Read:
Fleishman is in Trouble – Taffy Brodesser-Akner (Random House, 2019)
Next Sunday – Nancy Beach & Samantha Beach Kiley (IV Press, 2022)
An Island – Karen Jennings (Hogarth, 2022)
Five Tuesdays in Winter – Lily King (Grove Press, 2021)
1,000 Coils of Fear – Olivia Wenzel (Catapult, 2022) (translated from German by Priscilla Layne)
I Let You Fall – Sara Downing (Quilla Books, 2022)
Beautiful World, Where Are You? – Sally Rooney (Alfred A. Knopf Canada, 2021)
Speak What We Feel – Frederick Buechner (Harper San Francisco, 2001)
Did Not Finish:
Mr. Fox – Helen Oyeyemi
I’ve read a few books by Oyeyemi before so I knew to expect some surrealism and unusual plotting and characters but this just turned out to be too much for me. Every time I picked it up I felt like I was starting a new book over again.
Will’s Surreal Period – Robert Steven Goldstein
This was an ARC that I was sent by the publicist. It sounded like an intriguing plot so I said yes when approached. I was struggling a little bit with the characters, who felt rather wooden to me, as I began reading but was willing to keep going. But when I reached a scene where one woman laughs to another woman about leading a man on and then accusing him of sexually harassing her, I thought, Nope, I’m done. This was so clearly a scene written by a man and the idea that women think it’s hilarious to falsely accuse men of such things is both false and, honestly, offensive to me.
Currently Reading:
Joan – Katherine Chen
Liturgy of the Ordinary – Tish Harrison Warren
The Eighth Life – Nino Haratischwili
2022 Goals:
Books Read: 49/80 (8 in June)
Books Reviewed: 43/49 (8 reviewed in May)
Translated Works: 4/10 (1,000 Coils of Fear translated from German.)
Books Owned: 7/20 (Speak What We Feel was a gift from my Dad)
Books from the TBR pre-2020: 11/20 (One added in June: Fleishman is in Trouble (2019))
Current TBR: 232 (previously 231)
Thoughts: Another good month, I feel! Six books a month is kind of what I’m aiming for so eight feels very satisfactory. Taking four ferries (plus wait times) solo in one weekend definitely helped with my reading time. I’m glad to be adding to my totals for translated works and owned books and the 20 Books of Summer has helped me hone in so I’m slightly more focused. (Maybe? I think?)
What’s Next:
This summer challenge means that my reading for the next bit is pretty laid out for me. And for the summer, I hope that will turn out to be a good thing. Now that we’re officially on summer holidays around here, my schedule is a lot more loose and that doesn’t always lead to more reading time for me. The hope this year is that having a list to get through will spur me on. Here’s how I’m doing so far –
20 Books of Summer Challenge:
My List:
ARCs:
An Island – Karen Jennings
1000 Coils of Fear – Olivia Wenzel
Joan – Katherine J. Chen (currently reading)
How to Fall out of Love Madly – Jana Casale
Ghost Eaters – Clay McLeod Chapman
Library Books: (I left 2 blank spaces originally and have filled one with Sally Rooney)
City of Thieves – David Benioff
Fleishman is in Trouble – Taffy Brodesser-Akner
Five Tuesdays in Winter – Lily King
Beautiful World, Where Are You – Sally Rooney
? (Bonus space)
Owned Books:
Life & Holiness – Thomas Merton
The Human Factor – Graham Greene
The Sympathizer – Viet Thanh Nguyen
Liturgy of the Ordinary – Tish Harrison (currently reading)
Pastoral – Nevil Shute
The Cocktail Party – T.S. Eliot
The Tiger’s Wife – Tea Obreht
The Breadwinner – Deborah Ellis
The Story of a Marriage – Andrew Sean Greer
The Baron in the Trees – Italo Calvino
So, I had hoped to be a little further along with this but 5 books is nothing to sneeze at. Plus, all three of the books I’m currently reading will count toward my 20 books.
Once I finish Joan, I will move on to the next ARC, How to Fall out of Love Madly. After The Eighth Life I will try and focus on a book from my own shelves and at the moment I’m leaning toward The Human Factor. I like to read one non-fiction at a time so from Liturgy of the Ordinary I will go on to Life & Holiness.
What was your best read in June? Who else is participating in the summer challenge? How are you all doing?
Karissa Reads Books 
Sounds like you had a good reading month! My best read of the month was probably The Girls of Slender Means by Muriel Spark, which I enjoyed very much. Looking forward to hearing what you think of The Human Factor, which is a Greene novel that I haven’t read yet.
Reading time on the ferry sounds fantastic!
I’m looking forward to your review of Pastoral.
The ferries can be a pretty lovely way to travel!
Have you read Pastoral? I’ve really enjoyed the other two books I’ve read by Shute.
I have read Pastoral, although it must have been at least 30 years ago. Over the years I’ve collected as many of Shute’s books as I’ve been able to find in Op Shops or second-hand shops but have never managed to find myself a copy of Pastoral.
I picked this one up at a second hand shop maybe a year ago. Maybe more because I think it was before I’d even read anything by Shute, I’d just heard he was very good.
How was the Lily King book? I’ve only read one of hers, and while I liked the writing style, I thought there was something odd about the plot. Not that I disliked it, but it was something odd.
This was a short story collection and I thought her style worked well in that format. I haven’t read anything longer by her but I could see it feeling odder in a novel like that.
I could see her doing short stories better than she did her novel, which almost read like a linked collection.