name, but so many things have changed. Covid happened, his girlfriend has moved on, the person that could help clear his name is missing, and being a black kid in the time around the George Floyd murder is causing its own problems. This is the author’s sophomore novel, and the early reviews say that it is realistic in portraying teen brown/black boys in this day and time. Similar reads are from authors Angie Thomas and Nic Stone, and that was all I needed to hear to put this on my TBR.

  ---

Wow! That’s a lot of books, but there were so many more that I could have included. I hope one of these books piqued your interest and you put it on your TRB for the summer. Do any of these books sound like something you’d like to read? What books are you looking forward to reading this summer?

Happy newsletter anniversary to me! Two years ago, over Memorial Day weekend, I took the leap and started this newsletter. The first newsletter was about the Tulsa Race Massacre, and since then, I’ve read so many good books related to this horrible event. If you want a fictionalized look at the massacre (which was my introduction), Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham is a great book to start with. I’ve read many nonfiction books, and the two that I learned the most from are Black Birds in the Sky by Brandy Colbert and Built From the Fire by Victor Luckerson.

---

I met up with my friend from California for lunch on Sunday, and it was so good to see her. Like me, she has been in public accounting for many years and will retire soon. It was fun to talk shop with her and dream about what we would do after we retire. I’ll be back next week with more bookish goodness, and until then, happy reading!

Some of the links in this newsletter may be affiliate links. That means that if you click through and purchase anything, I may earn a small commission. This costs you nothing and helps me feed my voracious reading habit, and for that, I thank you.